‘X-Men ’97’ Episode 9 Recap & Review: Magneto Wages War Against Humanity

Warning: The following contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episode 9, “Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 2.”

X-Men ‘97 returns with an all-new episode as the final episode of the series approaches. With Bastion’s (Theo James) Operation: Zero Tolerance in full effect, the X-Men must gather what’s left of their ranks to save mutantkind and stop Magneto’s (Matthew Waterson) war on humanity. With the fate of the world on their shoulders, the X-Men charge head first into the fight of their lives, a fight from which they may not all make it back.

‘X-Men’97’ Episode 9 Reunites Professor Xavier With His Mutant Team

The episode begins in the aftermath of Bastion’s assault on The X-Men and Professor X’s (Ross Marquand) return to Earth. We see our heroes and villains preparing for the coming battle as Magneto dons his iconic outfit from the comics and Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) and Forge (Gil Birmingham) save Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Roberto (Gui Agustini) from a mob of Prime Sentinels.

Back at the X-Mansion, Jean (Jennifer Hale)and Cyclops (Ray Chase) confront Professor X about his decision to leave the X-Men to Magneto. Professor X tells them that he wanted them to be free, love, and have a family without worrying about their loyalty to him as X-Men. Cyclops argues that this freedom would not have changed anything; he will always end up back with the X-Men.

This confirms Charles’ fear for Cyclops that he will be the one to help build a world of mutant freedom but never be able to enjoy it. Professor X extends his hand to his former pupil for understanding, but Cyclops doesn’t take it and walks off.

“Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 2” Shows the Devastation of Bastion’s Attack

After this tense exchange, Rogue (Lenore Zann) wakes up, recovering from her injuries from the team’s first encounter with a Prime Sentinel in Episode 6. Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) is there waiting for her and fills her in on what happened since her fight with Trask (Gavin Hammon). We then see Storm, Forge, Jubilee, and Roberto return to the mansion, and Storm and Jean share a tender reunion before facing the bleak reality of their situation.

The X-Men then gather together as Cyclops gives an update on the devastation of Bastion’s Operation: Zero Tolerance and the effects of Magneto’s magnetic blast that covered the Earth, setting the planet back centuries and causing turmoil.

Storm, being able to feel the Earth’s magnetic field dying, gives them 12 hours until the damage is irreversible. Cyclops splits the team into Blue and Gold teams, with one going after Magneto and the other after Bastion, while Beast (George Buza) and Forge work on a way to restore the Prime Sentinels to their humanity.

Beast warns that the only problem is that he cannot locate the command server that connects the Prime Sentinels, and Professor X reveals that Bastion himself is the server. Xavier explains that he went to see Bastion’s mother when he first founded the school, believing he was a mutant due to his ability to communicate with machines. However, Bastion’s mother, being a mutant bigot herself, slammed the door in his face.

Hoping that Magneto will stop his declared war on humans once they deal with Bastion, the X-Men set off for Muir Island to prepare.

Magneto Offers the X-Men a Chance To Join Him

As the rest of the X-Men prepare to face Bastion, Professor X meets Rogue at the lake on the school grounds where she grieves over Gambit (A.J. LoCascio). Xavier expresses how he wishes Gambit could have been buried at the school, having spent his life trying to escape his past in Louisianna. Rogue snaps back at the Professor, saying he only saw them as students, not people, and that even though Gambit wanted to escape, he lived his life true to himself and looked towards the future, not the past.

Professor X expresses his grief over Gambit, Moira (Martha Marion), and the others lost on Genosha when suddenly, a massive asteroid breaches through the sky — Magneto’s Asteroid M. The rest of the X-Men rush to the Professor and Rogue as Magneto comes down to meet his former team and enemies.

Xavier tries to reason with Magneto, but the Master of Magnetism will have none of it. Magneto tells Xavier how beautiful Genosha was and how it was truly his dream realized, but that dream was destroyed with the thousands of lives taken in the attack, and he blames Charles for having him sell this false dream.

Addressing the X-Men, Magneto asks them how many more of them have to die for them to realize Xavier’s dream is dead and he offers them a new dream — a dream where they can have a new home and rise to their future as the superior species on Earth.

Magneto gives them the choice to follow him or cling to the dying world Charles has created. Rogue steps forward, saying that in Genosha, she chose to lead mutants into a new age and refuses to watch any more mutants die. Roberto follows, and the three leave as Charles sits with his failures.

Cable and Cyclops Have Their Moment in ‘X-Men ’97’ Episode 9

As they prepare for their assault on Bastion, Cyclops and Cable (Chris Potter) finally have their father-son moment. They talk about Madelyn and Jean, and Cyclops tells Cable to give them hell before they part ways. The team suits up in their classic X-Men gear from the comics as Professor X meets with President Kelly (Ron Rubin) to convince him not to attack Magneto.

Kelly reminds the professor that his leaving put them in this position. Professor X tells President Kelly that the world will end in less than an hour, and humanity’s only hope is the X-Men, just as it has been many times before. The team splits up, with the Gold Team going to Asteroid M to face Magneto and the Gold Team going to face Bastion. Before leaving, Jean and Cyclops embrace each other for a goodbye.

The X-Men Are Family Above All Else

Bastion, plugged into the Sentinel command server, detects the X-Men approaching and awakens an army of Sentinels to stop the heroes. The Sentinels attack the Blackbird, and Storm makes a plan to split up with her and Forge, taking on the Sentinels in the air while the rest of the team infiltrates the ground.

After just getting her best friend back, Jean does not like the idea of splitting up, and Storm tells her how she thought of her during her battle with the Adversary and how she faced her darkness to emerge stronger. Storm assures her that this is what they do and that they should not believe in their gifts but in each other. The two embrace each other as sisters and take the fight to the Sentinels.

The Sentinels continue to chase the Blackbird, and Storm takes them on, with tornados and lightning distracting them. The rest of the team makes their way to the ground where they discover the signal is coming from the Volcano on the island, but another group of Sentinels assaults them on their way there.

The team battles the robots, with Morph (JP Karliak) turning into the Hulk to smash the sentinels as Jean uses her psychic powers to throw the Jade Giant into his targets. While taking out the Sentinels, Mister Sinister joins the battle to taunt Jean and distract her from the fight.

Sinister is able to get the best of Jean and offers to tell her when he switched her and Madelyn if she stops this assault, but Jean says Madelyn is with her in this battle, and she gives him a psychic punch in the gut, temporarily disabling the villain.

Professor X and Magneto Battle on Asteroid M

On Asteroid M, things aren’t going much better for the Gold Team, as they find Magneto sitting on his new throne of a dismantled Master Mold. Wolverine rushes Magneto but is taken out by Rogue. The mutants fight with their former teammates as Professor X again tries to plead with Magneto. Magneto tells Charles to shut up, and the battle rages on.

Back with Blue Team, Jean faces Sinister again, who leads her into a trap by taking over Cable’s mind and making him attack Jean. Jean tries to get through to Cable, but Sinister’s influence is too strong, and he uses the psychic powers he inherited from his mother to overpower Jean.

Jean telepathically calls out to Cyclops and tells him she loves him before being overcome by the blast. Back on Asteroid M, Wolverine has successfully removed Magneto’s helmet, opening him up for an attack from Professor X. Professor X, finally ready to end Magneto, hits him with a psychic blast. As he screams in pain, Cyclops stops the Professor to give the Gold Team more time, hoping it can save Jean and Cable.

Magneto rises once more and releases another massive magnetic blast, which incapacitates the team. The Master of Magnetism goes to finish Professor X, calling him a traitor to all mutants, when we hear an all too familiar noise; Magneto looks down to see three adamantium claws ripping through his chest.

The team looks on in shock as Magneto retracts Wolverine’s claws and uses his powers of magnetism to rip the Adamantium from Wolverine’s bones. The episode ends in a spectacle of metal and blood as Wolverine cries out in pain.

‘X-Men’97’ Episode 9 Doesn’t Pull Any Punches

X-Men ‘97 Episode 9 is an emotional, action-driven rollercoaster that puts our mutants in their most dire situation yet. “Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 2” excels at taking the series’ themes and bringing them all to a head for the final episode. X-Men ‘97 has not missed yet, and the finale for this series will surely be no exception.

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