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Unless Excalibur can turn around their battle against the mystical armies of Otherworld, then Krakoa could be attacked by Merlyn’s forces.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Excalibur #25, available now from Marvel.
Since the formation of Krakoa, the X-Men and their allies have found themselves contending with various global threats, and the dangers of entire armies instead of just teams and organizations. Now, one of their most potent threats has made its move — and it’s put the mutants on the retreat.
Excalibur #25 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Joe Caramagna sees Excalibur face off with the armies of Merlyn and Arthur — and things are not going well for the mutant nation’s magical defenders.
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Excalibur serves as both Krakoa’s direct connection to the United Kingdom as well as the mystical realm of Otherworld. But both connections have been targeted recently. Reuben Brousseau and his allies in the Coven Akkaba have risen in power and restored Morgan le Fay. Meanwhile, Merlyn and a returned Arthur Pendragon have led an army from across Otherworld into conflict against the Starlight Citadel. Excalibur and the Captain Britain Corps rally in defense of Saturynne, but the assault proves to be an overwhelming one for the heroes. Despite Excalibur’s attempts, Merlyn’s attempts at spell-crafting prove victorious, and he dispels the magic of those within the Starlight Citadel.
The Captain Britain Corps is forced to fall back to avoid being wiped out, while Excalibur evacuates the Starlight Citadel with Saturynne. Merlyn successfully takes the Citadel, but his power is not cemented once and for all while Saturynne still lives. Meanwhile, Betsy Braddock proves capable of defeating Arthur in one-on-one combat even without her mystical upgrades as Captain Britain, using her sword and telepathy. Retreating back to Avalon, Betsy has little other option than to order Shogo to create a rift in reality with his magical fire — then having Jamie repair the damage enough to effectively create an unpassable trench between Avalon and the rest of Otherworld. It’s a successful strategy of retreat, giving the heroes time to rest and prepare for future battles.
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But it’s also one that Merlyn takes advantage of — catching Betsy with an attack as she carries Saturnynne to safety. Both women fall into the rift and land in the Sea of Secrets — where a finally awoken Saturnnye decides to reveal how she dethroned Merlyn from the Starlight Citadel in the first place. While it’s likely that this story will clue Betsy into some strategy she can bring back to her fellow mutants, it’s worth noting that the battle against Merlyn didn’t exactly go great for mutant-kind. Although they weren’t forced to call upon allies as they did in the climax of X of Swords, the mutants were more or less routed from their place in the Starlight Citadel.
Merlyn’s forces now occupy half of Otherworld, as well as the Starlight Citadel and most of Avalon. If he were to find a way to press the attack, his forces could spread through the Krakoa Gate — with Excalibur admitting that a mage of his power likely will find cracking the “mutants only” rule to the Krakoa Gate to be well within his abilities. If Excalibur can’t find a way to counter his anti-mutant drive, then they may have an entire mystically empowered army striking at the mutant nation at a time when their technological enemies in Orchis (and complications from within, such as Mystique and Destiny) are threatening to bring about the end of the mutant nation in spectacularly gruesome fashion.
While their other defeats have largely been draws or mere setbacks, this is the closest thing to an outright defeat Krakoa has suffered. If Excalibur can’t find a way to turn this conflict around, then a mystical mutant war might find itself on Krakoa’s doorsteps.
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