The episode deals with Genosha being accepted into the U.N. and what is meant to be a big moment of celebration for mutants. Things start with kids playing in the streets, old friends like Nightcrawler coming back, and general optimism about Xavier’s dream becoming a reality. It is a great day for mutants, but individually, the characters aren’t exactly in the mood for celebration, at least not Rogue and Gambit, who go through the kind of relationship problem “X-Men: The Animated Series” always excelled at.
Then everything goes to hell. We see an army of Sentinels arrive and obliterate Genosha, killing hundreds, including several major characters. It is an absolutely harrowing moment that starts with the death of Nightcrawler and just builds from there.
Magneto, forever the frenemy of the X-Men now their leader, has his finest moment in the show in this episode. This is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Daddy Magnum, the survivor, the mutant leader, the man who has spent his life fighting to protect mutants, seeing his and Xavier’s dream within his grasp all shattered in an instant. It is heartbreaking, especially since he sacrifices himself not only to save Rogue and Gambit, but specifically the Morlocks, the outcasts of the outcasts. Having Magnus telling Leech in German to not be afraid right before the Sentinel’s blast obliterates them is the icing on the emotional damage cake.
If that wasn’t enough, the attack is stopped only by Gambit sacrificing himself, getting impaled by a Godzilla Sentinel, and using his powers to blow up the entire Sentinel — dying in the blast. By the time Rogue finds the body and says “I can’t feel you” before the episode cuts to black, the world of the X-Men is forever changed.
