Apocalypse Gets A New Face In X-Men ’97 Episode 8
He’s got an ace up his sleeve.
X-Men ’97 might skew closer to an adventure-of-the-week series for the titular team, but its writers have always had a plan. That’s become abundantly clear as the revival rounds up its second season. Sure, the X-Men were scattered across time and space for a great deal of Season 2, but all those disparate roads have led to one particular villain: Apocalypse. In a sense, the team has been fighting this formidable mutant from what feels like the very beginning of time. His reign over mutantkind really begins in the far-off future, but the X-Men might have the opportunity to defeat their mortal enemy in the “present day” — that is, if they play their cards right.
At the end of Episode 7, Apocalypse returned to the present day to hit the X-Men at “their most vulnerable,” and in Episode 8, we see just how devastating his latest scheme really is.
Spoilers ahead for X-Men ’97 Season 2!
Apocalypse’s new Horseman
Death becomes him.
After a cliffhanger that’s lasted years, Apocalypse finally raises a new Horseman, and it’s none other than the X-Men’s dearly departed Cajun, Gambit. The villain’s plan has been pretty clear since Gambit perished in the Genosha attacks in X-Men ’97 Season 1, but it took a long time for the series to pay that off. Now, not only is Gambit resurrected, but Apocalypse’s consciousness is dwelling within his body. He’s both the Horseman known as Death and the villain’s new earthly vessel.
That means that Gambit is not quite the good guy we know and love anymore — though he maintains his connection to other heroes like Rogue and Nightcrawler, as well as control over his faculties. He can make his own choices when he returns to the X-Men in Episode 8, but as Apocalypse’s herald, they only create strife for the team. As Death, Gambit unlocks a new card trick: he can turn any living being into a kind of zombie-thrall. He does as much to his old friends in the Thieves Guild, and even to a few of the X-Men when they try to thwart his evil schemes. Speaking of which...
He might be Apocalypse’s Horseman, but Gambit has plans all his own. He whisks Rogue to a creepy mansion in the Louisiana bayou to convince her to take on a similar kind of immortality. A relic of Apocalypse’s power lurks somewhere in the swamps, and Gambit plans to use it on Rogue so that they can be “together forever, husband and wife.”
The Blood of Apocalypse
Gambit’s turn is a tribute to a forgotten comic storyline.
Gambit’s heel turn plays out in X-Men ’97 much the same way it does in the comics. He became Apocalypse’s Horseman in an X-Men storyline called “The Blood of Apocalypse,” written by Peter Milligan with art by Salvador Larroca. Though he doesn’t have a choice in this transformation in the series, the Gambit of the comics submitted willingly to Apocalypse. Of course, he became a slave to the villain’s whims shortly after becoming Death.
For around 20 issues, Gambit was under Apocalypse’s influence. Like in X-Men ’97, he retained some semblance of self, telling Rogue that he was “both Death and Gambit.” The longer he worked with Apocalypse, however, the more like his master he became. It took the joint efforts of Sunfire, Emma Frost, and even Mr. Sinister to excise Apocalypse’s influence, restoring Gambit’s true self before it was too late.
Rogue is instrumental to Gambit’s return, and his developing redemption.
“Blood of Apocalypse” isn’t the most beloved storyline in X-Men’s 2000s run, but X-Men ’97 knows what aspects of this tale to adapt and which to reimagine completely. The series makes Gambit’s redemption a family affair, with Professor X and Rogue working in tandem to burn Apocalypse’s influence out of Gambit’s psyche — all while Cable, the warrior born to destroy Apocalypse, tries to fulfill his destiny. Neither party really succeeds, to be honest: the X-Men only manage to regain control of Gambit's body, while Apocalypse remains hidden somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind.
On the bright side, though, our heroes have more time to save Gambit before time runs out. Cable won’t give up his hunt, and Apocalypse won’t stay buried forever. Something will have to give when X-Men ’97 returns for its final episode next week, and hopefully good will triumph over evil — but if this week’s episode proved anything, it’s that any victory will be very hard-won.
