WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Men #16 by Jonathan Hickman, Phil Noto, VC's Clayton Cowles & Tom Muller, on sale now
Since its formation, the mutant nation Krakoa has been governed by one of the most powerful alliances of mutants in modern history, the Quiet Council. Composed of 12 mutants -- Charles Xavier, Magneto, Apocalypse, Kate Pryde, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Storm, Exodus, Mystique, and Mister Sinister -- the group has been accepted as the ruling body of Krakoa.
And in the aftermath of X of Swords, Cyclops and Jean Grey were offered spots on the Quiet Council in X-Men #16. However, those two Marvel icons declined the offer, opting instead to establish a new team of X-Men, one with members selected through a popular vote by the mutants of Krakoa, which could give the team more recognition even when compared to the Quiet Council.
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Although most mutants in the new nation accepted the Quiet Council's rule happily this far, it has led to some minor conflicts across the island. This has included the question of whether cloned mutants will be allowed to be resurrected -- brought on by the Quiet Council's refusal to revive the Goblyn Queen -- and the Five's concerns about the authority afforded to X-Force that can override their objections to specific circumstances around Omega Red's resurrection.
These concerns have made the fact that the Council isn't elected all the more galling. But in the aftermath of X of Swords, however, the Quiet Council is more divided than it has ever been. Apocalypse has left the group to live in Amenth with the rest of his estranged family, reunited again after over a thousand years apart. Meanwhile, Jean was forced to vacate her position in the Council so she could take part in the final battle with the rest of Krakoa's heroes.
Instead of filling those seats on the Quiet Council, Cyclops and Jean argue that they want to dedicate themselves to the future of the X-Men, and that they want to make the classic superhero team a much more democratically minded group.
Going forward, the X-Men will be elected onto the team by the mutant citizens of Krakoa. Mutants eligible to join the team can come from across all of Krakoa, meaning any person in the nation can decide to throw their name into contention. Instead of X-Men being recruited by sheer necessity and availability as they have in the past, this will allow the citizens to dictate what kind of direction the team should go in and what kind of opinions should be represented within the group. This will give the regular citizens of the nation the X-Men protect a better say in how they're represented and the kind of people they trust to actually protect them. It could earn more respect for the X-Men that was otherwise afforded to the Quiet Council.
Coming at a time when the Quiet Council is arguably at its weakest, this could allow the X-Men to become the publicly preferred leading force in Krakoa. No other major Marvel team is decided in this way, and such a decision suggests certain members of the X-Men are genuinely dedicated to changing the place of mutants in the world. With Cyclops, that certainly seems to be the case. His intervention to rescue the Champions from the grasp of C.R.A.D.L.E. and leading the mutant cavalry in King in Black made it clear that he believes the X-Men need to be heroes on a grander scale, and his argument for the X-Men centers somewhat around his belief that the team needs to truly represent Krakoa going forward.
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