WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Factor #5 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, Israel Silva & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now
The resurrection protocols on Krakoa have given the X-Men and their allies the ability to restore many of their lost friends and family, helping revive the dream for a peaceful future for all mutant-kind. This extends to a number of young mutants who'd been unjustly targeted and largely wiped out, giving an entire roster of New Mutants another chance at life.
In X-Factor #5, The revival of Wind-Dancer sets up an impromptu reunion for a fan-favorite generation of New Mutants from the Academy-X era, confirming that most of their fallen number has also been restored to life.
Sofia Mentaga aka Wind-Dancer was among the New Mutants who joined the Xavier Institute shortly before the events of M-Day. She was a student of Dani Moonstone, a romantic interest for Hellion (despite him being the leader of the New Mutant rivals, Emma Frost's Hellions), and a leader alongside Prodigy. Capable of directing bursts of wind, the flight-capable Wind-Dancer ended up being one of the mutants who lost their powers in the fallout from House of M. After briefly working with the New Warriors and taking up the mantle of Renascence, Wind-Dancer was most recently rediscovered having relocated to Mojoworld. Ending up on Adam-X's streaming series, Wind-Dancer allowed herself to be killed for the live audience -- convincing a reluctant Adam-X to go through with it himself.
After her body was recovered by X-Factor, her demise was confirmed by the Five and Wind-Dancer was moved to the front of the queue for resurrection. Waiting to greet Wind-Dancer when she's resurrected are most of the other major mutants from that era of X-Men, including Prodigy, Elixir, Hellion, Indra, Pixie, Loa, Surge, Tag, Dust, Anole, Mercury, Armor, and Bling. More of their peers who'd been killed -- including Onyx, DJ, and Wallflower, Icarus, and Aero -- are revealed to have already been restored before-hand and are also with the group there to celebrate her return. This reunites almost an entire class of young mutants, who quickly celebrate and throw a party at the Boneyard -- aka the base of operations for X-Factor.
There are two notable absences, however: Laura Kinney was accepted by these young heroes after the events of M-Day, and is currently on-mission with Synch and Darwin to investigate the Children of the Vault. Meanwhile, Rockslide's personality was erased following his death during X of Swords, leaving a new version of the character who's functionally a child in mind. While he's taken care of by Eye-Boy and mourned by Emma Frost and Dani Moonstone, the rest of the New Mutants get the chance to fully and finally celebrate their reunion. This quickly turns into a giant party for the young heroes, even casually confirming that romance has blossomed between Bling! and Mercury.
It's a very sweet moment for this generation of New Mutants, who's been through more traumatizing events than almost any other generation of young mutants. On top of the regular problems of being mutants and training to be X-Men, M-Day saw many of their peers depowered and slaughtered. Not long after, these New Mutants were forced to combat Nimrod, Predator X, and even the forces of Limbo. Through it all, these New Mutants have done their best to watch out for one another. Even if they have to learn to move past the loss of Rockslide, it's still refreshing and heartening to see the majority of this generation finally getting a reason to celebrate.
KEEP READING: X-Men: X Of Swords Assembles The Ultimate X-Factor Team