Warning: Spoilers for Marauders #6 below!
When the X-Men assembled a pirate crew to smuggle goods and mutants through territory where Krakoan sovereignty goes unrecognized, they knew it was a dangerous proposition. And when the X-Men decided to call that crew the Marauders and staff it with reformed and unreformed supervillains like Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and Pyro, readers were very aware of the powder keg that was set up to go off. But when betrayal finally struck, it hit the worst possible target: the Red Queen, Kate Pryde, who was dropped in the ocean and left for dead.
Pryde’s murderer is her peer, Black King Sebastian Shaw, who saw Pryde as an obstacle to his complete control of the Hellfire Corporation. He orchestrated a distraction in the form of anti-mutant hatemongers attacking the ship. He manipulated the other mutants so Kate would split off from them, and dispatched her and her draconic companion Lockheed with cruel efficiency. Normally this would be a minor offense, given that mutants can be brought back to life in short order on Krakoa. But, Kate appears to be an exception. Shaw asserts that the X-Men’s Resurrection Protocols won’t apply to her, which means that she’s gone for real.
To pull off the assassination, Shaw played both allies and enemies like chess pieces. The Black King paid off human supremacists Homines Verendi to stage an attack on Shaw’s son, diverting the crew to a position where he could reach them. He spread the word to the White Bishop that Kate couldn’t be resurrected if she died, which caused Emma and company to become overprotective of their non-replaceable asset. Then he let Kate’s stubborn pride to the rest. She detected Frost’s protectiveness and, in a moment of defiance, told the others to pursue the human bigots while she stayed the course to their original destination.
Once she was defenseless, Shaw emerged from below deck and ensnared Lockheed with a net gun, making him a helpless hostage. He then released Krakoan seeds at her feet, which wrapped around her, as if defending mutants from its native island against a foreign intruder. This added painful insult to her demise as he dropped her and Lockheed into the sea. She sank helplessly, swearing to return and make him long for the death he tried to give her, but this was another dangerous moment of pride. When her head dropped under the surface, she had no air left and drowned instantly. Kate Pryde died the way she lived: yelling at jerks.
What happens now? If everything goes according to Sebastian Shaw’s plan, the Hellfire Corporation will accept the loss and the Black King will be able to install his son Shinobi in her seat. Then, with control over two of the three pillars of the Hellfire Corporation, he can finally oust Emma. In his mind, this isn’t just a selfish bid for power, it’s a management strategy that will improve the Hellfire Corp’s profits over their five-year plan. In his words: “Do you think the world of man wants to sit across a table and negotiate with a telepath?”
Can Kate Pryde be regrown at Krakoa? All the evidence suggests she can’t. Emma and Storm’s protectiveness and all the ways Krakoa has rejected her indicate that she has no place in the resurrection protocols. In fact, Pryde may not be a mutant at all, which would spell the end of her part in Xavier’s new dream. What’s certain is that the Marauders will inevitably find out about the Black King’s plan. Emma, Storm, and the rest of the crew will do everything they can to ensure the power grab is unsuccessful. But Sebastian’s defeat will offer little comfort if Kitty is truly impossible to resurrect.
Marauders #6 goes on sale at your local comics shop today.
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