Inferno #2 Jonathan Hickman’s (possibly) final contribution to the Krakoa era of X-Men comics continues in this week’s Inferno #2, and things are only getting hotter from here.

INFERNAL SYNOPSIS

After Destiny’s shocking return at the Quiet Council meeting, we learn how she came back to life. Turns out it was nothing more than some classic Mystique trickery, impersonating herself as Xavier to trick The Five into resurrecting Destiny. After weeks of struggling to relate to one another (as both are very changed and different from how they were when Destiny was last alive), they regain their footing and hatch a plan: get Destiny onto the Quiet Council.

Back in the present, deliberation on Destiny’s spot begins. Xavier, Magneto, Kate, and Storm vote no, while Nightcrawler, Exodus, Sinister, Shaw, and Emma vote yes alongside Mystique. Flashbacks illuminate their reasons for voting in Destiny’s favor: Nightcrawler in solidarity with his mother not expecting to be joined by anyone else, Exodus compelled by the idea of having a precog on the council, Sinister wanting to be a contrarian troll, Shaw voting against Emma assuming her to vote no, and Emma bribed by Mystique with an unseen object of apparent importance to her. In any event, the Council votes 6-4 in favor of Destiny, and she is admitted onto the Council. An earlier threat by Xavier to vote for Mystique’s removal is squashed by Destiny, and he dismisses the Council.

Elsewhere on the Forge, Orchis attempts to establish a portal to Terra Verde, but efforts stall. Omega Sentinel speaks with Nimrod, telling him they are both where they need to be.

Xavier and Magneto break the news to a furious Moira that Destiny has been voted onto the Quiet Council. Magneto points out there is still one more vacant seat on the Council they can work to their advantage, and Xavier suggests inviting Emma into their inner circle to win her trust.

A transcript of a conversation between Mystique and Destiny has the former stating her awareness that her memory is regularly manipulated by the two men and she doesn’t know how many times she’s been killed for their sake, while Destiny says they’ve put a hole into the future that even she can’t see through. An X-Force mission log by Sage notes a potential security breach in Paris, and we learn it’s actually Mystique in disguise, covering her tracks in Sage’s name. She infiltrates an Orchis lab there and learns they’re close to finding a way into Krakoa.

Elsewhere in Paris, the inner circle of the Quiet Council reveals to Emma that Moira is not only alive, but a mutant who has lived multiple lives. She considers rescinding her vote for Destiny, but makes it known that they’ve lost her loyalty forever. Later, the Quiet Council votes 7-4 in favor of Xavier’s candidate for the final seat: Colossus.

INFERNAL ANALYSIS

In hindsight I should have realized how simple Destiny’s resurrection was. Of course Mystique disguised herself as Xavier to authorize it. Duh. That doesn’t make it any less entertaining though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the flashbacks explaining everybody’s vote in favor of her. They all checked out and seemed perfectly in character, especially Sinister. I wonder how the balance of the Council will change with Colossus now in the room, or why Xavier is so convinced he will bend to their will. Colossus definitely has long-seated loyalty to his mentor, but is that enough? How much does he know about Xavier and Magneto’s clandestine machinations? Generally speaking, the way this issue kind of played out like a week’s worth of Big Brother episodes had me in stitches. All it needed was lots of ASMR-friendly whispering and people talking meta-game over chess.

Meanwhile, Orchis is ramping up their attack on Krakoa, and it seems they’re getting ever-so-close to cracking it. Don’t expect good things to happen there! If Mystique isn’t the one who brings Krakoa to its knees, I expect Orchis to do it. Perhaps Mystique even helps them do it…maybe.

I did also appreciate the metaness of showing Mystique type up a false mission log that we’d just been shown on-page; I don’t think that’s happened before? It definitely does lead me to wonder if this isn’t actually the first time a memo page has been falsified in-universe and we just weren’t privy to it. Keep an eye on all of them moving forward now, I say. Potential unreliable narrators.

INFERNAL PROGNOSIS

Not so good for Krakoa! This series is definitely leading to some sort of schism between the mutants (After the other Schism? Another one?!) and recent solicits for the near future seem to suggest as much, but we’ll see. Now would be the perfect time for the Krakoa experiment to show cracks right as Orchis is primed to make a breakthrough. Until next time!