The X-Men are shocked when Professor X teams them up with the Brotherhood to stop Magneto, but then, a shocking twist reveals that nothing was as it seemed to be.
Tropes included:
- Big "NO!": Trask lets one out when the platform with the mutants and the Sentinel rises to the surface.
- Bring It: Blob when he sees that Colossus is his group's strong guy.
- Cliffhanger: A doozy of one. The mansion is destroyed, several of the X-Men have been captured, the world now knows about the existence of mutants, Magneto has seemingly been killed by the Sentinel crashing, and Professor Xavier has been revealed to have been replaced by Mystique.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: As the group wonders who was in those orbs, a playing card lit up with kinetic energy moves into view.
- Foreshadowing:
- Multiple Bayville characters see the Sentinel battle on TV and immediately recognize the maskless X-Men, which will cause a good deal of problems next season.
- Wanda knocks out Quicksilver before confronting Magneto, and the boy is otherwise forgotten about. This will end up being a Chekhov's Gun in the following season premiere.
- Gambit Pileup: At least three different factions have their own plans going: Trask, Mystique, and Magneto. Magneto manages to successfully use both his opponent's plans to his advantage.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Magneto's reason for locking Wanda up in the institution. As he says, she couldn't control her anger and gave him no choice.
- Internal Reveal: "And now, the whole world will know of us."
- Mythology Gag: As in the comics, Rogue finds herself attracted to Gambit.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Subverted. The remaining X-Men and Brotherhood members are forced to flee rather than try to rescue their incapacitated teammates.
- No-Sell: Toad's attempt to body slam Colossus ends like you'd expect.
- Revenge: Wanda leaves Magneto easy prey for the Sentinel.
- So Much for Stealth:
- The X-Men were able to remain under the radar to this point because until now, their actions were discreet and they made sure not to be noticed. Against a behemoth like the Sentinel, however, they were forced to fight out in the open, especially with the machine driving them back into the city.
- This also applies to Trask's organization; they hadn't intended for the Sentinel to attack mutants in public, but thanks to Magneto bringing it up to the surface, the machine rampaged through town as it pursued the X-Men, exposing the anti-mutant group.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After the Sentinel attack begins, Magneto sends his Acolytes away.
- Villainous Breakdown: Magneto when Wanda disables his powers just as the Sentinel moves in.
- Wham Episode: Mutants are finally exposed to the world in this episode.
- Wham Shot:
- The Acolytes are revealed to be Sabretooth, Pyro, Colossus, and Gambit.
- "Xavier" standing up and turning into Mystique.
