If you thought things were fun and fancy-free in last week’s episode of X-Men ’97, this week’s episode, “Remember It,” was a good reminder: no, you’re watching an X-Men show, and everything is bad all the time. That includes a ton of deaths in the half-hour, including — spoilers past this point — Gambit dies, AND Magneto dies.
In fact, it might be more reasonable to discuss who doesn’t die in this episode, as an attack on the island nation of Genosha kills off half the cast and a ton of supporting cast members. It’s harrowing to watch, and probably raises a ton of questions — which we’ll attempt to answer, to the best of our ability.
X-Men ’97 Episode 5 Recap:
Before we get into specific character deaths here, let’s recap a bit of what happens in the episode. Rogue (Lenore Zann), Gambit (AJ LoCascio), and Magneto (Matthew Waterson) head to Genosha to oversee the mutant nation’s induction into the United Nations. That includes a reveal of numerous characters living on the island, including most of the sewer-dwelling Morlocks; and more modern characters like Glob Herman, Pixie, and Nature Girl, among others.
Part of the reason for their inclusion? This episode is a very loose adaptation of “E Is For Extinction,” by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Running in New X-Men #114–116, this kick-off story to the critically acclaimed run which introduced the above characters, and many other “weird” or minimally powered mutants. In the arc, we also met Cassandra Nova, a character who turns out to be the evil sister of Charles Xavier (simplified version). She unearths an old Master Mold and uses it to absolutely obliterate Genosha, despite the X-Men’s best efforts.
That’s basically what happens here. After some romantic shenanigans where we find out the backstory of Rogue and Magneto’s affair, a Gambit/Rogue breakup, and a kiss between Rogue and Magneto, Cable (Chris Potter) shows up. Unfortunately, Cable’s cord gets cut before he can warn everyone, and an enormous, cockroach-like Master Mold attacks Genosha. In the process of trying to stop it, so very many characters and cameo characters die. And while they’re ultimately able to stop the robot, at what cost?
Does Gambit Die In X-Men ’97?
One point of clarification here before we attempt to convey any authority on who lives, and who dies. The team in the comic book arc is Xavier, Beast, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, and Emma Frost. Pretty much none of the characters in this week’s episode of X-Men ’97, including Gambit, are featured in “E Is For Extinction.” So a lot of what I’m about to say here is based on “reading X-Men for several decades” and “watching a lot of TV.”
That said, here’s what happens with Gambit in the episode. After watching Magneto sacrifice himself (more on that in a second), Rogue flies directly at Master Mold (Eric Bauza), ready to sacrifice her life, as well. Gambit knocks her out of the way with a charged-up motorcycle and makes his own run at the giant robot. He’s almost successful but ends up getting impaled by one of the Master Mold’s tentacles.
The Master Mold lifts him up in front of its face. Gambit smiles, charges up the tentacle, charges up the entire Master Mold, and blows it to kingdom come, saving the survivors from the attack, including Rogue.
As the episode ends, Rogue is cradling the lifeless body of Gambit. She’s touching his face, and nothing is happening. “Sugar,” says Rogue. “I can’t feel you.” And the screen cuts to black.
So is Gambit dead? Again, from the comics, he doesn’t die this way, or really at all. Gambit is alive and kicking to this day, and about to launch his own X-Men team in July’s debuting Uncanny X-Men #1. However, not only do X-Men come back to life all the time… There’s time travel involved, via Cable.
My hunch is that yes, Gambit is dead in this episode. And in the next episode, we’re returning to the “Lifedeath” storyline focusing on Storm and Forge that started in Episode 4. But with time travel very much on the table, there are a lot of options to bring Gambit back to life. The same goes for…
Is Magneto Dead On X-Men ’97?
Magneto has spent this first half of a season wrestling with whether he’s a hero or a villain, as has the rest of the world. However, he dies a hero in this episode not because he fights back against the Master Mold — but because he dies trying to save whoever he can.
Specifically, he’s trying to protect Leech, the little Morlock kid he told back in Episode 2 “Mutant Liberation Begins,” that they never need to be afraid again. After getting thrown to the ground by the Master Mold, he not only forces Rogue and Gambit to safety, but he comforts Leech moments before they’re blasted to atoms by the Master Mold.
Perhaps not the most glorious death for the Master of Magnetism — the real hero moment is saved for Gambit — but calming a child before their final moments offers some form of redemption for his past crimes.
Like Gambit though, there are a bunch of options for Magneto to return. And in fact, he’s died multiple times in the comics. One time, he was replaced by a younger clone named Joseph, who struck up a relationship with Rogue. And just today in Marvel Comics, a series titled Resurrection of Magneto concluded with — what else — the resurrection of Magneto, after he died a second time.
One other thing we’ll mention… In Morrison and Quitely’s New X-Men run, they introduced a masked character named Xorn. One of the biggest jaw-droppers in comic book history is that Xorn was none other than Magneto, who had been out of the comic books for dozens of issues by that point. Given X-Men ’97 is already riffing on these storylines, we might be back to villain Magneto when he returns.
We don’t know what form Magneto will return in, but there’s precedent in the comic book source material for bringing him back. So stay tuned.
Who Else Dies On X-Men ’97?
Too many other characters to count? This is from a cursory glance, but as mentioned Leech dies, as well as the rest of the Morlocks with Magneto. Callisto, the Morlock leader dies. Sebastian Shaw is dead, and probably Emma Frost as well, though TBD. Nightcrawler lives, only to seemingly get blasted on a roof. Same with Banshee, and maybe Moira MacTaggert.
Basically, half the cast and supporting cast are gone. Will they be back? I’ll certainly be watching to find out.
X-Men ’97 Season 1 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
X-Men ’97 doesn’t have a one-a-day schedule like What If…? Season 2, or all-at-once like Echo. Instead, the series is getting a more traditional release schedule of two on premiere day, then one a week thereafter.
The release time is also typical. Versus what has now become a run-of-the-mill primetime “early” release for big movies and TV shows, new episodes of X-Men ’97 will be released on Wednesdays at 3 am ET / Midnight PT.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Marvel’s X-Men ’97 Season 1, and when they premiere:
- Wednesday, March 20, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 1 – “To Me, My X-Men”
- Wednesday, March 20, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 2 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”
- Wednesday, March 27, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 3 – “Fire Made Flesh”
- Wednesday, April 3, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 4 – “Motendo / Lifedeath – Part 1”
- Wednesday, April 10, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 5 – “Remember It”
- Wednesday, April 17, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 6 – “Lifedeath – Part 2″
- Wednesday, April 24, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 7 – “Bright Eyes”
- Wednesday, May 1, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 8 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 1”
- Wednesday, May 8, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 9 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 2”
- Wednesday, May 15, 2024: X-Men ’97 Season 1, Episode 10 – “Tolerance Is Extinction, Part 3” *Season Finale*
but the music man, they got Ace of Base’s “Happy Nation”. That was sooooooooooo fitting!
X-Men? Ace of Base??? This was made for me.