Cyclops is angry at Wolverine ditching the team, and it results in strained relations with the rest of the X-Men. Realizing the X-Men need to relax, Professor X decides to send a small team of Storm, Jubilee and Gambit to the nation of Genosha, to see if it is as friendly towards mutants as it claims to be.
Meanwhile, Wolverine travels home and is eventually ambushed by Sabretooth. The two do battle, culminating in Wolverine falling to the frozen sea. He's eventually rescued by First Nation fishermen, and he's nursed back to health. Wolverine stays in the fishermen's village for a time, but his popularity brings out the jealousy of Kyioek.
After storming out and being confronted by Sabretooth, Kyioek decides to help him ambush Wolverine. Sabretooh uses that as pretext to kidnap the entire village to use them as hostage. After tracking him down, Wolverine fights Sabretooth, is once again defeated, but is saved by the timely intervention of Kyioek. Sabretooth, enraged, is easily tricked by Wolverine and falls off a cliff, and the indigenous fishermen are saved.
At the same time, Storm, Jubilee and Gambit arrive at Genosha disguised as tourists. While initially treated well and Jubilee ecstatic about the vacation, the hotel personnel use computer data to deduce the "tourists" are actually mutants. That night, the log cabin they are staying in starts filling with smoke; when they escape outside, they realize the log cabin is surrounded by soldiers and robots. Though the three X-Men fight valiantly, they're ultimately captured by a Sentinel.
Tropes:
- Always Someone Better: Wolverine consistently to Kyioek.
- Big Damn Heroes: Kyioek prevents Sabretooth from finishing off Wolverine.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: After spending time in the village, Wolverine is content to settle down and retire from his adventurous lifestyle. Then Sabretooth trashes the village and kidnaps the locals.Wolverine: I thought I could forget what I've been. Some things you just have to face alone. [takes out his costume]
- Cliffhanger: Storm, Gambit, and Jubilee are captured by the Genoshans.
- Deadly Dodging: Wolverine leaps to the side when Sabretooth charges him, leading Sabretooth to fall off a cliff.
- Death by Adaptation: In the comic of the series, Kyioek dies in the issue based on this episode.
- Disney Death: Sabretooth falls off a cliff at the end of the episode. Notably, his fate is left up in the air until the end of Season 3.Wolverine: Stay gone this time.
- Doom Magnet: Wolverine, whose presence brings Sabretooth to destroy a First Nation village.
- False Utopia: Genosha turns out to be not so friendly towards mutants, after all.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Kyioek towards Wolverine.
- A Handful for an Eye: Sabretooth throws snow at Wolverine's eyes.
- Hope Spot: Wolverine feels at peace for the first time in years.Wolverine: (in anguish) There's no peace for me anywhere!
- I Never Said It Was Poison: "Who told you about mutants?"
- It's All My Fault:
- Wolverine when he finds the wrecked ruins of the First Nation village.
- Kyioek, since he only allied himself with Sabretooth to get rid of Wolverine. He didn't think his people would be in danger.
- Jean knows Wolverine left because of his feelings for her.
- The Native Rival: Kyioek.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: An interesting case, in that Genosha advertises itself as being friendly towards mutants when it's just as hostile as every other nation.
- The Reveal: The final shot of the episode is Gambit, Storm, and Jubilee captured by a Sentinel, revealing that Genosha is where Gyrich and Trask took the program after the President defunded it.
- Revenge: What Sabretooth wants out of this.
- Smart Ball: This is easily Sabretooth at his most competent. Instead of being a headstrong berserker charging in, he lays ambushes and waits for Wolverine to come to him.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Sabretooth is not as good a fighter as Wolverine, but regardless, he gets the best of Wolverine in several, if not most of their confrontations. Only Kyioek's intervention prevented Sabretooth from killing the X-Man.
