The Krakoan Age: Year 3

At the Krakoan Age's halfway point, the X-Men and their allies faced several major crises as even greater threats prepared to strike. Despite bright moments like the redemption of the Scarlet Witch, Krakoa's leaders began drifting apart. Meanwhile, the cracks in their paradise turned into serious problems that threatened to burn the nation down, especially when Krakoa's secret mastermind and longtime X-Men ally Moira MacTaggert betrayed mutantkind.

As this era draws to a close, let's look back at some of the most critical moments from the Krakoan Age. From the end of the REIGN OF X era to the beginning of the DESTINY OF X era, we'll break down the most memorable developments from the third calendar year of Krakoa's existence.

THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO

In X-MEN: THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO (2021) #1 by Leah Williams and Lucas Werneck, Magneto became the prime suspect in Wanda Maximoff's apparent murder when she was found dead after the first Hellfire Gala. However, the Scarlet Witch had orchestrated her own death and subsequent resurrection as part of a mystical spell. 

As an apology for depowering most of the world's mutants during HOUSE OF M (2005), Wanda created the Waiting Room, a mystical plane in the afterlife where mutants from across time and space could wait to be reborn through Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols. With Magneto's help, the Scarlet Witch redeemed herself to mutantkind, and long-dead mutants like Thunderbird (John Proudstar) got a new lease on life.

DOCTOR STASIS

As the first official X-Men team of the Krakoan Era came together, they faced the mysterious Doctor Stasis, a mutant-hating villain who debuted in X-MEN (2021) #1 by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz. Although he was later revealed to be a clone, Stasis claimed he was the original Nathaniel Essex, a Victorian-era scientist obsessed with achieving eternal life. 

Using his specialty in human evolution, Stasis joined the anti-mutant group Orchis and learned that Krakoa had a way of resurrecting dead mutants. Once he had proof of Cyclops' death and rebirth, he approached Ben Urich, a Daily Bugle reporter, and ultimately exposed the existence of the Krakoan Resurrection Protocols to the general public.

THE ONSLAUGHT REVELATION

While trying to develop a new philosophy to guide life on Krakoa, Nightcrawler encountered Legion, the Omega-level son of Professor X. This unlikely duo led the fight against Onslaught, a dark psychic entity formed from the worst parts of Professor X and Magneto, in X-MEN: THE ONSLAUGHT REVELATION (2021) #1 by Si Spurrier and Robert Quinn. 

Posing as a figure called the Patchwork Man, Onslaught amplified negative emotions and encouraged violence across Krakoa. When Onslaught tried to get several mutants to kill each other, Nightcrawler fought back by encouraging the mutant Lost to embrace Fabian Cortez, the mutant who killed her parents. As Onslaught withered under the embrace of all Krakoans, Nightcrawler developed the Spark, a philosophy based on embracing new ideas. 

COLOSSUS AND THE CHRONICLER

While working with the mutant-hating group XENO, Mikhail Rasputin turned Colossus, his brother, into his unwilling mole and took over every aspect of his life in X-FORCE (2019) #24 by Benjamin Percy and Martin Coccolo. Mikhail achieved all this through the Chronicler, a mutant with the power to control people through his writing. 

After entrapping his brother, Mikhail forced Colossus to accept a position on the Quiet Council that governed Krakoa and take over X-Force. Colossus carried out Mikhail's plans and fed him sensitive information until he was eventually able to alert Domino and Sage about Mikhail's threat. When the Chronicler took over an Orchis agent, Colossus ultimately regained control and killed his brother.

DESTINY RETURNS

After Professor X and Magneto broke their promise to Mystique, the shapeshifter took matters into her own hands and resurrected her late wife, Destiny, in INFERNO (2021) #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti. Due to Destiny's ability to see the future and their bitter history, Moira MacTaggert had prevented the clairvoyant's resurrection up until that point. 

Once revived, Destiny quickly joined the Quiet Council of Krakoa, where she took over Apocalypse's seat. Although she was initially overwhelmed by visions of possible futures, Destiny and Mystique worked with Emma Frost to uncover Moira's role in building Krakoa. They also exposed Moira's belief that mutants were doomed to extinction, as well as her efforts to eradicate the mutant gene in a past life.

MOIRA'S INFERNO

Once the secrets she spent lifetimes trying to hide started spilling out in the open, Moira MacTaggert turned against Krakoa in INFERNO (2021) #4 by Jonathan Hickman, Valerio Schiti, and Stefano Caselli. After luring Professor X and Magneto into a fight with Orchis, Destiny and Mystique captured Moira and removed her mutant abilities, which stopped her reincarnation powers from creating a new timeline. 

As Moira revealed her desire to depower all mutants, Mystique prepared to kill her, only to be stopped by Cypher and his allies. Although Moira was allowed to leave Krakoa, she was mortally wounded when she attacked the island again, so she transferred her consciousness into a cyborg body. Now dedicated to wiping out mutants, Moria joined Orchis.

X LIVES OF WOLVERINE

In addition to turning Colossus into his secret agent, Mikhail Rasputin tried to destroy Krakoa by targeting Professor X and his ancestors starting in X LIVES OF WOLVERINE (2022) #1 by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara. Using the Cerebro Sword, Mikhail devised a way to send Omega Red's mind back in time, allowing the Russian mutant to target a young Charles Xavier and his family. 

To preserve the timeline, Professor X and Jean Grey also sent Wolverine's mind back in time, where Logan used his younger bodies to save the Xaviers. After Omega Red tried to take over Logan's body, Wolverine tracked him down and killed him. Following these actions, Omega Red was resurrected and redeemed himself on X-Force.

NATURE GIRL AND X-MEN GREEN

Although Nature Girl was once as a student at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, she went down a dark path that started in X-MEN UNLIMITED INFINITY COMIC (2022) #5 by Gerry Duggan and Emilio Laiso. Thanks to the young mutant Curse, Nature Girl's innate concern for the environment morphed into a lethal campaign against anyone who harmed the natural world. 

Although several X-Men tried to stop her, Nature Girl brought together like-minded individuals—including Curse, Sauron, Spider-Girl (Gwen Warren), and the Armageddon Man—to form X-Men Green. After her increasingly violent actions led to clashes with several heroes, Lin—who had taken a more feral appearance—refused the goddess Gaea and lost the support of Mother Earth.

SABRETOOTH AND THE EXILES

In the early days of Krakoa, Sabretooth was sentenced to the Pit of Exile for his numerous crimes against humanity. Starting in SABRETOOTH (2022) #1 by Victor LaValle and Leonard Kirk, Sabretooth constructed an elaborate set of illusions and—with the help of a group of mutant prisoners known as the Exiles—escaped the Pit. Sabretooth was eventually captured and experimented on by Orchis, after which he helped the Exiles free several captured mutant children. 

Sabretooth also faced his mutant-hating son, Graydon Creed, who had been gathering Sabretooth variants from across the Multiverse and turning them into his mindless servants. With the help of a few Sabretooth variants, Sabretooth defeated his son and claimed the Multiversal army for himself.

HOPE JOINS THE QUIET COUNCIL

Following Moira's betrayal and the events of INFERNO (2021), Magneto shocked Krakoa's other leaders by stepping down from the Quiet Council and retiring to Arakko in IMMORTAL X-MEN (2022) #1 by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck. Still adjusting to the departures of Jean Grey and Apocalypse, the Quiet Council considered adding Selene, an ancient mutant energy vampire, as a substitute for Apocalypse's mystical knowledge. 

However, Hope Summers stepped forward and asked to join the Quiet Council to represent the interests of the Five, the mutants behind Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols. As the leader of the Five, Hope already occupied an influential place in Krakoan culture, but her quick election to the Quiet Council made her an even more important leader on the island.

THE SECOND HELLFIRE GALA

After a period of change and turmoil, Krakoa held the second Hellfire Gala in X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA (2022) #1 by Gerry Duggan, Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli, and C.F. Villa. This Hellfire Gala took place immediately after Cyclops confirmed the existence of Krakoa's resurrection process to the general public. 

At the event, Feilong—a mutant-hating Orchis leader who claimed one of Arakko's moons for humanity—targeted Tony Stark for a tense conversation. Then, after Rogue, Polaris, Sunfire, and Wolverine (Laura Kinney) stepped down from the X-Men, Magik, Forge, Havok, and Iceman were elected to join Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Synch in the official group. Firestar was also elected to the team after winning a real-world vote.

STORM'S MUTANT BROTHERHOOD

As the battle-hardened mutants of Arakko made their home on the planet formerly known as Mars, Storm, Magneto, Sunspot, and their allies tried to find their place on Arakko starting in X-MEN RED (2022) #1 by Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli. As part of her efforts to control Arakko, Abigail Brand also formed her own X-Men team with several S.W.O.R.D. agents, including the unstable powerhouse Vulcan. 

To stop Brand's plans, Storm, Magneto, and Sunspot formed the Brotherhood of Arakko. As Brand's X-Men and the Brotherhood vied for influence, Magneto and Sunspot eventually joined Storm in the Great Ring that governed Arakko, while several other Arakko leaders enlisted with their mutant team.

The Krakoan Age: Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5

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