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Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 348

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Quote1 I said take yer filthy hands off me, punk! Essex paid ya big time to do yer job, and ya did it! Now back off, or so help me, yer guts are gonna be hangin' all over these tunnel walls! Quote2
—Rogue, while manifesting the personality of Sabretooth.

Appearing in "Because, I Said So"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Villains:

Other Characters:

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Vehicles:

Synopsis for "Because, I Said So"

The issue opens to Gambit, Grovel, Joseph, Rogue, and Spat preparing for an attack by Nanny. Grovel sarcastically notes that he used to think Remy LeBeau had hearty fun as a thief, but as an X-Man, it seems, the fun never stops! Kinetically charging his knife and prepared for combat, Gambit replies that this is one way of putting it. Magnetically charging himself, Joseph replies that he sees nothing remotely “fun” about this experience. Their lives have not been their own since the moment they were transported into the heart of the Shi'ar Empire. Their return here – wherever here might be – has not been any more pleasant. Rogue agrees with Joseph: this is not a good thing they are staring at here. Spat comments that no way is she getting paid enough to deal with this.

The next moment they are are attacked by an army of cyborg monsters under the control of Nanny. Joseph recognizes her and calls her by name. Gambit points that his teammate knows the one that called him "Magneto". He concludes that "Joe" knows a lot more than he is letting on. Joseph argues that he still has little access to his memories of a prior life. He simply has the "vaguest recollection" of Nanny. He calls her an "entity" and a monstrosity. Nanny chastises "Magneto" for name-calling and forgetting his manners due to his long absence from "home". Spat asks whether Joseph used to live here. Nanny points that her "little boy" created this place. She welcomes them to the lair of Magneto.

Joseph threatens that if he created this place, he will also gladly tear it apart. He prepares to use his magnetic powers to do just that. But suddenly Gambit, Joseph, and Rogue get depowered. Gambit concludes that Nanny has the ability to put a whammy on their mutant powers. Spat jokes that her old associate is still "the master of the obvious".

Rogue questions how is this possible. The records of the X-Men point that when the team was held captive by Nanny, she used neural-inhibitors to negate their powers. The inhibitors were part of their restraints, and now there are no visible restraints or inhibitors. Gambit concludes that Nanny or someone else did some serious upgrading. He suggests that, if they do not want to bleed on the floor, they play along with her. He surrenders and drops his knife, while robots restrain Joseph, Rogue, and Spat.

Nearby, Trish Tilby observes the captivity of her teammates from a hiding spot. She thinks that Nanny is an android with a voice like sugar dipped in honey, but in need of an attitude adjustment. Her instincts urge her to follow the captives, but her logic urges her to return to the Beast. Her boyfriend is not only the best-looking mutant on Earth, he is also one of the smartest men on the planet. She thinks that this would make an incredible story, but only if she makes it back to civilization alive. She leaves and does not notice a cyborg bat following her.

Trish wonders why she could not locate Bishop and Deathbird. Hank has wondered if they even returned to Earth, but she wonders where else could they be. The scenes shifts to an abandoned outpost of the Shi'ar Empire. Its name has been stricked from the history books of the Shi'ar. Its current owner is Deathbird. She informs Bishop that there was a "tragic accident" while they were en route to Earth, and all his comrades are dead. He himself was severely wounded and crippled. She has brought him here for rehabilitation.

An incapacitated Bishop, os connected to numerous tubes, wires and devices. His mouth seems tied. Deathbird claims that his bones were crushed during the decompression of the cabin, before she managed to teleport the two of them to safety. She claims Bishop fought valiantly to save his teammates and that they all faced death with courage. The two of them are the only survivors. She wants her "brave warrior" to not feel fear. He never truly belonged with those weaklings. He is here to mend and become stronger as a result of his trials. She promises that in time the two of them will rule an Empire. She then leaves him alone. Bishop silently tears up, though it is unclear what he makes of her words.

The scene shifts to Magneto's base. Gambit, Grovel, Rogue, and Spat are chained in a cell, with Joseph nowhere to be seen. Grovel blames Spat for not listening to him and trusting their mysterious employer. She realizes that she should have said no to the employment offer, but she could not resist the thought of hunting Gambit. She personally blames Gambit for getting them into this mess. She asks whether Gambit has managed to use his lock picking skills on his chain. It is obvious he has been trying for a while, but it is no use. He claims that Nanny has learned from her previous experience, when Storm used her own lock picking skills to escape.

Rogue suddenly releases a deep growl. Gambit is worried and crawls to her side to check up on her. He thinks she is not feeling alright, and assures her that Beast and Bishop will help them. He lets his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Suddenly Rogue turns around and she manifests a Sabretooth personality. Her eyes have changed color and are now cat-like. Her teeth manifest as fangs.

"Sabretooth" tells the "punk" to take his filthy hands off his/her person. She continues that Nathaniel Essex paid Gambit "big time" to do his job, and he has already done the job. "He"/she orders Gambit to back off or "he"/she will gut him. Gambit finds the words of Sabretooth familiar. They have been echoing in his head every night for the past several years. He realizes she has been completely overwhelmed by the memories of the original Sabretooth.

Rogue returns to her original personality and her eyes become green. She says that her powers are negated, but that the memories she has absorbed in the past are still there and are resurfacing. She asks whether she said anything strange to Gambit. He lies and responds that it was nothing she needs to worry about. Remy presses her face on his chest and comforts her. Spat observes the scene with interest.

The scene shifts to the chained Joseph. He is several levels above the other prisoners, frantically pounding on the glass walls of his cell. He realizes that the impenetrable walls are not mere glass. Nanny arrives to offer "Magneto" a meal. He grasps at the use of this name. He informs her that he is indeed Magneto, her creator. And this gives him the right to demand the release of himself and his fellow X-Men.

She finds his imperiousness to be "precious", but she denies his request as it is against the rules. He should know the rules, since he wrote them himself. And they say that no mutant ever leaves the base. She instructs him to eat his meal, as he is going to need his strength.

Joseph overturns the tray and spills the meal to the floor. He is furious at being as a petulant child who is need of supervision. He demands to be released and starts threatening her. She grabs him by the throat and stops him from speaking further. She warns him to not take that tone of voice with her and seems angry herself. She claims she is only doing all this for his own good, and executing the directives Magneto himself programmed into her.

She then informs "Magneto" that the world outside the walls of the base is a very dangerous place and that it is getting more and more dangerous every day. She wants to demonstrate something about this world to him and summons a number of large monitors in the cell. The monitors display news broadcasts from several television channels. They are all about various aspects and events of Operation: Zero Tolerance.

In one channel, a spokesman of the organization informs the viewers that the Operation has started with a vengeance. Another channel broadcasts scenes of the X-Men Blackbird being shot down. A third channel reports that there is still no word of the fate of the mutant survivors. A fourth one reports on the recent team up of Marrow and Spider-Man. A fifth one shows an image of Dr. Moira MacTaggert and reports that the Nobel-winning has called for an immediate to the Operation.

Nanny thinks that she has made her point. She asks how can she release "Magneto" before he is prepared to properly deal with the current events. Joseph replies that the X-Men are needed more than ever, and that she can not keep them confined forever. She replies that she will do it anyway and asks him to clean up his room. She pretends to leave but actually observes him from a distance. She finds something odd about him. Meanwhile, Joseph stares intently at one of the monitors and feels a new emotion. He is staring at the face of Moira and feeling a need for vengeance, though he can not explain why.

The scene shifts to the loft apartment of Archangel and Psylocke in SoHo. The owners return to the apartment after an adventure. Warren flies inside and transports Betsy in his arms. They are shocked to find their apartment is wrecked. Warren stares at the melting pieces of ice among the broken furniture. He concludes that Iceman was in the apartment. He comments that he is happy his insurance for the apartment covers water damage.

Warren kneels and finds spent bullet shells on the floor. By their number, he concludes that somebody emptied an entire gun in the apartment. He wants to contact the X-Men at the Mansion, but realizes that Betsy is not listening to him. He turns around and discovers that she has vanished.

The scene shifts to the Beast in Antarctica. He is concerned about the direction of his love life, and finds it a wonder that he dates at all. He went for a simple date with Trish ans somehow ended here. He worries than anyone who falls in love with him by their own consent must be damaged goods in her own right. He then explores the place and realizes where he is. He has been here before, trapped by Nanny and Magneto. He wonders at the condition of this place. He was here when it was destroyed by molten lava, and yet here it stands again. He suspects Magneto is behind its mysterious restoration. But finds that it would defy logic if Magneto was the one who drew their spaceship to this very spot. He wonders: if Magneto was not the one responsible, then who was it? He does not notice two figures standing behind him.

The scene shifts to the cell of Gambit, Grovel, Rogue, and Spat. (Which actually is designed differently in this scene, suggesting a possible relocation of the prisoners). Grovel sleeps and Gambit sulks silently. Rogue and Spat are trying to escape their chains. Rogue asks why was Spat hunting Gambit, pointing that the answer might help the group. Spat refuses to answer. She also points that she is not working to help the group, Spat is simply trying to help herself.

Rogue complains that Spat's attitude is not productive. Spat points that it is Rogue's sulking boyfriend who is not being productive. Rogue claims that Gambit is not her boyfriend. Spat starts crawling around, trying to see how far from the chain-pole she can go. Gambit grabs her in a threatening manner and starts questioning her. He wants to know who hired her and why. She claims that he already knows why he is a wanted man, because of what he did. As to the identity of her mysterious employer, he would not believe her even if she told him about it.

Gambit's attention switches to Rogue, who seems to be in emotional pain. She demonstrates the personality of Gambit himself and her eyes have turned red. "Gambit" is comforting little Sarah (Marrow) and telling her that no one is going to hurt her. "He"/she says to Sarah that "he"/she is sorry. Gambit recognizes his own words from the past, and repeats that he is sorry.

The touching scene is interrupted when Gambit and Rogue are zapped by energy. It is the way of Nanny for chastising them. She claims that they are up way past their bedtime. She says that this time she will let them off with a simple warning. But threatens that if they disobey her again, they will not like her punishment. She then leaves them.

Gambit tries to comfort Rogue. She has come back to her original personality and realizes these memories were Gambit's. She absorbed when they once kissed. He confirms these were his memories. She asks him to tell her the meaning of these memories, because she can not make sense of them. They seem to be horrible, but are buried so deep in their minds. He refuses to answer and asks her to simply trust him.

Gambit then points that with her powers negated, they can make this their one night. Their first and last night. They then embrace, finally touching each other without danger.

Notes

  • The issue claims that Magneto's Antarctic base is in the "Filchner Ice Shelf". The actual location in Antarctica is called the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Filchner is the name of its eastern part, Ronne of its western part. The entire ice shelf covers an area of 430,000 km². The area is claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom as part of their territorial claims on wider Antarctica.
  • The job that Nathaniel Essex hired Gambit to do was to lead the Marauders against the Morlocks during the Mutant Massacre. Remy was reportedly unaware that the plan was to kill them. He expressed his doubts about the mission to Sabretooth, who was in no mood to listen to them.
  • The little Sarah that Gambit saved from the Marauders grew up to become Marrow, as revealed later in the storyline.
  • Joseph feels hatred towards Moira MacTaggert, because he has partially inherited the emotions of Magneto. Magneto hates Moira with a passion. When Magneto was de-aged into an infant by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant, he was left to Moira for safekeeping. It was later revealed that she experimented on him and tampered with his DNA. An experience that Magneto remembers as a violation.
  • Iceman fought a Prime Sentinel at Archangel and Psylocke's apartment in X-Men Vol 2 67 (September, 1997).
  • Technically the issue does not clarify what do Gambit and a depowered Rogue do in their night together. Various readers have seen this as a night of simple physical contact, or as the night Gambit and Rogue finally have sex for the first time. It is largely left to the readers' imagination.
  • The mysterious employer of Grovel and Spat is the original Magneto, though he has yet to make an actual appearance in the storyline.
  • Nanny can not tell apart Magneto and Joseph, though she does find something odd about Joseph.
  • As of this issue, Bishop and Deathbird start appearing together in space adventures. She clearly lies to Bishop about the death of his teammates and has her own agenda. Other writers continued their storyline for the next couple of years, though what the nature of her plans was never really explained.
  • The Marvel Chronology Project, which covers character appearances, has the following information about the characters who are not members of the regular cast.
  • This issue mainly focuses on the characterization of Gambit and Rogue, and serves as a spotlight issue for them. Gambit is consistently confronted with his guilty past in the persons of Rogue and Spat. He is the one Spat's mysterious employer really wants to capture, due to his part in the Mutant Massacre. He displays a suitable mix of anguish, guilt, sorrow, and concern about others. Rogue struggles with emerging personalities and memories that she once absorbed, and keeps physically transforming as well. She is confused and has no way of making sense of what she is experiencing. Most of the other characters have their own scene or two but do not play a major role in the story.
  • Nanny confronted 6 characters in the previous issue, but this story includes only 5 of them. What happened to the missing Landscape is never explained.

Trivia

  • While the issue credits Joe Madureira as the sole penciler, the designs of Archangel and Psylocke seem to be in a different style than his. Uncertain if Madureira was experimenting or if these designs were performed by an assistant penciler.
  • The design of Psylocke in this issue contains a minor continuity error. This issue follows Psylocke and Archangel Crimson Dawn Vol 1. Psylocke in this period had a prominent red tattoo over her left eye. Her depiction in this issue contains no tattoo.
  • The cyborg animals controlled by Nanny include what seems to be a cybernetic gorilla. Another gorilla-like cyborg (or robot) was depicted looking for Joseph in Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 345 (June, 1997). The implication is that Nanny was connected with the earlier search for Joseph. Scott Lobdell left the series a few issues later, without either confirming or denying the connection. Later writers never revisited the plot point. It remains among the unexplained elements of the storyline.
  • For a storyline that features the return of the original Magneto, this issue still has its misleading moments. It displays Joseph inheriting memories and emotions of Magneto, seemingly trying to convince readers that they are really the same person. This is proven false in subsequent issues.

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