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The first episode of X-Men’97 finale, Tolerance is Extinction- Part 1 is here and as we speculated with Episode 7, this episode did bring in Prime Sentinels who attacked the X-Men in a very zombie-apocalypse fashion. These sentinels were created by Bastion in coordination with other supervillains using Mr. Sinister’s Techno-Organic virus. In this episode, we saw mutant-hating humans take part in Bastion’s scheme and turn themselves into sleeper Sentinels to kill off every mutant they encountered. So, did X-Men ’97 Episode 8 prove Magneto was Right about humans? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episode 8: Tolerance is Extinction- Part 1.
What Happened in X-Men ’97 Episode 8?
The X-Men ’97 Episode 8 was by far the most action-rich episode we witnessed in season one. This episode tells us that Cable has been trying to prevent the destruction of Genosha by going back in time again and again. When this was revealed, Beast referenced the training ground of Doctor Strange Kamar-Taj and mentioned that their texts suggest some events are unchangeable in time and maybe the destruction of Genosha is one.
Not long after this, we saw that more and more people started turning into Prime Sentinels, people that X-Men trusted and loved turned out to hate them. X-Men’97 Episode 8 brought us an insane action sequence carried out by Wolverine and Nightcrawler where they were heavily outnumbered and yet were enough to rip and tear the Sentinels to shreds. We also got to witness “The Summers” i.e. Cyclops, Jean, and Cable carry out an amazing sequence where they fight Prime Sentinels while driving around in a Porche 911.
Seeing all the destruction, Doctor Cooper freed Magneto from the captivity of Bastion, and Magneto using his powers, destroyed Prime Sentinels all over the world. Bastion captured Doctor Cooper and before probably killing her, she said “Magneto was Right”. Right before the end credits rolled, we got to see Professor X crash landing into Xavier’s Mansion ending the episode with his famous lines “To Me My X-Men”.
Overall, I don’t think any of you folks would disagree when I say that X-Men ’97 is one of those shows that comes around once in a long while. The animation style, the action sequences, character designs, pacing, the story, you name any parameter to judge the show and X-Men ’97 has it pinned down. This series alone has brought more joy and entertainment to me than the entire phase five of MCU combined could not. If Marvel keeps on doing things like X-Men’97 it won’t be long before we see Marvel back in its former glory.
What Does ‘Magneto Was Right’ Mean?
As you all know, this episode ended while reinforcing the notion of ‘Magneto Was Right’ but what does it truly mean? When Doctor Cooper is begging Magneto for forgiveness regarding the events of Genosha, the frame focuses on a serial number tattooed on Magneto’s forearm. This serial number was given to him when he was captured and put into a Nazi concentration camp as a child during World War 2.
This frame is a symbol of events going on in Episode 8. The campaign of Bastion against the Mutants, Prime Sentinels killing Mutants without differentiation between kids or adults. This genocide is similar to what he saw in front of his eyes as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps.
Now if you look at how Magneto operates, his basic structure of thought is to prevent Mutants from being treated like how Jews were treated by the Nazis. The only difference being the Jews would be the Mutants and the Nazis would be replaced by Humans in general.
In X-Men ’97 Episode 8, “Magneto was right” means that his worst fear came true. Even after everything Mutants have done to protect humans and to reason with them, humans did turn against them and were willing to go to the extent of losing their humanity to wipe out mutants. So, does this mean we will once again get to see Magneto in his rather villainous avatar? Looks like we will have to wait for Episode 9 to find out. Till then, Stay Tuned!
