Avengers #369
Bloodties Finale: Of Kith and Kin
This story continues from Uncanny X-Men #307…
The SHIELD Helicarrier is making its way to war torn Genosha a nation in the midst of a bloody civil war between its human and mutant populations. On board, Nick Fury is informed that the situation on the apartheid nation has gotten even more deadly than before. Fury takes this information to the Avengers he has on board the vessel, the Black Widow, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Vision, and Hercules. They understand the gravity of the situation and pray not only for the nation of Genosha, but the entire world.
On the mainland members of the Avengers and the X-Men have been trying to quell the violence as well as rescue Luna, the daughter of Quicksilver and Crystal from Fabian Cortez. Cortez has kidnapped the young girl due to her familial relation to his former master, Magneto.[1][2] Unfortunately, the battle has taken a massive turn when Exodus — the most devout of Magneto’s followers — has arrived on the scene in an attempt to take control of the situation. Exodus uses his great power to erect a barrier around Genosha to prevent any more outsiders from entering the area. Exodus has decreed that that the Maximoff twins — Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch — are no longer worthy of being Magneto’s heirs and has elected himself to fill this role. He has also decided that it is also time for Cortez to die and telepathically forces Fabian to hand over Luna before seemingly killing him.[3] He then turns his attention to Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Crystal, and Jean Grey and unleashes his power on them. He then tells them that today will be a day of celebration as those who have sinned against Magneto will pay in full.
Above ground, a team of X-Men — Cyclops, Storm, Iceman, Rogue, Ravange, Gambit, and Bishop — are helping get refugees to safety and restraining Mutates loyal to Cortez. The entire dramatic scene is being recorded by reporter Trish Tilby. They are soon joined by the Avengers — Captain America, Black Knight, Sersi, and War Machine — who inform the X-Men that the sudden barrier around the island of Genosha was created by Exodus. The two teams then compare notes on what has been going on and how Crystal and the Scarlet Witch went off to find Luna.[5] War Machine informs the others that the dome erected by Exodus has also cut off all forms of communication, leaving the two teams alone to deal with this deepening crisis.
Storm suggests that the two teams put their past differences aside and work together on their common goal, a suggestion that is full supported by both sides. Storm and War Machine then fly up to the top of the dome shaped barrier to try and figure out what it is made of. War Machine is surprised when his scanners fail to detect it. However, when he tries to pass through it, his armor is shorted out, prompting Storm to rescue him before he falls to the ground below. Unfortunately, War Machine is too heavy for her to carry. Luckily, Sersi flies up to help Storm out, preventing anyone from getting injured. After what happened, Storm suspects that the barrier is psionic in nature. It’s then they are contacted telepathically by Professor X who asks for the X-Men to aid him as he and the Beast, as well as countless refugees, are in danger.[5] Cyclops orders Iceman and Ravange to stay behind and tend to the wounded while the others head to help the Professor. Gambit hangs back just long enough to promise Iceman to bring the Beast back alive.[6]
Charles Xavier and the Beast are pinned down in a mutant detention center along with their allies Henry Gyrich, US Agent, Jenny Ransom, Phillip Moreau, and Renee Majcomb. After witnessing the deplorable conditions, Jenny and Phillip believe that they should never have left Genosha as they could have prevented this kind of atrocity from happening. Just when things are looking their bleakest, the X-Men and Avengers arrive on the scene and deal with the Genoshan Magistrate military. Seeing the detention camp first hand disturbs Captain America, as it reminds him of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. With the soldier defeated, they then begin tending to the wounded Mutates while getting Xavier up to date on the situation. Suddenly, Rogue begins screaming in agony as her mind is attacked by Exodus, who believes that she betrayed Magneto in the past.[7]
Witnessing this, the Scarlet Witch demands to know who Exodus really is and where he comes from. He refuses to answer and lashes out at Quicksilver when Pietro dismisses him as a power man fanatic. When the others tell Exodus to kill them and be done with it, he tells them that he intends to make them suffer with millions of others, but tells them that they will have to wait to see what he has in store.
Out on international waters, the SHIELD helicarrier continues to monitor the situation, unable to get through the psi-barrier put up by Exodus.[8] After examining the barrier, the Vision concludes that it is retracting and that it will soon destroy the entire island and kill everyone living on it.
Back on the ground, Rogue survives Exodus’ mental attack thanks to Professor X’s own telepathic powers. Soon, Exodus arrives with Luna, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Jean Grey. Exodus announces his intentions to kill them all in revenge for Magneto’s recent defeat as well as wipe the bigoted nation of Genosha off the map as a warning to the rest of humanity that their days are numbered. With Exodus telepathically riling up the mob of rebelling Mutates, both the X-Men and the Avengers prepare to put an end to all of this before they are all destroyed. The two teams then charge toward Exodus and clash with the Mutates standing in their way. This rebel army is soon joined by the Unforgiven, Mutates hand picked by Fabian Cortez to be his personal bodyguards, however they quickly fall under the combined might of the Avengers and the X-Men.
As the two teams focus their attention to Exodus, they become aware that the psi-barrier is retracting and will destroy them all. With his plan almost coming to fruition, Exodus is about to dash young Luna onto the ground, but is stunned by a psi-blast from Xavier and Jean Grey. This gives the Black Knight time to stab Exodus with his energy sword, forcing him to drop Luna. Dane Whitman catches the girl and reunites her with her parents. Professor X then gives an impassioned speech, telling the Mutates that while they must fight for their rights, senseless violence is not the answer. With both armies standing down and the barrier removed, Exodus realizes that the battle is lost. However, he vows that his cause will ultimately win in the end. Before departing, Exodus blasts Quicksilver with a powerful bolt of energy. Racing to his side, the Black Knight performs CPR on Quicksilver and eventually revives him, much to the relief of Pietro’s wife, Crystal.[9]
The following day, SHIELD has arrived and is working to get the country back on its feet. In the aftermath of the battle both Captain America and Professor X meet with Jenny Ransom. Jenny is upset that Xavier continues to hide the fact that he is a mutant, saying that he is being a hypocrite. While Cap thinks Ransom is out of line, Charles isn’t so sure she is wrong, explaining that he keeps up the ruse to help the X-Men as well as the cause for human/mutant co-existence. Now he’s not so sure if doing so is helpful anymore.[10] Cap points out that in a world where people are constantly killing one another can anyone be sure of anything?
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Giant-Man, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, War Machine), Quicksilver, X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Archangel, Iceman, Storm, Rogue, Bishop, Revanche), Fabian Cortez, Exodus, Unforgiven, Luna Maximoff, Jenny Ransom, Phillip Moreau, Henry Gyrich, Renee Majcomb, SHIELD (Nick Fury), Trish Tilby,
Continuity Notes
Magneto’s family tree is quite complicated and things that are known at the time of this story have since been proven false. They are:
Everyone believes that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are Magneto’s children, and by extension Luna is his granddaughter. They were led to believe this by Bova, a New Man created by the High Evolutionary back in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4.
This has since been proven false in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. Not only are the Maximoff twins no related to Magneto, they aren’t even mutants. They were experimented upon by the High Evolutionary as children and in order to cover up his work he made it so the pair would register as mutants. Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4 reveals that their mother is Natalya Maximoff. The identity of their biological father (as of May, 2022) has yet to be revealed.
Here, Fabian Cortez mentions his unsuccessful attempt to recruit Quicksilver into the Acolytes. This was in X-Factor #92.
Exodus mentions how he spared Cortez in the past at the behest of Magneto. This whole dynamic between the two is somewhat complicated:
Fabian Cortez was one of the founders of the Acolytes and soon betrayed Magneto, seemingly killing him, as seen in X-Men (vol. 2) #1-3.
Magneto survived, turning up alive again in X-Force #24. When he recruited Exodus he sent him to punish Cortez for his past betrayal but opted to keep him alive, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #304.
More recently, Magneto had his mind wiped by Charles Xavier in X-Men (vol. 2) #25, allowing Exodus to usurp control and carry out his own agenda. Magneto’s mind will not be restored until X-Men (vol. 2) #86.
Although seemingly killed here, Cortez will resurface in Magneto #1-4, only stating that mutants are harder to kill than humans in lieu of any real explanation.
Here the narrative mentions the last time the Avengers and the X-Men met and how it was a fight over Magneto. This happened in X-Men vs. the Avengers #1-4, at the time Magneto was wanted for war crimes. Cyclops also mentions how the Avengers stayed out of the last Genoshan crisis. This was during the X-Tinction Agenda story arc which took place in Uncanny X-Men #270-272, New Mutants #95-97, and X-Factor #60-62.
Here, the Black Knight can’t shake the fact that he knows Exodus from somewhere before. Some time after this story, Whitman’s soul ends up in the body of his 12th Century ancestor and he witnesses Paris du Bennett’s transformation into Exodus in Black Knight: Exodus #1. How does Dane remember this? Well that’s complicated. See, Dane’s ancestor — Eobar Garrington — was possessed by Whitman twice over. Whitman was forced to live Garrington’s life from Defenders #11 through Avengers #226, and during this period he was possessed by the spirit of Dane’s future self in Black Knight: Exodus #1. Presumably, this double possession clouded the past version of Dane’s memories until he re-experienced those events in the future.
Iceman laments that Cyclops still treats him like a sixteen-year-old kid. This is how old Bobby was when he first joined the X-Men way back in X-Men #1. Per the Sliding Timescale, Iceman would be about 23 at the time of this story.
Rogue lived for a time with Magneto in the Savage Land where they formed a near romantic friendship with one another, see Uncanny X-Men #269, and 274-275.
Black Widow thanks Nick Fury for helping them, particularly after SHIELD tried to prevent them from getting involved in the first place. This happened last issue and in X-Men (vol. 2) #26.
This is a particularly tense scene since Quicksilver and Crystal have been married since Fantastic Four #150. After she cheated on him in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12, their marriage had been on the rocks for quite some time. More recently, she became attracted to the Black Knight after joining the Avengers in Avengers #336, the pair having a romantic tryst in issue #361. At the time Crystal believed her marriage was doomed after a botched romantic getaway with Pietro in X-Factor #89.
Despite this self doubt, Xavier will continue keeping his mutant nature a secret from the general public. Ultimately he will reveal that he is a mutant in New X-Men #116.
Bloodties Reading Order
X-Men (vol. 2) #26
Uncanny X-Men #307