By Isaac Kelley — “X of Swords” (pronounced "kiss of swards") has come to an end. I don't know about y'all, but I thought it was pretty friggin' good! Frankly, I was afraid that the second half would be mostly a bunch of boring swordfights. Instead we get a competition so wild and surprising it bordered on a comedy sketch. It’s a bold way to go for such a high-profile event, but boy howdy, does the choice pay off. 

X-Men #14 kicks off the second half with a quiet interlude. Apocalypse and his estranged wife Genesis catch up. Genesis tells him what happened in the thousands of years they were separated. Short version goes as follows: She conquered Amenth but now wears a possessed crown/face mask named "Annihilation" that compels her to conquer all that she surveys in the name of Amenth. This is the third issue of X-Men in a row that is almost nothing but illustrated historical exposition. I hope we’re done with that, going forward.

Due to some creative scheduling Marauders #14 and #15 were released back-to-back. They focus on the dinner party the night before the competitions. Opal Luna Saturnyne hosts a dinner for both the Krakoan and Arakkii champions. I love this more than anything. I would be perfectly happy if all comic books were about enemies attending dinner parties together. 

Wolverine makes the incredibly stupid decision to try to kill Saturnyne, apparently not realizing what it means to be a Omniversal Majestrix. (I also have no idea what it means to be an Omniversal Majestrix.) She shows him how very very poorly it would go for him if he actually tried it, and lets him off with a warning. 

Over the course of the evening, there is a lot of sizing the other side up. Storm dances with Death. War accidentally poisons Doug but the White Sword heals him. Cable, Magik and Isca the Unbeaten hang out, acting like enemies but also like teenagers. Wolverine eats a unicorn.

The first two matches of the competition happen in Excalibur #14. First is a duel to the death between Captain Britain and Isca the Unbeaten. Isca shatters Betsy's sword and, um, Betsy is transformed into shattered glass. Like, 2D, stained glass glass. It is shocking and magical and weird. Arakko scores the point.

The second match is even stranger. Doug and Bei the Blood Moon are challenged to marry each other. Bei the Blood Moon does not speak but is understood by all, as if she could speak. By all, that is, save for Doug Ramsey, who's innate ability with language seems to keep him from understanding her non-language. It is love at first sight? The two agree to be wed. Both sides score a point.

Wolverine #7 and X-Force #14 form another two-parter within the larger whole. Across 40 pages of comic and eight pages of text, twenty more contests are held. Some highlights include: A drinking contest between Wolverine and Storm; A dance contest; A fight to the death. Summoner won the point because he was the one who fought until he was dead.; "kill the kitten"; Boulder rolling; "First to Amputate a limb". For this one, Solem called in his marker, and demanded Wolverine fight on his behalf. He did, and won a point for Arakko; A jigsaw battle. After 22 total fights, the score is 17-6, Arakko.

Meanwhile, in Hellions #18, Sinister leads his team into Arakko, reveals that what he really wants is some Arakkii genetic material. He gets what he came for and then kills the surviving members of his team so that upon resurrection they will not remember what he was after. It’s a fine issue, but the Hellions parts of “X of Swords” are the only parts not at all integral to the larger story.

Back in Otherworld, in the pages of Cable #6, Nathan swordbattles Doug's new wife. He is about to land a killing blow, when he thinks of Doug and flinches. That gives Bei the Blood Moon an opening and she takes him down, but Saturnyne lets her forgo killing him. Feeling defeated, Nathan psychically tells his parents, Cyclops and Marvel Girl how poorly things are going. 18-6 is pretty dire.

The next contest is Gorgon vs. White Sword, to the death. The White Sword has 100 soldiers pledged to his service. For this contest, he makes them fight on his behalf. Gorgon kills 13 of the soldiers, which, as Saturnyne informs the crowd, means that Krakoa has just gained 13 points. The White Sword finally steps up himself and finishes off the weary Gorgon, tying the score at 19-19.

In X-Men #15, Cable's message to his folks has freaked them out. It sure seems like the Arakkii are going to be victorious and swarm through the gates, overrunning Krakoa and thus the Earth. Cyclops and Marvel Girl want to put together a team to go to Otherworld to save the contestants and close the gates if necessary. 

The Silent Council feels that it is too dangerous to send that many mutants to the one place where mutants can be killed. While they do not have the authority to forbid anyone from doing so, they vote that any Council members that would risk themselves in Otherworld are to be removed from the council. Scott and Jean ask Kate, Kurt, and Emma to stay on the council, but Marvel Girl is to be removed.

Meanwhile, the final fight, which will determine the victor is Apocalypse vs. Annihilation, a.k.a. Genesis, a.k.a Mrs. Apocalypse. They fight, and Apocalypse defeats Annihilation. She is injured but not fatally so. Apocalypse declines to kill the woman he still loves. Genesis puts on her helm and so begins round two. 

In Excalibur #15, Annihilation, possessing Genesis, refuses to concede the contest. She intends to break the terms of the contest and to bring in the forces of Amenth to Otherworld to push forward into Krakoa. Chaos erupts. The more honorable members of the Arakkii are appalled at this breach. 

Meanwhile Opal Luna Saturnyne takes the glass shards that were once Captain Britain and rebuilds the Captain in order to summon the combined forces of all the Captains Brittain across the multiverse, known as the Captain Britain Corps. Saturnyne (who is super duper into Brian) is horrified to discover that this means that while this used to mean summoning an infinity of Brians Braddock, it now means an infinity of Betsys. 

It all comes to a head in X of Swords: Destruction #1. Annihilation has brought forth her troops. The Summoners of Arakko have brought monsters. Jubilee has arrived, along with her sometimes-dragon baby, Shogo. And then Cyclops pilots S.W.O.R.D.'s headquarters, the Peak into a portal opened by Magik. Out pour dozens of X-Men lead by Jean Grey, shouting "To me... my X-men!" We finally get to the obligatory big fight and it is glorious. 

Cable, who's sword is kinda a big USB Stick with its own power supply, plugs it into the Peak and those aliens, the ones who were on the Peak last month seeming weirdly out of place with the rest of the story, pour out, pointed toward the beasts of Amenth. 

Apocalypse defeats Annihilation a second time and wrests the helm from his wife, making him the ruler of Amenth. He puts it on, and feels its influence, but Apocalypse no longer cares about winning. Apocalypse, now representing both sides of the conflict, surrenders to Saturnyne. She accepts the surrender and turns the helm into a less psychically threatening mirror.

Saturnyne demands that each side choose one mutant from the other, who must come to live with them as a sign of good faith. Genesis, speaking for Amenth, claims Apocalypse. Apocalypse, speaking for Krakoa, claims Arakko. All who live on Arakko come with the mutant island back to Krakoa. 

It's all so great. This is probably the best comic book crossover of all time? Right? Howard, Hickman, and all their collaborators knocked it out of the park. It didn't feel padded or particularly disjointed. The constant shifting of writers and artists didn't come off as jarring, in part because it was A-list talent bringing their A game. It was surprising at several points in genuine ways, transcending the cheap shocks we usually get in these affairs, with a resolution that feels meaningful on both a character level and on a plot level. Some of the stuff surrounding Saturnyne and the Braddocks might not land hard for readers who don't normally read Excalibur but those readers should still be able to follow along. Sorry "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?". You are no longer the greatest comic book crossover. This is the new standard to beat.

Read last month’s installment of Pax Krakoa!

Isaac Kelley should really be working on his novel, but he can't stop thinking about the X-Men so he wrote this instead.