Comic Book / Immortal X-Men

Hated. Feared. Forever.

"It wouldn't be the X-Men if we didn't have complications."

— Hope Summers, Immortal X-Men #2

Immortal X-Men is an ongoing comic book from Marvel Comics, an ensemble cast series about the Quiet Council of Krakoa by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Lucas Werneck, with color art by David Curiel.

The series, set in the shared Marvel Universe, is part of the wider X-Men line and is the flagship title launching Destiny of X, the third phase of the long-running Krakoan Age saga. It also marks a key change to the wider X-Men creative team, with Jonathan Hickman, architect of the previous Krakoan Age arcs, no longer involved.

Krakoa, the living island, is now a nation in its own right, a welcoming home to all mutants - even those previously seen as villains and killers. Although humanity is unaware, by combining their powers, mutants have also achieved Resurrective Immortality - any mutant who dies can be reborn with a new body housing a back-up of their mind.

The twelve members of the Quiet Council are the leaders of Krakoa, keepers of some of its more troubling secrets. Some of them are heroes, others are self-serving monsters. But to steer the new nation, they have to work together. After the events of Inferno (2021) and X Lives and X Deaths of Wolverine, some of Krakoa's deepest secrets have reached a wider audience and the Quiet Council now struggles to stay united.

The series initially focuses on a different member of the council with each issue, using them as a narrator and viewpoint character. As part of this approach, the series often includes flashbacks to that character's life before Krakoa was established.

Storylines and crossovers with their own pages
The following storylines and events are connected to the Immortal X-Men series.

• A.X.E.: Judgment Day
• Sins of Sinister

The first issue was released 30 March 2022. The series ended with issue #18 on December 27 2023. It will be followed by X-Men: Forever, also written by Gillen and launching in March 2024.

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The Immortal Tropes

• All for Nothing:
  • Shaw works behind the Quiet Council's backs to undermine Krakoa and take over so he can exploit its resources. After Fall of X, when Mutantkind is either dead or gone, he's still unable to do this.
  • Mother Righteous manipulates everyone on and around Krakoa so she can get her chance of Dominionhood, only to find, like the other Sinister clones before her, that there's a Dominion already there, and it has no intention of sharing.
• And I Must Scream: Issue #12 has Colossus, still under psychic control, hoping desperately that Kate or Ororo will notice how blatantly Not Himself he is and do something to stop him. They don't.
• Anti-Hero Team: The Quiet Council runs the gamut from heroes like Nightcrawler and Kate Pryde, through extremist former-terrorists like Exodus, Destiny and Mystique, all the way to self-serving schemers like Sebastian Shaw and Mister Sinister. They all have some level of commitment to the Krakoan project, but beyond that there's a wide range of ethics and morals.
• Anti-Magic: Hope Summers uses a bullet made of the fancy new metal Mysterium to counter Selene's famously potent regeneration.
• Arc Words:
  • Destiny to Sinister, over and over: “We must be on the same side.”
  • Throughout the series, several characters mention the word "immortal", "immortality" and the idea of "living forever".
• Back from the Dead:
  • The Dark Beast, Beast's evil twin from the Alternate Timeline of Age of Apocalypse, was killed off in a 2019 issue of Uncanny X-Men. However, Sinister is actually keeping his head alive in a laboratory.
  • In issue #12, Selene makes her grand return. Hope and Exodus killed her in issue #2, and Krakoa was in no hurry to bring her back after she unleashed an undead Kaiju on the island out of spite - but she's now been resurrected by a force outside Krakoa.
• Bad Future:
  • Destiny is trying to navigate between many possible bad futures. The one we see most of in the third issue is "the eXpanse", where Exodus, powered by a trillion-strong mutant church-empire with Phoenix imagery, hunts down Sinister. However, Destiny is also motivated by the fact that for her, any bad future is one where Mystique isn't alive. And she can't see any future where Mystique lives.
  • Mister Sinister is doing something similar, using his clones of Moira to map and reset possible futures. Sinister's definition of a 'bad' future is very different to Destiny's, though, so they are potentially working against each other.
• Bad Powers, Bad People: Selene is a semi-immortal Mutant who feeds on people to keep living. She couldn't give a damn about Krakoa's benefits or the possibility of altering her power so she doesn't have to keep eating people. She wants to eat people. She likes eating people.
• Bait-and-Switch: The last issue seems to be building up to Mother Righteous' successful attempt to achieve Dominionhood. She fails because all four Sinisters were made to provide data for a secret fifth Sinister, an A.I. named Enigma.
• Beard of Sorrow: Charles grows a hefty one in issue #14 following the Hellfire Gala.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
  • At one point Mister Sinister claims that Oscar Wilde was a mutant.
  • Exodus averts No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus by claiming that Jesus was a mutant.
• Berserk Button: Mystique is enraged when Mister Sinister shapeshifts to resemble her; apparently, the lady infamous for using her shapeshifting powers to screw with other people doesn't like being on the receiving end.
• Big "WHAT?!": Sinister's very scripted response to the "surprise" of Magneto's resignation is a completely over-the-top "WHAT?!?!".
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: One of Sinister's text pages comments on the title of Marvel's 2022 crossover A.X.E.: Judgment Day, which was also written by Kieron Gillen. Gillen preferred the more common British spelling, judgement, but Marvel disagreed.
  Sinister: It's Judgment Day. Let's hope we're not being judged for our spelling choices. It's Judgement, you ruffians.
• Boom, Headshot!: After Selene unleashes her Kaiju on Krakoa and leaves, Hope (aided by Destiny) borrows Magik's portal magic and bends the laws of physics to nail a headshot on Selene in London.
• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: In the prelude issue to Sins of Sinister Xavier's running narration claims that there will never be a nuclear war thanks to him long ago mentally compelling anyone who could to never initiate one.
• Brainwash Residue: The lingering presence of Sinister inside Xavier's mind, as revealed at the end of #16, is revealed in the next episode to basically be this. While it turns out that Sinister's genetic code was purged from everyone else following the events of Sins of Sinister, thanks to the lingering genetic remnants of an old Mind Control attempt Sinister's consciousness was able to latch onto Xavier and control him when he was sleeping. However, Sinister himself describes it as "hanging on by [my] fingertips", as it's basically the broken-down remains of an old trick that Xavier has already defeated, and Sinister was only able to exploit it in any secretive way at all because Xavier had no idea he was there. He's forced to come clean and admit what he's been doing when Xavier finally learns what's been going on, and Xavier himself notes that the Sinister remnant won't even be able to control him while he's sleeping now that he's aware of it, as it's not strong enough to overcome any mental blocks that Xavier will immediately put up to stop it. Not that Xavier, who's been through a fair bit of trauma recently, has any intention of leaving it at that.
• Call-Back:
  • In issue #1, Sinister states that part of his change in behavior (besides futzing with his personality) is a lesson learned from when the Phoenix incinerated him back in Avengers Vs. X-Men.
  • The point that Oscar Wilde was a mutant was argued by Mystique back in 2005.
  • Irene Adler and her namesake being one and the same was mentioned back in Chaos War.
  • Issue #17 reveals that Sinister's work with Project: Black Womb let him leave a bit of his consciousness in Professor X, even after Forge removed all trace of Sinister in the other telepaths of the Quiet Council. It's also revealed that Sinister's attempt to possess Charles in X-Men: Legacy is why he's having no luck this time.
  • During Sins of Sinister, in the Red Diamond timeline, Sinister hid the Moira Engine on Muir Island, with the characters figuring it was his idea of a joke. In issue #18, Sinister admits that that was one reason, just not the only one.
• The Cameo: Issue #18 has a brief appearance by the mysterious construction worker in the White Hot Room (who might be Death, or the One Above All or both), watching Mother Righteous pass by but saying nothing.
• Cats Are Mean: When Cy-Cat ignores one of his commands, Mr. Sinister muses that not even his mad science is powerful enough to suppress the natural flippancy of felines.
• Character Check:
  • Issue eight as a flashback to Mr. Sinister's life in Victorian London serves as a reminder of his original more serious characterization before his current Agent Peacock Large Ham characterization as codified by Gillen and Hickman. It also tries to reconcile the two differing takes on the character by explaining that Essex was originally stable, for a given value of the word, but his Victorian values, obsession with trying to better himself, and Apocalypse's empowering of him created a Jekyll & Hyde situation with Essex and Sinister. The campy supervillain emerged as an alter who indulged in all the passions and wild impulses that Essex didn't want.
  • Issue #13 is one for Xavier. He admits to Doug that he actually despises the Mutant essentialism and separatism underpinning Krakoa. He's still as committed to his belief that Mutants are humans, not different or above them. He only went along with it because every Bad Future timeline Moira showed him convinced him Krakoa was the only way to avert a genocide of Mutantkind.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Subverted. From the early parts of Hickman's run, it was suggested Mimic could potentially fill in for Hope on the Five. When the time comes, he gets performance anxiety and can't do it.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: A recurring theme with Sinister is it's impossible to get him to not try and screw other people over, even when it's in his own interests, even when he knows he shouldn't. The same applies to Mother Righteous.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe:
  • Exodus' Psychoactive Powers can be strengthened even more by others' belief. Which gets taken to it's Logical Extreme in one possible future where Exodus — empowered by the faith of a trillions-strong mutant theocracy — ascends into being a full-blown cosmic entity on the scale of Galactus.
  • Mother Righteous notes this is a factor of Mutant magic, which given the Krakoan Smug Super attitude actually works in their favor. Unfortunately, it also works in hers as well.
• Continuity Cavalcade: Jean's narration through issue #17 is a cavalcade of things Jean's said over the years, from X-Men #1, X-Men #101, The Dark Phoenix Saga (specifically, Phoenix taunting Mastermind and threatening the Greys), Fantastic Four #268, X-Factor #1, and Grant Morrison's New X-Men.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Sinister sneeringly compares Krakoa to the X-Men's Utopia period.
  • As part of her pitch for membership in the Quiet Council, Selene brings up that time she tried resurrecting the population of Genosha herself, as happened in Necrosha. Kate tries pointing out Selene wasn't exactly doing that out of the kindness of her own heart.
  • Cyclops' strategy guide on fighting different kinds of threats features a section on battling Kaiju… and includes a specific subsection about battling giant atomic, fire-breathing lizards in particular.
  • In the second issue Mr. Sinister uses a serum to temporarily transform himself into a huge pale version of Weapon H.
  • Issue three begins with a flashback to Mystique finding Irene at Los Alamos, the research project she did with Sinister on Mutant babies, bringing up Sinister's attempts to cheat death seen in Mike Carey's X-Men: Legacy, and how it didn't work.
  • Issue five is basically a rundown of Exodus' history, from his origins and encounter with Sersi and Black Knight to his awakening in the modern day by Magneto to his battles with the X-Men to his struggles post-Decimation and rekindling of faith in the face of Hope's birth.
  • In the first flashback of issue #8, Destiny offhandedly mentions how Mystique will kill Sinister one day, as happened in the events of Messiah Complex (where Mystique said after the fact Destiny had told her about). She then goes on to mention Sinister's failed attempt to take over Charles during the first arc of X-Men: Legacy.
  • When Sinister runs for it in issue #10, he goes back to Sinister London. Cyclops fills Jean (who was dead at the time the X-Men previously dealt with it) in on the place's history.
  • Sinister attempts to leave Earth on a starship that runs on Shaw's mutant abilities, which Destiny saw in a vision in previous issues.
  • Exodus compares the White Hot Room to Tiphareth, a comparison made with the place in other comics, including Defenders: Beyond.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: Partial documents have been a recurring theme in the Krakoan Age books. The first issue of Immortal X-Men adds a new version of the Orchis Protocol to the list. The Classified Information option is used to redact some detail, including the names of their "Culture / Narrative" and "Sociology / Modelling" leads.
• Convulsive Seizures: Irene Adler's reaction to the premiere of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations in 1899. Specifically, it was her reaction to Variation IX, "Nimrod".
• Covers Always Lie:
  • The second issue's cover features Magneto, Storm and Exodus battling against a giant Selene, with Exodus struck down by lightning. Selene leaves Krakoa in the first few pages, without any sort of fight. It's the Kaiju she leaves behind that's the problem. Magneto and Storm never confront her directly - they fight the Kaiju. Exodus does face Selene later in the issue, but she's disoriented and newly resurrected - and he snaps her neck before she can react.
  • The fourth issue, which focuses on Emma Frost, has a cover showing her in a huge bed, seemingly naked, partially covered by deep red sheets and lounging in luxury. The opening scene reveals her sprawled in a much smaller bed, lying on top of a tangled dark grey sheet and wearing a pink tank top and shorts. The contrast helps to establish one of the issue's themes - the gap between who Emma is in private and how she lets the world perceive her.
  • Issue #12 has Colossus attacking Kate Pryde. Nothing like that happens in the story, with the closest being a verbal attack.
• Crazy-Prepared: Issue #2 showcases a few Summers protocols on Kaiju attacks, including supernatural, robotic and atomic lizard variations. It also has some very scathing footnotes.
  Summers Protocol: "Delaying Kaiju": If the Kaiju is actually a robot, see Sentinels protocols (see Volumes 7-15). Also, see page 3, chapter 1, entitled "You Are Unsuitable For Command At This Time. Please Pass Command To Someone Who Can Recognise A Sentinel."
• Creator In-Joke: Being a Brit, Kieron Gillen prefers the most common British spelling, "Judgement", rather than "Judgment" and wanted to use the former for the 2022 event Judgment Day (Marvel Comics). Marvel editorial overrode him, and he had Sinister (also a Brit) make a catty remark about it in the first issue.
• Crossover Finale: The final issue, #18, is a tie-in to the Fall of X storyline.
• Deadly Euphemism: Lampshaded by Xavier in #18 when he catches himself using Sinister's term "reset" for the wiping out of entire potential universes he conducted when his Moira clones as a kind of back-up system, and is appropriately disgusted.
  Xavier: It is so easy to paper over atrocity.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Sinister's current plans hinge on Hope being on the Quiet Council, thus he's taken off-guard when Destiny casts a "no" vote when he predicts she would vote "yes" as thanks for the Five reviving her.
  • According to Selene, Orchis's plan at the Hellfire Gala was send every Mutant to Mars, where they'd be stuck with Genesis. Instead the portals wind up sending most of Krakoa's population to the White Hot Room.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: After her subterfuge to bring her wife back is exposed and she is confronted for it by the Quiet Council, Mystique decides the best way to defend her actions is to rant about how the Krakoans should be grateful to her because she deigned to peaceably revive Destiny instead of just murdering them all for blackmailing and lying to her. Only Destiny's intervention and political maneuvering prevents Mystique from being kicked off the Council.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • The first issue ends with Selene transforming one of Krakoa's External gate into a giant Eldritch Abomination as revenge for being denied a seat on the Quiet Council.
  • Emma admits that she's still fighting to overcome her tendency towards this, remarking that it took a lot of restraint to not psychically assault a random CEO just because he thought about how Krakoa is losing heavy-hitters and looking weak.
• Dramatic Irony: The Mutants of Krakoa remain blissfully unaware Mother Righteous is another Sinister, and in issue #17 it turns out even the "main" Sinister has no idea she even exists.
• Dude, Not Funny!: In issue #2, when Charles calls up the Quiet Council, Emma makes a typically sarcastic remark. Charles calls her on doing so when there's a situation occurring.
• Empty Shell: Xavier calls Sinister one in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech issue #17, and thanks to his telepathy has the proof to back it up.
• Et Tu, Brute?: After the events of Sins of Sinister, Hope is furious at Exodus for what he did to her in that timeline.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Destiny realizes that being in the White Hot Room means they're in a Place Beyond Time and thus outside the perception of any Dominion intellect to affect their actions. Unfortunately she can't do anything with this information as Mother Righteous takes the opportunity to attempt to kill her without listening.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Bizarrely, Selene, who is otherwise a total sociopath, cares for the External Mutants and is quite pissed Apocalypse killed them and used their bones to make the External Gate. While initially this might seem like BS, her inner monologue in issue #14 confirms that she is quite genuine.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Zig-zagged with Shaw in issue #4. He chides Mystique for a horrific remark not because he gives any more of a rat's ass than she does, but because it's a PR disaster and they should at least try to act sorry... and then immediately starts wondering how to turn it into a financial advantage.
  • During issue #6, Destiny sees that Mystique is more willing to go for a vote if it harms or kills humans. Privately, Irene notes how sometimes her wife's sociopathic tendencies unnerve her.
• Exact Words: Sebastian Shaw gets bitten in the ass with this with his purchase of Krakoa when he learns that he only gets the land, not its finances. Mother Righteous mocks him for being Genre Blind enough to make a deal with a magic user and not see this coming. He decides to salvage to the situation by exploiting the islands resources.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: In issue #13, Xavier decides to end the Quiet Council, realizing that they are doing too much harm and they need to make a better government.
• Finger Poke of Doom: Emma ends one of Sinister's attempts at assassinating the Quiet Council by going diamond and putting her fingers through his eyes.
• First-Person Smartass: The first issue is largely from Sinister's perspective and absolutely packed full of eccentric snark.
• Flat Character: Rather brutally lampshaded in #17, when Xavier undergoes a Journey to the Center of the Mind in Sinister's consciousness, and is struck by just how little of an interior life he actually has, being just a collection of smug quirks and bad jokes.
• Foreshadowing: In issue #3, a resurrected Destiny has a sudden flush of images pertaining to the future:
  • Jean Grey and Cyclops fighting the Eternals with the help of Captain America and Thor. This refers to the then upcoming event AXE.
  • Mr. Sinister sat on a crystal throne; next to him Jean Grey and Emma Frost, and on the foreground Cyclops and Wolverine wearing a red diamond on their heads. This refers to the Sins of Sinister crossover.
  • Magik in her demonic form standing over the fallen bodies of Rogue, Cyclops and Wolverine.
  • An island in flames (implied to be Krakoa).
  • Exodus standing on a mountain and mutants rising out their hands to the sky.
  • A Dark Phoenix lookalike destroying a planet, with an evil smile on her face.
  • Sinister wonders how he could've not learned the truth about Dr. Stasis in all his previous resets, even ones which occurred past the point he's already at. It's not until issue #18 that it's explained; Enigma's been preventing him from noticing.
  • In the flashbacks in issue #8, the original Nathanial Essex is killed in his cell by an unseen force heralded by an ominous red glow. The end of Sins of Sinister would suggest this is the Sinister clone who has in fact achieved Dominionhood.
• Formally-Named Pet: Mr. Sinister's tortoise is named Professor Plod.
• Freak Out: Destiny, at the end of issue #14, thanks to being separated from Mystique and having no idea where she is or what's going to happen. Hope smacks her in the face and tells her to get a grip.
• From Bad to Worse: Issue #12. Colossus works with Shaw to install Selene on the Quiet Council. While Mystique and Destiny might be opposed to Shaw's machinations, Mother Righteous arranges it so Mystique suddenly kills her wife, and Shaw uses this to exclude Irene from the Council, allowing him to solidify his control. With Nightcrawler gone, Piotr also manages to seize his vote, and decides to reveal the truth about the Sinister timeline to the entire world, which will completely tank Krakoa's reputation.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: Issue #9 sees Sinister repeatedly attempting to assassinate the Quiet Council, resetting the timeline every time he fails. He has ten attempts for this point in time, as the Moira clone he's using can only reset ten times. The last one mostly succeeds.
• Hate Plague: Mother Righetous is able to magically cast one on Mystique powerful enough to make her skewer Destiny for no reason.
• Heroic BSoD: Charles's state after Fall of X. He's just been sitting on Krakoa completely broken, save for using his powers to drive off any Orchis goons who come near.
• Heroism Motive Speech: Xavier's running narration in the prelude issue to Sins of Sinister talks about how he constructed the teams over the years to specific ends. It admits that people have a valid reason to fear mutants compared to every other demographic, especially people like him who could psychically compel everyone to kill themselves if they were so inclined, and that it takes tremendous personal ethics to never do so. That the issue ends with the reveal that Xavier has become corrupted by Sinister's personality, it becomes a Heroic Heelization Speech.
• Hidden Depths: Or rather, a subversion involving the absolute lack of them, as Xavier discovers in #17 when he enters Sinister's mind and is struck by just how truly superficial and empty he really is:
  Xavier: Inner lives are beautiful things. I have walked through the depths of many minds. Like rainforests populated by endless whim and memories, with colours in palates of dream. This is cold and empty and sad. I am sorry for you, Nathaniel. You are full of broken glass. Bad jokes. Memes. There is no weight to you. You are barely a paper mask.
• Holding Back the Phlebotinum: After spending three issues abusing Moira's power every chance he gets, Sinister decides not to use it in the fourth issue after Destiny insults his ego by calling him a coward.
• Hope Spot:
  • After the events of Sins of Sinister, Storm has the compromised members of the Quiet Council checked over. Forge figures he can probably prevent what Sinister did from happening again (barring any extra surprises), and Ororo starts to feel hope... then Charles proves he's learned nothing from all this.
  • Several times over for Piotr in issue #12, but alas, no hope in a Russian novel.
  • Issue #13 as a whole suggests that with Cypher's condemnation the Quiet Council might be able to course correct before things get too bad. Then, quite suddenly, Krakoa grabs Doug and spirits him away. And in-between there and issue #14, Fall of X starts.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Part of Piotr's problem through issue #12 is trying to get Kate and Ororo, who've known him for years, to see how his actions are not his, but all they see is the naïve Russian farmboy.
• A House Divided: The book continues the Quiet Council's struggle to work together despite internal feuds and differing agendas. To whit; Charles is getting increasingly tetchy with people trying to call him out on poor decisions, Emma is pissed at Charles and Erik for lying to her, Shaw only cares about his bottom line (and possibly just bottoms in general), Storm is torn between the Council and Arakko, Kate is more focused on the Marauders, Colossus is The Mole, Exodus is driven by his Mutant faith (and once Hope joins is 100% behind her in all things), Sinister is Sinister, Mystique only cares about Destiny, and Destiny only cares about Mystique.
• How Dare You Die on Me!: In issue #13, Charles accuses Magneto of "dying on me" back in Judgment Day.
• Human Resources: Sinister views other mutants as raw material, as always. Early issues refer to a gun based on cloned eyes from Cyclops, a bank of clones of Moira used to research and reset the future and, in one possible Bad Future, cloned meat from Sebastian Shaw used to store kinetic energy for a starship.
• Humiliation Conga:
  • Selene's terrorism-via-Kaiju retaliation against the Quiet Council does not end well for her. She is unceremoniously assassinated by Hope Summers, then resurrected on Krakoa, only to be punched in the face by Hope, telepathically interrogated by Exodus to dismiss the Kaiju, then killed again via a Neck Snap.
  • Issue #14 shows that Sebastian Shaw's scheming before the start of Fall of X hasn't gone to plan. Shaw gets ownership of Krakoa but fails to get its liquid assets, he loses control of the Hellfire Club to Wilson Fisk (who is now White King) and his attempt to strip mine Krakoa is hindered by Xavier, who is staying on the island as penance for what he did.
• Hypocrite: In issue #11, Ororo is at one point unsettled by Rasputin's rather aggressive (if understandable) self-righteousness towards the Quiet Council members infected by Sinister in Sins of Sinister. Her own self-righteousness throughout the issue is rather bluntly punctured by Emma towards the end, who points out that Ororo really has less cause to be getting high and mighty towards Xavier, herself and the others than she thinks considering that, in the Bad Future, things only got as bad as they did in large part because Ororo failed to notice anything was wrong for five years, until it was far too late. And that, for all her claims about "no thrones on Arakko", in that timeline she appears to have gotten rather comfortable with her people regarding her as some kind of god-monarch. What also goes unsaid (and is unknown to the two), but is also a factor, is that it is also revealed in the main event that the only reason the timeline lasted as long as it did was because Ororo secretly refused to reset it when she had the opportunity because of a hope that things might get better; they didn't, meaning that despite her best intentions Ororo also has some inadvertent but nevertheless direct responsibility for perpetuating the thousand years of horror everyone in that timeline suffered.
• Identity Breakdown: Learning about Dr. Stasis in issue #4 causes Sinister to have a momentary panic attack.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Deconstructed. In issue #6, when Destiny is facing the Progenitor's judgement after the failed attempt to destroy it (the devastating consequences of which she knew, but kept secret), she argues that the alternative was seeing the whole world burn, and that if it came to either the mutants or the humans, she was going to choose the mutants. The Progenitor (in the form of Mystique) promptly silences her by saying that it isn't judging her for that, it's judging her for lying to accomplish it; choosing to keep a major fact like that from the others, to ensure that they'd do it. This earns Destiny a thumbs down from the Celestial, with it coldly warning her that she'd best hope the others prove more moral than her.
• Immaturity Insult: Destiny thinks to herself that Essex is like a toddler who enters a party and assumes all the gifts are for him.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Emma's spotlight issue covers hers. She's drowning in self-loathing, but since she absolutely refuses to let anyone see that she covers it with aloof smugness.
• Insistent Terminology: In #14 Sebastian Shaw finds himself a new secretary he insists on calling "New Tessa", although her name is Siobhan.
• In Spite of a Nail: Apparently, no matter what Sinister tries when attacking the Quiet Council, he can never beat Storm. Eventually he just gives up trying.
• Internal Homage: The first issue starts with Essex and Adler meeting on a park bench, echoing the House of X meeting between Xavier and Moira that launched the Krakoan Age storyline. And much like that meeting, whatever's whispered to Sinister leaves him speechless.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Destiny's observation of a Bad Future alerts her to the fact that Sinister has cloned Moira and is using her to reset timelines.
  • The Quiet Council finally realises that Mystique arranged her wife's resurrection by impersonating Xavier and Magneto.
  • Emma informs The Quiet Council that Orchis villain Doctor Stasis is another version of Mister Sinister.
  • The Daily Bugle publishes a front page story telling humanity that mutants now have Resurrective Immortality.
  • In issue #12 Raven reveals to Irene she knows what her wife did in the Sinister timeline to "protect" her, and that she is furious.
  • In issue #18, Xavier and Sinister's ghost discover Mother Righteous is the fourth Sinister clone, while the readers have known since just before Sins of Sinister.
• In-Universe Factoid Failure: Kate tries objecting to Selene bringing up the time she resurrected all of Genosha's dead by saying she brought them back as zombies. Selene shuts her down by pointing out this isn't true (she does leave out the little salient detail they were brought back completely under her control as part of a plan to attain godhood, but nobody brings that up).
• Irony: In issue #13 Xavier admits that he actually despises the mutant supremacism and essentialism of Krakoa but only went along with it as a compromise because Krakoa was necessary to preserve mutantkind, the other founders were die-hards on the issue and it was necessary to indulge them for the project to succeed. However, each of his co-founders has subsequently either died, been exiled or abandoned Krakoa, leaving Xavier — the only non-believer — in a position where he's the only one left frantically trying to hold together a society based on beliefs he doesn't even value.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Nobody likes Selene, but she's not wrong when she points out that Apocalypse's departure leaves the Quiet Council without an expert on magic and vulnerable to threats that use it. After the Sins of Sinister event Mother Righteous, the Sinister clone who's pursued magical power, is in a strong position to do exactly that.
  • In issue #7, Kurt is momentarily shaken when he comes across an Orchis propaganda leaflet which, underneath the anti-mutant xenophobia, makes the somewhat simplistic yet blunt and difficult-to-refute point that mutant claims that they are an oppressed and downtrodden minority cannot help but ring a little hollow when they're powerful enough to conquer Mars, terraform it within minutes and use it as the foundation of a mutant-only galactic civilization. Oh, and when it turns out they can also live forever.
  • In his point of view issue, Xavier addresses a long-standing meta-critique regarding the X-Men and mutants — that they are simultaneously and somewhat contradictorily treated as an abused, oppressed and downtrodden minority while also containing among their ranks numerous people with borderline-unstoppable godlike superpowers — by acknowledging that, while it doesn't justify the worst of their actions, people are entirely within their rights to fear mutants; unlike other oppressed minorities, they can be genuinely dangerous to everyone around them, human or mutant.
    Xavier: This is the awful truth. When a child comes out to bigoted parents, it destroys lives. When Magneto came out as a mutant, he killed a whole town in his grief. Being a mutant shares traits with other persecuted groups, but it is unlike it in one key way: we are dangerous. They are right to be frightened. Imagine asking those Erik tore apart in his grief for little Anna whether or not we should be feared. I dare say there were mutants in that town as well. We hurt our own. We hurt everyone. If there isn't someone to stop that.
  • After their argument in issue #11, Ororo notes that while Emma was just lashing out, it doesn't make what she says to her less true.
  • Part of what makes it difficult for Kate to countermand Colossus; while he is being controlled to say hurtful things and undermine Krakoa, some of his criticisms — such as how Destiny nearly caused the destruction of Iceland in Judgment Day, and how the Quiet Council's general willingness to make questionably ethical decisions for some hypothetical utopian ideal are gradually warping and undermining that whole ideal to begin with — are entirely spot-on.
• Kaiju: Selene animates the External gate, made from mutant bones, as a huge undead monster, and then sets it rampaging across Krakoa.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: In issue #10, Sinister's warranty runs out as his attack on the Quiet Council which nearly ruins the resurrection protocols as Hope was the biggest victim is the last straw. This Sinister is shoved into the pit, but the Xavier/Sinister clone is still active.
• Kick the Dog: Colossus makes several nasty remarks towards Kate. Some of them are what his controllers are making him say, and some are him Fighting from the Inside, in the hopes Kate will realize something's hideously amiss and try to stop him. No dice.
• Lack of Empathy: In the fourth issue, only Charles and Nightcrawler directly express any sympathy when news reaches the Council that a sick human committed suicide in an attempt to exploit Krakoan resurrection. Shaw sees a business opportunity, Emma changes the subject as quickly as possible, and Exodus remarks on "the stupidity of humanity".
• Lampshade Hanging: Issue #18 has a brief moment where Charles comments on Moira's dramatic shift in characterization in the Krakoan Era, and post-Inferno specifically.
• Large Ham: Sinister's response to Magneto's resignation from the council. He already knows it's going to happen, so hides his lack of surprise with a completely over-the-top Big "WHAT?!" response.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Essex mocks Irene Adler's seizure, claiming it's the reaction of an "average, weak woman" overcome by emotion. Two pages later, something she says unexpectedly has him collapsing to the ground, clutching his throat and lapsing into a Madness Mantra.
• Lazy Alias: During the flashback to Destiny and Mystique meeting up in 1945, Destiny laments how Sinister has "disguised" himself as Dr. Nathan Milbury.
• Lazy Bum: Mother Righteous says this about herself in issue #18; while she does want to attain godhood and then live her own, personal "happy ever after", she seeks to do so in the laziest manner available to her.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Shaw figures Krakoa is going to crash and burn, and when that happens plans to take the entire island.
• Literary Allusion Title: The eighth issue is titled "The Curious Case of Dr. Essex and Mr. Sinister" as it lifts from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in its depiction of Essex/Sinister during Victorian times.
• Losing Your Head: Sinister has the Alternate Universe Dark Beast's head, still alive, suspended in a tube of liquid. The head is conscious and extremely angry about it.
• Madness Mantra: You're a ghost.... Something causes Destiny and Sinister in the first issue, and then Destiny again in the second, to act as if they Go Mad from the Revelation and repeat this line over and over. It happens to Sinister again in the eighth issue where it's revealed the original Essex says both the "You're a ghost" mantra and a new one, "Red and black", before he dies. Later revelations imply that they are reacting to the discovery of the secret Sinister clone who manages to achieve Dominion.
• Malicious Misnaming: When Kate starts objecting to what Colossus is doing, he shoots back that "Kitty would've understood [why he's doing it]."
• The Man Behind the Man: Issue #6 reveals Mother Righteous was assisting Selene's tantrum in #2, and Sebastian Shaw knows this. As of issue #11, Shaw's actively dealing with her as well.
• Manchurian Agent: As was established prior to the run's launch in X-Force #24, Colossus has been unknowingly compromised by XENO and the Russians. Sinister is fully aware of this, he's just chosen not to tell anyone. How he found out is probably a result of The Reveal.
• Meaningful Echo:
  • In the first issue, Destiny tells Sinister that there is no "the" future. In the third issue, she simply says that there is "no future", because she can see no future in which her wife Mystique survives.
  • Back in the first issue of House of X, Magneto told some human ambassadors "you have new gods now." At the end of issue #18, Enigma repeats this, only it's clear it's talking about itself.
• Mind over Manners: Charles Xavier is usually pretty firm on not reading minds without consent, but in issue #18 he borrows technical skills from people across the world left and right. Admittedly, the situation is extremely desperate.
• Mind Probe: In his origin story, Exodus fought and won a psychic duel with Sersi of the Eternals. Here, it's revealed he actually read her mind as he did so and learned a lot about Eternals, giving valuable insight into their nature.
• Misery Poker: When Ambassador Mingyu confronts Emma about Krakoa's revival technology, presses for more information, and points out how this could be used for humans as well, Frost tries to shut him up by throwing the Genoshan Genocide in his face in a "mutants suffer worse than humans so we don't have to share or be nice to you" way. Mingyu is not impressed, pointing out that ranting about hate crimes committed against mutants (least of all one that wasn't even committed by humans) and who has it worse won't magically make criticisms and problems go away, and that Krakoa is going to have to be willing to make concessions and engage with humans as equals if they want to actually survive as a nation long-term.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Sinister's laboratory is crawling with various genetically altered animals, including a Cyclops Cat ("Cy-Cat") and a Sinister Tortoise ("Professor Plod").
• Morality Chain: The Quiet Council generally behaves slightly better when Charles is there than when he's not. During Judgment Day Destiny exploits this by timing a key vote while he's not around. He's passive-aggressively pissed about it afterward.
• Moses Archetype: In issue #14, in the aftermath of the Hellfire Gala, Exodus leads the banished Krakoans through a desert.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: After Selene weasels her way onto the Quiet Council, Destiny obliquely hints that there is a way to invalidate her vote; kill her (since if Krakoa resurrects her she'll be subject to the same uncertainty as everyone else who's been resurrected). Exodus soon catches on and tries to do just that.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After the mutants newfound immortality is exposed to the world, Xavier is forced to look at the damage this and his "mutant utopia" is doing to humans and is shaken to his core, being especially horrified upon learning of a terminally ill man who committed suicide by overdosing himself with mutant growth hormone believing that he would be brought back right away if he died as a mutant.
  • Of all the four telepaths, Hope is the only one to actually show any regret and remorse for what happened in Sins of Sinister, once she gets past the anger. Ororo takes it as a positive sign.
• Neck Snap: Inflicted on Selene by Exodus after she is resurrected and forced via mind control to dispel her summoned monster.
• Newspaper Backstory: Emma Frost laments that there's no big announcement to accompany the second Hellfire Gala. The story then cuts to a Splash Panel of the Daily Bugle's front page, with the revelation that the X-Men now have Resurrective Immortality.
• Noodle Incident: Issue #18 reveals both Orbis Stellaris and Doctor Stasis have already tried to ascend and failed; Orbis by a mixture of mysterium and the M'Kraan Crystal, and Doctor Stasis by doing... something to the sun.
• No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus: Played with. Whereas it's generally played straight in the Marvel Universe, Exodus believes that Jesus was both "the Nazarene mutant" and a messiah. However, nobody else on Krakoa seems to hold this view.
• Not His Sled: Internally: When the Quiet Council begins to vote to determine if Hope should be allowed to join, Sinister knows in advance how the votes will land (outside of himself; he went in always planning to vote "No"). But when Destiny votes against, even though Sinister knows she originally voted the other way, that causes him to realize that she knows what he does, forcing him to change his vote.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Knowing there's little way to trust that Sinister's machinations haven't infected the Quiet Council, Ororo removes Charles, Emma, Hope and Bennet from the Council. Unfortunately, with Nightcrawler also taking off from Krakoa over in Sons of X and Colossus still being The Mole, this leaves her up against Mystique, Destiny and Shaw with only Kate on her side.
• Obviously Evil: Once Mother Righteous' treachery becomes apparent, Exodus is kicking himself for suffering a witch to live. Likewise, Charles states that the fact she was openly wearing a mask should've been a tip-off.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When everyone else is pleased that Sinister has been put in the pit, Destiny responds quite differently, telling Mystique:
    My love. We must leave. Immediately.
  • Destiny's powers don't work in the White Hot Room. She's in the middle of explaining this to Mother Righteous when she realizes this isn't a good thing. Righteous then stabs her.
• Only Sane Man: Nightcrawler is the only member of the Quiet Council who hasn't gone all in on "mutant superiority". He is appropriately horrified by the rest of the Council's seemingly growing and sociopathic disregard for humans and robots, and disgusted when Exodus deems humans as stupid after hearing about a suicide. (It should perhaps be noted in total fairness, however, that Xavier is also clearly deeply troubled as a result of this.) Colossus would be in the same category as Kurt but, unfortunately, he's been compromised by the Russians and is an unwilling mole instead.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Sinister's usual flippant Large Ham demeanour falls apart when he discovers that Doctor Stasis is another version of him and he starts to doubt his own identity.
  • In #17, the ghost version of Sinister inside Xavier's mind is a lot more honest and open about who he is and what he's doing than he usually is (though he's not entirely happy about it — "This radical transparency thing is highly overrated!"), freely admitting that yes, he is a dishonest backstabber out for himself, yes, he is superficial and lacking depth, and even yes, he is at the end of the day utterly outmatched by Xavier. Because he knows that the Sinister clone who achieves Dominion is a threat to everyone, including him.
  Xavier: You would do or say anything to keep on living.
  Sinister: Of course I would. I'll say anything. I'll even say the truth.
• Out of Focus: Not all the Quiet Council characters are focused on equally. Sinister by far gets the most focus in early issues, with Mystique and Destiny not far behind, and Emma, Exodus, and Nightcrawler all being almost as prominent. Hope is in focus for the first three issues but only appears for a single panel in the fourth, while Storm is uncharacteristically quiet and Colossus is barely even a presence. Admittedly, Colossus was also being a major character in X-Force and Shadowcat over in Marauders at the same time.
• Perception Filter: Sinister's files include information on attempts to reach Dominionhood by Doctor Stasis and Orbis Stellaris, but he is unable to remember or perceive them. Even when another person reads them and points them out, Sinister can see nothing on the screen because the Dominion prevents him from being able to.
• Playing Both Sides: A recurring theme with Emma is that while she is on Krakoa's side, when it comes to votes she will abstain if it looks like her first choice won't win, rather than make a moral stand, or possibly make a choice of petty spite.
• Power Nullifier: Hope demonstrates to Exodus that her "Omega level Power Manipulation" extends to nullifying mutant powers, before using her Fights Like a Normal combat skills to kick his depowered ass.
• Powers as Programs: The fourth issue reveals that Sinister has mastered personalities as programs, showing him reinstalling his current personality that he refers to as a mixture of Deadpool, RuPaul's Drag Race, and Oscar Wilde.
• Psychological Torment Zone: The White Hot Room, at least for Hope and Exodus. Hope is constantly attacked by spectres of Wolverine and Bishop, who have both tried to kill her, while Exodus is attacked by Apocalypse as he looked when they first met, perceiving him as a Satanic Archetype.
• Public Domain Canon Welding: A version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 19th century detective Sherlock Holmes really existed in the Marvel Universe, although he was just an alias for Mystique. As implied by previous comics, it's also revealed that Mystique's wife Destiny, Irene Adler, was the same Irene Adler that Holmes encountered (in "A Scandal in Bohemia"). How many of the original Holmes stories were true (or to what extent) is unrevealed, though.
• Put on a Bus:
  • Magneto leaves the Quiet Council in the wake of the events of Inferno and The Trial of Magneto to join Al Ewing's X-Men: Red.
  • Nightcrawler departs Krakoa in the Sons of X one-shot released the same day as issue #11.
• Reality Warper: Issue #18 has Sinister posit that the Dominion can and in all likelihood has alter(ed) history to defend itself, giving it nudges here and there to serve its own purpose. The only reason he can figure it hasn't gone further is it's unwilling to risk itself by pushing further.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • After suffering an issue of Ororo's self-righteousness over the whole "Sins of Sinister" debacle in #11, Emma gets her own back when she coolly but bluntly points out that Ororo, frankly, has no place whatsoever getting judgemental towards anyone else considering that, for all she was regarded as the hero in the Bad Future that resulted, the whole mess only occurred in large part because she was too divided between Krakoa and Arakko to notice anything was wrong for five years. And that furthermore, all the claims about "no thrones on Arakko" clearly ended up just being hypocritical waffle considering how comfortable Ororo clearly got with being worshipped as some kind of god-queen. Ororo is clearly seething when she's listening to it, but while she later rationalises it as Emma just lashing out she does also admit that the speech hit the target exactly.
  • In issue #13, Doug has such a speech prepared in his head and lets Xavier read his mind. Doug reveals that the Quiet Council's shady actions have destroyed the Krakoans' trust in the whole idea of Krakoa. It reminds them too much of the bad governments that made them flee to Krakoa in the first place. It's also making Krakoa the island sick because it feeds off of the people. Xavier immediately breaks down crying and agrees that he's made too many moral compromises. This ultimately leads to Xavier's decision to end the Quiet Council altogether and replace it with telepathic democracy.
• Religious Bruiser: Exodus, raised as a Catholic in the time of the Crusades, is still a devout Christian, and still willing to throw down with anyone he considers a threat to his fellow mutants. In conversation with Hope, he explains a bit about his personal theological beliefs and how they relate to his mutant supremacist ideals, such as his theory that Jesus was a mutant.
• Remote Body: In issue #18, it is revealed Mother Righteous is using a homunculus from afar to ascend to Dominionhood in the White Hot Room.
• The Reveal:
  • Sinister's lab contains multiple clones of Moira, which he's been using to map out the future. He uploads them with information, then kills them to send a message to his past.
  • Nathaniel Essex cloned himself four times over, each marked with one of the four playing card suits to pursue four different means to combat the emergence of AI in the future, explaining why Dr. Stasis insists that he is the original Nathaniel Essex alongside the Mr. Sinister that X-Men fans are familiar with.
  • Both Dr. Stasis and Orbis Stellaris have tried and failed to achieve Dominionhood, something Mr. Sinister's records show but he himself is incapable of recalling until Xavier tells him directly after reading the records himself.
  • The Sinister that achieves Dominionhood is a fifth copy — namely, an artificial intelligence copy of the original Nathaniel Essex. The A.I. Essex, calling itself "Enigma", achieved Dominionhood by being fed data from the other Sinisters' attempts.
• Rotating Protagonist: The book centers on the members of the Quiet Council, focusing on a different character in each issue. Early issues start with the council members who aren't also appearing in other titles, leaving characters such as Nightcrawler and Colossus until later.
• Samus Is a Girl: This series confirms what was already implied for decades: Destiny is, in fact, the Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes and Holmes "himself" was one of Mystique's past identities.
• Save Scumming: Sinister's approach to his clones of Moira. If a decision leads to a future he dislikes, he uploads the details to a clone, kills her, and resets the timeline. It's implied that he's already done this 25 times, with the current Sinister being version 26 - he also mentions hoping to make it through Judgement Day this time, so at least one previous timeline he's reset was more advanced than where he was up to then..
• Schmuck Bait: Sinister's tenth run at trying to kill off the Quiet Council involves luring all the telepaths into reading a database that's actually a psychic bomb to stun them. He goads Hope into the trap by dismissing her as a "counterfeit".
• Serial Killings, Specific Target: Mister Sinister's murder of Hope is the spree-killing variant. He wants to kill at least three other members of the Quiet Council at the same time, hiding the essential murder of Hope (and he has some preferences as to which ones die), but she's the victim who's "10/10" essential. It's not until Sins of Sinister that Sinister's reasoning is explained.
• Shame If Something Happened: Hope interrupts Selene's bid for Magneto's seat to nominate herself, leaving with the inference that her standing among Krakoa would make declining her politically risky, something Sinister lampshades. Selene, feeling jilted, also adds that something might happen with the External Gate, outright affirming that she is making a threat. Sinister believes she's bluffing but she follows through by animating the gate as a giant monster.
• Ship Sinking: Kate has a talk with Kurt after Beast's proposal that confirms he and Abigail have indeed broken up sometime off panel.
• Shout-Out:
  • As with some of Gillen's other work, there are some musical references. The very first scene starts with one for Edward Elgar, with a reference to the Enigma Variations. That's swiftly followed by a more subtle shout-out to John Cale. The scene is captioned "Paris, 1919" and Essex is soon collapsed on the ground, repeating "You're a ghost" - the chorus of Cale's song Paris 1919.
  • When Sinister's reinstalling his personality after the shock of discovering that Doctor Stasis is another version of himself, we get the following:
    Mister Sinister: It's a wonder what a cocktail of Deadpool scrapings, five choice seasons of Drag Race and a sample of Oscar Wilde will do for a chap.
  • In issue #4, Sinister's Multiple Man-empowered duplicates lead the Quiet Council on a wild goose chase. To confuse their pursuers, each duplicate proclaims, "I'm Spartacus!" - except for the one who shouts "I'm Brian!".
• Shut Up, Kirk!: After Sins of Sinister Emma knocks Storm off her high horse by pointing that while she herself did not fall under Sinister's tampering, it still took her five years of the Bad Future to notice how the rest of the Quiet Council was affected. Storm can't judge the rest of the Council too harshly when she's away on Arakko.
• Slave to PR: One of the problems of being the Quiet Council is having to look the part of leaders in front of the rest of Krakoa. Obviously, for people like Mystique or Shaw, who couldn't care what anyone thinks of them, this isn't a problem. For Hope, however, it's more serious. Ororo manages to temporarily stop her attacking Exodus by pointing out everyone can see them.
• Smug Snake:
  • Mr. Sinister is in fine form in the first issue, thinking to himself that he has everything figured out, only for events to unexpectedly go another way and leave him fumbling trying to maintain his composure. Destiny spells it out for him near the end, there is no one future, no singular destiny, only possibilities that her powers allow her to see.
  • Selene Gallio deftly takes his place in the second issue, smugly believing her summoning of a giant monster will force the Quiet Council to bend to her will. Instead she is shot through a window, briefly resurrected back on Krakoa and then killed again. The dialogue also implies that her famous From a Single Cell tier regeneration power has been permanently neutralized.
• Sore Loser: Selene responds to rejection by creating a giant animated corpse-kaiju, though she's not the only one. Kate figures if they had elected Brand or Beast to the empty position, one would've probably tried to kill the other.
• Speech Bubbles: When Sinister reinstalls his personality the speech bubbles change step-by-step, not just the speech patterns. He goes from a very formal font to the standard font, but all in capital letters, before finally returning to the usual sentence case style.
• Stealth Sequel: The idea of a Dominion being represented by a crown, as Enigma is, was introduced in Defenders: Beyond
• Stop Worshipping Me: The Five are highly revered by the Krakoans, but Hope is embarrassed by all the reverence, and annoyed with the extremely pious overtures Exodus approaches her with.
• Super Supremacist: While it's downplayed compared to some other Krakoan era titles, most of the Quiet Council's members save Nightcrawler are avowed mutant supremacists.
• Switching P.O.V.: Each issue showcases a different Quiet Council's internal POV as they react to the events happening around them, the cast lists highlight this by coloring in the profile of the issue's character lead.
• Tag Team: Used twice in the second issue, where Rivals Team Up between Magneto and Storm before Duelling Messiahs Exodus and Hope Summers also join hands to repel Selene's Eldritch Abomination.
• Talking Animal: Sinister's creations, Cy-Cat and Professor Plod (a tortoise) are both able to speak, but have normal animal forms and mannerisms.
• Taking You with Me: In #17, on learning that he still has a remnant of Sinister within his consciousness (even a weak and largely powerless one), Xavier — who has already been driven to the brink by the destruction of Krakoa — reasons that he might as well make his final act on Earth to be ridding the world of any trace of Sinister once and for all. Fortunately for both of them, Sinister is able to convince him not to by revealing both just how powerless he is and that the Dominion-Sinister means that everyone has much bigger fish to fry, meaning they need to pull an Enemy Mine in order to defeat it.
• Terse Talker: Gorgon's argument for why he should be on the Quiet Council consists of just saying "Me." Comprehensively averted by Beast, who has prepared a Powerpoint presentation...
• Textplosion: Sinister has a villain soliloquy so long that it devolves into all-text pages. He even has the time to rant about some Biting-the-Hand Humor regarding the spelling of A.X.E.: Judgment Day.
• Thanatos Gambit: As Mother Righteous explains in issue #18, she manipulates Jean Grey's corpse to guide her to the White Hot Room, since, every time Jean dies, she enters the place, which Righteous wants to use to ascend to Dominionhood.
• Theseus' Ship Paradox: Touched on by Sinister in issue #18, when Charles is lamenting Moira's genocidal Face–Heel Turn and wonders if she even really counts as "Moira" anymore. Sinister being Sinister, he gets distracted by his own metaphor.
• Title Drop: In the fourth issue, "Immortal X-Men" is the headline in the Daily Bugle when the secret of mutant immortality becomes public.
• Too Clever by Half: This stymies Sinister repeatedly in the first issue. He boasts of his scientific prowess, utterly dehumanizes everyone else as genetic resources to be exploited, but regularly runs into stumbling blocks because things don't turn out how he so smugly expects. Yet he never learns, even after Destiny spells it out to him that there is no future that is an absolute certainty.
• Underestimating Badassery: Exodus, to Hope, in issue #11, thinking that with no powers his larger size means he still has an advantage, until Hope reminds him she was raised in a Bad Future by Cable.
• Villain Has a Point: Ever the manipulative sorceress, Selene makes the case for her nomination to the Quiet Council by saying they need a good magic user, otherwise they will fall to a magic user and won't even know it. She's right, though, as this comes back to bite them in the ass in Fall of X.
• Wham Shot:
  • The ending of issue #10. Xavier removes his Cerebro helmet, revealing a red Sinister diamond on his forehead. In other words, this Professor X has actually been a Sinister clone or chimera for an undetermined period of time.
  • The ending of issue #16. After Shaw tells him that he's been killing Orchis soldiers, Xavier doesn't understand what he means. He goes down to Sinister's old lab and is guided to a mirror, where a bloodied message reads "Don't kill yourself please" with a Sinister diamond positioned where Xavier's forehead is, suggesting Xavier is still connected to Sinister.
• Wham Line: After most of Krakoa's populace disappeared during the 2023 Hellfire Gala, no one knew where they were except a strange desert... until Hope finds a seemingly still alive Jean and reads her mind.
  Hope: I'm okay. She isn't. Her mind is on fire. It's burning. So hot. Beyond hot. So... ...I know where we are. I don't know what it means, but I know. What's the "White Hot Room"?
• Whole Episode Flashback: Issue eight is almost entirely flashback to Mystique, Destiny, and Sinister's interactions with each other in the past; first in New Mexico, 1943, and then a leap back to London, 1895. The only reference to the current ongoing plot is Mystique musing on her current relationship with Destiny and noting that she never figured out the mystery of Sinister's first comeback from death.
• Why Won't You Die?: During his Villainous Breakdown, Sinister defaces his own data page with a childish scribbling about how Hope just can't die.
• X-Ray Sparks: Happens to Hope and Exodus when Storm zaps them with a massive lightning bolt in issue #11.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: A severe problem for Exodus in issue 17. The illusionary Apocalypse is generated from Bennet's own image of him, and in Bennet's mind even with his own and not inconsiderable Mutant powers, he still cannot beat his old master.

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