Vivid dreams from Rogue lead her to the past of one of her teammates, but not all of the answers the X-Men receive in Shadowed Past are from the questions asked. This episode is one of many in the animated lore of X-Men to focus on the potential relationship between Nightcrawler and Mystique.
First hinted at in Uncanny X-Men #141, there has always been a great deal of uncertainty in whether Mystique is Kurt’s mother. In fact, it wasn’t until X-Men Blue: Origins in 2024 that we got the truth: Destiny and Mystique were both Nightcrawler’s parents, thanks to Raven’s genetic manipulation of her own DNA.
As with Nightcrawler before it, there are changes in the lore of tv and quite exactly what Magneto was doing in that castle of his is never explicitly revealed. But what is revealed is the very rarely seen emotional side of antagonist Mystique: something that we don’t see much of. As is often the case in X-Men lore, once again, we’re feeling for the bad guy…
Rogue has a nightmare about a woman screaming, running from a dark castle in the night, clutching her baby son. In the race to escape her tormentor, the baby falls over a waterfall into the depths below. A quick talk with Professor X reveals the truth: the dream is an actual life event.
Kurt wants to know the truth immediately, especially when it becomes apparent to Charles that he is the baby falling over the waterfall. What he doesn’t tell the students, is that the baby’s mother, Kurt’s mother, is Raven Darkhölme, the mutant shape-changer Mystique. Xavier questions Raven about Kurt, attempting to appeal to her mother’s love, but he doesn’t seem to get far with his suggestions. Leaving Raven, he telepathically contacts Logan, who’s heading for the castle in the dream.
Kurt and Rogue discuss their adoptions and Raven, disguised as a student to eavesdrop, has Quicksilver run to the Institute and plant a note for Kurt. She doesn’t explain why, and Quicksilver completes his task. He also contacts Magneto, who is monitoring Wolverine‘s arrival at the castle. Leaving a bomb in the laboratory for the curious X-Man, he departs and Wolverine narrowly escapes.
Kurt reads the note and arranges to meet the sender at the mall construction site. Mystique is there and calls him ‘son’. Pietro and the Brotherhood turn up on Magneto’s orders to stop her revealing more. The X-Men arrive and make short work of the Brotherhood.
Afterwards, Xavier tells Wolverine, Cyclops and Jean about Mystique and Kurt’s connection. Kurt is left with more questions, as he didn’t get the confirmation he needed when Mystique bolted mid fight. They decide not to tell Kurt about his true connections to Raven, while Rogue and Kurt take comfort in their newfound family at Xavier’s.
Kitty has a stuffed dragon on her bed, a clear reference to Lockheed the dragon, her best friend in the comic books.
Kurt was indeed born in a castle, as seen in X-Men: Blue Origins. It did not belong to Magneto however, but Baron Wagner of Austria.
We have seen scenes of Mystique’s abandonment of Kurt in X-Men‘s Nightcrawler and Bloodlines. They were adapted from X-Men Unlimited #4 in which Raven first claimed to be Nightcrawler’s mom.
The final scene is a nice hint at the fact that Rogue and Nightcrawler are brother and sister by adoption, as seen in Bloodlines and X-Men ’97.
X-Cess Minutiae 
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