Death of X Reveals the Fate of Cyclops

Cyclops makes his stand against the Inhumans.

By Jesse Schedeen

The final chapter of Death of X answered the question of Cyclops' whereabouts in the current Marvel Universe.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Death of X #4!

For the past year, fans have been left to wonder what happened to Cyclops in the aftermath of Secret Wars and whether the various allusions to his death were actually true. This issue finally addressed that lingering question, revealing that Cyclops did indeed perish in his war with the Inhumans. Death of X reached its climax as Cyclops destroyed one of the two Terrigen clouds circling the globe. Cyclops then confronted Black Bolt and Medusa and was obliterated by the former's supersonic scream.

Black Bolt kills Cyclops. Art by Javier Garron. (Marvel Comics)

The X-Men were left to mourn another a fallen team member, comforted only by the fact that Storm managed to restore peace with Queen Medusa and prevent a full-scale war between mutants and Inhumans. Though with Inhumans vs. X-Men on the way next month, it's clear that peace is about to be shattered.

That wasn't the end of Cyclops' story, however. Previous issues of Death of X hinted that he and Emma Frost were hiding a dark secret from the rest of their team. In a twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan, Emma revealed that Cyclops had been dead all along.

The true death of Cyclops. Art by Aaron Kuder. (Marvel Comics)

As Emma explained to Havok, Cyclops actually died in the very first issue, shortly after being exposed to the Terrigen Mists on Muir Island. Emma used her psychic powers to fool both the X-Men and Inhumans into thinking he was still alive and carrying on his fight. Her goal was to give the mutant leader a more meaningful death, allowing him to live on as a symbol that other mutants could rally behind.

That still leave the question of where Emma herself has been for the past year, but maybe we'll find out during the course of Inhumans vs. X-Men. Look for the prologue issue, IvX #0, to hit stores on Wednesday, November 30.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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