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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #6 by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia & VC’s Ariana Maher, on sale now.
While the X-Men are working more closely with longtime foes like Apocalypse and Mystique than they ever have before, a new generation of enemies has risen up to give the X-Men trouble in their place. Since the emergence of the mutant nation of Krakoa, mutants have prospered, but they’ve continued to be hated and feared by certain groups.
And as the Hellfire Gala starts to end in S.W.O.R.D. #6, Marvel’s biggest anti-mutant group, Orchis, seems to be recruiting an old X-Men ally: Guardian, of Alpha Flight.
James Hudson is approached by Henry Peter Gyrich in S.W.O.R.D. #6, right after Krakoa’s Omega-Level mutants terraformed Mars during the Hellfire Gala. After this monumental display of power, Guardian is reeling in shock, saying he can’t believe that the mutants did that, and that it’s just “too big.”
Gyrich plays off of Guardian’s shock, attempting to convince James that the X-Men aren’t his friends. Rather, Gyrich argues, the X-Men are now a rogue nation, trying to take their place as Earth’s dominant species. To finish off this speech, Gyrich asks Guardian if he’s ever heard of Orchis. From here, it’s clear to see that Guardian is being tempted to join Marvel’s biggest anti-mutant organization.
This is a big moment, one which is overshadowed by several other important moments throughout this issue. Guardian has been a long time off-and-on again ally of the X-Men, ever since his first appearance in 1978’s X-Men #109, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Guardian’s main connection has been to Wolverine, due to their strong friendship while working for Canada’s Department H.
James and his wife, Heather, took Wolverine in at a time when Logan was fairly lost, giving him a home. For this reason, James was particularly hurt when Logan left Department H to join the X-Men. Eventually, however, Guardian and Wolverine reconciled as good friends. Since then, Guardian, and Alpha Flight in general, have maintained a solid friendship with the X-Men. This is especially true because Alpha Flight has had several mutant members of its own, and characters like Northstar, Aurora. Wild Child and Box now all find themselves among the X-Men However, James has hit a low point, leaving him vulnerable to Orchis’ manipulations.
As mentioned in Marauders #21, by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli, Guardian and Heather split up, ending their long marriage. With the dissolution of his marriage, and Guardian’s isolation from many of his former Alpha Flight teammates, it seems that James is vulnerable to groups such as Orchis.
Additionally, Guardian is vulnerable to manipulation by his superiors, such as Gyrich. Since his days at Department H, Guardian has been loyal to authority figures, and Gyrich is now commander of the Alpha Flight space program. With this in mind, it makes sense that Guardian would put his trust in Gyrich, especially after the shock of Krakoa’s big, cosmic moves.
Guardian is only the latest of a few key players who have joined up with Orchis. Gyrich himself is an old ally to the Avengers, not to mention a longtime adversary of mutantkind. Moreover, old allies like Omega-Sentinel have made their way to Orchis as well. Karima Shapandar has allied herself with the X-Men on several occasions, joining the team back in 2006’s X-Men #192, by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo.
In 2019’s House of X #1, by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz, however, Karima’s sentinel programming was reactivated, aligning her with Orchis. Just like Guardian, this was a big shift for Omega Sentinel, who had fought alongside the X-Men against foes like the Children of the Vault.
It’s true that allies such as Omega Sentinel and Guardian haven’t always been on the side of the X-Men, which explains their allegiance to Orchis. Depending on the circumstances, the two could be either with or against Marvel’s mutants. Even so, the tension between mutants and humans will continue to grow as Orchis’ ranks increase, especially if more X-Men allies join.
With members of the Alpha Flight space program on Orchis’ side, Orchis has a direct counter to S.W.O.R.D., Krakoa’s mutant space program. This is only one of several groups which could directly respond to mutantkind, potentially preparing for a war between Orchis and Krakoa. As Krakoa moves forward with its big ideas, such as terraforming Mars, it seems that Orchis will only escalate in response.
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