Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 139. Who is Polaris in Marvel Comics?1

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Ep. 139. Who is Polaris in Marvel Comics?1 · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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Hi guys, it's Megan with vigilante vibes and today I want
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to give another character breakdown and continuing the
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theme of mutants I want to give you one of my favorite mutants.
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Her name is Polaris Lorna Dane. Lorna Dane AKA Polaris is one of
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my all time favorite mutants. I think she is phenomenal and
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seriously underrated. She's powerful, she's complex,
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and I think she gets overshadowed by the Scarlet
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Witch and Magneto of it all. I think she's got tremendous
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potential to be the central figure of an X-Men book or an X
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team. And I mean, she's smart, she's
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powerful, she has a complex in her life and has a long standing
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relationships with a lot of major characters of the
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franchise. I feel like she's absolutely
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proven that she doesn't need to be anyone's girlfriend or to be
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known as Magneto's daughter to be an important driver of these
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stories, and I would love to see her in the spotlight.
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Her first appearance was in X-Men #49 This book gets listed
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way too often as the first a Polaris appearance, which is not
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accurate. It is the first appearance of
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Lorna Dane. It qualifies as a full
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appearance for Lorna, as she appears throughout the issue.
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Interestingly enough, as it turns out, Polaris is not
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Lorna's first code name. It's actually Magnetrix, which
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she got made fun of for by Havoc, who used the name to
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flirt with her. While that might not seem too
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important, it actually is, as is the fact that it's roughly 4
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years before the character Polaris ever exists on the pages
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of Marvel's X-Men comics. So to make a very Long story
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short, the first appearance of Polaris is Uncanny X-Men number
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97, which is like 47 issues later.
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Lorna Dane was born from an affair between her mom and
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Magneto, the famous mutant with magnetic powers and a pretty
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dark RIP. Magneto had no idea the fling
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led to a kid. A few weeks later, after Lorna
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was born, her mom and stepdad died in a plane crash, which was
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likely triggered by Lorna's uncontrolled mutant powers.
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After that, she was adopted by the Danes.
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The only sign of her being a mutant back then was her green
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hair, which her adoptive parents made her dye brown to help her
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fit in. Fast forward a few years, a
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robotics genius named Samuel Star Saxon built a robot version
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of Magneto and teamed up with Mesmaro, a mutant who could
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hypnotize people. They used tech to summon mutants
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with hidden powers to San Francisco.
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Lorna answered the call and ended up crossing paths with
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Iceman, who is Bobby Drake from the X-Men.
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Both of them got captured and Lorna was put into some kind of
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genetic machine that triggered her magnetic powers.
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Mesmerow then hypnotized her into thinking she was Magneto's
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daughter. Ironically, that turned out to
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be true, though no one knew it yet.
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Under the name M2, which is short for Magneto the Second.
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Lorna fought alongside the Magneto Android against the
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X-Men, but Iceman found out she was adopted and used that to
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convince her she wasn't really Magneto's daughter.
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That broke the spell and Lorna switched sides and helped the
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X-Men take down Mesmaro. From there, Lorna, now going by
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Polaris, had a roller coaster of a life.
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She joined and left both the X-Men and X Factor multiple
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times, tried retiring, got pulled back in, got manipulated
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into villainy again, and eventually had to come to terms
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with the fact that she is actually Magneto's daughter.
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Her powers? They are pretty impressive.
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She can control magnetic fields, both natural and artificial.
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She might be capable of everything her dad can do, but
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so far she's mainly shown the ability to manipulate magnetic,
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electrical, and gravitational forces.
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She can lift metal objects, create tough magnetic Shields,
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fry electronics, and fly by riding magnetic fields.
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She also has this cool trick where she can see the world
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through energy patterns and even sense the magnetic auras around
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living beings. At one point, Polaris developed
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the ability to soak up negative energy from her surroundings,
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which made her grow in size and give her crazy strength and her
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ability, though no one really knew her limits.
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The downside? The same energy also amped up
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the bad vibes around her, making people act way more aggressive
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and violent than usual. Later, like many other mutants,
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Polaris lost her powers when Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff had
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a mental breakdown and cast a massive reality warping spell
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that depowered most of mutant kind.
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Eventually she got roped into Apocalypse scheme.
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He picked her to be one of his horsemen, Pestilence.
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He not only gave her magnetic powers back, but also upgraded
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her with a terrifying new ability.
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She could abort diseases and spread them however she wanted
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in their natural forms or mutated ones.
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Which is holy crap. Throughout her wild superhero
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career, Polaris has dealt with all kinds of enemies.
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Mesmero, Krakoa, A literal living island, the mutant
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hunting Sentinels, Juggernaut, Apocalypse, Vulcan, and even
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some of her own team mates. She's pretty much seen it all.
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At one point she was taken over by a psychic entity called
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Malice and forced to lead the deadly mutant group known as the
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Marauders in an attack on the X-Men.
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But Malice got stuck inside her with her energy patterns
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blended, making it impossible for Malice to possess anyone
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else. Lorna stayed trapped like that
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until she was kidnapped by a woman named Zalidane, A
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priestess from a hidden jungle in the Savage Land who claimed
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to be her sister. Zalidane used a machine to steal
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Lorna's powers, which luckily also freed her from Malice's
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control. Later on, Lorna joined the
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government run version of The X Factor where she was meant to be
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some kind of secret weapon against Magneto, though that
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obviously got complicated once she confirmed it was really her
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dad. Along the way she classed with
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villains like Mr. Sinister and the Brotherhood of Mutants.
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After her time with X Factor, Polaris found herself in a weird
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spot, sometimes working with Magneto and other times working
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against Magneto. Their relationship was never
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simple, but finding out for sure that he was her father changed
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everything. She's deeply connected with a
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lot of major players in the mutant world, but her most
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complicated relationship has to be Alex Summers, AKA Havoc.
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For those who don't know, that is Cyclops's brother.
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They've been in a messy, long on and off romance for years.
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At one point they both impulsively joined the
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Defenders, another superhero team, but ended up quitting
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after just one day because the team was way too chaotic.
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Polaris has worked with pretty much every version of the X-Men
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over the years, all the way back to the original crew, Cyclops,
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Jean Grey, Angel, Beast and Iceman.
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Iceman was actually the first X-Men she met and there was a
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bit of a spark between them until she met Havoc and
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everything changed. As part of X Factor, she spent a
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lot of time alongside Havoc, multiple man who's Jimmy
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Madricks, strong guy, Quicksilver, Wolfbane, and
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eventually Forge. Things got tense when the
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government forced the team to accept known mutant criminals
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Mystique and Sabretooth. Lorna was not on board with that
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decision, and she was right to worry.
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Sabretooth eventually snapped and almost killed the whole
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team. Over the years, she's been part
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of several versions of X Factor and even took over as leader in
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the most recent lineup. She and Havoc also joined the
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spacefaring team the Star Jammers for a while, going up
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against Vulcan, who is Gabriel Summers, Alex's dangerous
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brother. Despite her best efforts,
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Polaris has never managed to live a quiet life for long.
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She and Havoc even tried to retire from superhero work early
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on and pursue their shared love of geophysics.
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They moved to New Mexico to work on their pH DS in the Diablo
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Mountains, but of course things went sideways.
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They were brainwashed by the sheer agent named Eric the Red
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and used in a plot to stop Princess Lelandra from teaming
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up with the X-Men and Professor X to take down her evil brother,
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Emperor de Ken. While under Eric's control,
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Lorna officially took on the name Polaris and with Alex,
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ended up fighting the X-Men. Eventually, Professor X broke
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the mind control and the two of them returned to New Mexico.
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Even after that, they stayed loosely connected to the X-Men
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as reserve members, always ready to jump in when needed.
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And they were needed. Years later, while Polaris and
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Havoc were both part of X Factor, things took a very dark
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turn. The Dark Beast, it's basically
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an evil version of Hank McCoy from another universe, kidnapped
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Alex and made it look like he'd joined the Brotherhood of
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Mutants. During a showdown between The X
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Factor and the Brotherhood, Polaris tried to get through to
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Alex, but he blasted her with a full power plasma attack.
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Her magnetic Shields saved her, but the hit was so intense it
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sent her into cardiac arrest. After she recovered, Lorna found
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out Alex had actually been undercover the whole time,
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trying to take down the Dark Beast from the inside.
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She got why he did it, but shooting her, faking betrayal
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and keeping her in the dark was just way too much.
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Well, it should be too much for anyone, let's be honest.
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She couldn't forgive him and she ended things.
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That's Queen. Polaris eventually returned to X
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Factor, but after Alex had was seemingly killed in a plane
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crash, she disbanded the team. After Apocalypse Hat was taken
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down, Polaris went back to Genosha with Magneto to help Kim
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keep things under control and power up his operations.
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She told herself it was for the greater good, and partly it was,
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but she also couldn't deny that she was enjoying learning more
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about how to use her powers under Magneto's guidance.
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Eventually, things escalated. Magneto launched a full blown
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attack on Carrion Cove, the last city of Genosha, resisting his
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rule because he wanted access to tech that would fully restore
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his powers. Lorna tried to stop him, but he
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overpowered her. Realizing she couldn't win, she
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fled the country after Magneto regained his full strength.
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Girl, I would too. Later, when Magneto kidnapped
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Professor X as part of his plan to start a war against humanity,
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Lorna returned to Genosha, not to fight him, but to help
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evacuate the humans that were still there.
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After Wolverine severely injured Magneto, she stayed behind to
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help him recover and keep the peace.
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During this time, Lorna started digging to her own past.
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She ran genetic tests on herself and Magneto while investigating
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the plane crash that killed her parents.
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What she discovered shocked her. All the metal on the plane had
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been magnetized. That, along with her test
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results, confirms Magneto was her biological father.
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Once she processed the truth, she went back to Genosha, only
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to find that Magneto already knew about her findings and had
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announced them to his people. She was welcomed back like
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royalty. But not long after, the
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Sentinels sent by Cassandra Nova attacked and wiped out most of
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the island's population. Polaris survived the destruction
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and the resulting radiation, but the aftermath nearly broke her.
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She spent months trying to control the chaotic
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electromagnetic energy that left behind by the dead.
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The trauma nearly pushed her over the edge until the X-Men
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showed up, managed to reach her, and finally brought her home.
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A few weeks later, Polaris showed up at the X mansion after
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hearing that Havoc had been found.
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She walked in just in time to see his nurse, Annie yelling at
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his unconscious body. Apparently her son Carter had
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somehow gotten trapped inside Alex's mind.
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Lorna completely snapped. She lost it.
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She started attacking with scalpels and even injured North
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Star when he was trying to stop her.
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Eventually she calmed down, but not before coldly brushing Annie
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off, then throwing herself at Alex the moment he woke up, like
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she was staking her claim. To everyone's surprise, Lorna
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asked Alex to marry her right then and there.
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He said yes, and the two of them left to reconnect and start
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planning the wedding. But things didn't go as planned.
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On the big day, Alex left her at the altar.
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Lorna lost it completely. Like she's been through so much
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she crafted A Magneto style helmet out of silverware and
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tried to kill Alex, Annie, and Carter.
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Juggernaut had to step in and take her down.
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Afterward, Lorna was brought back to the mansion in
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restraints and agreed to let Professor X into her mind to
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figure out what was going on. During the session, she insisted
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Annie join in two. Lorna opened up about her true
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connection to Magneto and the trauma she went through
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surviving the Genotian Massacre. That experience had clearly
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changed her. Once sweet and loving, Lorna now
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acted way more intense and aggressive shoot first ask
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questions later kind of vibe. After the whole Zornito
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incident, she even started leaning towards Magneto's more
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militant views on humans and mutants.
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At Magneto's funeral in Genosha, she took it to the extreme,
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trying to provoke Professor X by threatening to kill him just to
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prove his dream of peaceful coexistence was a lie.
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But Xavier stood his ground or sat his ground, refusing to
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fight her. In the end, Lorna backed down.
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As a show of respect for both her father and Xavier, she used
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what was left of the giant Magneto statue, which Wolverine
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had torn down, to create a new sculpture, one that honored both
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Magneto and Professor X. Eventually, Lorna and Alex found
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their way back to each other and joined a team of X-Men sent into
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space to stop Vulcan from going after the Shire Empire.
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Vulcan helped the ousted Emperor de Ken get his throne back, only
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to kill him and take over himself.
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He then threatened to execute Empress Lelandra, who was allied
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with the X-Men. Lorna managed to rescue Lalondra
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and fought to help restore her power, but in the end, Lalondra
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was assassinated. On top of everything, it was
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later revealed that Polaris's magnetic powers had been
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affecting her mental health for years, basically messing with
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her brain's electrical signals. Her close friend Teresa Cassidy
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actually chose to become the Celtic goddess Morrigan to gain
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power needed to heal Lorna's mind.
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So that is basically Polaris. She is amazing.
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She's been through a lot and she still perseveres.
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So I do have a hot take here. I wonder if she'd make for a
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better villain. Maybe a scenario where Magneto
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died and actually stayed dead and she essentially inherited
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his followers. She'd adopt his hardline pro
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mutant stance, but maybe take it in a different direction than
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outright terrorism, which would make her a tougher adversary for
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the X-Men to fight. If you're going to make her
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whole character be watered down by being his daughter, you might
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as well take it as far as you can go with that connection.
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But with her obvious mental health issues, I would hate to
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see that aspect of her be the reason she turned into a
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villain. But I have an even hotter take.
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I think her being Magneto's daughter in the 1st place has
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done the character a disservice. It's essentially kept her from
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further development of her own independent personality and has
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only gotten messier after the subsequent Pietro and Wanda
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retcon. So it's always it's.
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I just think they could do better with her because right
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now her character is leaning on the aspect of being Magneto's
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daughter so hard. At least it has very much in the
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past that I think they've never really given her a bigger chance
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to shine. Because like I said, the
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beginning of the episode, I think she has the qualities and
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I think she has it all in her two lead and ex team.
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And I'd really like to see that happen someday.
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So like always, I have comics for you to check out to get to
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know Polaris even better, you can check out Peter David's X
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Factor from 2005. Uncanny X-Men #443, New X-Men
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#132 and Uncanny X-Men numbers 430 to 431.
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These are absolute reads you have to check out when it comes
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to Polaris. But after that, I would add
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X-Men number 99, X-Men #380 Uncanny X-Men numbers 425 to
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426, War of Kings One and Two, and Astonishing X-Men #62 So
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thank you for joining me when I while I talk about my one of my
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favorite mutants. So be sure to like and subscribe
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because I'm going through all my favorite mutants and I have some
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really cool ones lined up. So with that being said, have a
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marvelous day.