Mind Control Is Anything But X-tinct part IV: Dramatis Personae Under The Magistrate's Sway

The X-Tinction Agenda is reaching its mind control heavy finale, so let's have a quick recap of who's under who's control at this time, courtesy of the opening page of X-Factor # 61.

So, of all the mutants running around on Genosha, only Cyclops, Archangel, Beast, Iceman, Cannonball and Banshee still have their powers. With the capture of Jean and the others, their initial plan to distract the Magistrates by setting off a series of strategically placed explosions has probably been discovered. More than enough reason to go for plan B... 'B' as in 'bald cap'.

For some reason, artist Jon Bogdanove enjoys drawing halfnaked men. In the previous issue, Cyclops and Havok were wrestling each other dressed in tatters and here we have a barely clothed Cyclops and Iceman dressing themselves up as Genoshan mutates, complete with a prosthetic 'bald cap' to make them look the part.

Minutes after leaving for the citadel, Cyclops' suspicions were proven right. Hodge had used a mutate to scan the minds of the captured X-men and learned of their location and plans. The Magistrates burst into their hideout ready to arrest them. However, their arrival triggered a big explosion that effortlessly took out the heavily armed forces. This resulted in fireworks that were visible all the way to the citadel where Cameron Hodge was showing off his latest pet mutate Storm... 

Ow look, good ol' Ronnie Reagan is wearin' Nancy's outfits again. Still, the haunting image of a glassy eyed Storm looking on as outside a vicious storm was building, mirrors a scene from Uncanny X-men # 146, in which Doctor Doom captured and coated the X-men's leader in a chromium alloy. 

But, to get back to the main story... Cyclops' strike team splits in two. While Cannonball, Banshee and Archangel execute an aerial assault on the citadel, the mocked up mutates rely on a clever ruse to get in.  

But, considering this is still part 6 of a 9 issue crossover... they soon ran into more troubles. And this time it cried Havok... Cyclops fought Alex some more, hoping to break whatever Genoshan (or so he thought) mind control he thought his brother was suffering from.

Cyclops actually thought he was getting through to Alex now, but as always the big bad showed up to even the odds. Cameron Hodge dropped by, distracting Cyclops long enough for Havok to grab a gun and shoot his sibling, immediately reaffirming his loyalty in the eyes of Hodge. But appearances are, as always, deceiving...

Let's continue with chapter 7 of the X-Tinction Agenda, better known as Uncanny X-men 272. The Genoshan government kept their promise and put the X-men on trial for their alledged acts of terrorism. But true to form, Wolverine tried to hack his way out of there... for a little while, until mutate 20 (Storm) and chief magistrate Anderson put him in his place. Unfortunately, his outburst angered the judge considerably and that meant Logan had involuntarily condemned his teammates to a far more cruel fate... and master.

Hodge had a merry old time torturing the mutants in his own private dungeon. From ripping off Forge's cybernetic limbs to cutting Cable's techno organic parts, the sadist had fun, while the Genoshan ruling body looked on in horror. Soon, they would realise what a big mistake allying themselves with Hodge had been, but until that time it was Psylocke who made the ultimate sacrifice...

"Please. No more please, not for me, I beg you! I can't bear this. Please have mercy. Forgive me Cyclops... I accept the chief magistrate's offer... and freely submit myself to the genemod process."

The newly mindcontrol free Havok used Genosha's own laws against them and took the clearly faking Psylocke from Hodge's clutches, only to stand idly by as she made her escape in an attempt to save the others. Hodge remained blissfully unaware of all this, he was a little busy enjoying a confrontation between two X-men who didn't particularly like one another...

"Wolverine... I can't control my wings! They're attacking of their own volition!"

With the Genoshan mutant Wipeout literally wiping out their powers, Warren had lost conscious control of the techno organic wings Apocalypse gave him. The metal had a life of its own, desperate and hungry for blood. Without Warren to reign those parts of himself in, Wolverine had to fight for his life. But, it wouldn't be a Claremont scene if both parties didn't have Hodge's tentacles curled around their necks to symbolise their position as slaves...

Speaking of Wipeout, Hodge was indeed aware of one particular betrayal... one inside the Genoshan government itself. Both the president and the Genengineer were less than thrilled with his outsider approach to their ever so sensitive internal affair. That's why the Genengineer was actively working on a plan to take care of Hodge, a plan Jubilee and the depowered Rictor and Boom-Boom happened to walk in on...

The same plan Hodge himself became aware of when he put his robotic form to exceptionally good use for 1991...

"As my master commands"

Accessing Genengineer Moreau's personal computer (a rarity in the early 90s), the largely mechanical Cameron Hodge learned all of the Genengineer's plans... but he also used the opportunity to get revenge on magistrate Alex Summers who only a few pages ago took away Psylocke. Hodge killed the Genoshan power-deleting mutant Wipeout with an energy weapon largely similar to Alex's cosmic blasts, hoping to pin the murder on him...

But just as Hodge called Alex to the crime scene and forced mutate Rahne to falsely accuse him, the X-men were having a breakthrough of their own. They finally managed to escape Hodge's torture chambers thanks to Gambit's lockpicking skills. Rushing in to stop the Wolverine/Archangel death match, Cyclops was surprised by the arrival of an unexpected presence...

"What's she doing... my eyes... they're BURNING!"

Accompanied by chief magistrate Anderson, kid Storm arrived on the scene and without any satisfying explanation restored Cyclops' mutant abilities just by touching him. But for some reason, the Genengineer's mutate process had another, unexpected effect on her as well...

"I am once more myself... in mind, in spirit... in body!"

Scott regained his optic blasts and made the best of 'm, especially considering Cameron Hodge was about to overrun him and the others...

More on that in the fifth and final chapter of Mind Control Is Anything But X-Tinct: Once, But No More, Oh Green And Pleasant Land