This week in the Fall of the House of X, well… the house has fallen, but with a new lease on life for the X-Men.

PRELUDE TO THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

Finally: the conclusion of Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4 and the grand epilogue X-Men #35.

RECAP OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

At the Inhumans’ base, Kamala’s shapeshifting powers are all out of whack, which Medusa explains was a result of her resurrection without her new body being re-exposed to Terrigen Mist. While undergoing a second Terrigenesis, Kamala sees her mother and finally accepts her dual Inhuman-mutant heritage, and awakens back to normal. But it’s not over for her; she returns to New York and is attacked by her own re-animated corpse, sporting hard light-based abilities. It’s then that Dr. Nikita Gaiha —responsible for the reanimated X-Men she previously fought— reveals this is Kamala’s unidentified mutation, and she seeks to reactivate it through her survival instinct. But Kamala refuses to fight her double, and instead embraces it, dying soon thereafter as it is unable to sustain her energy. After Nikita escapes, Kamala returns back to her normal life, where people hate and fear Ms. Marvel despite her best efforts. Saddened by her current circumstances, Bruno reaffirms their friendship and his support.

After the final battle against Orchis, Xavier is being transported to prison when Wolverine attacks him, prepared to kill the other man until Magneto arrives to intervene. The old friends have yet another moral and philosophical conversation about the failings of their Krakoa, but Magneto promises Krakoa will not end with them, much to Xavier’s chagrin. And sure enough…

On Pacific Krakoa, Cypher intercepts a signal that he discovers to have come from Kafka, one of the many mutants who were trapped in the White Hot Room. He reintroduces himself as the Speaker of the Quiet Council, and reveals that fifteen years have passed for them, successfully reestablishing a utopian, peaceful Krakoa without outside interference during that time. The X-Men eventually arrive to greet the returning Krakoans. Emma Frost is touched to learn that all of the dead Genoshan children are alive once more, and the gates briefly reopen to allow those who wish to return to Earth or reconnect with their loved ones do so. Kafka explains that they arrived to merge their new Krakoa with the original before they depart, which Exodus protests — and he’s not the only one with grievances.

Apocalypse suddenly appears, and it becomes clear that he will not let Krakoa go easily. Offended and feeling like his legacy has been ignored, Apocalypse decides violence is the only answer, and he launches an attack on everybody present. (Meanwhile, Doctor Doom silently sends one of his mutant wards to steal a Krakoan seed for his own ends.) Apocalypse demands to know who will steer mutantdom for the next generation; Jean telepathically shows him the success of the new Krakoa and how he’s too blinded by selfishness to realize it’s the furtherment of his goals. Unhappy but understanding, Apocalypse leaves.

Kafka forgives Apocalypse for his rage, stating that fighting is all he knows but that their Krakoa was founded on not needing to fight again. With their affairs sorted, the new Krakoa departs as the remaining X-Man tearfully see it off, finally ending the “First Krakoan Age.”

But first, some loose ends and teases:

Apocalypse is seeking an heir.
Mystique, disguised as Doctor Stasis, kills Mother Righteous.
Nightcrawler, Rogue, Mystique, and Destiny have an emotional picnic.
Xavier telepathically protects mutants from his containment.
Xavier astrally projects himself around the world to see: Cyclops reclaiming an Orchis base in Alaska; Rogue and Gambit on a second honeymoon in Mexico; Kate Pryde seeking a normal life in Chicago; Wolverine seeks exile while Ms. Marvel embraces her newfound identities; Havok and Forge have their own respective existential crises; Storm addresses the United Nations; Dazzler goes on a world tour.
After confronting Jean Grey, Xavier’s vital signs start failing, and he’s sent to a new containment facility: the Xavier School.

ANALYSIS OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

For any misgivings people may have had about the plotting and handling of this event, I will say that X-Men #35 goes out on a high, delivering a fairly affecting and poignant message about activism and how most of us will not live long enough to fully see the future we envision for later generations. There’s lots of applicability here to real world civil rights movements, which reflects the allegory of X-Men as an avatar for them. Even if the status quo is God and this specific era was never going to last forever, there’s something to be said for how that’s just life in general. Intermittent progress and subsequent stalling, never as quickly or radical as we’d like it to be.

As for what this issue means for the immediate future of the franchise, I have to say I’m not totally surprised by the implication of Krakoa not ending so soon. Just as I suspected they would, they leave room to return to it down the line —literally referring to these past few years as “the first Krakoan Age”— which is the right call. The dream didn’t end; it just transformed into a different one. I’m curious to see how exactly that would happen, but knowing there’s a utopian Krakoa existing on the fringes, where everybody is happy and there’s no struggle, is a nice thought.

Oh, and regarding Ms. Marvel… it seems they’re not quite committing to the hard light powers as seen in the MCU version of that character. Huh!

NEXT IN THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

That’s it! While there will be a direct spinoff addressing the Apocalypse question soon, the X-Men are officially set to return in the upcoming “From the Ashes” relaunch later this summer, with several titles spinning out of the premises seen above. I’ll definitely be checking all of those out, but Krakoa will be a hard act to follow, that much is certain.

Fall of the House of X: Week 24

0.00

6.8

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4

6.5/10

X-Men #35

7.0/10

Credits

Writers: Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada (MMMM), Gerry Duggan, Al Ewing & Kieron Gillen (XM)
Artists: Scott Godlewski (MMMM), Joshua Cassara, Phil Noto, Lucas Werneck, Leinil Franci Yu, Walter Simonson, Mark Brooks, John Romita Jr. & Scott Hanna, Jeroma Opeña, Luciana Vecchio, Stefano Casseli & Sara Pichelli (XM)
Color Artists: Erick Arciniega (MMMM),Romulo Fajardo Jr., Phil Noto, David Curiel, Laura Martin, Sonia Oback, Marcio Menyz, Matt Hollingsworth, Matthew Wilson (XM)
Letterers: VC's Joe Caramanga (MMMM), VC's Clayton Cowles (XM)
Cover Artists: Carlos Gómez & Jesus Aburtov (MMMM), Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia (XM)