The Boathouse > Miniseries > X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3

X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3: Part Three

As the attack is bearing down on them, the X-Men are getting restless awaiting Cyclops’ decision.

Cyclops reflects on the burden placed upon him to make the biggest decision as leader of the X-Men. One that will affect everyone, and possibly send some to their impending doom. During this time of peril, the one person who weighs heavily on his mind is his mother. And how the manifestation of his power is associated with painful memories.

His mother was his strength during his childhood. Before his powers manifested, he suffered terrible headaches. But Katherine Summers was by his side at every doctor’s visit as they tried to diagnose his medical condition. Scott remembers being afraid of the MRI machine, and desperately held onto his mother for as long as he could, urging her not to let go. This memory transitions to the last one he had of his parents.






The plane they were flying in was crashing and burning. To save their sons, Scott’s parents put the only parachute on him and strapped his brother Alex to him. Katherine tells Scott to never let go of his brother, before she let him go. That day, Scott lost his parents to a plane crash and later the control of his powers due to the concussion he suffered while protecting Alex from the fall. That was one of the last times Scott saw the world the way normal people did before his powers manifested.

As Cyclops ponders whether the different way with which he views the world makes him a better leader or a blind fool, Emma comes to tell him that it is time to announce his decision to everyone. He reflects on all the things he had lost over the years: his family, control of his powers, his first battle as field leader against Magneto, “his nerve in the presence of a certain girl”, the love of his life, and his purpose. He had rebounded, but now at present, his fears of losing more friends have returned. But his mind is made up and the X-Men are remaining to defend Utopia; not to let go of their freedom.


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