WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Factor #5 by Leah Williams, David Baldeón, Israel Silva, V.C.’s Joe Caramagna and Tom Muller as well as Hellions #7 by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia, David Curiel, V.C.’s Cory Petit and Tom Muller, on sale now.
While Apocalypse won the final battle of X of Swords, Gorgon was the real hero of the crossover event. He competed in a fight to the death against White Sword in the penultimate round of the interdimensional tournament. Before the fight started, Arakko had a commanding 18-6 lead. Thanks to White Sword’s tactical error of sending his 100 man army after Gorgon before personally engaging the mutant as well as Gorgon’s incredible skill, Gorgon managed to tie the score, setting up for Apocalypse and the Champions of Krakoa’s victory.
This all came at a cost, though. Gorgon refused to let White Sword bring him back to life, which would have led to Gorgon joining White Sword’s army. With Krakoa’s resurrection protocols unable to bring back anyone who died in Otherworld after Rockslide’s failed restoration, Gorgon had chosen a permanent death. But like most mutants, his death has been a little less permanent than originally advertised.
The problem is that, according to X-Factor #5, Gorgon’s “acting strangely” since his resurrection. While Gorgon remains unseen, Hellions #7 offers some more hints about what happened to him. Unlike the “nondestructive” power spikes at the time of Wild Child and Nanny’s resurrections and honed their abilities, the resurrection of Gorgon seems to have much more in common with Rockslide's return.
Rockslide’s resurrection hasn’t gone so well. He was stuck in a loop, repeatedly apologizing before Rachel Grey reset him to a time before his last memory. Essentially, he’s a newborn again. and Eye-Boy has assumed responsibility for teaching him how to be human again. Given how little information there is about Gorgon’s off-page resurrections, he could be stuck in a loop like Rockslide was. If Grey chronoslips him to an infantile state, it’s hard to imagine any mutants are close enough with Gorgon to want to take on the work of raising him. Eye-Boy’s tutelage of Rockslide stems from a long friendship, and Gorgon doesn’t seem to have that kind of close friends.
But like resurrected Hellions, there's also the possibility that Gorgon could have returned with a more refined set of powers and personality. That becomes abundantly clear when Wild Child and Nanny viciously destroy the two “Smiley” robots guarding Cameron Hodge. It’s more out of character for Nanny than Wild Child, but both seem more aggressive and more powerful than they’d been in their previous lives.
If Gorgon’s resurrection mirrors their return rather than Rockslide, it could be very bad for the mutants of Krakoa. Before his death, Gorgon was a formidable warrior. He stood toe to toe with Wolverine on more than one occasion without using his powers. His X-Gene allows him to turn people into stone with his eyes, and he spent most of his life as a villain, fighting Wolverine with the Hand. The organization previously resurrected him after he stabbed himself to death to prove his loyalty. If his resurrection brings him back to his roots, all of the growth he’s had since then might get thrown out, and he could become Krakoa's biggest wild card.
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