X-Men ’97 Episode 7: Who is Bastion and What are Prime Sentinels?

X-Men ’97 Episode 7 is here with some interesting revelations including the first-ever introduction to the main villain of X-Men ’97. Now I know what you guys must be thinking, “Mister Sinister was supposed to be the big bad guy” Well yes, he might be the one responsible for the execution of evil ideas but the mastermind behind all those ideas was someone who goes by the name of Bastion. So, who is this Bastion in X-Men ’97? Let’s find out!

Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episode 7.

Who is Bastion in X-Men ’97 Episode 7?

Bastion is a supervillain in the X-Men Saga who made his first cameo in X-Men #52 released in May 1996 with his full appearance marked in the comic run of Uncanny X-Men with The Uncanny X-Men #333 released in 1996. Bastion is a humanoid-cybernetic being who was created when a highly advanced sentinel prototype called Nimrod fused with the Sentinel Master Mold.

Now of course, since he is a sentinel, he has unfiltered hate for Mutants and came up with the idea of Operation Zero Tolerance and technology to turn humans into Prime Sentinels. As we saw in X-Men ’97 episode 7, this was done with a singular goal of wiping out mutant-kind from the face of the Earth.

What Powers Does Bastion Have?

Since Bastion is a cybernetic being he has all the powers a general combat machine would have. He has superhuman strength, agility, and speed. He is also resistant to all kinds of telepathic attacks making heroes like Jean Grey and Professor X of no use against him. Other than that his humanoid form is also the result of his exposure to the Techno Organic Virus. While the virus was deadly to Nathan Summers, for him, it became a power that he could control.

The Techno Organic Virus gives Bastion the ability to infect others and also gives him the ability to reanimate the dead as his cybernetic puppets who could be his soldiers for his war against the mutants. The virus also gives him the power of Technopathy that allows him to control and command anything of a robotic nature, even sentinels.

What is Operation Zero Tolerance (OZT)?

After Bastion was created, he initially did not recall much of his past. When he recalled his purpose to destroy the mutants, Bastion created an operation called Operation Zero Tolerance or OZT as seen in X-Men ’97. OZTs main purpose was to make sure that Mutants were not just contained, but wiped off the face of the Earth.

He and the members of his organization attempted to recalibrate old Sentinels but according to Bastion, they were old and not as deadly as he wanted the Sentinels to be. So, he came up with the idea of creating Prime Sentinels.

What Are Prime Sentinels?

As I mentioned above, Operation Zero Tolerance (OZT) was commenced by Bastion with the sole purpose of exterminating mutants and to do that, he created Prime Sentinels. So, Prime Sentinels were human beings whom Bastion implanted with nanochips containing the Techno Organic Virus. These humans were unaware of these implants but once these were activated, it turned these humans into deadly armored beings with a destructive weapons system.

In the comic books, after the commencement of OZT, these Prime Sentinels were responsible for abducting several X-Men along with Professor X and Jubilee and since we have already seen that Professor X is still alive in X-Men’97 and is making his way back to Earth, there is a possibility that we might get to see this arc in the series as well. So, let’s wait for the next episode set to release on May 1, 2024. Till then, stay tuned!