WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Factor #10 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, David Messina, Lucas Weneck, Israel Silva & VC's Joe Caramagna, and S.W.O.R.D. #6, by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia and VC's Ariana Maher, on sale now.
To put it mildly, the Hellfire Gala was certainly a night to remember for the X-Men. While quite a bit happened over the course of the evening, the two most important events of this crossover were Krakoa's mutants terraforming Mars and the mysterious death of the Scarlet Witch. While these two events might seem unrelated at a glance, Wanda Maximoff's apparent demise could have a dramatic effect on Krakoa's cosmic plans, potentially even sparking a war with the Kree/Skrull Alliance.
The Scarlet Witch was found dead at the end of X-Factor #10 by one of her sons, Speed. Tommy Shepherd is also the twin brother to Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan. If Speed's reaction to finding his mom's body is any indication, both children are probably going to take their mother's death hard. To make matters worse, the Scarlet Witch was killed on Krakoa, an island-nation that vilified her as "the pretender" for depowering most of the world's mutants during House of M.
Unfortunately for the mutants, Wiccan is married to Hulkling, the emperor of the Kree/Skrull Alliance. Hulkling has an immense amount of power at his disposal, meaning if someone messed with his family, he could retaliate in a big way. With the death of his mother-in-law, Hulkling could reasonably go to war with Marvel's mutants or curb their cosmic ambitions.
The Scarlet Witch's death should be considered alongside the events of S.W.O.R.D. #6, by Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti. After Krakoa's Omega-Level mutants had terraformed Mars, Abigail Brand made a big announcement to the galaxy's leaders. In exchange for the rare metal, mysterium, each major power would have to recognize Mars as the capital of the Solar System, and Storm as the Regent of Mars. This move was fairly controversial on Earth, not to mention among Earth's cosmic neighbors.
While most galactic powers accepted this deal, Hulkling decided to step back for a moment without rejecting or accepting the mutants' offer. While Hulkling noted that this wasn't worth going to war over, he also thought it would be wise to sit back until they could negotiate properly with Krakoa.
One of the big points of negotiation, according to Hulkling's ambassador, Paibok, was the "Wanda Maximoff situation." Paibok specifically mentioned how the lack of resolution around Wanda's vilification was an "intolerable insult to the dignity of the throne." Now, with Wanda seemingly dead, negotiation could be off the table altogether.
It appears that mutantkind's fate, both on Earth and on Mars, lies in the upcoming Trial of Magneto. There are plenty of factors that could determine Krakoa/Arakko's status with the Kree/Skrull Alliance. Circumstances such as who killed Wanda, why they did so, and what the Krakoans are going to do about it will probably determine how the Kree/Skrull Alliance views mutantkind going forward.
Wanda is the Emperor's family, after all, with her death putting many aspects of mutantkind's future at risk. Hulkling did say that Krakoa's galactic expansion wasn't worth going to war over, but that was back when they could negotiate about Wanda's standing among mutantkind. With the death of Hulkling's mother-in-law, on Krakoan soil, the mutants have been put in an extremely precarious position with their galactic allies. Considering its numerous deep ties to the Shi'ar Empire, mutantkind would have plenty of firepower to face a cosmic foe like the Kree/Skrull Alliance. Arakko is filled with Omega-Level mutants, not to mention the many powerful mutants on Krakoa. Still, the bloodshed which would ensue if the mutants were to participate in a galactic war would be unimaginable.
Mutantkind's plans for the cosmos would certainly be imperiled by an interstellar conflict of this scale. Moreover, it isn't just the Kree/Skrull Alliance who the mutants would be facing. The Avengers, and several other allies of the Scarlet Witch, would almost certainly be drawn into any kind of actual conflict if it broke out.
If the Kree/Skrull Alliance isn't satisfied by the outcome of the "Trial of Magneto," the mutants of the Marvel Universe would suddenly find themselves on the defensive, holding back formidable opponents on several different fronts. There's a very real chance that Krakoa's cosmic empire could start to collapse, even in its infancy. But for now, the only thing that's certain is that the entire universe will be watching the Trial of Magneto very closely.