Warning! Spoilers ahead for S.W.O.R.D. #2 from Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti

The founding of the mutant space program S.W.O.R.D. has allied the X-Men with Abigail Brand, who is already scheming against the interests of Krakoa. The Dawn of X has made mutants working alongside enemies more common, but not any less perilous.

“Adversity makes strange bedfellows” is an apt saying to describe the operations of the mutant nation of Krakoa. All mutants have been offered amnesty and sanctuary within the borders, including several beings who were once considered among the deadliest and most dangerous of foes. Mutants like Magneto, Mr. Sinister and Apocalypse not only live in proximity with former opponents, but serve and contribute to the prosperity of their nation. No matter what crimes someone’s past may hold, they have an opportunity to be a valued part of this new world. As Krakoa emerges as a superpower on Earth, these ideals extend beyond the island and planet. This results in mutants salvaging the Peak space station and reinstating S.W.O.R.D. under the command of Abigail Brand, another occasional adversary of the X-Men.

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As Station Commander of the Peak, Brand sees her role as working “with,” not “for” Krakoa, and that distinction leaves room for betrayal. In S.W.O.R.D. #2, Commander Brand assesses the threat Knull, Symbiote God of the Void, poses after fully enveloping the Earth in organic symbiote material. S.W.O.R.D. formulates responses to the dire situation, but one of Brand’s measures is the mysterious Protocol V. Beyond extracting “the Five,” the team of mutants tasked with Krakoa’s resurrections, from Earth, not much is revealed about Protocol V. Brand uses Mentallo, a mutant she’s specifically recruited because he has no loyalty to Krakoa or the Quiet Council, for the deed. Whatever her plan is, it’s horrific enough that she doesn’t even dare speak it out loud, allowing Mentallo to read her mind. Even with the wellbeing of all of humanity on the line, sending a criminal with questionable intent to abscond with the keys to mutant immortality is highly alarming.

Commander Brand is notorious for doing absolutely anything necessary to accomplish the big picture mission of protecting Earth and its citizens. She first encountered the X-Men during their conflict with Ord of the Breakworld in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. She justified her role in the socially volatile creation of a “cure” for the mutant condition to help avoid an interplanetary war with the Breakworld. This willingness to extinguish the mutant gene for the “benefit” of Earth is even more striking considering she is a mutant herself. That kind of brutal pragmatism is scary and one can only imagine what she has in mind for the Five regarding Protocol V. As Mentallo arrived to extract the Five, he stated they were leaving Earth to die. It may have been hyperbole, but it’s certainly not unimaginable for Brand to allow Earth to perish in an attempt to resurrect the planet after the King in Black is somehow dispatched.

The mutants of Marvel are not strangers to cooperating with antagonistic entities. When the whole world hates and fears you, it becomes second nature to take allies in whatever form, wherever they may appear. The threat of Knull endangers humans and mutants equally, and the X-Men can only hope that Abigail Brand’s initiative is one that has their prosperity in mind. Otherwise, even if they survive the God of Symbiotes, Protocol V could risk undermining everything they’ve built on Krakoa.

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Dillon Stevenson
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Dillon Stevenson is a comedian and writer based out of NYC, and is the one “Dillon” anyone ever REALLY needs in their life. As the One Dillon, he’s landed writing jobs at Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas (HBO), and The Big Fib (Disney+) and co-created Super Video Bros, a comedy party dedicated to celebrating music videos as an art form. Much like his favorite superhero, the Silver Surfer, Dillon’s passion is finding the best places to eat.

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