Black Knight has a weird connection to the villain, Exodus
Today we take a look at how the Black Knight and X-Men villain Exodus sort of had a weird connection that hasn’t been fully explained for years.
This is “Provide Answers”, which is a feature where unresolved long plot points are ultimately resolved.
EXODUS MAKES ITS MYSTERIOUS DEBUT
Among the many notable aspects of the X-titles crossover, “Fatal Attractions”, which was particularly unusual for the time it took (in that it was a six-part crossover that took place in six different comics, but over the course of FIVE MONTHS in 1993), was the introduction of a powerful new mutant known as Exodus, which debuted in X-Factor # 92 (by Joe Quesada, Scott Lobdell, JM DeMatteis and Al Milgrom) sort of, well, he …
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This was pretty much normal for the course of the X-Books of that time, as the characters would be presented as complete blank slates, with the writers often not even knowing themselves what the deal was with the characters, but rather just come up with the story as they went along.
In the case of Exodus, he quickly established himself as the second in command of Magneto and his cronies. Magneto’s former second, Fabian Cortez, had become a thug and Exodus stepped in to give the Acolytes some stability. After “Fatal Attractions” saw Magneto seemingly permanently deactivated by a telepathic obliteration of Charles Xavier’s mind, Exodus took charge of the Acolytes. This leads to the Avengers / X-Men crossover, “Bloodties,” which directly followed “Fatal Attractions” into the pages of X-Men.
THE MYSTERY DEEPENED
In “Bloodties,” Cortez brought the island nation of Genosha into a civil war between the humans and the mutants that live on the island. Cortez also kidnapped Luna, Crystal’s daughter and Quicksilver, Magneto’s granddaughter, and used her as a hostage to protect himself from Magneto (he doesn’t know Magneto had just been neutralized by Xavier, so he was supported for no reason). Obviously, the Avengers want to travel to Genosha to pick up their teammate’s child, but the United Nations has refused to allow the Avengers to get involved in a civil war in another country. When the Avengers said they were going anyway, SHIELD tried to stop them, but a small team of Avengers made it to Genosha (while the rest of the Avengers stayed to take on the United Nations) . Among the heroes who made it to Genosha were Crystal, Sersi, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, War Machine, and Black Knight.
As soon as the Avengers arrived, Exodus showed up and slaughtered a group of humans and explained to the heroes that Exodus was planning to wipe out all the mutants from the island and install Magneto and the Acolytes in the land. . War Machine then fought Exodus, but failed to defeat the mighty mutant, so Sersi took over.
In Uncanny X-Men # 307 (by Scott Lobdell, John Romita Jr. and Dan Green), Black Knight mentions that Exodus looks really familiar to him …
In the crossover finale, in Avengers # 369 (by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, Jan Duursema and Tom Palmer), Black Knight once again mentions that he feels like he really knows Exodus from somewhere …
At the end of the show, it’s Black Knight who ends up defeating Exodus (with a little help from Charles Xavier). Luna is sent back to the retreats of Crystal and Quicksilver and Exodus, but not before declaring herself the true heir to Magneto’s legacy and almost fatally injuring Quicksilver (luckily, Black Knight does CPR on Quicksilver and brings him back to life).
A year later, in the altered reality crossover known as “The Age of Apocalypse,” Exodus is a member of the X-Men and goes by the name of Bennet of Paris. However, no connection to Black Knight is mentioned. It wouldn’t be for THREE YEARS until the connection was revealed.
THE LINK BETWEEN EXODUS AND THE BLACK KNIGHT IS REVEALED
In the 1996 one-shot, Black Knight: Exodus # 1, by Ben Raab, Jimmy Cheung, and Andy Lanning, Black Knight and Sersi return to the main Marvel Universe after a brief stint in an alternate reality. However, instead of ending up in the present, they find themselves in the Crusades, where Dane took control of the body of his ancestor, Eobar Garrington (Dane had once possessed Garrington).
It turns out that one of Garrington’s best friends during the Crusades was, of course, Bennet from Paris.
Bennet sets off in search of powerful secrets in Akkaba, Egypt, but finds himself trapped by Apocalypse, who transforms Paris (who doesn’t even know he IS a mutant) into Exodus.
When Black Knight and Sersi find him, Apocalypse orders Exodus to kill the Black Knight. Ever since Dane shared memories with Carrington, this is how he remembered Exodus. Dane ends up reaching his friend and convinces him to activate Apocalypse.
Revelation then punishes Exodus by imprisoning him in a tomb for centuries. Dane has knights vowing to keep him until Apocalypse allows Exodus to escape, which I guess happened sometime before “Fatal Attractions”. Black Knight and Sersi then return to the present.
Okay, the story doesn’t really make sense for Dane to have all of Carrington’s memories, but whatever, it’s the setup. They got to know each other during the Crusades. I hope that with the release of the Eternals movie, the connection between Dane and Exodus could reappear in the comics.
If anyone else has a suggestion for a comic book plot that was resolved after a few years (I tend to use two years as a minimum, otherwise you’re probably right in the middle of the initial storyline reveal, yeah But I allow exceptions where a new writer takes over a script and has to solve the unsolved plots of the previous writer), message me at [email protected]!
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