X-Men '97 Episode 2 Twist Explained: Why the Second Jean Grey Is Really Madelyne Pryor

The ending of X-Men '97 episode 2 dropped a bombshell when a second Jean Grey suddenly showed up, and I want to break down exactly who this second Jean actually is. The Jean Grey we have been following this entire season, the one who just gave birth to Cyclops's baby boy, is not the real deal. She is a clone, and in the comics her name is Madelyne Pryor.

Mr Sinister's Origins as Nathaniel Essex, a Nerd Obsessed With Evolution

To explain how this fake Jean Grey came to exist, I have to go back to Mr Sinister's comic book origin. Before he became the pale, sinister figure fans know, he was a regular man named Nathaniel Essex who grew up in 19th century England. Nathaniel was fixated on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to the point that he was able to predict the coming rise of mutantkind within humanity.

To gather data for his evolution theories, Nathaniel went far past acceptable science. He started kidnapping and caging innocent people to experiment on, and he even dug up his own dead son to experiment on the corpse. His wife was not on board with that particular choice. His fellow scientists and loved ones rejected him for his inhumane methods, but there was one admirer out there who loved what Nathaniel was doing.

Apocalypse Turns Nathaniel Into Mr Sinister, Then Becomes His Enemy

That admirer was the Omega level mutant Apocalypse, one of the first mutants to ever walk the planet. Apocalypse was so impressed by Nathaniel's work that he forced him into a lifetime of servitude. As a reward for his loyalty, Apocalypse radically altered Nathaniel's genetic structure, transforming him into the mutated Mr Sinister.

Mr Sinister was not thrilled about being bound to Apocalypse forever, so he tried to infect Apocalypse with a techno organic virus he had been ordered to create, hoping it would finish Apocalypse off. Apocalypse's body processed the virus without issue, which meant Mr Sinister had just made himself a very powerful new enemy. He knew a direct attack on Apocalypse would end badly for him, so he needed another way to deal with the threat, and since no one powerful enough to fight Apocalypse existed yet, Mr Sinister decided to create that person himself.

Mr Sinister's Plan to Breed a Weapon Using Jean Grey and Scott Summers

Mr Sinister came across Jean Grey and Scott Summers during one of their time travel adventures that brought them to the 19th century. After seeing the power of that mutant couple firsthand, he wanted them to have a child he could eventually use as a weapon against Apocalypse. Thanks to his extended lifespan from his genetic enhancements, he was able to wait until Jean was born in the 20th century and then plot to kidnap her.

His plan to steal Jean from her childhood home was foiled because Professor Xavier got to her house first and recruited her into the original X-Men. Forced into a plan B, Mr Sinister stole a tissue sample from Jean and created a genetically identical clone of her. That clone would not activate, though. It showed no mutant powers, so Mr Sinister left the failed experiment in a stasis tube.

The Moon Battle and the Clone Coming to Life

The clone stayed dormant until the X-Men's mission to the Moon, an event the cloned Jean actually references to Storm in episode 2 when she pulls out the original Jean's Marvel Girl costume and says she has not worn it since the battle on the Moon when she was possessed by a malevolent cosmic entity intent on consuming all of existence. In the comics, that was Jean becoming the Dark Phoenix, and she ultimately sacrificed herself on the Moon to stop that cosmic threat from spreading, which sent Scott into a depression that led him to leave the X-Men for a time.

Mr Sinister's plan seemed ruined the moment his ticket out from under Apocalypse's control went up in smoke. But at the exact moment of Jean's sacrifice, a piece of the Phoenix Force traveled from the Moon and entered the cloned Jean's body, bringing the clone to life. Mr Sinister filled her with false memories matching the real Jean's personality, named her Madelyne Pryor, and planted her in Anchorage, Alaska, right where Cyclops was living at the time.

Scott Marries a Clone and Their Son Becomes Cable

When Scott encountered a woman who looked and acted exactly like his dead girlfriend, he fell for it despite a few red flags, including Madelyne's claim that she survived a plane crash on the exact date and time Jean sacrificed herself on the Moon. He still believed he had hit the jackpot, and he married Madelyne. The two had a son, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers, who would later become the time traveling mutant known as Cable, with his name Nathan echoing that of Nathaniel Essex.

In the middle of their married life, the real Jean Grey suddenly returned, just as we saw at the end of episode 2 of X-Men '97. Comic readers later learned that the Dark Phoenix who died on the Moon was actually a cosmic clone created by the Phoenix Force after it placed the real Jean in a cocoon to heal from cosmic injuries she sustained while trying to pilot a space shuttle back to Earth. After years recovering, the real Jean returned, and Scott immediately began questioning his life with Madelyne.

Madelyne's Fall Into Depression and Her Transformation Into the Goblin Queen

Madelyne had wanted their life to be free of X-Men business, wanting to raise Nathan without any of it, which mirrors what we see her wanting in the show. Scott left the X-Men to be with his family but quickly abandoned that to rejoin hero life by forming X Factor so he could be with the real Jean again, essentially leaving Madelyne to raise their infant son alone. This sent Madelyne into a deep depression.

Things got worse when Mr Sinister sent his army of Marauders to kill Madelyne and kidnap her son. She woke from a coma to find Mr Sinister had erased all public records of her existence to cover his tracks. With her husband and son both gone, Madelyne had little left, and as an act of revenge she entered a relationship with Scott's brother, Alex Summers, whom she found a great source of comfort. She also found comfort from demons who helped her find Mr Sinister and rescue her son. When Mr Sinister told her the truth of her origins as a clone, it was the final blow that pushed her over the edge.

Madelyne Becomes the Goblin Queen and Rules the Demon Dimension of Limbo

Using new demonic powers granted by her demon allies, Madelyne became the Goblin Queen, attacking the real Jean Grey, Scott, and the rest of the X-Factor team, and even turning her lover Alex Summers into her Goblin Prince. With her mind clouded by dark magic, she took her baby Nathan along with other babies, planning to sacrifice them atop the Empire State Building in a final attempt to kill Jean Grey and spite Cyclops. She died during those attempts.

Because Madelyne had become closely aligned with demon magic, resurrecting herself was never really off the table, and she has come back multiple times since her initial death, including once when the powerful mutant X-Man, an alternate universe child of Jean and Scott, brought her back as a psionic ghost, and other times through dark magic to join two separate versions of the Sisterhood of Mutants. Today, Madelyne Pryor is Marvel's Goblin Queen of demons, ruling the demon dimension of Limbo with near total authority, occasionally challenged by other demons who want her throne but usually ending up on top.

What This Could Mean for the Rest of X-Men '97

Given what has happened so far in the X-Men '97 animated series, I would not be surprised to see the Jean Grey we have been following go full Goblin mode and become the Goblin Queen at some point this season, though only time will tell. I did not see Madelyne Pryor's arrival coming in episode 2, and I am genuinely eager to see how the show handles the rest of this story.

Let us know your favorite parts of the first two episodes of the X-Men animated series, because there is a lot to appreciate in just these two episodes.