Recap / X-Men S3 E6 "The Phoenix Saga Part 4: The Starjammers"

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• Adaptational Villainy: In the Starjammers's first appearance, they saved the X-Men from getting killed by the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Here, they attack them and run off with the M'kraan Crystal, just to get a chance at assassinating D'Ken.
• The Cameo: The psychic shockwave from Phoenix transporting a bunch of X-Men offworld is sighted worldwide by Captain Britain, the White Queen (who's incidentally the only one affected) and Doctor Strange.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw and Mastermind appear briefly as Jean leaves Earth. They'll be important in a few episodes.
• Decoy Getaway: D'Ken sent a Shapeshifter in his place for the exchange with Corsair.
• Designated Girl Fight: For some reason, Rogue singles out the one Cat Girl on the Starjammers' side.

  Rogue:"There ain't hardly room to swing a cat in here!"

• Didn't See That Coming: The Starjammers used a particular stun setting to knock out Liandra and her crew. They are thus surprised to find a group of humans still up and about.
• Dramatic Irony: Scott and Corsair talk, entirely unaware they're father and son. Corsair caps off the conversation by saying the only way he thinks he'd recognize his oldest son is by his eyes, the one thing he can't do.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Corsair recalls how his oldest son had his mother's eyes.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: With the X-Men winning against the Starjammers, Corsair tells Raza to recalibrate the stun ray for humans. Raza is hesitant out of concern for Corsair, meaning the guy isn't a Human Alien. More, Jean then learns just who Corsair really is.
• Good Is Not Nice: The Starjammers are completely opposed to D'Ken and want to end his threat to the galaxy. It's just the way they go about it involves stealing the crystal and fighting with the X-Men. Cyclops is particularly disturbed by how Corsair wants him to kill D'Ken.
• Hammerspace: The M'Kraan crystal apparently uses "refracted light energy" to contain a galaxy's worth of energy.
• I Lied: On two sides; Corsair calls up D'Ken and says he'll hand over the Crystal if D'Ken pays him half the entire treasury of the Shi'ar Empire. D'Ken swears he will, and, once the call is over, tells Gladiator to kill him. Meanwhile, Corsair knew D'Ken wasn't ever going to keep his word and plans to have Cyclops take him out.
• It Has Been an Honor: About to leave for the meeting, Corsair orders the other Starjammers to flee if things go wrong. He tells them to carry on the good fight and then bids them each farewell.
• It's a Long Story: On the way to the meeting, Corsair tells Cyclops that he's actually from Earth. When Cyclops asks how that's possible, Corsair simply tells him this.
• Last Kiss: With Corsair ordering the crew to flee if things go wrong, Hepzibah gives him one of these before he departs just in case.
• The Lost Lenore: Corsair lost his wife to D'Ken's forces a while back.
• The Needs of the Many: Corsair doesn't want D'Ken to get the crystal, but he's willing to risk it for the chance to kill him and avenge his beloved wife. Cyclops is incredulous over this, both out of a disdain for killing and due to the high stakes. Corsair counters that D'Ken getting the crystal is inevitable, so he believes that letting the man live is what will put those billions at risk.
  Corsair: Is your sense of honor worth so much?
  Cyclops: Is one woman's life important enough to risk the fate of an entire galaxy?
  Corsair: [beat] It was to me.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Before getting to the meeting, Corsair reveals to Cyclops that he also comes from Earth.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: After the X-Men are transported to D'Ken's ship and find themselves surrounded by the Imperial Guard.
  Wolverine: Start the ball, Cajun!
• The Reveal: Phoenix does a psychic scan on Corsair and finds out that he is Cyclops' Disappeared Dad.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Jean reads Corsair's mind and sees images of Scott and Alex as children, meaning he's their father. She never gets a chance to tell Cyclops this, and she refuses to reveal this to Wolverine.
• Serious Business: Shi'ar vows are supposed to be ironclad. Gladiator is appalled that D'Ken would casually break his, but his own sense of honor forces him to do as he's told.
• Space Pirates: The Starjammers are a proud example.
• Super-Strength: Beast tries to hold up the closing door, but even Wolverine helping out doesn't make a difference. Rogue effortlessly takes care of it.
• That's an Order!: In the event things go wrong, Corsair tells the crew to immediately flee rather than wait for him to try to get back to the ship. The other Starjammers refuse, and he has to outright order them to do this.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Corsair wants Cyclops to take D'Ken by surprise and his power at full strength. Cyclops is troubled by this, seeing it as an affront to everything he believes in. Corsair wants to avenge his dead wife, but he also points out that Cyclops would be eliminating the greatest threat to the galaxy and saving billions. Cyclops reluctantly agrees, but D'Ken's treachery and the timely arrival of the other X-Men mean he never actually has to try.
• The Voiceless: Hepzibah never says a word, though she does yowl when Rogue grabs her by the tail.
• Wham Shot: Juggernaut punches Gladiator, but to his and the X-Men's shock, Gladiator doesn't budge an inch. Before Juggernaut could process what happened, Gladiator singlehandedly picks him up and casually tosses him well over the horizon.
• The Worf Effect: The only way Rogue can get the better of Gladiator is to blindside him.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: D'Ken gets his hands on the M'Kraan crystal just long enough to put his plan into action, siphoning its power into himself.

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