Quicksilver #7
I Love You, Goodbye
Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight, rides across the dusk sky astride his winged horse Strider. His minds are focused on his feelings for Crystal.[1] He has been determined to resolve his feelings for her once and for all now that she has returned after months where she and the other Avengers were believed to be dead.
He recounts back to how he sought the assistance of the Lady of the Lake to find Crystal. However, she refused to assist him because Crystal is married to another. He was able to track her down, but not before she was found by her husband, Quicksilver. This also coincided with the return of Pietro’s sister the Scarlet Witch as well. This happy reunion was interrupted by the Knight who told Crystal that he was free of his Gann Josin bond to the Eternal Sersi and that he came to renew his romance with her. This of course was received very poorly at the time and the Scarlet Witch suggested that Dane leave. Crystal promised that they would talk soon, but Whitman has grown impatient and has decided to track her down and force this conversation so they can settle things once and for all.
At that very moment, Quicksilver and Crystal have returned to Haven, a castle in upstate New York that serves as the home for the Knights of Wundagore while they are in hiding.[2] There, the couple have a long over due talk since Crystal’s return. Pietro mostly talks about what happened after Crystal sacrificed her life along with the others to destroy Onslaught. Quicksilver tried to follow after her but he was held back by Wolverine. In the aftermath of the battle, when it seemed as though the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were dead, Quicksilver wondered what he would do next. That’s when he saw Charles Xavier consoling young Franklin Richards, reminding Pietro that he had his daughter Luna to look after.[3]
For a brief period, Pietro spent time with the X-Men, leaving Luna in the care of the Avengers butler Jarvis. However, he couldn’t find a place among the mutants as they had accepted his father within their ranks and he even though “Joseph” claims to have no memory of his past and seems to have reformed.[4][5][6] So when Hercules came by seeking allies to go on an adventure, Quicksilver took him up on the offer. However, he had second thoughts when he was reminded by Wolverine that he needs to be strong for his daughter, and went back to get Luna from Jarvis. Pietro instead decided to return to his native Tranisa and the High Evolutionary’s Citadel of Science. There, Pietro and his daughter were accepted with open arms by the High Evolutionary, Bova, and the Knights of Wundagore.[7] The New Men and their creator became a surrogate family giving Luna stable home to live at while they learned to come to terms with Crystal’s “death”. However, that peace was shattered when Exodus and his Acolytes attacked the Citadel. In order to protect his newly created Isotope E from the evil mutants, the High Evolution went into hiding but not before putting Quicksilver in charge of the Knight. Fleeing the Citadel, Quicksilver and his new charges found a new home here at Haven.[8]
However, the Knights of Wundagore have all seemingly gone missing while Quicksilver was busy celebrating the return of his wife and he worries that he has neglected them for too long. Crystal points out how their marriage has been neglected as well, and assures him that wherever the New Men have found themselves, they can look after themselves.[9]
Crystal’s assessment would be incorrect as most of Pietro’s charges — Lords Tyger, Churchill, Gator, and Ladies Ursula and Vermin — have been captured by a group of mutants despirately seeking a cure for the Legacy Virus.[10] They have been duped by Exodus and his Acolytes into thinking the High Evolutionary’s new Istope E is a cure for the deadly illness. The group has spent their entire time confined to a cell listening as Churchill is being tortured for information. The group decides that the only way out of this is somehow getting a message to the outside. Since Lady Vermin is the only one among them that hasn’t been hyper-evolved into a humanoid form, she is selected as the best option for escape. To this end, she convinces an ordinary rat to put on her speech harness and pose as her while she uses a hole in the wall to get out. Moments after this switch is finished, Pyro returns with Churchill and decides the rat he thinks is Lady Vermin as his next subject for torture.
Back at Haven, the discussion between Quicksilver and Crystal has quickly devolved into an argument. Crystal can’t understand why Pietro insists on staying with the Knights of Wundagore when he should be focusing on his family. Quicksilver thinks that’s rich coming from her, considering she sacrificed herself to Onslaught, leaving her family to fend for themselves. Crystal points out that her sacrifice was to save the entire world so that her husband and child could live on. Realizing he is in the wrong, Pietro then tries patching things up, but after so many years of problems, she isn’t sure if she can fully trust him to make things work. When he asks if it has anything to do with what he said about her wielding the Ebony Blade or her past indigressions with Dane Whitman, she tells him that it is much more complicated than that.[11]
The discussion is then interrupted by the Black Knight who forces his way in and demands a chance to talk with Crystal. Quicksilver refuses to allow this and uses his super speed to carry the Knight out of the castle and far away. He returns moments later riding on Strider and challenges Quicksilver to a duel to determine who has a right to Crystal. Pietro is more than willing to test his sword fighting skills with the Black Knight. When Whitman shows off his new enchanted gear, Pietro is unimpressed.[12] Crystal tries to stop them from fighting but the two men refuse to listen to her. Eventually, she has had enough and separates the two men with a bolt of lightning. Furious that she is neither is giving Crystal her own agency or want to listen to her needs she has decided enough is enough. She takes Luna and tells them that she’s going back to New Attilan and doesn’t want either of them following her. Her final words to them are “I love you both. Good-bye.”[13]
Recurring Characters
Quicksilver, Crystal, Black Knight, Knights of Wundagore (Lord Churchill, Lord Gator, Lord Tyger, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin), Pyro, Bova, Strider, (in flashback) Lady in the Lake, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, Edwin Jarvis, Luna, High Evolutionary, Sir Ram
Continuity Notes
The love triangle between Crystal, Quicksilver, and the Black Knight is a long and complicated one. Buckle up because its a doozy:
Since Fantastic Four #150, Crystal has been married to Quicksilver. However, their marriage has been troubled since she cheated on him in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12. This was made all the more harder when Crystal joined the Avengers in issue #336 and both she and the Black Knight became smitten with one another.
If you like love triangles, this story has a double dose because the Black Knight was also being pursued by the Eternal known as Sersi since Avengers #350. Later, in Avengers #361 when she was accused of suffering from the Mahd W’yry, her fellow Eternals forced Dane to become her Gann Josin, a telepathically bonded life mate. This happened after Crystal came to believe her marriage couldn’t be saved after a disastrous romantic getaway with Quicksilver in X-Factor #89 went bad. This led to Crystal having a romantic tryst with Dane.
Shortly thereafter, Quicksilver was injured in a battle with Exodus in Avengers #369 and returned to the Avengers while he recoverd, adding significant strain on the situation. In Avengers #372, Crystal admitted to her husband that she loved both him and Dane.
The issue seemed to be resolved when the Black Knight and Sersi departed into another dimension at the end of Avengers #375. The pair spent time in Reality-93060 (aka the Ultraverse) from Ultraforce #8 to Ultraverse Unlimited #2. They ended up in the Crusades on Earth-616, as seen in Black Knight: Exodus #1. Whitman was returned to the present in Heroes for Hire #2, and his bond with Sersi broke in issues #4-5.
During his absence, Crystal was seemingly killed alongside members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket dimension where they lived reimagined versions of their past lives. There, Crystal relived her old romance with the Human Torch in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #8-10.
Crystal and the others were eventually found and returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. Her reunion with Quicksilver happened in Quicksilver #3. The flashback seen here takes place moments after that.
Quicksilver and the Knights of Wundagore retreated here after the High Evoltuionary’s Citadel of Science was invaded and taken over by Exodus and his Acolytes. See Quicksilver #1-2.
This is all recapping the final scene in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, wherein the Avengers and FF seemingly sacrificed themselves to destroy Onslaught. Some details on that:
In that story, Onslaught had evolved into a being of pure psionic energy and threatened to spread across the globe. In order to destroy the monster, the heroes leaped into his energy form in the hopes of absorbing it. The reason why Pietro and none of the X-Men joined in the sacrifice is due to the fact that mutants would only make Onslaught stronger. This was the idea, despite the fact that both the Scarlet Witch and Sub-Mariner — both reportedly mutants at the time — joined in the sacrifice.
At the time, everyone believed that Wanda got a pass because her hex powers allowed her to sacrifice herself without ill effect. The reality is likely the fact that Pietro and Wanda weren’t actually mutants, I’ll get into that in a minute. Namor on the other hand? Who can say. This isn’t the place for that anyway.
Wolverine is depicted in this story in a more feral mode. This was the long running product that began when the Adamantium was pulled out of his body in X-Men (vol. 2) #25. It caused him to devlolve into a more feral form for a time starting in Wolverine (vol. 2) #100 until he suddenly snapped back in issue #107. Wolverine gets his Adamantium back in Wolverine (vol. 2) #145.
Franklin Richards is present because he was actually used as a pawn of Onslaught. Who started tempting the boy in Fantastic Four #414 and Onslaught: X-Men #1 before outright kidnapping him and absorbing the lad into his body in Fantastic Four #415. He was rescued during the climax of Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1.
Although Onslaught is seemingly destroyed here, his essence is briefly seen again in Iron Man (vol. 2) #6. He will be resurrected and threaten the world anew in Onslaught: Reborn #1-5.
Pietro’s time at the X-Mansion was chronicled in Uncanny X-Men #337-338 and X-Men (vol. 2) #57-58.
Everyone believes “Joseph” is the real Magneto, de-aged and with amnesia. This all started when Professor X wiped out Magneto’s mind in X-Men (vol. 2) #25 in retaliation for ripping out Wolverine’s Adamantium. Magnus remained in a catatonic state and was lost after the Acolyte’s space station was destroyed by Holocaust in X-Men (vol. 2) #42. Later, a younger version of Magneto was found with no memory of his past in issue #46 of that series and everyone just assumed he was the real deal. In reality, he is a clone of Magneto created to destroy the genuine article as will be revealed in X-Men (vol. 2) #86.
Here, Quicksilver refers to Magneto as his father. He has been led to believe this is the case since Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4. The going story was (as told in Classic X-Men #12 and Avengers #186) was that Magneto’s wife Magda fled from him out of fear while pregnant with twins. She later apparently gave birth to them at the Citadel of Science. To protect her children she fled into the winter mountains where she seemingly perished. Since then we have learned that this was all a lie. Quicksilver and his sister Wanda are not actually mutants, but were experimented upon by the High Evolutionary when they were babies. To cover his work he made it so they would always register as mutants. Their biological mother has since been revealed to be Natalya Maximoff. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3.
Pietro brings Luna to the Citadel of Science to learn about where he came from. This is based on the false belief that he was actually born there. As explained in Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #11, they were actually born in Serbia and their mother left them in the care of her brother Django and his wife Marya. It was here they were kidnapped by the High Evolutionary in Transia and experimented upon. Both the High Evolutionary and Bova both support this narrative. While the High Evolutionary is clearly maintaining a deception, Bova’s culpability (if any) has yet to be explained. She could very well been manipulated into believing this false narrative as well.
The attack on the Citadel of Science, Pietro being knighted, and their retreat to Haven was all documented in Quicksilver #1-2. As we’ll learn in Quicksilver #8-9, the High Evolutionary retreated to the Savage Land.
Quicksilver has been away from his Knights to assist in the reformation of the Avengers, try and capture the outlaw Thunderbolts, and celebrate the return of Crystal in New Attilan. See Avengers (vol. 3) #1-4, Thunderbolts #11-12, and Quicksilver #4-6. During this time, most of the Knights were kidnapped by associates of the Acolytes as we learned last issue.
The Legacy Virus is an illness that directly targets mutants that was unleashed on Earth by the terrorist known as Stryfe in X-Force #18. Pyro was infected in X-Men Unlimited #2 but that status wasn’t confirmed until X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #2. Among Pyro’s strike force, only Feral (who was infected in X-Force #90) has the disease. A cure won’t be found until Uncanny X-Men #390, but not before Pyro died from the illness in Cable #87. His death won’t be forever though, see X-Necrosha #1.
Since Avengers Unplugged #6, whenever Crystal wields the Black Knight’s ebony blade, the Alpha Primitives treat her like their queen. She did this last issue to stop Maximus from using the Primitives to unleash the Terrigen Mists into Earth’s atmosphere.
Whitman was given a new enchanted sword and armor that he can summon by calling out the word “Avalon”. This has been the status quo since Heroes for Hire #2. This will remain the status quo until New Excalibur #10.
Attilan is referred to as “New Attilan” here. This is in reference to the fact that the kingdom had been recently returned to Earth. See, Earth pollution forced the Inhumans to relocate their hidden city to the Blue Area of the Moon in Fantastic Four #240. However, it was returned to Earth recently due to the machinations of Morgan le Fay during the Atlantis Rising event. See Namor the Sub-Mariner #60-62, Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #1-2, Fantastic Force #8-9, Fantastic Four #401-402, and Warlock and the Infinity Watch #41-42. It now resides on an island that was once the site of ancient Atlantis. It will remain here until it is transported back to the Himalayan Mountains in Inhumans (vol. 2) #12.