Every Clue That Bastion Was Secretly Pulling the Strings in X-Men 97

Bastion has been confirmed as the big bad of X-Men 97, the purple-skinned villain who spent the season working in the background, scheming toward his own plan while the show quietly built toward him.

Bastion's Secret Presence Was Confirmed in Almost Every Episode

The showrunner announced that Bastion appears in every episode of the season except episode three, posting that he had been manipulating events all along and challenging viewers to go and spot him. Once I saw that, I had to accept the challenge, so I went back through the whole season to point out every single time he shows up.

A Mind-Reading Scene Reveals Bastion's Origin From Master Mold, Nimrod, Trask and Gyrich

The first sighting comes when a telepath enters a mind and starts uncovering the secrets of Bastion's past. That includes the four characters key to his existence, Gyrich, Trask, Master Mold and Nimrod. Bastion was fused out of the latter two, Master Mold and Nimrod, and we get a montage of clips before the scene settles on Master Mold's eyes. That is why so many of the show's intro scenes have paired Bastion with Master Mold's imagery, hinting at the connection the whole time.

The Purple Crayon and the Siege Perilous Tie Young Bastion to Nimrod's Fall

The purple crayon shown right after that is also a nod to what is happening with the character, a callback to when Bastion was younger, right after Nimrod was forced through the Siege Perilous. The Siege Perilous is a pan-dimensional portal in which whoever enters is judged by the universe's higher powers, and Nimrod was thrown out the other side, waking up as a half-human Sentinel hybrid. He was found by a woman who gave him the name Sebastian, which was then shortened, as the wordplay goes, from Sebastian to Bastian to Bastion. That is why it is a child's hands we see holding a purple crayon, showing it is all connected. Something similar happens in episode seven, where we see Nimrod changing into him, which builds on the same idea.

Bastion Is Confirmed as the Buyer Behind the Executioner

Beyond the hidden appearances, there are confirmations that add real context. Bastion is confirmed as the mysterious buyer that the Friends of Humanity brought up back in episode one, and knowing that for certain now means he was also the one who made the Executioner.

Episode Two's War Room Cameo Raises a Big Question About Val

Jumping to episode two, there is a moment in the government war room, and if you look at who is sitting just beside the official there, there is a Bastion-shaped figure. That has been confirmed as the character, which is such a cool detail to hide in plain sight. It also makes me question what Val is up to.

I actually think Val might secretly be Mystique, which I think would be a pretty big twist if it has not already been spoiled somewhere. She has not appeared in the show so far, despite being a big part of the original series, so it is a bit strange that she is missing this season, especially since she is also part of Messiah Complex, the big book the series seems to be building toward. On top of that, the fact that Bastion is sitting right there with the government is another big clue.

That is not the last of the government theorizing either, because I think there is a chance they use Magneto for a false flag attack that turns people against mutants. When you think about it, that would be a master stroke from someone who's been playing both sides, working with people inside the UN while also using the Executioner to attack it, all building toward his goal of taking mutants down by creating division.

Forge's Weapons Deal in Episode Four Points to Operation Zero Tolerance

That theory lines up with episode four, where we see Forge rubbing shoulders with Bastion, a detail Ryan Ary first pointed out. It makes it look like he is the one who contracted Forge, who we already know is building anti-mutant weapons. Between the government connections and the Forge deal, it feels like his motive is being given away, and it points to Operation Zero Tolerance, which, as the name suggests, is not going to be good for mutants.

Episode Five's Party Scene Gives the Clearest Look at Bastion Yet

Episode five is when the big plan goes down and the Wild Sentinel is unleashed. Bastion appears at the start of the party scene, brushing past the camera just as Magneto enters, then stopping at the staircase to look around. It happens at roughly the twenty one minute mark of the episode. It is an extreme closeup that you cannot fully make out, but the purple skin and white hair give it away.

I also wonder if that is what triggers the telepath, since we see a blast of purple light hit her forehead around then. Val is also acting suspicious at that party, seeming to steer the mutants toward danger rather than helping them escape, and watching it a second time, it looks more like she is pushing them toward the path of death. Something is fishy with her, and I think there is more to the character than meets the eye.

Bastion Spies on the School and Launches His Strike Force

The showrunner said episode six is more of a cameo for Bastion, so I think it is more of a tease toward the character rather than a full appearance, though there are hints throughout. Episode seven confirms he has been spying on the school, during a scene where Professor X gives a history lesson and the globe on his desk starts to spin, then erupts into purple flames while he watches. I think that might be the cameo, though it could also be at the start of the episode, in the montage with Nimrod.

Either way, this is where he starts up ZT, his anti-mutant strike team first introduced in the 1997 comic run, which was a big crossover.

How Zero Tolerance and E for Extinction Could Combine in the Finale

Operation Zero Tolerance also plays into the title of the finale, a three-parter called Tolerance is Extinction, which feeds into two major storylines. The second of those is E for Extinction, the run that I think first introduced Cassandra Nova, and the show has already been playing off pieces of her arc, including her attack on Genosha with a Wild Sentinel. I think they are combining these two stories to play off each other.

Zero Tolerance itself came after years of failures for anti-mutant groups, at a point where Sentinels just were not working anymore, so they needed something better, and that needs funding. That is where Magneto comes in, and I still think this could be a false flag attack used to turn people against mutants.

Prime Sentinels, Trask's Death and a Theory About Sinister's Tech

Operation Zero Tolerance in the comics involved creating sleeper agents out of ordinary people who had nanotechnology fused into their blood, called Prime Sentinels, who turned into machines once activated. I think this was teased with Trask, who became a killer machine upon dying, and who hinted at what happened with Sinister, which makes sense if Bastion needed him for something. Another character introduced earlier in the season may have been a Prime Sentinel too, but when Rogue refused to kill him, it never triggered, which could be why Bastion later suffocated him instead, though I might be drawing connections that are not really there.

Sinister could be the one who supplied the technology, since he has been experimenting on mutants since early in his life. They might even have had Magneto controlled that way and used to attack the UN, building on what we already saw him do back in episode two. As I put it, if I was lifted into space, I'd be a bit nervous, so the UN would have every reason to want him back for that.

Where This Could Lead: Messiah Complex, Hope and Avengers vs. X-Men

Guided by Bastion, I think this could lead to mutants being wiped out, or at least stripped of their powers, with the collars, and Forge building the weapons, all feeding into that outcome. From there, I think it leads into Messiah Complex again, which sees mutants at their lowest point, coming directly off the back of House of M, where Wanda says the phrase no more mutants, wiping out most mutants on Earth. They struggle, but a new mutant is then born in the form of Hope, which kicks off a political war with every side fighting for control of her.

I do not think the Scarlet Witch material will happen, but I think we could still see the mutants completely lose out, since this show doesn't seem like it's interested in doing happy endings. I could see it closing out with mutants at their lowest point, setting up Hope going into a second season, and then finally leading into Messiah Complex, which itself leads into Avengers vs. X-Men, something a Captain America moment elsewhere in the season might even be hinting at too. These are, of course, theories.

What do you think Bastion's endgame really is, and where do you think all of this leads for the X-Men?