Raising a New Lighthouse in 'Excalibur' #2

Warning! This article contains spoilers for this week's EXCALIBUR #2, so read on at your own risk, True Believers!

Last month, writer Tini Howard and artist Marcus To introduced a new Excalibur team for a new era—and yesterday, issue #2 revealed more about how the group will impact the Dawn of X.

Since the book's beginning, links to the original EXCALIBUR (1988) have continued to reveal themselves. Back in 1988, the first Excalibur team made their home in the Braddock family lighthouse. At least until EXCALIBUR (1988) #50, when Brian Braddock, AKA Captain Britain, and his future wife, Meggan, destroyed it. But there was a purpose behind their actions. The lighthouse was a creation of Merlyn’s that existed across the Multiverse. It was meant to bring Merlyn unlimited magical power. Meggan and Brian prevented Merlyn from harnessing those powers. And yet those magical forces are still in play within the present.

While the lighthouse was rebuilt, Morgan le Fay destroyed it again. But between Krakoa’s mutant powers and the blessing of the local druids, the new Excalibur has a new lighthouse that literally grew from the ground up. In this case, the light at the top of the tower is Rogue. She remains trapped in a seemingly dreamless slumber that may be better suited for Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. The fairy tale allusions have not been lost on Rogue’s friends, but her husband, Gambit, is particularly worried about her. For years, Rogue’s powers kept her from pursuing a full relationship with Gambit. Now that they are man and wife, external factors have separated them yet again.

Late in this chapter, Apocalypse stated that “Rogue and I together can not be defeated,” shortly after calling the lighthouse “a place of power for mutantkind.” This implies that Rogue still has some level of consciousness even in her current state. She may literally be a part of the lighthouse itself. But the more immediate issue is the war between mutants and Otherworld. The new Captain Britain, Betsy Braddock, openly suspects that Apocalypse sparked this conflict by opening a Krakoan gate to Otherworld. And she may not be wrong...

The lighthouse itself also gave Jubilee and Betsy bizarre dreams that greatly affected them. For Jubilee, the dream showed her the potential threat that Apocalypse represents to her adoptive son, Shogo. For Betsy, a Fox spirit led her to a simple conclusion about Apocalypse: “He will use us. We can use him.” The Fox may even be a manifestation of Rogue, as she addresses Betsy by name and describes herself as a “good girl.” And yet Gambit doesn’t seem to have received a dream of his own. He’s still very much in the dark about what’s happening to his wife.

Jubilee was so frightened by her experience that she briefly returned to Krakoa to reclaim Shogo. She’s been nearly inseparable from her son since X-MEN (2013) #1, when she adopted him. At the time, Jubilee was a vampire, and no longer a mutant. Fortunately, the most recent GENERATION X relaunch released Jubilee from that curse and restored her mutant powers. Until now, we’ve been under the assumption that Shogo is not a mutant. But the closing pages of EXCALIBUR #2 cast that into doubt. The trip to Otherworld has apparently transformed Shogo into a full-size dragon. Is this the first manifestation of Shogo’s mutant power? Or is it something in Otherworld that has affected Jubilee’s son?

Destiny awaits in the Dawn of X.

Read the issue for yourself at your local comic shop today!