Summary
- The civil war on Arrako is becoming desperate as Genesis' forces begin to overwhelm Storm and her rebel warriors.
- Storm and her army are Arrako and Earth's last line of defense. If Genesis wins the war, she'll set her sights on Earth and slaughter all the "weak" who inhabit it.
- Storm has the ultimate weapon in her possession and could win the war with the flick of a switch, but doing so could corrupt her very leadership — and possibly destroy the very planet she's fighting to liberate.
The following contains major spoilers for X-Men Red #16, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Mutantkind has been waging war against Orchis back home on Earth and against Apocalypse's wife Gensis among the stars. The few remaining X-Men who are still free to fight back have gone to whatever lengths necessary if it means any chance of winning. While the likes of Rogue, Psylocke, and the recently rechristened Shadowcat have made it perfectly clear this means taking lives on the battlefield, that doesn't mean every line is worth crossing.
Like many of her colleagues, the X-Men's greatest leader, Storm, must now figure out exactly where that line should be drawn, not just for herself, but for the fate of an entire world now resting firmly in her hands. As seen in the pages of X-Men Red #16 (by Raphael Draccon, Carolina Munhóz, Marcelo Costa, Felipe Sobreiro, and VC's Ariana Maher), Syzya of the Smoke and Kobak Never-Held take it upon themselves to scour the still burning wreckage of Port Prometheus. In doing so, they recover what might be the most devastating weapon that mutantkind has ever wielded. From there, it is only one more long, treacherous journey to deliver the Uranos Trigger into the hands of Ororo Munroe, better known as Storm and, more importantly, the Seat of Loss in the Great Ring of Arakko. Thanks to both her experience and title, there is no one more fit than Storm to determine when, or rather if, Uranos should even be unleashed upon the Genesis' forces that are destroying Arrako.
Who is the Eternals' Uranos - And What Did He Do to the X-Men?
Introduced in 1980's "The First Eternals" (by Tony Isabella, Gil Kane, and Frank Giacoia, from the pages of What If? #24), Uranos is one of the three Patriarchs of the Eternals of Earth who once ruled over his people alongside his brethren Kronos and Oceanus. Unlike the other Patriarchs of the Eternals, Uranos had a particularly twisted idea of what his duties actually were. Whereas the Eternals were directly tasked with serving the Celestials, Uranos believed the best way to do so was to eradicate all other life in the universe before imprisoning his own creators for their safety.
This schism drove the Eternals to war against their own kind, one immortal army clashing with another. Uranos fought with fiery passion, all in the name of attaining what he believed would be the ultimate fulfillment of their divine purpose. When Uranos fell, he became the first Eternal ever imprisoned within the Exclusion, though he wasn't necessarily trapped there permanently. Rather than being locked away and forgotten for his crimes, Uranos became the Eternals' nuclear option. For one hour, the Prime Eternal could command Uranos to annihilate their enemies at any given point. When Druig became Prime Eternal in the modern era, he used Uranos to nearly cull all mutant life on Arakko. Even if it didn't win Druig his war, it certainly reminded everyone just how lethal Uranos' fury truly was.
Why the X-Men's Uranos Trigger Makes Perfect Sense
Now, Storm has been given the chance to direct that exact same fury at mutantkind's enemies. Of course, the situation is far more nuanced than simply pulling the literal trigger that would temporarily free Uranos from his confinement. While the Eternals granting any amount of access to or knowledge of the Uranos Trigger to mutantkind is nothing less than a striking sign of trust between the two species, Uranos himself has earned absolutely none of it. Even if he were truly under Ororo's complete and total control, there is nothing to say that he hasn't already come up with some way of profiting off of any fleeting freedom he receives.
That isn't even to mention the damage Uranos would do if he were set free, which certainly wouldn't be limited just to Genesis' army. Considering the near unfathomable power Uranos commands on his own and courtesy of his vast arsenal, the havoc wrought on Arakko or any other world would be devastating to the rest of its population. Even if Uranos were to rein in his onslaught, there is no chance that the impact of his attack wouldn't be felt far beyond his intended victims. As bad as that might be in theory, Storm is one of the few people to have witnessed Uranos' fury in person. If her place within mutant society didn't already put Storm in a position to call Uranos' shot, her prior experience with him absolutely does. That knowledge and experience doesn't make that decision any easier for her to make.
Why Storm is the Only Mutant Worthy of Deciding Uranos' Fate
During the war between the Eternals and X-Men, Uranos murdered Magneto in what might be the most infamous moment of the entire conflict. Apart from being a tragedy in and of itself, the death of Magneto struck Storm particularly hard. While their relationship was always complicated due to their respective roots, Storm and Magneto came to admire one another in both a personal and professional stance in the years since Krakoa's founding. This connection prompted Storm to stay by Magneto's side right until the end, despite the fact Uranos' attack was still actively razing Arakko's strongholds.
All things considered, the position Storm has been put in today could very well be the most disturbing that she has ever had to deal with. On the surface, there is no reason for her to hold back against Genesis and her army. If she and Apocalypse's children aren't stopped here, they'll move on to Earth and decimate that planet as well. Digging a little deeper, however, and it becomes clear that if Storm wipes out her enemies on Arakko, it will come at a cost that could never be repaid. Digging deeper still, the threat being posed to mutantkind today is more dire than any the X-Men have seen before, save for Uranos himself. At that rate, Storm's only choice is likely to wield the villain who nearly obliterated her home and hope that he doesn't do exactly that while defending it for her.