Danger? What Danger? Polaris joins the X-Men in X-Men ’97 season 2 episode 6.
The X-Men face yet another crisis in X-Men ’97 season 2 episode 6 as Polaris makes her long-awaited return and the Xavier Institute welcomes a new headmistress. While Charles Xavier struggles with the loss of an old friend and prepares for his inevitable confrontation with Apocalypse, an unexpected threat emerges from within the team, proving that danger has already found its way home.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers about the episode. Read at your own risk.
X-Men ’97 Season 2 Episode 6: “Danger.Exe”
We finally get an aftermath from their Egypt fiasco from two episodes ago. Charles is in the danger room, recapping the death of his friend. Specifically, he is trying to figure out if he is missing out on something. He looks for answers that are hard to answer right now; combine that with the grief he is carrying from losing his oldest friend.
While the simulation is ongoing, the danger room is experiencing faulty issues as it is not following Charles’ commands accurately.
Meanwhile, after the simulation, Charles announces to everyone in the mansion a new headmaster. In this case, a headmistress. Specifically, he anoints Storm as their new headmistress. With this, Charles gets to focus more on other things like the inevitable threat that is Apocalypse. Moreover, he, Jean, Scott, and Beast plan to go to Genosha.
Polaris’ polarizing morality
Now we cut to Polaris with her X-Factor team as they stop a heist by humans led by Stryker and his group of mutant haters. She gets more aggressive than usual as she almost destroys the ship they are in, thanks to Stryker’s team. Furthermore, Val Cooper permanently dismisses Polaris as a member of X-Factor. Ever since her encounter with Jubilee, she has been having conflicts, whether being in X-Factor is helping mutantkind or just another way to control them. Maybe her leaving gives a fresh perspective on what is going on.
Apparently, there is a place once again for mutants like her that do not have somewhere to go. She is with the X-Men, residing in the mansion. Moreover, she returns to her old stomping grounds, as she was once a member of the X-Men. Another staple of X-Men stories is reunions, as we see Polaris reunite with them. An intriguing conversation occurs between Charles and Lorna, as both experience dilemmas and grief. But Lorna still denies his relationship with Magneto as her father. Lastly, before leaving for Genosha, Charles tells Lorna to look within herself, as there is always a part of Magneto inside her. Whether she denies or accepts it.
Danger in the Danger Room
Headmistress Storm, Forge, and Polaris quickly go to the Danger Room. Bishop tries to attend to the injured student; he is saved. Suddenly, an “alarm” forces Morph, Forge, and Storm to check outside the mansion. Bishop, Lorna, and the students get locked in the Danger Room as different traps and weapons start going off at them. The Danger Room becomes self-aware and builds a body of her own. Lastly, “Danger” overpowers Lorna and escapes the mansion, where her next target is the team in Genosha.
“You are your father’s daughter.”
Meanwhile, Charles and the others look for potential answers in Genosha as his grief for Magneto continues. Polaris contacts them, warning them that Danger is coming to attack. No longer bound by Charles, Danger is all in on finishing her directive. As things are looking grim for the X-Men, Polaris arrives just in time to make the save. Now, Polaris fans are going to enjoy this one. As she showcases her power once again, this moment is definitely a rare instance of Polaris leveling up her power set.
Additionally, with the help of Charles, it reminds her that she is the daughter of Magneto. She uses all the electromagnetism around the area and blasts it to Danger, defeating her in the process.
Fast forward to Egypt; we see Apocalypse using a machine to further his plans. Specifically, that machine is used to revive Gambit. Now in what appears to be a horseman to Apocalypse.
Final thoughts
Once again, another banger of an episode. We finally get a continuation of Magneto’s death. Surprisingly, it is through his daughter, Polaris. Making her the central focus of this episode is a surprise treat, as she is a fan-favorite character. We thought most of the focus of Magneto’s death would be on Charles, though we still got it. It makes sense that we also see the reaction of one of his daughters dealing with the loss. We look forward to seeing more of Lorna in the remaining episodes.
X-Men ’97 season 2 episode 6 is now available to stream on Disney+.
