This week in the Fall of the House of X, the aforementioned House of X —surprisingly, paradoxically— does not fall!

PRELUDE TO THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

Just one: the finale of Fall of the House of X #5.

RECAP OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

The X-Men continue battling Nimrod after hurling S.W.O.R.D. HQ through the Orchis base; they seem to be outmatched by the limitless Nimrod duplicates until Storm finally shows up. With the help of Magneto, Polaris, and Synch, they figure out they can destroy Nimrod through the combined use of their powers — and succeed in doing so. Meanwhile, Psylocke lobotomizes Omega Sentinel’s computerized brain; this effectively restores her back to her human self, earning her a second chance with the X-Men.

With Nimrod defeated, the Stark Sentinels systematically shut down all across the world, while Xavier bides himself some time by hiding from his peers. While transporting everyone to safety, Manifold sees Lactuca —his astral sibling— who helps shield them from Dominion on their way back to a restored Krakoa, revived by the collective energy of the X-Men. Watching the sun set on Krakoa, Scott pleads for Jean to return and “bring the fire” back with her.

ANALYSIS OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

Though it’s technically the last issue of this series, Fall of the House of X #5 isn’t the end of the overall storyline; we still have two more installments in the coming weeks to properly wrap this saga up. This issue is, however, the dramatic climax of the event, giving the X-Men a long-deserved reprieve after all they’ve been through. (Which, technically, hasn’t been very long in-universe, but the last Hellfire Gala was a full year ago!)

I’ll be honest, though; the events of this issue did feel a little anticlimactic. If defeating Nimrod by frying him up real good was all it took for them to sink Orchis, why didn’t they reach that conclusion a while ago? I realize this is a very CinemaSins-esque critique, but the stakes have been so grand and accumulating over the past year of comics that most narrative solutions would have felt a bit lackluster. I’m fully cognizant of the fact that there are still two issues left in this story and for all I know those could be real blockbusters, but I guess we’ll have to see.

NEXT IN THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X

The conclusions of Wolverine #50 and Rise of the Powers of X #5.