What groups opposed Apocalypse before the Askani Sisterhood was founded ?
In Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1 the Scions of Genetics, the Scions of Xavier and a Xavier Collective get mentioned. It would be nice to know at least some backstory. In X-Men : Phoenix #1, Diamanda Nero kills the last member of the Xavier Collective. Additionally the series shows the last remains of the Order of Witnesses, who apparently did not assume any active combat role, but were predicting Rachel’s arrival.
Did Apocalypse survive ?
In Cable (1st series) #6, Zero refers to Apocalypse as the ruler of the Canaanite Regime. However the Canaanites only came to power years after Apocalypse perished in Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4. Additionally Apocalypse is shown fighting alongside the Canaanites in one of the holographic images that Cable shows to Bishop and Logan in X-Force #17. It set only shortly before adult Cable travels to the present. Basically this is a problem of two writers ignoring each other’s plots. Both Cable #6 and X-Force #17 were written by Nicieza. When Scott Lobdell later wrote the limited series Askani’Son and Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, he killed Apocalypse, leaving the problem of how he can later be alive and work together with the Canaanites. Possibly this dangler will never be explained, as the Askani timeline has been erased.
What about the deal between Stryfe and Madame Sanctity ?
In Askani’Son #4 Sanctity apparently betrays her Askani teaching as she joins Stryfe and agrees to train him. Afterwards they are never seen together again. Stryfe opposes the ruling Canaanites and Cable’s rebellion for the next two decades, Sanctity manipulates the past by sending agents and astral projections. Are there two characters named Boak, or is it the same one ? Boak first appears helping Mother Askani to transport the techno-infected infant to the future. Shortly after the baby is cloned the Askani are attacked and in Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1, Boak battles off-panel with Ch’vayre, who makes it sound as if he killed him. About 40 years later a Boak is operating with Nathan Dayspring’s Clan Rebellion. Both are mechanical constructs (robot / cyborg), so Boak could have been rebuild, also explaining the different looks. But if they are the same individual the question remains what Boak was doing in the years between.
Who is Sanctity ?
Uncanny X-Men #minus 1 establishes that she is 20th century Tanya Trask, daughter of Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask, whose mutant power of time travel got out of control till Rachel pulled her to shore in the Askani future after being trapped in the timestream for years. However in X-Men Phoenix #3, there is a group of kids trained by the Order of Witnesses. One of them says her name is Sanctity. It could be the case that later something happens to this child, and Tanya adopts the Sanctity name in her honor, but basically it’s just an error.
How does Ch’vayre’s history make any sense ?
In X-Men Phoenix, he and his sister Luminesca appear as mutant Prelates, both are young adults, apparently in their twenties. Ch’vayre is still serving Apocalypse ca. 60 to 80 years later, and also becomes Stryfe’s mentor, till the boy fries his mind and kills him in Askani‘ Son #4. However as revealed in Cable #52 the very old Sanctity takes a boy and sends him to the present. He is found near a monastry in the Swiss alps and stays there for thirty years. His name is Ch’vayre and he has the mission to arrange a conflict between Apocalypse and Cable. However he fails and gets stuck in one of Apocalypse’s hibernation chambers in an exploding base, with the slight chance of the chamber surviving the impact and releasing Ch’vayre somewhen in the future.
The only working scenarios are :
- The very old Sanctity travels back in time 100 years to take the boy Ch’vayre before his appearance in X-Men Phoenix, he spends 30 years in the present and emerges from the hibernation chamber in the Askani future again, ca. 20-30 years after Sanctity took him (to be at ca. the same age as his sister).
- They are different characters, and Sanctity names the boy after Ch’vayre for whatever unknown reason. He dies in the hibernation chamber when the base explodes.
- Both are very weak explanations and raise more questions than they answer.
When and how does Blaquesmith travel to the present; when does he arrive ?
He was last seen in the Askani future in Cable #25, when Nathan is still a young man leading the rebellion. By then he had not yet visited the present as he didn’t recognize the time traveling Domino. Some time afterwards he departs to the present, the exact circumstances are unknown. He was first seen in X-Men Prime, but it was evident that he had been in the present for quite some time, as he had a full operating secret headquarter. It seemed that Sanctity was involved somehow, as when she later sent Ch’vayre as her agent, she complained about Blaquesmith not having fulfilled his purpose (Cable #42).
What’s the backstory between Cable, Domino and Blaquesmith ?
In Cable #21, Cable takes Domino to an old friend of his, it turns out to be Blaquesmith. Domino mentions that she thought she would never hear this name again, and once they arrive Cable and Blaquesmith telepathically communicate about Domino not remembering a certain incident in the past. Seems that Blaquesmith was already in the present while the Six Pack was still active, but what’s the exact story here ?
Did General Haight travel to the present too ?
In Cable #45, G.W. Bridge and Cable mention a General Haight and talk about having believed him dead, but apparently he is causing Cable some problems. How can Bridge know this man, as Cable was very secretive during their Six Pack days and did not tell anybody about him being from the future.
How does Zero become part of the Tolliver Will ?
Zero was always in Stryfe’s company following his orders, till the end of the X-Cutioner’s Song, where Stryfe and Cable vanish. Shortly before the mysterious Mr. Tolliver (actually Tyler Dayspring in disguise) had apparently died, and when various parties including Deadpool, Copycat and Garrison Kane where fighting over his will, they found a deactivated Zero among the treasures. Their gunfire activated Zero’s core programming, that of being a peacekeeping guardian, and he used his wavelength absorption to render all weapons useless. But how did Zero get there ?
Was Tyler a member of the MLF ?
In X-Force #1 Cannonball asks Cable about the reasons for his hatred of Stryfe, and Cable tells him a story about his adoptive son Tyler, who somehow was influenced by Stryfe and died while fighting among his MLF. Yet by then Cable was still keeping secret that he was a time-traveler from the future. It seems that he was mixing real events (Tyler brainwashed by Stryfe to fight against him), and current incidents (MLF working for Stryfe) to create a believable cover story.
Who is Tyler’s father ?
Several times, Cable refers to Tyler as Aliya’s son, so it seems that he was not Tyler’s biological father. In Cable #25, Stryfe is attracted to Aliya, and in Cable #63 Stryfe gloats that he “took” Cable’s wife. Apparently Tyler is the result of Stryfe raping Aliya. This would also explain the Zero question from above. With Stryfe dying at the end of the X-Cutioner’s Song Zero was without master. As his biological son, Zero might have considered Tyler his legal heir, or Tyler (by then posing as Tolliver) could have easily convinced the android of being his rightful master.
Does Carly Alvarez belong to the Askani ?
While Iceman and Cannonball had infiltrated Graydon Creed’s presidential campaign, they ran into Carly Alvarez who used the Askani saying “What is ... is“. Coincidence ? Apparently not. Writer Scott Lobdell later confirmed that he indeed intended her to be an operative from the future and the Askani actually being responsible for Creed’s murder. However Lobdell was taken from the book before he could finish that story and when Fabian Nicieza resolved the dangler in X-Men Forever #1-2, he found another Askani-unrelated solution for the mystery regarding Graydon Creed’s death.
Does Risque belong to the Askani ?
There are certain hints in X-Force #57. When she and Warpath arrive at the mansion they join X-Force in battle against Sinister. From Risque’s thought we learn that she did not expect to run into some of the “legendary ones“ so soon, and Sinister in turn was amazed to encounter a mutant unknown to him. Before he was similarly surprised by Bishop on whom Sinister had no knowledge as he came from an alternate future. Whatever was planned, later writers didn’t follow this clues, and Risque finally died off panel in New X-Men Annual 2001.
What about the Dark Mother and her Sisterhood ?
Cable writer Robert Weinberg confirmed that his plan was to reveal Aliya’s sister Hope as the Dark Mother. Her grudge against Cable was already apparent in Cable (1st series) #1-2, and would have developed into a real hatred, blaming him for the loss of her sister and his nephew. Yet with the creative team getting replaced, Weinberg had to change the outcome of the storyline, and some other, totally Askani unrelated explanation was given for the group and the Dark Mother’s identity. Therefore they don’t get mentioned in this timeline entry.