Marvel Animation is not pulling its punches. Following last week’s massive, time-skipping three-episode premiere block, today’s highly anticipated fourth episode—”Rise of Apocalypse: Part II”—delivers a devastating, tragic conclusion to the series’ ancient Egyptian arc.
The episode formally seals the fate of En Sabah Nur, proving that despite the X-Men’s desperate multiversal intervention, the loop of history remains entirely unbreakable.
The Fragile Alliance Shatters
Picking up directly from the cliffhanger in 3000 B.C., the episode opens with Magneto utilizing the absolute peak of his magnetic capabilities to shield himself and the time-displaced team from a catastrophic blast. While they survive, so does a highly traumatized En Sabah Nur following the death of his nomadic mentor, Baal.
In a desperate, final bid to alter the future, Xavier unmasks their identities to Nur, convincing him to form a temporary, uneasy alliance to hunt down the ancient, Celestial temple housing Rama-Tut’s reality-altering technology. However, the philosophical rift between the team’s founders immediately dooms the mission. Xavier attempts to counsel Nur toward passive diplomacy and integration, while a deeply hardened, post-Genosha Magneto reinforces Nur’s raw survivalist rage, accidentally acting as the catalyst for his radicalization.
The Dawn of the Despot
When the team finally breaches the inner sanctum of the futuristic temple–which is revealed to be Ship–they are intercepted by Rama-Tut (the time-traveling variant of Kang the Conqueror), who telepathically warns Xavier that preventing Nur’s evolution is simply not possible. A massive, multi-tiered brawl erupts, but the X-Men ultimately fail to restrain Nur. Driven by an overwhelming “Survival of the Fittest” ethos, Nur steps directly into the Celestial-tech machinery, permanently merging his biology with the alien infrastructure to formally transform into Apocalypse.
The Ultimate Sacrifice
With an omnipotent tyrant unleashed, the city descends into utter chaos. Apocalypse launches a devastating black hole directly above Rama-Tut’s city to erase the timeline’s variables. While Rama-Tut cowardly boards his Sphinx-ship to escape back to the future–but not before a little tease about the future of one of his top people–Magneto steps up to save the innocent population.
In a staggering, visually breathtaking display of raw power that’s becoming a staple of X-Men ’97‘s animation, Magneto single-handedly repels Apocalypse’s gravity weapon, but the feat leaves him gravely, life-threateningly injured. Recognizing they are outmatched, a battered Magneto takes the blame and uses the temporal energy to send Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast hurtling back toward the 1990s. However, before the portal snaps shut, Apocalypse violently intercepts the beam, trapping a horrified Charles Xavier behind in the ancient past to mourn over the loss of his friend…until Bishop time hops to his rescue.
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