WARNING: The following contains spoilers for recent issues of Hellions by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia, David Curiel, Cory Petit and Ariana Maher, on sale now.
The X-Men and the other residents of the mutant nation Krakoa are facing a wide variety of serious threats, including the corrupt leadership of the Quiet Council. To that point, one of the Quiet Council’s decisions is looking especially foolish. A few months ago, Madelyne Pryor was killed in battle with the Hellions after returning to her villainous Goblin Queen identity. Despite passionate pleas from Alex Summers, the Council refused to resurrect Madelyne. With everything the mutants are currently facing, this decision seems increasingly suspect, since her immense power could be a great asset in any of the coming battles.
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Madelyne reemerged as the antagonist in the first story arc of Hellions. She took command of clones of the Marauders at an orphanage Mister Sinister used as a base. When the Hellions were sent to destroy the clone farm that Sinister kept under the orphanage, they came into conflict with her and the Marauder clones. During the fight, Alex, Madelyne’s former brother-in-law and lover, almost changed sides to be with her. Madelyne was intent on proving to the X-Men, specifically her former husband Scott Summers, that she was a real person whose existence had to be acknowledged. She planned to make an army of undead Marauder clones to invade Krakoa, but the Hellions managed to stop her, with John Greycrow shooting and killing the clones of his old teammates as well as Madelyne. As she lay dying, Madelyne told Alex that, “I only wanted them to know…that I was a real girl.”
Although the original Marauders were set to be resurrected, the Council refused to do the same for Madelyne because she was a clone, with only Alex, and to a lesser extent Scott, objecting to this decision. Not only does this continue the X-Men’s cruel streak of ignoring Madelyne, but it’s also a foolish decision tactically, considering everything they’re dealing with. Although her connection to the demons of Limbo might not return after resurrection, Madelyne is still an Omega-level telepath and telekinetic.
Currently, Krakoa only has a limited number of Omega telepaths other than Jean, so adding another would be a great help for one upcoming conflict. Way of X has made it clear that the mutant nation will need every psychic it can get to stop incoming psychic threats. Refusing to bring such a powerful one back to life for such unconvincing reasons is one of the Council’s worst decisions yet. It’s also hypocritical, given how many villains Xavier and company have sided with in the Krakoa era, many of whom, like Sinister and Sebastian Shaw, aren’t entirely repentant.
The Council’s stance on Madelyne reflects their poor, corrupted judgment. With vampires, anti-mutant bigots, Mikhail Rasputin’s Russian forces, and more all looking to take Krakoa down, they can’t afford to be this particular about their allies. Justifying their treatment of Madelyne with the fact that she’s a clone indicates that at least some of them have developed their own prejudices, despite Xavier’s dream of combatting bigotry.
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