At the Gala!note
Please understand: the Hellfire Gala is an affair of state. I suppose we could have rented a ballroom in some dingy hotel somewhere and served fast food, but that sounds dreadful. We can do something very special, and so we will. The solstice this year will be an evening to celebrate mutant arts and culture and to meet old friends and hopefully make some new ones.
— Emma Frost, "The White Queen of the Green Carpet," Hellfire Gala Guide
X-Men: Hellfire Gala is a 2021 Bat Family Crossover published by Marvel Comics, running through the almost the entire Dawn of X and Reign of X line of X-Men titles during June: Hellions, Marauders, X-Force, Excalibur, X-Men, New Mutants, X-Corp, S.W.O.R.D. (2020), Way of X, Wolverine, X-Factor, and a double-sized one-shot called Planet-Size X-Men.
Like the title indicates, the crossover will take place during the inaugural Hellfire Gala, presented by the Hellfire Trading Company on behalf of the mutant nation of Krakoa. Unlike a normal crossover, however, the twelve issues will all take place concurrently during the single night of the Gala and tell individual stories. The Gala will also reveal more of mutantkind's "startling plan" for the future, as well as the new Krakoan team of X-Men (whose final member was voted on by the readers).
One thing is for sure: mutants have never looked better.
The mutant fashions were designed by a number of artists including Russell Dauterman and some were revealed here
. More fashions were revealed throughout April and can be found here, with designs by Stephen Segovia, Matteo Lolli, Joshua Cassara, Marcus To, Lucas Werneck, Alex Lins, Alberto Foche, Valerio Schiti, Bob Quinn, and David Baldeón. In addition, on April 28, Marvel released the Hellfire Gala Guide for free.
Marvel's Twitter account also released several short comic strips about the X-Men vote taking place during the Gala, all written by Zeb Wells:
- Strong Guy and Forge in "Equality" (art by Mike Henderson, and Rochelle Rosenberg)
- Boom-Boom and Tempo in "Over Served" (art by Nico Leon and Rochelle Rosenberg)
- Armor and Marrow in "The Best Offense" (art by Emilio Laiso and Rochelle Rosenberg)
- Cannonball and Sunspot in "Popularity Contest" (art by Diego Olortegui and Rochelle Rosenberg)
- Polaris and Banshee in "New X-Man" (art by David Messina and Rochelle Rosenberg)
Comics involved in the Hellfire Gala
The red issues are the important ones:
- Marauders #21 (red issue)
- X-Force #20
- Hellion #12
- Excalibur #21
- X-Men #21 (red issue)
- Planet-Size X-Men #1 (red issue)
- New Mutants #19
- X-Corp #2
- Wolverine #13
- S.W.O.R.D. #6 (red issue)
- Way of X #3
- X-Factor #10
The storyline segues into two events — The Trial of Magneto, which comes from the events of the Gala, and The Last Annihilation, which sees some of Krakoa's spacefaring heroes ally with the Guardians of the Galaxy against a massive threat.
The Gala has become a yearly event, with another special started in July of 2022.
Tropes involved in the Hellfire Gala:
2021 Gala
- Actually Pretty Funny: During an argument with Doctor Doom, Emma says he's acting as if Mutants have conquered Earth. The words are barely out of her mouth before the Shi'ar representative stops by to sincerely congratulate Emma on Mutants conquering Earth. Doom walks off laughing uproariously.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Nightcrawler gets stinking drunk and starts talking to Nanny about the three laws of Krakoa and his philosophy about them. Nanny, on the other hand, also gets drunk — she is seen double fisting vials of champagne — and ends up trying to murder Mister Sinister. Afterwards, she throws up in her egg suit.
- Arc Words: "Fireworks." They are obviously a code for something, but we don't learn what they are until Planet-Size X-Men. It's the terraforming of Mars by Omega-level mutants and transportation of Arakko there.
- Audience Participation: The X-Men vote coincided with the Hellfire Gala, although Marvel revealed the results of the audience poll a few months prior. Polaris won.
- Badass Cape: Storm's cape◊ is literally made out of clouds and lightning.
- Badass in a Nice Suit:
- Ballroom Blitz: In the X-Force issue, Deadpool tries to crash the event and Wolverine tries to stop him. In the end, it's Domino who stops him.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Beast exploits the number of visiting ambassadors attending to bug them. His justification is that if God said they were going to watch over everyone to stop the bad and help the good, They'd be celebrated, but replace God with a blue furred mutant and suddenly people take exception.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Gala goes off without a hitch and new alliances are forged, but Britain pulls out of the Earthbound alliance, James Hudson might have been coerced into joining Orchis and the Scarlet Witch is dead with Magneto missing.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: Shatterstar shows up to the Gala still splattered with blood from his fight with the Morrigan. Ric is put off by this, but at the end of the night, Shatterstar shows up again without the blood and they bond.
- Body Paint: Instead of an outfit, Mercury is given body paint, which goes well with her silver body. Loa can't help but comment on it.
- Brick Joke: At one point in the Hellions issue, Psylocke gets Quire to allow the rest of the Hellions to stay by saying if he doesn't, she'll reveal to Phoebe Cuckoo what he actually thinks of her outfit. Quire let's them go, with a mutter of, "It's just a little too Nurse Ratched." A few pages later, Phoebe ends up picking up that thought and, at the end of the episode, the rest of the Cuckoos wonder where she's gone and it turns out she left to change her clothes.
- Can't Have Sex, Ever: It turns out that Loa and Mercury tried being intimate, but couldn't due to Loa's powers (she shreds things), which turned on when she became...excited. So they try to recruit Legion into helping them have a Mental Affair. It doesn't turn out well, since Legion takes it as an opportunity to try and trap Onslaught.
- The Cameo:
- Several real life celebrities will cameo as human guests at the Gala. Those confirmed so far are Eminem, Conan O'Brien, footballers Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, Ira Glass, and New York Mets baseman Peter Alonso.
- In the Marauders issue, we see that J. Jonah Jameson is one of those invited to the Gala. Right ahead of him is also Patton Oswalt and his wife, Meredith Salenger.
- In the X-Force issue, there is a huge page where a ton of characters are seen, including Shuri who is dancing with Whiz Kid.
- In X-Men #21, Kevin Feige shows up and asks Scott what his story is.
- This issue is also where Eminem, his manager Paul Rosenberg, and George R. R. Martin make an appearance.
- Cleavage Window: Emma's first ensemble◊ has an X cut out right in the middle to show her cleavage. Keep in mind that it's a fur dress.
- Continuity Nod:
- Kate Pryde's ensemble◊ includes a diamond brooch that has a bullet attached, a reminder of the giant bullet Kate phased through Earth, saving it. This is directly referenced in a letter from Emma, who commissioned it for her, shown in issue 20 of Marauders. She also appears to be wearing one half of Rachel Summers' Prestige mask.
- Betsy Braddock's dress◊ is similarly shaped to her original X-Men costume◊.
- Rachel Summer's ensemble◊ looks very much like her outfit as a Hound◊.
- In the Hellfire Gala Guide, Manifold is called "the Everywhere Man," much like he is called in issue #3 of S.W.O.R.D. (2020).
- In the Marauders issue, Emma and Banshee finally see each other again and it's implied that Emma invited him to join the Marauders, where they would work together again just like in Generation X.
- In the Hellions issue, Wild Child runs into Aurora and their past as a couple in Alpha Flight is brought up. The Cuckoos exposit that it was during a time when he was doing better, but she was doing worse.
- Kate Pryde's ensemble
- Costume Porn: All of the outfits, suits, dresses, and ensembles that the Krakoans wear to the Gala, designed by Russell Dauterman and other artists, are elaborate and beautiful, with the costume often reflecting the history and personality of the wearer. A costume gallery of some (not all) the mutants can be seen here.
- Emma Frost wears three different outfits over the course of the Gala.
- Crazy-Prepared: Tony Stark makes sure he's really protected from what Krakoa has when he enters in X-Force #20, not really wearing the special flower and wearing special psychic-blocking sunglasses.
- Creator Cameo: All over the place. In one panel, Emma tells Sean she needs to tend to two guests, while behind her we see Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. In another panel, we see Zeb Wells and his wife, SNL actress Heidi Gardner. In the Excalibur issue, Tini Howard shows up. And then, of course, there's editor Jordan D. White and Jonathan Hickman.
- Dressed Like a Dominatrix:
- Selene◊, who is wearing an all-black ensemble that appears to be made of leather and is carrying a riding crop. Of course, her regular outfits almost always look like a dominatrix, so this is just par for the course.
- Tessa/Sage in the Marauders backup story, which is a reprint of the original Hellfire Gala written by Claremont.
- Selene
- Dressed to Plunder: Abigail Brand's outfit is green-colored shout out to Captain Harlock, complete with eye patch.
- Drowning My Sorrows:
- The losers of the vote all end up drinking after they lose to Polaris. Banshee even says "Alright, ya losers! LET'S GET FLUTHERED!"
- In Hellions #12, after the Hellions crash the party, Wild Child sees his ex, Aurora. When she says that she was in a bad place when they were together and now she's with someone else, Wild Child ends up at the bar and orders a lot of drinks.
- It turns out that the reason Nightcrawler gets progressively more and more drunk as the evening goes on is because he's trying hard not to reveal the existence of Onslaught to everyone.
- The losers of the vote all end up drinking after they lose to Polaris. Banshee even says "Alright, ya losers! LET'S GET FLUTHERED
- Fashionable Asymmetry:
- Kate Pryde's ensemble◊ is deliberately asymmetrical to represent her phasing power.
- Laura Kinney's ensemble also has a dress that's half long and half short.
- Armor's ensemble has a golden armor only on her left arm and left leg.
- Kate Pryde's ensemble
- The Fashionista: Emma Frost. She is the only one who has three different ensembles instead of one.
- Giant Poofy Sleeves: Betsy Braddock's outfit◊ includes giant poofy sleeves as a throwback to her original Psylocke costume.
- Gold and White Are Divine: Both Professor X and Magneto are dressed in gold and white.
- Good Parents: Invoked by Magneto, who has decided to be this to his grown children, biological relation or not.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Nanny tries to kill Mister Sinister with a broken wine glass.
- Impossibly-Low Neckline: Emma Frost's second ensemble◊ has a neckline that slips past her shoulders.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Almost all of them, although averted with X-Force, who are all wearing more practical outfits (like tuxedoes) because they are working as security.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: In Marauders, after Emma realizes that she reminds Captain America of his mother, she yells "I need a drink!" After Kate tells her she already has a drink, she says, "I need another!"
- Inelegant Blubbering: After Boom-Boom loses the vote, she drunk cries while hugging Tempo.Boom-Boom: WE LOST! IT'S OVER! NOBODY LOVES US! GAAAAAAHHHHH!Tempo: Fun party.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Emma tries to reassure Doom:Emma Frost: Victor. Mutants are here. We're not going anywhere. You've acted as though we have announced that we've conquered Earth.
Shi'ar Ambassador: Emma Frost, on behalf of the Shi'ar Empire, we would like to congratulate mutantdom on conquering your home planet. - Klatchian Coffee: Doctor Nemesis has developed a coffee, which he calls "Krakoffee," that is so strong it's also an anti-hangover cure. The morning after the party, Nightcrawler immediately needs one.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The Gala is advertised as the big event of the Summer both in and out of universe.
- Literal-Minded: In Planet-Size X-Men, Jean and Quentin implant the full schematics of a second S.W.O.R.D. station in Jamie's mind for him to create. Only, Jean phrases it as an idea for him to give birth to, which he takes literally as he rapidly gestates the station within himself before it bursts out of his swollen abdomen and expands to full size.
- Motor Mouth: Boom-Boom does this when she gets drunk and tries to talk with Tempo. Tempo tries to stop her:Boom-Boom: Can you believe we used to try to kill each other but now one of us could be elected to the X-Men oh look I'm double-fisting oops Sam bought me one but I already had one so I was like yes please I'm not talking too much and it's gonna be one of us I bet HEY we should totally hang until the reveal that'll show everybody—Tempo: Boom-Boom, please... Slow down. [uses powers to slow time]
Boom-Boom: —weeeeeeeeee'rrrrrrrrrre cooooooooooooooooooool
Tempo: This is...not better. - Navel-Deep Neckline:
- Monet's outfit◊ includes exposed cleavage and skin almost to the navel.
- Psylocke, Polaris, Domino and Sage also have outfits with plunging necklines.
- Monet's outfit
- Noodle Incident: In Planet-Sized X-Men Magneto and Isca discuss the Arakkii mutant "Rii the Destroyer" and his followers attempting to conquer the Japanese city of Chichibu (apparently just because he really liked Japanese whiskey).
- Not Helping Your Case: Emma jokes at Doom that he's acting bitter like mutants are conquering the world. Then a Shi'ar walks up to congratulate her on mutants conquering Earth, an irony to which Doom laughs as Steve awkwardly takes a long drink. Doubly so later, when Emma confronts Sage on Beast's actions in making Terra Verde a Banana Republic and puppeteering their ambassadors to bug the other dignitaries.
- Not Quite Dead: At the end of the Hellions issue, the Sinister who stayed behind on Arakko back in X of Swords returns.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Every single female mutant attending the Gala will have one. Emma Frost has three.
- Even Prodigy gets one. Tommy shows up, thrilled that they're allowed to wear dresses.
- Pretty in Mink: Emma Frost's first costume is a giant fur dress with an X cut out in the middle to show her cleavage.
- Red Skies Crossover: Children of the Atom’s tie-in is the only issue to not actually feature the Gala itself, though the plot does revolve around the characters attempting to gain entry. As shown in X-Factor #10, Carmen got in, no word on the rest.
- The Resenter: While Kitty tries to smooth it all out, Franklin is still pissed at the fact that Xavier claimed he's not a mutant and apparently never was right after his powers gave out.
- Right Behind Me: In X-Force #20, Sage is monitoring the event from Krakoa and is also in on Beast's plan to bug all the other ambassadors with the living plants from Terre Verde. Unfortunately, Emma knows exactly what's going on and shows up right behind her, telling her that what she and Beast are doing could jeopardize everything.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In Excalibur #21 It is revealed that Britain has decided to depart from Krakoa's treaty and dumping their drugs back on their feet. In return, the Krakoans have annexed Braddock Isle.
- Seen It All: The representative from Great Kymellia finds it unimpressive that Krakoa has terraformed just one single planet. And in their own solar system at that!
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Jean Grey's outfit◊ is backless as a throwback to her dress at the beginning of the Phoenix Saga.
- Shown Their Work: In Planet-Size X-Men, when Mars is terraformed, Gerry Duggan and Jonathan Hickman did their research. Per this tweet, they paid attention to the topography and made sure that features of Mars were still shown above the ocean, like Olympus Mons, Tharsis Montes, Argyre Planitia, and Hellas Plantitia, which is turned into Lake Hellas. Hickman himself made the map of Planet Arakko.
- Sideboob: Emma's third ensemble◊ is basically diamond strands that cover her front and back...but not her sides.
- Spit Take: Sage does one when Emma reveals she knows about their unintentional takeover of Terra Verde. Followed by a Dramatic Drop when Emma tells her what will happen if it gets out.
- Staring Contest: Emma interrupts one between Captain America and Doctor Doom.
- Terraform: Emma and Magneto's plan is to gather up a group of Omega-level mutants from Krakoa and Arakko in order to terraform Mars and then teleport Arakko to it, declaring it Planet Arakko, the first Mutant Planet, and the capital of the Sol System.
- Underdressed for the Occasion: As soon as Doctor Strange gets there, he says, "I'm underdressed."
- Unknown Rival: Daken to Wild Child. Daken is dating Aurora who is Wild Child's ex and Wild Child obviously isn't over her. Daken, on the other hand, has no idea they were ever together, but when Wild Child tries to fight him, he's perfectly okay with it. After all, he's Daken.
- The Unreveal: Reed whispers something to Xavier when they meet in Marauders #21, but we don't know what it is.
- Walking Shirtless Scene:
- Warren's ensemble◊ comes without a shirt.
- Gambit, Bishop, Iceman, Prodigy and Eye Boy are also shirtless. Colossus, on the other hand, does have a shirt, but it's sheer and therefore semi-transparent.
- Warren's ensemble
- Wham Episode:
- Planet-Size X-Men is about Omega-level mutants from Krakoa and Arakko terraforming Mars so that the Arakki mutants can live there. This includes increasing the gravity, creating a magnetosphere, creating an entire ocean, creating an atmosphere, increasing the ice caps and sheets, and transporting Arakko there. They also get Jamie Braddock to create a spaceport and a second S.W.O.R.D. Station and then they declare that Mars now is Planet Arakko, the first mutant planet and the new capital of the Sol System.
- S.W.O.R.D. #6 takes place after the "fireworks" and ends with the Scarlet Witch arriving and talking with Magneto and Magneto admitting that he still considers her his daughter, no matter what.
- X-Factor #10 ends with Eye-Boy and Speed finding the dead body of the Scarlet Witch.
2022 Gala
some caption text
- Audience Participation: In-Universe, all the guests get to telepathically experience a cello concert from the cellist's perspective.
- Batman Gambit: Moira knows how teams work in the mutant world, so when she wants to find out who's in the Five besides her son, she only has to really hurt his feelings, and they're there.
- The Cameo:
- Jon Hamm shows up and dances with Jean. Apparently he's on her "allowed" list.
- Gwenpool shows up to declare that she still wants her own book.
- Eddie, of Iron Maiden fame, is present - although it's possible that he's just Posehn's hallucination.
- Continuity Nod: several:
- Tony Stark mentions the brief beginning of terraforming Mars from the early issues of The Avengers (Jonathan Hickman)
- Reed Richards mentions Charles' erasure of part of his memory in X-Men / Fantastic Four
- Wolverine refers to his and Spider-Man's team up in Berlin, from the Spider-Man Versus Wolverine one-shot back in 1987
- Covert Distress Code: MJ taps SOS in morse code on her glass.
- Celeb Crush: Jean Grey totally has the hots for real-life person Jon Hamm.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Emma discusses hers internally. She can't figure out what Scott sees in her, even though she knows exactly what he sees in her thanks to her telepathy.
- Internal Reveal: As part of his peace offering to Emma, Scott shares his recently acquired intel on the identity of Doctor Stasis (and Emma, learning that it's Sinister will put it to good use in Immortal X-Men). In return, Emma reveals to Scott the secret truths about Krakoa she and the Quiet Council learned during Inferno.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Deadpool hates Brian Posehn - who used to write his book...
- Not So Above It All: Spider-Man jokingly asks Dr. Doom if he thinks if the Krakoans will resurrect Jimi Hendrix or David Bowie next. Doom tells Spidey to scram, then one Beat Panel later, muses if Bowie could really be a mutant.
- Replicant Snatching: Moira does this to Mary Jane Watson.
- The Reveal: At the end of the issue, Moira is seen convening with two Eternals about The Five, as a lead-up to the AXE summer crossover.
- Sequel Hook: Two of them, one setting up Judgment Day and one setting up a future issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (2022).
- Scott sharing the true identity of Doctor Stasis with Emma also leads directly into Kieron Gillen's Immortal X-Men #4.
- Too Much Information: Though technically Too Much Speculation, hence subverted. Sophie thinks that Sinister's excessive love for himself could manifest as sex with his clones. Her sister's don't want to hear it.
2023 Gala
- A Friend in Need: Rogue doesn't hesitate to go with the Avengers when they're called away.
- Audience Participation: As with the previous years we as readers were given the opportunity to vote for a new member of the X-men team, this time from Cannonball, Juggernaut, Jubilee, Frenzy, Dazzler and Prodigy. This year however had a twist. That twist being that all six of them would be elected but only one of them would survive the attack from Nimrod that would kick off the assault from Orchis. In other words we were unknowingly voting for which of the six would live, essentially killing the rest. And Juggernaut won that vote.
- Back from the Dead: Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, who was killed in The Amazing Spider-Man, is resurrected on Krakoa by The Five, with the reveal that she is a mutant as well as an inhuman, a combination that wasn't previously believed possible. It's later revealed that Kamala should have manifested her mutant powers had it not been for the Terrigen Mists.
- Brick Joke: In the stinger, Kate is finally able to use a gate
- Crazy-Prepared: Orchis has been plotting out their attack on Krakoa since the early days of the Krakoan Age and has laid the groundwork across weapons development, intelligence gathering, public relations, etc. Aside from a few hiccups they didn't foresee, nearly every single x-factor and potential threat is accounted for and neutralized by Orchis.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Many Krakoans are murdered in horribly heartless ways by Nimrod, including slamming into the new X-Men team at terminal velocity.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Wyn of Jonathan Hickman's upcoming GODS makes an appearance here, warning Magik that the old gods are coming back.
- Downer Ending: A handful a mutants are left on Earth, with the fate of several thousands if not millions unknown, though Xavier believes them to be dead. The surviving mutants are scattered, the gates are rendered unusable (except by Kate Pryde), and Krakoa is essentially over. Orchis got everything they wanted, framing Mutantkind for numerous human deaths. All in all, it is more dangerous to be a mutant on Earth than ever.
- Dramatic Irony: Xavier believes that he sent everyone on Krakoa to their deaths, that he can’t sense them anymore. We know that’s not the case, between scenes in the actual book and in solicitations for later books.
- Failed a Spot Check: As Stasis gloats to Xavier, the Quiet Council was so focused on the Resurrection Protocols and how badly Sinister had compromised them that they took their eyes off their Krakoan horticulture — allowing Orchis to compromise the foundation of the Mutant economy.
- False Flag Operation: The Captain Krakoa imposter does this to force the Avengers and Rogue off-Krakoa.
- Heroic BSoD: Xavier at the end of the book. "Krakoa, population 1" indeed.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Dr Stasis says to Charles "I assume you're familiar with powers of ten."
- Meaningless Villain Victory: During the Gala, Sam Wilson makes it clear how unhappy he is about Wilson Fisk claiming Krakoan citizenship and evading the consequences for Devil's Reign. However, the Mutant opinion is that it ain't really much of a win for the Kingpin if you think about it. With the international warrants still out for his arrest, Fisk can't leave the island and its shield of diplomatic immunity. More, he's surrounded by heroes who don't like or trust him and who are all carefully watching his every move for the moment he inevitably tries something. Keeping Kingpin contained and unable to influence New York or global crime also benefits everybody.
- Mind Control: To get mutants off of Earth, Xavier does this to force them through the portals. A number of mutants invoke the "red triangle" training to shake off this command.
- The Mole: Jean convinces Firestar to act as a mole inside Orchis, rewriting everyone’s memories to make them believe that she met with Stasis since before she ever visited Krakoa, and that she's been working for Orchis since the beginning.
- Mood Whiplash: The X-Men roster announcement has its usual majesty and glory to it, but then is immediately ruined by five of its members being brutally murdered by Nimrod, who begins Orchis’ invasion of Krakoa.
- Neck Snap: One unlucky Orchis member gets this courtesy of the former Kingpin of Crime.
- Reset Button: Kamala's resurrection removes the memory of her death, thus it's most likely she has no memory of seeing Peter Parker unmasked as Spider-Man. At the same time, Emma tells her that she plans on altering everyone's memories so that everyone forgets she died. However, in Amazing Spider-Man #31, Peter tells Kamala everything she's forgotten, including his secret identity. Also, it's only Kamala whose death everyone will have forgotten, not Ms. Marvel's - anyone who knows her secret identity will still know she died, which of course included Peter. So it's a Subverted Trope in the end.
- Sadistic Choice: Orchis pulls this on Xavier - get the mutants off of Earth or, for every mutant around, they'll start killing humans by a factor of X (ten).
- Simultaneous Arcs: The full special runs parallel to the events of Duggan's previously released Free Comic Book Day 2023: Uncanny Avengers #1 (and providing the context for the absence of Cyclops and the Avengers from the Gala).
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Justified example with the Avengers. They're forced to leave the Gala early due to the SOS from Captain America in the FCBD Uncanny Avengers story. This attack was almost certainly timed by Orchis to get Earth's Mightiest Heroes away from the Gala to prevent them from helping the Mutants. Indeed, in Invincible Iron Man #8, Tony Stark doesn't realize what has happened until he finds Emma and Fisk being threatened by a Stark Sentinel and she brings him up to speed.
- Teleport Interdiction: Using data gathered by Hordeculture, Orchis successfully hacks and locks the mutants out of the Krakoan Gate Network.
- Tempting Fate: Emma Frost tries to go through a gateway only to break her nose on it, just like Kate Pryde did when she first tried. Kate naturally enjoys it as she tells the others they'll get used to how they can't use gates as she leans on one...and for the first time, she goes through it to land outside the Israel embassy.
- Walking Spoiler: Because this Hellfire Gala is vastly different than the previous two years, talking about this would spoil most of the comic.
- Wham Episode: And one of the whammiest since House and Powers of X.
- You Are in Command Now: Talon and Synch are appointed leaders of the X-Men by Jean and Cyclops. By the looks of their faces, they weren’t privy to that before she said so.
