WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Men #12 by Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Sunny Gho, & VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now

The next X-Men crossover, X of Swords, is the first major X-Men storyline since Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva kicked off the Dawn of X era with House of X and Powers of X  of the current era of X-Men stories. Until recently, the details of the upcoming event have been shrouded in mystery, and they've only slowly been teased by Apocalypse since Krakoa first began to rise up as mutantkind's new nation.

Now, we're taking a look back at what's happened so far during the events of "Dawn of X," and what you need to know going into X of Swords.

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DAWN OF X

Professor X wearing the Cerebro helmet in Marvel Comics

Known as "Dawn of X," the current era of X-Men stories have centered on the island of Krakoa. Now established as a safe-haven for mutan-kind, the island has become the home to the X-Men, many of their former enemies were granted amnesty by becoming part of the island's social structure, alongside most remaining mutants on Earth. While twelve powerful and influential figures from across various mutant allegiances form the ruling body called the Quiet Council, most of the former X-Men and assorted allies make up the apparatus of the island government -- Cyclops commands a group of Captains who lead the mutant defenses, Beast commands X-Force like the island's answer to the CIA, and Northstar has established a new X-Factor to serve as an investigative body for the island population.

Making all of this possible are two major changes: revealed to be a mutant with the power of reincarnating in House of X, Moira MacTaggert worked with Charles Xavier and Magneto years ago to set in motion plans that would lead to Krakoa. This could be the only way for mutants to actually succeed in their future, as all of Moira's past lives have seen mutant-kind inevitably driven to ruin. This has given the mutants a cause to rally around, even if most of Krakoa is unaware of the truth. The other major change is the creation of the Five. By pooling their powers in-sync alongside DNA samples from Mister Sinister and mental copies cataloged by Cerebro, five mutants (Tempus, Proteus, Hope Summers, Elixir, and Egg) can essentially clone a perfect copy of any mutant, effectively giving the X-Men resurrection on command.

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APOCALYPSE'S GRAND DESIGN

apocalypse-dawn-of-x

The most consistent and powerful presence in the "Dawn of X" era might actually be Apocalypse. Fully embracing Krakoa and even renaming himself in the Krakoan language, the former villain has thrown himself into his work. He started the Crucible, where depowered mutants may face Apocalypse in ritual combat, dying gloriously so they may be revived with their powers restored. He's fought alongside Excalibur and sacrificed his life to further their plans for Otherworld, helping install Jamie Braddock as king of Otherworld upon resurrection. He's even taken Rictor under his wing, opening his eyes to his full potential and using him to help kill the Externals so as to power the External Gate. There's a reason for all this: Apocalypse has been effectively grooming Krakoa, with the plan to rally the mutant nation to his cause.

Across "Dawn of X," the history of Krakoa and Apocalypse has been pared out, in part by Summoner -- a mysterious mutant from another dimension who claims to be the "grandson" of Apocalypse. In ancient times, there was Okkara, a great mutant land. Calamity struck when a demonic horde attacked, and the island was split into Krakoa and Arakko by the use of the mysterious Twilight Sword. While Apocalypse was able to protect the Earth and Krakoa, Arakko was drawn into the hellish dimension of Amenth. As just revealed in X-Men #12, the mutants of Arakko fought on, led by Genesis (the wife of Apocalypse) and their First Horsemen. Although life continued, chaos reined, with the warrior White Sword turning against mutants and demons alike. Eventually, Genesis came to the dark god of Amenth, Annihilation, fighting for all mutants -- only to lose.

With the remaining mutants all but wiped out, Summoner was sent back to Earth in hopes of finding Apocalypse. Embracing Summoner, Apocalypse reveals his plan to send Summoner (alongside Banshee and Unus the Untouchable) through the External Gate to Otherworld. From there, they can find their way towards Amenth and either herald the coming of Apocalypse, or learn if they've been wiped out so they can return to warn the X-Men.

Meanwhile, Apocalypse will rally Krakoa and its armies to his side to try and contend with the armies of Amenth, and their mysterious Annihilation. However, the full scope of the threat remains unknown. While mutants like Captain Britain and Cable have already started claiming swords that will almost certainly prove important to the event, the battle is only just beginning.

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