Warning: This article discusses potentially troubling subject matter and contains spoilers for Uncanny X-Men #11, by Matthew Rosenberg, Salvador Larroca, Rachelle Rosenberg, John McCrea, Mike Spicer, Juanan Ramirez and Joe Caramagna, on sale now.

At their core, the X-Men have always been about raising the next generation of mutants to survive and thrive in a world that hates and fears them. In one form or another, Marvel's premier mutant team has nearly always been based out of some incarnation of Xavier's Institute for the Gifted Youngsters, and most of the team's core members were students or teachers there at one point or another.

Right now, most of the X-Men, and many of their students, are trapped in the Age of X-Man, an apparent alternate timeline, where they're living idyllic lives in an apparent mutant utopia.

RELATED: Uncanny X-Men: Cyclops and Wolverine's Reunion is Perfect

Back in the main Marvel Universe, the recently-revived Cyclops has started quietly putting together a new team in what he calls "the last X-Men story." And in Uncanny X-Men #11, Cyclops and Wolverine team-up to take on some mutant-hating bad guys for the first time in years. While that reunion is a triumphant moment of classic X-Men action, it highlights the dueling priorities that have been lurking in the background of the X-Men's world for years.

When the X-Men are off being superheroes, they're not always looking after the mutant children who are in their care, teaching them to how to control their potentially dangerous powers or helping them learn how to survive in a world that hates and fears them. In this issue, the X-Men's failure to fully achieve those goals takes a heavy, in some cases irreversible toll, on a few major young mutants.

Blindfold X-Men

Blindfold, the precognitive Ruth Aldine, served on the Young X-Men in the late 2000s. After being created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday in Astonishing X-Men #7, she was a prominent figure for several years and grew especially close to Professor X's son, Legion.

After the rest of the X-Men disappeared, Blindfold and a few other young X-Men struck out on their own as they tried to escape anti-mutant violence. After briefly speaking with three adult X-Men leaders, Cyclops, Wolverine and Jamie Madrox, she apparently kills herself in this issue after being haunted by several dark memories and visions of the past, present and future.

While the Marvel Universe is fundamentally a very silly place full of people with impossible powers, this is a very serious moment that touches on a number of sensitive real-world topics. Despite the fantastic trappings of the X-Men's world, Matthew Rosenberg wrote about his admiration for the X-Men's ability to address difficult real-world issues in a fictional context on his Facebook.

It's hard to determine how the unique, somewhat elliptical nature of Blindfold's powers affected her overall mental state, but this story, like DC's Heroes in Crisis, takes a relatively realistic approach to investigating how superheroes process the traumatic experiences that they go through on a regular basis.

RELATED: Marvel's Strongest Mutant Just Wiped Out (Almost: All of the X-Men)

In a world without X-Men and rising anti-mutant hysteria, Blindfold didn't have the resources or the support system to help her address the trauma she experienced before it was too late, even though some of her former mentors showed concern for her well-being.

NEXT PAGE: Blindfold Isn't Alone - Uncanny X-Men's Story Damages Several More Young Mutants

X-Men Loa

When Blindfold was speaking with Cyclops, Wolverine and Madrox, she essentially tells them that she was about to die. While Madrox never knew her particularly well and she disappears before Cyclops finishes speaking with her, Logan explicitly tells her that he was worried about her well-being. Despite that earnest expression of concern, Ruth sends Wolverine away, and Logan hesitantly leaves his clearly-distressed former pupil to find Cyclops.

On his Facebook post, Rosenberg wrote that this moment, and the rest of the tragic turns in this issue, are in service of a larger story, that "things aren't going to be exactly what they seem." Regardless of how or if this moment is recontextualized by later events, the inherent tragedy of it is only heightened by the celebratory action elsewhere in the issue.

RELATED: X-Men: Marvel Reveals the Secret Behind Cyclops' Resurrection

This issue also revealed the previously-unmentioned death of Loa, another young X-Man. With the ability to disrupt molecules, Alani Ryan was created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Michael Ryan in 2004's New Mutants #11. Although she was a trainee with the X-Men and the Avengers, Loa was apparently killed in an unseen anti-mutant attack that occurred after she made a quick cameo in last month's Uncanny X-Men #9.

Velocidad, the other mutant who was hiding out with Loa and Blindfold, also suffers a gloomy fate thanks to a cruel side effect of his powers. Generation Hope's Gabriel Cohuelo, was created by Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen and Whilce Portacio in 2010's Uncanny X-Men #527, has the ability to essentially move at super-speed by manipulating time on a small scale.

Velicodad old

In this issue, Gabriel emerges from the tunnels of the sewer-dwelling mutant Morlocks as an old man who's been prematurely aged by his powers. Without the guidance of the X-Men or the security that the team provides, this young mutant's worst nightmare has come true.

Chamber, one of the most prominent young X-Men of the 1990s, also sought refuge with the Morlocks. As this issue reveals, Jonothon Starsmore, who has a cauldron of flaming psionic energy that consumed most of his chest, joined the group of mutant outcasts and quickly became their leader.

RELATED: Cyclops Finally Settles Marvel's Most Popular X-Men Argument

Chamber Morlocks

Since he was created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo in 1994's Generation X #1, Jono has struggled to deal with the physical and emotional side effects of mutant powers. Despite his appearance, Chamber became a full-fledged X-Man and was briefly a minor celebrity when he dated a popstar before settling into a teaching role at Xavier's.

While Jono was relatively emotionally withdrawn in his early days, he's cut himself off from the rest of the world in a far more tangible way by retreating to the sewers. Even if that's a sensible decision from a practical standpoint, Chamber's aggressively isolationist views likely mean that he's completely lost touch with Xavier's dream of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants.

RELATED: X-Men: Age of Apocalypse's Enduring Popularity

By juxtaposing these tragedies with the triumphant reunion between Cyclops and Wolverine, this issue highlights the conflicting priorities the X-Men have as both superheroes and teachers.Both of those responsibilities are full-time commitments, and it's easy for younger characters to fade into the background, both in the Marvel Universe and the real world, when the most famous X-Men are saving the world.

By highlighting what happens to characters who don’t have a robust support system to rely on in a world that's not protected by the X-Men, this issue makes a strong case for why the X-Men have to be superheroes and mentors to ensure the survival of Marvel's next generation of mutants.

The ongoing storyline "This is Forever" will continue in Uncanny X-Men #12, by Matthew Rosenberg and Salvador Larocca, on sale Feb. 20, 2019.