Immortal X-Men has been our look into how the Quiet Council operates on Krakoa. The first thing the Quiet Council have done in this new age of Krakoa was to vote in a new member to replace Magneto who turned out to be Hope Summers. Just as that seat in the Quiet Council was filled it looks like they may be in danger of another member possibly falling as something has hit Destiny hard. Given her own history, this could not be a good thing for Krakoa. Let’s find out what happens next with Immortal X-Men #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colorist: Dijjo Lima
SYNOPSIS
As Irene Adler suffers from the memories of when she originally wrote her 13 volumes of Destiny’s book Emma Frost suggests they meet with the rest of the Quiet Council even though they still don’t fully trust Charles Xavier.
While the Quiet Council gathers to meet Irene remembers her life after meeting and falling in love with Mystique. Going from there she remembers everything up to her original death and how she can’t leave Mystique alone now that she is back.
At the Quiet Council meeting, Xavier reveals his secrets to Hope so she has the same information the rest of the council members have. As Hope questions Xavier about giving her the Cerebro Helmet to bring back Destiny it is revealed that was Mystique by Mister Sinister. This causes a major argument between Xavier and Mystique.
Back in her room, Destiny suddenly has a vision that includes the events of A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Mister Sinister controlling Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Storm, people worshiping Exodus, a demonic Magik defeating the X-Men, and someone as Dark Phoenix.
As the visions continue Destiny realizes that this isn’t the future but a look at different timelines and how they all divert. One of these visions includes Mister Sinister who is going by Gene-Corsair being captured and consumed by a God-like Exodus.
Destiny awakens to realize that Mister Sinister cloned Moira in a final timeline she just witnessed.
Destiny goes to the Quiet Council meeting and says that Xavier should thank Mystique for her return as it will help with Krakoa’s vision of utopia. Emma suggests they scan Destiny’s mind about the visions she witnessed. Destiny has no trust in anyone so she declines. Destiny then goes about making sure everyone on the Quiet Council follows the future she is looking to achieve.
After the meeting Mystique notices that Destiny is going to write down her prophecy as she has done so before. Destiny asks Mystique if she trusts her. Mystique says that she will always trust Destiny.
After spending the night together Irene goes to write down her prophecy. Irene cries as she is doing her writing as she internally laments how Mystique is not in any of her visions of the future. End of issue.
REVIEW
Immortal X-Men #3 showcases the political intrigue space within the X-Men franchise this series will continue to fill as it goes forward. While members of the Quiet Council will get involved in the action that isn’t the focus of this title. If you’re looking for more superhero action that is where you’ll go to a title like X-Men, X-Factor, or other titles in the franchise.
We see how Kieron Gillen is going to use this focus on the Quiet Council to grab readers invested in what is going on with Krakoa in Immortal X-Men #3. With Hope Summers being the newest member we see how much weight having a seat on the Quiet Council carries. In having a seat on the Quiet Council, no matter the age or experience, you are to be seen as an equal to everyone there. Charles Xavier reveals all the secrets he, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert previously had in creating and managing Krakoa.
Hope Summers’s reaction to learning all this opened the door to dive even more into the politics within the Quiet Council. That includes how Mystique previously used Xavier and Magneto’s authority to bring Destiny back to life. Just like Xavier’s secrets being revealed Mystique’s own deceit came across as Pandora’s Box being opened once again right in the middle of the Quiet Council. It further puts into question how equal the Quiet Council sees each other when there is a lack of trust going on. How much this lack of trust factors into the future of the Quiet Council and Krakoa as a whole is a great hook to continue to build Immortal X-Men around.
As intriguing as the Quiet Council was the driving force of Immortal X-Men #3 was Destiny’s vision of the future. Gillen did an excellent job building up this to initially appear as all one vision that Destiny was having. Lucas Werneck’s artwork feeds into having that mindset when we were initially experiencing this vision. But as this part of Immortal X-Men #3 went on we learn through the Werneck’s artwork and Gillen’s writing that what Destiny was seeing was different timelines.
Having the reveal be that what Destiny experienced was visions of different timelines was a great follow-up to what Jonathan Hickman built starting with House of X and Powers of X. Because just getting visions that are teasing the future of the X-Men would be boring. We’ve seen this so many times before. Having the twist of being different timelines creates so many questions for not only what we saw but every X-Men storyline moving forward. There is a sense of uncertainty about how any decision the X-Men make during events like the upcoming A.X.E.: Judgment Day event can influence the direction of the possible futures we saw.
Making things even more personal for Destiny is the fact that in all the visions of the future timelines is that she did not see Mystique in any of them. This revelation at the end of Immortal X-Men #3 worked to explain why at the beginning of the issue we saw Irene Adler recollecting their first meeting and falling in love with Mystique. The love between Destiny and Mystique is so strong that not seeing Raven in any of the possible futures is heartbreaking to Irene. Now that Irene is writing new volumes to Destiny’s Book there are a lot of intriguing ways Gillen can take this aspect of Immortal X-Men.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Immortal X-Men #3 grabs your attention from the very opening page and does not let go until you finish reading the entire comic book. Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck are working their magic as a creative team with fascinating character development that has you invested in everything that is going on in the story. The revelations made when it comes to Destiny’s character in particular is something that not only impacts Immortal X-Men but how you view the entire X-Men franchise as a whole moving forward. I cannot wait to find out what is planned next for this series
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10