One unlikely ally to the X-Men just got turned into Saturnyne’s newest champion, which gives her a serious advantage going forward.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Excalibur #14 by Tini Howard, Phil Noto, VC’s Ariana Maher, & Tom Muller on sale now.
Across the course of X of Swords, Saturnyne has done her best to manipulate the potential war between Krakoa and Arakko to her advantage. And now, in the middle of the conflict, Saturnyne just gained potentially her most powerful ally yet.
Saturnyne just forced Shogo to become her personal pet — giving her access to the massive power currently present in Jubilee’s son, Shogo.
Despite being the Queen of Otherworld, Saturnyne isn’t indestructible. She also now has plenty of proof that the X-Men would otherwise be willing to cross some serious boundaries — even attacking her, as Wolverine was considering. To that end, it makes sense that Saturnyne would want a new protector to help keep her safe and prevent any of the champions from either Krakoa or Arakko could make a move against her. Ideally, Saturnyne could convince Captain Avalon to fight for her. But Brian Braddock has been consistently clear with his reluctance to serve her in the manner she seeks, meaning Saturnyne was in the market for a different kind of champion.
She finds one in an unlikely place: Otherworld itself. Jubilee and her adopted son Shogo have been resting with the Priestesses of the Green, a caste of friendly witches who live outside the Starlight Citadel. Since coming to Otherworld, Shogo has been transformed into the shape of a massive and powerful dragon. After having been wounded in a fight with Saturnyne, Shogo has been recuperating alongside his mother. When Jubilee loses psychic connection with Captain Britain (due to the latter’s defeat at the hands of Isca the Unbeaten), Jubilee and Shogo make their way back to the Starlight Citadel. But upon arriving, Saturnyne decides that she could use Shogo’s powers for her own — manipulating his young mind and bending his will to her.
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Storm is able to take flight quickly enough to save Jubilee, who is bucked off of Shogo’s back in the process. Shogo approaches Saturnyne and bows his head to her, with the Otherworld Queen revealing that his young mind allows her to easily influence him into being her pet. She even reveals she would have killed Jubilee to Shogo — and the dragon is confused, but not nearly as protective as one would expect. It doesn’t take long for Saturnyne to use Shogo as her personal protection, taking the dragon with her when she watches the duel between Wolverine and War. Shogo being with Saturnyne effectively gives her a hostage that the X-Men would be devastated to lose, lessening the chance of someone like Wolverine trying to kill her — again.