2×09: Survival of the Fittest

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS AND DETAILS FOR
X-MEN 97 SEASON 2

It’s always a strange feeling reaching the end of a season when you know there’s more to come. There’s comfort in it — a sense of relief and safety. Whatever chaos we’ve just watched unfold, the main cast survives, the world keeps spinning, and the story either wraps up neatly or rolls straight into the next chapter.

Survival of the Fittest does bring the Apocalypse storyline to a close, the arc we’ve been following all season. But aside from one major moment in episode three, Apocalypse barely appears in anything resembling his classic, all‑powerful form. Every time he shows up, he looks nothing like the comic‑book titan — at one point he’s literally wearing Gambit’s coat. And then, after all that build‑up, the villain is simply transformed into a jewel and handed to Cable for safekeeping.

That’s it. After a season of anticipation, the resolution feels oddly small.

Maybe our expectations were too high after the phenomenal first season, but this run hasn’t just been lighter in quantity — it’s been lighter in cohesion. The first four episodes were sublime. Everything that followed, however, felt strangely flat. The story moves at breakneck speed: characters die, return, reunite, and fall apart again, but we never see anyone react to these seismic shifts. The reassuring hug Jubilee shares with Logan? Doesn’t happen. Scott and Alex finally acknowledging they’re brothers? No time for that. Psylocke’s entire history retconned from thief to assassin in a single line? Oh, they did that.

We’re not knocking the show. We just don’t quite know how to feel. The comics take issues — sometimes entire arcs — to deal with consequences, and that emotional processing has been missing this year. Compare it to season one, where two full episodes were devoted to the destruction of Genosha. Here, the relentless pace squeezes everything into nine episodes, leaving no room to breathe.

And the ending… Kurt. No. Absolutely not. This cannot stand.

Bring on Season Three — the Fuzzy Elf must return.

The war for Gambit’s soul reaches breaking point. With Apocalypse slowly consuming him from the inside, X‑Force and X‑Factor decide there’s only one solution left: kill Gambit and end Apocalypse permanently. The X‑Men refuse to accept that, and while the others prepare for assassination, Beast, Rogue, and Nightcrawler search the wreckage of Ship, desperate to find anything that might reverse the transformation that turned En Sabah Nur into Apocalypse in the first place.

Their hunt leads Rogue into the Celestial Shrine — the same place where Apocalypse once gained his power. While she fights to save Gambit, Xavier faces a battle of his own. Dr. Cooper refuses to let him shelter Gambit at X‑Corp, and her forces begin a full siege of the building. The X‑Men hold the line, buying Rogue the time she needs.

Inside the Shrine, Rogue confronts the Celestial Eson. She begs him to intervene, but Eson removes the amulet Gambit had placed in her and delivers a brutal truth: life only advances through struggle, not mercy, and Apocalypse is necessary for that evolution. Rogue rejects that philosophy outright. She strikes at the Celestial, insisting that life can advance by fighting for love instead of domination.

Eson demands proof. If Rogue truly believes love is stronger, she must be willing to sacrifice herself for Gambit. She accepts without hesitation. Moved, Eson grants her the same Celestial power Apocalypse once received — but only for one final battle.

Rogue emerges transformed, blazing with Celestial energy, and flies back into the war.

Across the battlefield, Cable confronts his parents as they try to reach the son they once knew. Wolverine and Morph clash with Archangel and Psylocke. Jubilee outmanoeuvres Havok in an aerial duel. Polaris and Bishop are overwhelmed by X‑Factor — until Gambit briefly wakes and helps turn the tide.

But Cable is desperate. To reach Gambit, he collapses the tower, forcing the X‑Men back, and shoots Gambit in the head. The act accelerates Apocalypse’s reawakening. Gambit’s body becomes fully consumed, and Apocalypse rises again.

Apocalypse sweeps through the battlefield, incapacitating X‑Men and X‑Force alike, seizing control of their minds until only Xavier remains standing. Rogue arrives just in time. With her Celestial power, she purges Apocalypse’s influence from every mutant present, then seals Apocalypse’s consciousness inside a crystal — handing it to Cable for safekeeping.

With the war finally over, Rogue and Gambit share the kiss they’ve waited years for. The Celestial power burns out of her, but she survives — because Nightcrawler convinces Eson to sacrifice himself instead.

In the aftermath, the world shifts again. Mystique murders Dr. Cooper and assumes her identity, just as Graydon Creed is elected President — setting the stage for an entirely new threat.

The X-Men are reunited on the opening credits this week, save Gambit. The battle scene at the end of the intro features Xavier versus Cooper, with X-Factor charging the X-Men rather than the usual villains.

The Government Sentinels are white in colour, with human pilots, similar to the ONE Sentinels in the Decimation storyline. The X-Corp tower resembles the one in Paris, unveiled in New X-Men #128.

Ship is shown to be alive after crashing into the ocean in Obsession. The X-Men were in the Shrine during Rise of Apocalypse (Part 2).

The Celestial Eson previously appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Siryn joined X-Factor in an online comic attached to this episode. She’s the daughter of Banshee, killed in Remember It, and can be seen in the movies in the original X-Men trilogy. Traditionally, in the comics, she’s a member of Cable’s X-Force.

During battle with Psylocke and Archangel, Morph uses the form of Doctor Octopus, looking exactly as he does in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

The shot of Gambit’s body surrounded by X-Men is similar to a comic book page of the X-Men surrounding Charles from comic book story Messiah Complex.

A shot of Colossus painting a picture of his sister can be seen at the end of the episode. Seems he’s sticking around…

Trish Tilby reports that Graydon Creed has just become President. Creed’s run for office ended in the comics with X-Factor #130, where he was assassinated by his mother Mystique.

Valerie Cooper was shot by Mystique at the end of Uncanny X-Men #267. In #269 it was revealed that Mystique was the one shot – but she was actually in disguise as Valerie at the time, as Cooper hid away to prepare for a threat.

Mystique’s files has lots of details: she’s worked with both versions of the Brotherhood, which is the first confirmation of the original incarnation in this universe. Her real name is listed as Raven Darkholme. Redacted information about her children mention Nightcrawler and Graydon Creed, but also Anna-Marie Darkholme, which is the first mention in this continuity of Rogue’s real name.

On a meta level, Rebecca Romjin and Jennifer Lawrence are listed amongst possible aliases, as well as Randall Carpenter, who voiced the character in the original series and reprises the role here.