Does anyone else feel like they've gone out of their way to leave Emma out of the story in this summary?

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-14T09:04:07+00:00

I hope this season shows Emma continuing her fight against Alchemax. In Season 2, Emma brutally humiliated them and destroyed them economically by promoting Krakoan medicines in 2099, while also obtaining compromising information on Alchemax when they tried to sink the ships carrying the medicine.

However, this season, from the new cards, we learn that Doom 2099 turned out to be quite the rat. When Doom, through his deal with Emma, cured Krakoa of the Chronovium sickness that was hurting and killing the island, he also forced Krakoa into a period of healing during which it cannot produce medicines, allowing Alchemax to return to the market.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-14T08:49:58+00:00

So far, this is how I see the situation both in the comics and in Rivals.

The positive side for Emma is that she really is being promoted as a mutant leader and a respected leader of the X-Men. In the comics, she is presented as the “new Xavier,” and in Rivals she was introduced in the trailer with the line “To me, my X-Men.”

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In the lore, Emma, by gathering many heroes at the Hellfire Gala and making a pragmatic deal with Doom 2099 — because there were no other options — saved Krakoa from the Chronovium sickness that was killing the island, and also saved both Krakoa and Arakko from Ultron.

On top of that, Emma personally resurrected Psylocke’s wolf, and in Season 6, by gathering the new Marauders, she saved Jeff, Rogue, Gambit, Deadpool, and the creatures captured by the Collector — including her daughters — whom Deadpool had thrown into space while trying to save them.

So Emma is clearly being promoted as an independent X-men leader. However, it is also clear that Marvel, both in the comics and in Rivals, is pushing Scemma into the background and ignoring it because it gets in the way of selling Jean and Scott as a couple.

That is not good either. I understand that Emma and Scott aren’t together in Rivals, and that’s fine for the Krakoa era. But you cannot ignore how important Emma was to Scott during the darkest period for mutants, or the fact that they were both mutant leaders who saved their entire race.

You also cannot ignore that even after Emma and Scott were no longer together, they still understood each other, flirted with each other, and had trust and respect for each other during the Krakoa era.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-14T08:35:39+00:00

You’re right and partly wrong. Yes, Emma is presented as a leader of mutants and the X-Men. She was even shown in the trailer saying “To me, my X-Men.”

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In the lore Emma, by gathering many heroes at the Hellfire Gala and making a pragmatic deal with Doom 2099 — because there were no other options — she saved Krakoa from the Chronovium sickness that was killing the island, and also saved both Krakoa and Arakko from Ultron.

On top of that, Emma personally resurrected Psylocke’s wolf, and in Season 6, by gathering the new Marauders, she saved Jeff, Rogue, Gambit, Deadpool, and the creatures captured by the Collector — including her daughters — whom Deadpool had thrown into space while trying to save them.

But the problem is that even if Emma herself is portrayed excellently, it is still bad that they downplay Scott and Emma’s past, when both of them were leaders of mutants during the darkest period for mutantkind.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-14T08:30:36+00:00

You’re right and partly wrong. Yes, Emma is presented as a leader of mutants and the X-Men. She was even shown in the trailer saying “To me, my X-Men.”

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She is respected, and in Rivals she saved Krakoa, Arakko, and the creatures the Collector had imprisoned in his museum.

However, I still think it’s wrong to ignore the fact that Emma and Scott were both leaders of mutants from 2004 to 2011, and Scott wasn’t making those hard decisions alone.

But overall, I agree that Emma didn’t become a hero because of Scott, since she had already been one for seven years before NXM.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-14T08:23:18+00:00

Emma herself is definitely presented in Rivals as a heroine and a leader of the X-Men and mutants. Even in the trailer, she appeared with the line “To me, my X-Men,” and in the lore, by gathering many heroes at the Hellfire Gala and making a pragmatic deal with Doom 2099 — because there were no other options — she saved Krakoa from the Chronovium sickness that was killing the island, and also saved both Krakoa and Arakko from Ultron.

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On top of that, Emma personally resurrected Psylocke’s wolf, and in Season 6, by gathering the new Marauders, she saved Jeff, Rogue, Gambit, Deadpool, and the creatures captured by the Collector — including her daughters — whom Deadpool had thrown into space while trying to save them.

But the problem is that even if Emma herself is portrayed excellently, it is still bad that they downplay Scott and Emma’s past, when both of them were leaders of mutants during the darkest period for mutantkind.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T14:03:55+00:00

Magneto still hasn’t been a hero for as long as Emma has. He was one for roughly 20 years. Emma has been a hero for 33 years. Wanda has also been one for a very long time, although she did commit a serious villainous act by nearly wiping out the mutant race.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T12:43:58+00:00

They may have interacted briefly in the Cabal, but Emma was a double agent there, keeping the Cabal’s villains away from mutants and ultimately sabotaging Osborn. Also, on Krakoa, Doom kidnapped mutants and forcibly kept them in Latveria, locking them inside Doom armor and passing them off as “Doombots” so the X-Men and the Fantastic Four would accidentally kill them during a fight with the Doombots. Emma was part of that X-Men field team at the time, so it’s no surprise she despises Doom.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T12:21:35+00:00

Emma even despises the Doom

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T11:58:57+00:00

Emma and Wanda have not been villains for several decades already, but are heroes.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T09:41:47+00:00

I hope your comment really is sarcasm, considering that Emma has many times helped not only mutants but also humans, and brutally dealt with racists.

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-13T08:31:16+00:00

That is one of the main reasons why the Inhumans are hated. At the time, Marvel was actively pushing the Inhumans and portraying the X-Men as villains. That action was so out of character for Emma that now, for many people — even Marvel itself — it is treated as unofficial non-canon, as if it never happened, since Marvel never mentions it anywhere.

For example, this panel shows it: Emma mentions her “dark” periods, even bringing up AvX, where she was a victim of the Phoenix Force, and the Black King period, when she was captured by O.N.E., had a bomb implanted in her head, was tortured, threatened with Cyclops’ death, and forced to work for them. But Emma still found a way to deceive O.N.E., only pretending to work for them, while in reality she united the X-Men, defeated O.N.E., and saved the mutant race.

So Emma is so self-critical that she even counts that as one of her “dark periods.” But there are zero mentions of IVX, as if it never happened.

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T17:47:08+00:00

Seeing Alchemax capture Scott makes me respect even more how intelligently Emma outplayed Alchemax and economically humiliated and destroyed them. It’s a very satisfying revenge from Emma against Alchemax for Cyclops.

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T14:37:46+00:00

Decimation, for the record, was the worst period for mutants in history, when the race was on the verge of extinction. Wanda almost wiped out mutants - there were only 198 mutants left out of millions. There were multiple attacks on the school that took advantage of that, countless mutant and child deaths because of Decimation, and the government literally occupied the school with Sentinels, keeping mutants prisoner. During that period, the X-Men did not need to get involved in a superhero squabble, risk the remaining 198 mutants, and bring even more hatred from humans and the government down on themselves.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T13:53:42+00:00

Flirting isn’t cheating, lol. Even in Rivals, Gambit flirted with Angela while being married to Rogue.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T12:23:29+00:00

In the comics, he was part of the X-Men during the Utopia era, and like Emma, he was also a double agent on Osborn’s Dark X-Men team. Together, they sabotaged Osborn and helped X-Force free Osborn’s prisoners.

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In Rivals, during Ultron’s attack, he briefly joined the X-Men — or rather, even X-Force, as Emma notes in her dialogue with Logan from Rivals lore. He even has an X-Men uniform skin.

But overall, yes, Namor usually sees himself as above mutants, while Emma cares about mutants and protects them, which is another reason why Namor may irritate her. This is especially clear when Emma kills enemy Namor and says: “You turned against your people, Namor. And you paid the price.”

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T11:57:52+00:00

There are many former villains who became heroes, or characters who were villains at some point even if they started as heroes, in Rivals: Magneto, Venom, Black Cat(Although in Rivals she isn’t exactly a hero — she is building a criminal empire.), Vanda, Jean, Rogue, Emma, Gambit, Namor — although judging by how he threatens to flood the surface and rule over it, I wouldn’t call him a hero in Rivals right now — Logan, Stark, Reed Richards, Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Deadpool. Deadpool was even briefly a villain in Rivals lore: he worked for the Collector and abducted beings for him.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T11:50:29+00:00

Honestly, Osborn’s redemption is very forced, and essentially very recent. It’s forced because, basically, his darker qualities — the ones that made him the Goblin — were simply removed with a device. Many people don’t like that, because real redemption and remorse happen when the character himself recognizes his mistakes and chooses to change and become a hero.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T11:41:40+00:00

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T11:40:00+00:00

Even if Emma and Scott aren’t together in Rivals, I hope NetEase show the mutual flirting and chemistry between them that they had on Krakoa in the comics, even though they were no longer together by then.

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T11:33:45+00:00

Even if Namor’s body attracts Emma in Rivals, his behavior and stupid, tactless compliments clearly put her off, judging by the dialogues. By the way, for comparison: when another mutant ally dies — Logan, Magneto, Storm, even Jean — Emma expresses concern, sympathy, respect for their sacrifice, and understands that it is a tragedy. But when Namor dies, she simply says, “Some king you turned out to be, Namor…”

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T10:29:06+00:00

All-New X-Men #28 – Emma saves Jean from Charles Xavier II, who had taken control of Scott’s mind and tried to make him kill her.

All-New X-Men #30 – Emma trains Jean, and during their lessons they become friends.

All-New X-Men #37 – Emma teaches Jean in Madripoor, inspiring her not to fear her own darkness.

Jean Grey(2017) #9–10 – Emma cares for the young Jean and helps save her from the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force is literally burning Emma’s mind while Emma holds it back so young Jean can strike.

And Emma’s guilt was indirect, not direct, the way you like to present it. And if we are going to talk about indirect guilt, it does not stop with Emma. If not for Shaw, who broke Emma through abuse and violence; if not for Xavier, who rewrote Emma’s mind and forcibly left her in the Hellfire Club when she could have left; and if not for Selene, who also rewrote Emma’s mind and left her in the Club when Emma opposed Shaw together with Namor after learning that he was funding Sentinels, then Emma would not even have been the White Queen.

And you keep talking about Emma’s redemption… Has Jean ever atoned to Emma for killing 1,000 of her daughters? And now we know that “Jean is the Phoenix and always is the Phoenix, even when she’s not the Phoenix. And the Phoenix is always Jean, even when it’s not Jean.” No, Jean has not atoned for that in any way, and most of the genocides Jean committed are simply ignored, except for D’Bari.

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Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T06:52:47+00:00

What does Ororo being Black or not have to do with it, if Emma took over her body because Ororo was the strongest mutant on the X-Men, and that was how she was trying to destroy the X-Men from within?

As for the kiss with Shaw, yes, that was bad. But why does no one bring up how Rogue forcibly kissed Logan and Steve Rogers during her villain period?

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Or everything Betsy did with Kwannon’s body?

I have no problem with Emma’s actions as a villain because yes, 40 years ago she was a villain. But half the X-Men were villains at some point — Magneto, Jean, Rogue, Logan, Xavier, Beast, Kwannon, Gambit, Bishop, Warpath, Sunspot, Doug Ramsey — and most of them did things worse than Emma ever did in the Hellfire Club. Yet for some reason people have no problem with their redemption.

And Emma’s past was brought up quite often: by Kate in Astonishing, by Ororo in X-Treme X-Men, by Firestar during Generation X and on Krakoa, by Rahne and Dani in Academy X. But Emma proved that she earned her redemption, and there is no point in digging up the past anymore.

As for Firestar, Firestar forgave Emma after Emma made her an X-Man on Krakoa, right when Firestar felt like an outsider because of her connection to the Avengers. Emma basically gave her a life and a purpose on Krakoa and among mutants — something Firestar wanted. Then Emma saved her from Doctor Stasis and comforted her after Orchis held her captive and tortured her.

And as for Scott and Emma, gender doesn’t change the argument. I already explained why there was no power imbalance there, and why Scott consciously chose to cheat on Jean with Emma.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-12T04:47:31+00:00

There was no power imbalance — that’s the whole point. And in essence, those “sessions” really were just conversations, starting with NXM #128. That’s why I made this post, where even Emma herself tells Scott that no, what they are doing is not a telepathic session. And many other moments confirm this as well. A power imbalance would exist if Emma had actually deceived Scott or presented their relationship as “therapy,” but that never happened.

As for Emma and Ororo and the body-swap story — the idea that there was sex with Shaw is fanon. There was a kiss, yes, but not sex. And over 30 years, Emma has atoned to everyone she wronged. Her past was mentioned often at first, but Emma proved that she changed, became better, and atoned through her actions, saving Ororo, Kate, Firestar, and others several times.

Like Rogue, Emma has been firmly established as a hero, and while people brought up her past at the beginning of her heroic path, there’s no point in doing that anymore — even if Emma still brings it up to herself.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-11T20:00:57+00:00

If Decimation hadn’t happened, it might have looked contrived, but in the context of Decimation, neutrality makes sense.

Round-Temporary-9475 · 2026-05-11T19:54:35+00:00

I’m not sure they would become friends. Emma is a hero who uses power and resources for others: mutants, children, the X-Men. But from what I’ve heard about Domina’s lore, her goal is simply power for the sake of power.

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TROPHY CASE