This week's episode of X-Men '97 will kick off a three-part story arc leading to the finale of the animated show's first season. The story arc is called Tolerance is Extinction, and showrunner Beau DeMayo may have given us hints on what the three-part finale will be about. The last few episodes of the series have been building up to this as DeMayo tweeted last week, "Table is set. Now get ready for 8, 9, and 10…" after the premiere of Episode 7 - Bright Eyes.
In a tweet, DeMayo said that X-Men '97 fans should set aside some time for "revisiting 'One Man's Worth'" before Episode 8 premieres this Wednesday. One Man's Worth is a two-part story arc in the X-Men: The Animated Series, which originally premiered in September 1995. The story arc, which was covered in the first two episodes of the show's fourth season, is pretty wild as it featured time travel elements and the horrific "Age of Apocalypse" timeline.
In addition to the One Man's Worth story arc, DeMayo also recommended fans to watch Season 1 Episode 13 of the X-Men: The Animated Series, titled The Final Decision; the two-part Sanctuary story arc - Season 4, Episodes 6 & 7; and Season 5, Episode 12, titled Descent. Based on what happened in these episodes, we can expect Cable, Magneto, Master Mold, and Mister Sinister play important roles in the three-part Tolerance of Extinction finale of X-Men '97.
What is X-Men '97's Tolerance of Extinction three-part-finale about?
The seventh episode of X-Men '97, Bright Eyes, revealed that Bastion was the true mastermind of the Mutant Massacre in Genosha. The mysterious villain allied with Mister Sinister and shared highly-advanced technology with both Mister Sinister and creator Bolivar Trask. The new tech includes cybernetic programming that can transform normal humans into powerful Sentinel sleeper agents.
The conclusion of Episode 7 showed Cyclops' son Cable return from the future to save the X-Men from the Bolivar Trask Hybrid Sentinel. In Episode 5, Remember It, Cable showed up before the Genosha Mutant Massacre and implied to her mother, Madelyne Pryor, that the devastating events leading to her death have happened before in other timelines, which Cable likely tried and possibly failed to save. His knowledge of Bastion and his intel on how to defeat a Hybrid Sentinel foreshadow an upcoming story arc about the struggle take down Bastion before he causes some dark alternate future.
In One Man's Worth, we saw Bishop and his sister Shard allying with Age of Apocalypse variants of Wolverine and Storm (who are married in this timeline) to travel back in time to 1959 to stop the Sentinel Nimrod, Master MOld, and energy-absorbing mutant criminal, Trevor Fizroy from killing Xavier. The mission failed multiple times, but thanks to Trevoy Fitzroy's change of heart (and his past self's holographic message), Bishop was finally able to prevent Xavier's death, thereby erasing the Master Mold machine supremancy and Age of Apocalypse timelines out of existence.
It looks like the episodes that DeMayo suggested fans to watch will connect in the three-part finale of X-Men '97 as these storylines likely set up a larger saga of Cable trying to prevent Bastion from creating a dark future. It's likely that the story arc will show some failed attempts to take down Bastion as well as Easter Eggs from the aforementioned episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series. There's a good chance that Bastion is connected to the One Man's Worth storyline, and that Tolerance is Extinction is a direct sequel to the time travel story arc.
X-Men '97 Episode 8, Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1, is scheduled to premiere this Wednesday, May 1, only on Disney+. All episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series are also available to watch on Disney+, so if you want to check out the episodes that DeMayo recommended before Episode 8 premieres, you can watch them all there.
