This week in the Fall of the House of X, the mutants make big strikes in their war on Orchis, while Wolverine isn’t so successful in his fight with Sabretooth.

PRELUDE TO THE FALL OF X

Wolverine #43 and Fall of the House of X #2.

RECAP OF THE FALL OF X

Sabretooth recalls better times with Wolverine before coming back to reality, trying to control his rambunctious clan of multiversal variants after leaving the Greenhouse with X-23 in tow. Utilizing the dismembered head of Omega Boy, he confirms that Wolverine is stressed out over his clone’s disappearance, and then sleeps soundly. Unbeknownst to him, however, Omega Boy sends a telepathic blast to his friend Oya —who recently escaped the Pit with the rest of her fellow Exiles—and alerts them of Sabretooth’s machinations; they agree to go to war with the Sabretooths as revenge for what he did to them there. Elsewhere, “Savage” Sabretooth tortures X-23 and removes her jaw so she cannot speak or taunt them further. She then conspires to find Sabretooth’s son in the hopes he will turn against his father. Sabretooth wakes up to the disembodied Omega Boy’s “sleeptalking,” revealing a secret location of interest to him.

At the Bloom (Orchis HQ), Dr. Stasis and MODOK hit a field of metal debris they quickly learn was caused by Polaris, who then hurls the head of a Celestial at the station and unleashes an army of Brood at the people within. On the inside Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler fight off Orchis soldiers and meet up with Polaris, who is informed that Firestar has actually been working as a double agent for Krakoa since the Hellfire Gala.

Elsewhere: Emma Frost commandeers the efforts telepathically from New York, Shadowcat pursues Cyclops in Paris before he is executed, Synch traps Dr. Stasis in Orbit with Iceman’s powers, and Juggernaut rescues Krakoa (the being) from Stark Sentinels. Rogue and Gambit, en route to retrieve Juggernaut and Krakoa, put their jet on autopilot to make an unplanned excursion: rescue Manifold, who’d been kept in stasis at the former site of Xavier’s school to protect him from his universal shaping abilities. He retaliates with hostility when he wakes up, but is calmed down by a vision of Lactuca (his Arakki “sister”) right before a Stark Sentinel shows up to fight them.

Back on the Bloom, Dr. Stasis and MODOK escape in an evacuation pod after the former warns Wolverine to spare his life if he ever wants to see Firestar again. Polaris retrieves her allies as the space station explodes; Wolverine expresses concern that Firestar may already be dead. Meanwhile, in Paris: Omega Sentinel prepares her killing blow to Cyclops, but she’s interrupted and incapacitated by Dr. Alia Gregor, who asks him what he knows about Sentinel City. Elsewhere, Nimrod breaks free from the Krakoa’s amber. An Orchis memo from MODOK states that he is quitting the organization, but remains committed to killing mutants and plans to recruit some Orchis agents for an upcoming (and unspecified) endeavor.

ANALYSIS OF THE FALL OF X

As the Sabretooth War mostly continues under the radar, most of this week’s action is in Fall of the House of X #2, where the mutants make a big move against Orchis by destroying their main base of operations — and they are quite successful at it. With their leadership scattered and distracted, the mutants are in an advantageous position, but it’s not smooth sailing for them just yet. As we see in this issue, Cyclops avoids execution with the help of an unexpected ally on the other side, but what are her true intentions? TBD. The issue itself is very entertaining and fast-paced; I’d expect that from the flagship title of this event. But why does Dr. Gregor want to learn about Sentinel City, and what does Cyclops know about it? We’ll presumably find out soon.

NEXT IN THE FALL OF X

X-Force #49 and Rise of the Powers of X #2.

Fall of the House of X: Week Seven

6.8

Wolverine #34

6.0/10

Fall of the House of X #2

7.5/10

Credits

Writers: Victor LaValle & Benjamin Percy (Wolverine), Gerry Duggan (FotHoX)
Artists: Geoff Shaw (Wolverine), Lucas Werneck (FotHoX)
Color Artists: Alex Sinclair (Wolverine), Bryan Valenza (FotHoX)
Letterers: VC's Cory Petit (Wolverine), VC's Travis Lanham (FotHoX)
Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Wolverine), Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia (FotHoX)