BISHOP - PRESENT: Page 5 of 5

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20th April 2001

BISHOP XSE FUTURE              BISHOP - PRESENT
Introduction                             Introduction
History                                                      
Chronology                                 Chronology
Issue List                                      Issue List
Characters                                   Characters
Traitor Tape
Questions

QUESTIONS

Who is the grandmother of Bishop and Shard ? She was drawn as an elderly black female with white hair, leading to many readers suspicions that she’s Storm. Yet stronger hints point to Monet St. Croix of Generation X.

The quote from X.S.E.#1 :
“ You must take care of your sister, Bishop ! Family should protect Family. We have not always done that well in our family.“
certainly would match with M’s relationship to her brother Emplate. Also in a moment of blurry vision Bishop mistook Monet for his mother in Generation X #14. The grandmother being Monet and as such being related to the creator of the Emplates would also provide a reason for why she was forced to hide her identity.

Who is the Witness ? Early on it was always hinted that he is a long-surviving Gambit, yet recently in the Gambit and Bishop limited series they seemed to be separate individuals. Clearly the Witness is named LeBeau and he was the last person to see the X-Men alive. The question is if he really was there or only witnessed their death as part of his witnessing power (existing at all points of time at once).
Over time Gambit still could develop his mutant powers (charging objects with kinetic energy) to a point where he might turn into the Witness (kinetic energy is related to movement / time), but the witness could also be one of his descendants.

Which Summers led the Rebellion ? The rebellion happening around 2060-2065 makes it almost impossible for it to be any of the currently known Summers (Alex, Scott and his wife Jean); most probably some descendant of them led the rebellion. Possible candidates are counterparts of Rachel or Cable, though a completely new character is more likely.

Why was Bishop raised by the Witness ? What’s the story between the Witness and Bishop’s grandmother ? Considering that the Witness could be a future version of Gambit and the grandmother might be an elderly Storm adds a nice twist to this mystery.

Who is the mysterious man behind the X.U.E. ? The most common suspect is Forge, who will be called Genesis in the future. Both Bishop and Fitzroy called Forge by this name, so he must have made some impact on this timeline if he is still known ca. 90 years in the future. Also the X.U.E. characters knew exactly how to contact Mystique after coming to the present, they claimed that their leader is an old friend of her. The few shadowy appearances that the leader made in X-Factor #140-141 would fit with Forge’s features. The only thing that’s a little bit disturbing is the timeframe; by then Forge must be over 120 years old !
On the other hand it could also have been a shapeshifting Mystique. She above anyone else would know where to contact herself in the past/present, and her power constantly renews her cellular make-up preventing her from normally aging.

What kind of work was Bishop forced to do during that one year that he served the Witness ? In X.S.E. #4 when asked by Shard, Bishop replies that he is not yet ready to talk about this time of his life. Certainly it seems to have been no picnic. After that year was over Hecate noted that Bishop had become colder and more distant than before.

What is the reason for Fitzroy’s hatred for Emma Frost ? The hatred was stated various times in Uncanny X-Men #281. Possibly Emma Frost will be responsible for something happening to Fitzroy’s ancestors, another explanation might be that Frost and Fitzroy met before, somewhere between his (undocumented) arrival in the present and Uncanny X-Men 281.

Why doesn’t Bishop recognize Archangel ? When Bishop first meets the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #283, he almost believes them to be the legends of his time, but Archangel’s appearance ticks him off. In his future there exists no records about Warren’s blue skin and his metallic feather blades.
This could be an indication that Warren might regain his original appearance one day, however he is still blue and metallic during the Onslaught saga, which was the point where the X-Men died in the XSE future.
On the other hand the documents about Warren’s transformation could simply have been lost over time, or Bishop’s future always was an alternate timeline and all the changes he and the XUE made are effortless when it comes to altering their future timeline.

Who was the woman that now hosts Fixx’s essence? The former lives of the host bodies for Greystone and Archer were explored. Brian Young was an abused child who tried to run away, Jude Black an international terrorist with a wife and kid; only Fixx couldn’t access her host’s memories.

What has become of the XSE future? Three events have changed :
- X-Men dying at the hands of Onslaught
- Havok accidentally releasing hundreds of Legacy infected humans
- the boy Micah being scarred by a mutant, which would turn him into a mutant hater and camp overseer
Only if the XSE future and the main Marvel Universe are the same timeline they could have been successful. If so, it is unknown if these changes are enough to alter the whole timeline, and to what degree ?

From which point in time do Fixx, Archer and Greystone depart ? It is clear that it’s after Shard’s death, since in X-Factor 141 Fixx is surprised to discover her alive. The problem is do they depart before Bishop or after him ? Both Bishop and the XUE change some events, so if Bishop timetraveled first, the XUE would have mentioned the X-Men not dying; vice versa Bishop would have undergone some time-anomaly changes.
It’s possible that they depart at the same point (and actually not by coincidence !). Bishop took the holoprojector with him, inside is Shard and also Fixx’s psionic fairy connection. So the instant of Bishop’s departure leads to the opportunity of Fixx locating Shard in their past.