Binary Saves the Day: Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 #166– February, 1983

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 #166: "Live Free or Die!"

Binary steps up her game and shows just show interesting her powers can be.

The previous issue ended with Lilandra's ship being eaten whole by the Acanti. This issue begins with an explanation to who are the Acanti.

The Brood found a planet and made it livable. But life requires sustenance and they decided that the Acanti will be their pray. An ancient, gentle species said to roam the universe since the beginning of time. The Brood turned them into their living ships.

Now in present day the Brood captures an Acanti and they are bringing it back to their city. They give it a mind controlling virus. Suddenly they see a bright light.

It is Carol Danvers' Binary attacking them with a force of a white hole – a source of endless power. Her ravage for the X-Men is unleashed against the entire city. Their resistance is futile. She destroys the city and wants to free the Acanti which she recognizes as a prisoner of the Brood. The Acanti communicates with Binary telepathically, telling her what was done to her. Binary understands that the effects of the Brood's virus is irreversible. The Acanti prefers death to life in this state of slavery and Binary grants the Acanti its wish despite the agony it causes her.

Binary was so pleased with her powers at first, she thought that she has found her heart's desire. However, she feels she has not changed since her Carol Danvers days, all she does is kill and survive, consumed by grief for the X-Men. The Brood's queen laid eggs inside of the X-Men that will transform them and they are as good as dead. So now Danvers is in a quest of revenge.

In the void of space Binary runs into Storm. She is extremely happy to see her, though she is confused. Storm explains that she is an astral projection, she and the X-Men are nearby and they need her help. Binary wants to help them of course, to standby her friends. Storm leads her to inside the Acanti that swallowed Lilandra's ship, apparently, despite its giant size he is still a baby. Storm also explains that she and the Acanti are now one. That will probably cause complications along the way. Inside the wall of the Acanti there is a small unexplained embryo. It could be Storm herself or a baby Queen Brood.

Binary is reunited with the X-Men and they have a few jokes and apologies about Binary's dramatic and almost deadly exit in the previous issue. Wolverine suggests again that they should kill the Queen of the Brood and this time everyone are in agreement. Except Storm. She explains to the X-Men that the Acanti and the Brood are two sides of the same coin. The Brood enslaved the Acanti using them as ships and as food. They also enslaved the Acanti's prophet-singer and turned his dead body into their throne city, instead of allowing to throw himself into a heart of a star, thus releasing their soul. That would allow the soul of a prophet-singer to pass on to a successor, without a prophet-singer they are a lost-doomed race. Then suddenly after a very long time a new prophet-singer was conceived. But the mother was infected with the slaving virus. So it gave birth to the baby prematurely. The mother is the Acanti was Binary killed. The Acanti bonded the baby with Storm, she is his conciseness for now and he healed her body.

Storm explains that they must release the soul of the singer-prophet so it will pass on to this child. She can save a life in return for the life of the embryo she has taken. The X-Men will get a chance to save an entire race. But the body of the Acanti that they need is in an area so dangerous that even the Brood fear it. Wolverine only wants the embryo free X-Men on the job and Cyclopes in return in a fit of anger asks Wolverine to kill him. Wolverine thinks it is better to die free so he agrees, but Kitty Pryde intervenes.

She remains everyone that hope is not yet lost. She the X-Men will fight to the end and will try to save the Acanti race. It is dangerous for Storm as her body hasn't healed yet, but there is no other choice.

Storm stays with the Acanti. The X-Men are teleported to the Brood planet to free the soul of the prophet-singer, while the Brood chase after the Acanti baby itself. This is their plan. It only half works as the Brood are aware that the X-Men are on the surface of their planet and prepare to give chase. Even though the X-Men are in a dangerous zone that even the Brood fear it. They fight so many different monster in that place, those tunnels. The monsters get more and more dangerous as the X-Men progress.

Back in space, the Brood aren't aware that they are stepping into a trap. Binary flies out of the Acanti and attacks the Brood's ship. Storm doesn't want to take lives, no matter how much she hates them, so she uses her powers to blind everyone with light. Still, their plan doesn't work. There are too many Brood ships and they all attack. They manage to capture Binary and focus their attack on Storm. But, at the last second help arrives. In Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 #163 Scott's father, Corsair, left to search for his son and now he has found him. Or at least he is close to finding him. The Starjammers have arrived.

That's great for Storm, but Corsair mission is a lost cause. He cannot save his son. Back on the planet, Wolverine discovers that Cyclopes has become one of the Brood. Than the Brood- Cyclopes attacks the X-Men and takes them out.

The Brood chase after Kitty, but after a long run she stumbles. At the last moment a dragon like creature saves her. It burns the Brood and opens a hole in the wall for her to pass through. The light is so bright inside that none of the living Brood can follow her.

The X-Men also have a stroke of luck. Brood-baby-Cyclopes loses control of his optic beam as he doesn't have eyelids to close his eyes now. Wolverine puts himself in the beams way and his shackles break. He takes out Brood-baby-Cyclopes and the Brood Queen. All the Brood yield as Wolverine threatens to kill her.

They walk in the tunnels until they reach the light area that Kitty disappeared into. Now she steps out of that place. Kitty tells the X-Men that there is a being in there, which made the Brood that was with her turn into a crystal because it found it lacking. But no such fate awaited Kitty and probably the X-Men.

They walk in with the Brood queen that insists on joining them. Inside the light there is the soul of the Acanti's prophet-singer. It sends love towards the X-Men and hate towards the Brood queen. The crystal beneath the queen's legs begins to die and be corrupted.

Unfortunately, the same thing happened beneath the legs of the X-Men as they begin to turn into the Brood. It starts with Colossus. But because they have the soul of the Acanti within them, the Acanti and the Brood will be one and the Acanti will be slaves, willingly, to the Brood. This will give the Brood power they need to spread across the universe. This statement angers Wolverine even more, and even though he is badly injured, he tried to kill the queen anyway. He will do it even if it the last thing he will ever do.

Then, Carol Danvers' Binary shows up and takes Wolverine away. Stopping him from killing the queen. Binary tells Wolverine that everything will be fine. The queen tells her that nothing will be, she wins no matter what. Even if she dies and the X-Men will somehow be saved there is another royal embryo.

Then Binary uses her powers to the fullest, becoming a living star. She uses the crystal cavern to amplify her powers until she has enough to release the Acanti soul. After all in order to be free, the soul needs a heart of a planet and Binary is that heart. Then the soul and the living prophet-singer are reunited at last. The Acanti are free. And so are the X-Men. On her way to freedom the soul purged the X-Men of the Brood elements and purged the Brood queen which turned her into a crystal.

Then Binary realized that they manipulated powers at a cosmic level so they better not stick around to find out what the result will be. As soon as they teleport back on the ship, the Brood's planet explodes.

The X-Men are alive and well and feel a little guilty about the planet being destroyed. Everyone but Wolverine. And Ororo is back and she's real now. Everyone are in party mood, but Wolverine reminds them that it is now over yet. There is one more royal embryo that is threatening Earth. His host is probably Charles Xavier himself. Talk about a cliffhanger ending. How will they destroy the embryo without killing Xavier or the Acanti's help?

Carol Danvers as Binary is everything one can dream of in this issue. Every X-Men gets their moment to shine in this issue, well most of them, but Binary shines the brightest and she's the one that takes the action that saves the day. She's not perfect, she cannot defeat all of the Brood. But she takes action and she's part of the team. An equal part of the team. It is amazing to behold. She is the one that frees the Acanti soul which is reunited with the living prophet-singer. She realizes that revenge isn't enough and that will get her nowhere, but her actions lead to revenge anyway. By saving the Acanti soul the Brood are destroyed. Poetic justice indeed.

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