Note: This story contains spoilers from “X-Men ’97” Season 2, Episode 9.
The second season of “X-Men ’97” has come to an end, but not before leaving viewers with one major character death.
This season of the hit animated TV show (a continuation of the 1990s “X-Men: The Animated Series”) sees Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine and the merry gang of mutants in a fight against Apocalypse — one that starts with the team divided as members are flung into the far future and distant past.
The finale of “X-Men ’97” Season 2, showrun by Matthew Chauncey, sees the titular team in a final fight against Apocalypse as they attempt to free Gambit from the evil mutant’s influence. Meanwhile, X-Force (led by Cable) and X-Factor (led by Dr. Valerie Cooper) join forces to assassinate Gambit and prevent Apocalypse from reasserting control.
In the end, Gambit is saved — but the X-Men’s fight comes with a heavy price. So who dies in the “X-Men ’97” finale, what does their sacrifice mean and what could be coming in Season 3? Read on to find out.
Who dies in the “X-Men ’97” finale?
After the notable death of Gambit (A. J. LoCascio) in “X-Men ’97” Season 1, the card-throwing mutant was resurrected by Apocalypse as his Horseman of Death in Season 2. Though Gambit’s new power allowed him to kill Apocalypse, the X-Men later discovered that the villain’s soul remained inside their friend and ally, looking for a way to gain control. Rogue (Lenore Zann) manages to temporarily sedate Gambit in the penultimate episode, but this leaves the X-Men with a ticking clock before Apocalypse reawakens.
Searching for a way to save Gambit, a team consisting of Rogue, Beast (George Buza) and Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) return to Apocalypse’s ship (named Ship and voiced by Rachel Kimsey), which they’d previously visited in Ancient Egypt before Apocalypse’s reign. It was on this ship that Apocalypse made contact with Eson the Searcher, a Celestial who granted him the Celestial Death Seed that greatly increased his strength and power.
While there, Rogue visits Eson herself and makes a bargain: The Celestial gives her the power to save Gambit, but she must sacrifice her own life in return. Rogue accepts the offer to rescue her love from Apocalypse, leaving Nightcrawler and Beast behind on Ship.
In the end, Rogue saves Gambit, but Beast returns with a Bible in hand to reveal that she is not the one who will be sacrificing herself. Instead, it is Nightcrawler (Rogue’s brother) who gives his life to the Celestial, bartering with Eson to save Rogue in return. Nightcrawler gives an emotional speech about how he knows the X-Men will mourn his life, but that they will one day recover and continue to be the heroes the world needs.
“I have faith,” he reasons in the episode’s closing moments.
It’s an emotional conclusion to a character that has often provided the X-Men a beating heart. This final line also ties into Nightcrawler’s religiosity, a core aspect of the blue-skinned, teleporting, sword-fighting mutant created by Dave Cockrum.
Why does Eson demand a sacrifice?
Eson the Searcher is one of the Celestials, a race of gigantic cosmic beings created by Jack Kirby in 1976’s “Eternals #1.” Celestials have appeared in the MCU proper before, with several showing up in “Eternals” and Eson having a cameo in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
In the “X-Men ’97” finale, Eson speaks to Rogue and Nightcrawler about the necessity of a sacrifice to combat Apocalypse. This is because Eson believes in a “survival of the fittest” philosophy, one that Apocalypse himself adopts.
“All creation is forged from destruction,” Eson tells En Sabah Our (also known as Apocalypse) earlier in the season. “The end bringing forth the beginning, the beginning returning to the end.”
This mindset ties into Kirby’s initial conception of the Celestials in his 1970s “Eternals” series. There, he established that the Celestials will visit planets in a series of four groups, or “Hosts,” to test their inhabitants. During the First Host on Earth, the Celestials created a group of evolved beings (Eternals) and devolved beings (Deviants) that branch off of humans, while also creating the possibility for mutants and mutation to arise from baseline humans. They would also appoint individuals to help oversee the growth of these species, as Eson does with Apocalypse.
But the Celestials didn’t always bring gifts. During the Second Host, the cosmic beings noticed that the Deviants had begun to subjugate humans, causing them to eradicate and sink the Deviant city of Lemuria as penance. The Fourth Host (which is what Kirby’s “Eternals” series focuses on) sees the Celestials return to judge progress of Earth over a 50-year period. Led by Arishem, the Celestials would then determine whether the planet should be allowed to live or be destroyed.
It’s all very heady sci-fi, right at home with Kirby’s other works. Chloé Zhao sets up Arishem’s judgment of Earth at the end of “Eternals,” with the Celestial abducting Sersi (Gemma Chan), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) to determine if humanity should continue living or be destroyed. This would seemingly be settled in a sequel that, as of now, is not in development.
But Eson’s mindset in “X-Men ’97” reflects that of his comic book counterpart. Just as the Celestials judge humanity, the Eternals and the Deviants to see if they should continue to survive, he believes that the life of Gambit requires sacrifice to be saved. If Gambit cannot overcome Apocalypse on his own, then another mutant must give their own life to prove he is, indeed, worth saving.
How does “X-Men ’97” Season 2 end?
After Kurt’s sacrifice, a mid-credits scene shows Dr. Valerie Cooper (Catherine Disher), leader of X-Factor, studying a file on Mystique (mother to both Nightcrawler and Rogue). Valerie Cooper then walks in the door, revealing that the audience was actually watching Mystique using her mutant power to disguise herself as the X-Factor leader. Mystique then dispatches the real Dr. Cooper with ease.
“X-Men ’97” fans had theorized for weeks that Dr. Cooper had actually been Mystique this entire season. This scene, however, reveals that this was not the case to this point, but that Season 3 will surely see Mystique taking over for the X-Factor leader.
What stories will follow from there remains anyone’s guess, but this puts Mystique in a powerful position (leading a mutant team with government backing) to carry out her own plans.
“X-Men ’97’ Seasons 1-2 are now streaming on Disney+.
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