Scott Summers and Jean Grey are ready to be part of their geology club excursion, but Mystique ended up replacing the latter's place to Rogue so that drive her apart from the X-Men. In the end, Rogue finds out about Mystique's plans and finally joins the X-Men.
Tropes included:
- Class Trip: Scott and Jean prepare for their geology class field trip, but Mystique has different plans in mind, replacing Jean with Rogue in an attempt to put further distance between her and the X-Men.
- Danger Room Cold Open: The Teaser has the team sneaking past security to rescue a chained up woman, only to see that it's a villainous Rogue. It's revealed to be this trope after the theme song.
- Deadpan Snarker: After rescuing them, Wolverine asks Rogue once and for all which side she is on. She asks if she'll be thrown out of the already flying jet if she picks the other side.
- Heel–Face Turn: Rogue.
- Internal Reveal:
- Mystique reveals the truth that she's Principal Darkholme to Cyclops before attempting to kill him.
- Rogue finally learns that it was Mystique disguised as the X-Men who attacked her when she first met them and the heroes really do have her best interests at heart.
- Lampshade Hanging: Cyclops points out they keep trying to appeal to Rogue as a friend but just trained to fight her as an enemy. He finds the contradiction very confusing.
- Mundane Utility: With the blizzard raging, those in the Blackbird can't simply see Cyclops and Rogue. Taking off his glasses, Rogue tells Cyclops to open his eyes in order to create a signal flare substitute.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cyclops talking about the simulation to Jean. Mystique overhears this and uses it to manipulate Rogue.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Mystique manipulated events in an attempt to ensure Rogue would never join the X-Men. It might've worked, but she tried to kill Cyclops as part of the bargain. Rogue was disgusted, so she used her power to see Mystique's memories and learn what's really been going on.
- Power of Trust: The central theme. Rogue learns which side she should trust. Xavier is called out for his lack of trust towards the kids about Darkholme's identity and apologizes for it.
- Secret Test of Character: Cyclops says Rogue being an antagonist in the simulation wasn't on the prep list. Xavier says that was the point, as real life has all sorts of complications that can't be prepared for.
- Villain Respect: Mystique admits Xavier has done a good job cultivating the kids' abilities.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Xavier got some complaints from Logan, Jean, Kurt, Evan, and Kitty about hiding the truth from the teens about Mystique's disguise as Principal Darkholme. To his credit, Xavier admits his mistake.
- You Are Not Ready: Xavier says there are secrets that the kids aren't ready to know about yet, but he admits the truth about Darkholme shouldn't have been one of them.
