X-Men '97 Season 2 Gives Marvel Fans The Reunion They've Been Waiting For

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Spoilers ahead for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 8, "The Dead Man's Hand."

Previously, on "X-Men" (couldn't resist), X-Force entered Apocalypse's (Ross Marquand) base and found the villain himself dead and decayed. In the latest episode, they link up with the X-Men and bring evidence of who the killer was: a burnt Queen of Hearts card, because Apocalypse has brought Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) back to life as Death, a Horseman potentially stronger than Apocalypse himself. 

Marvel fans have been waiting for this moment ever since Gambit died back in Season 1's "Remember It," leaving his chére Rogue (Lenore Zann) to mourn. I'd expected this story would play out like, to use a Marvel comparison, when Bucky Barnes came back as the Winter Soldier. Gambit would return completely under Apocalypse's control, with no memory of himself or Rogue, and she would have to remind Remy LeBeau who he is. But "X-Men '97" zigged where I would've zagged, and Rogue and Gambit's reunion is stronger for it.

Gambit is still on Rogue's mind. She has a dream of their last night in Genosha together, only she dances with Remy instead of Magneto this time. (Note how, in Rogue's dream, she's able to touch and kiss Remy without harming him). Then, Gambit appears in his Death form, frightening her awake. After Rogue wakes up, the X-Men are playing Gambit's game, poker. 

Meanwhile, Gambit (whose energy-charged cards now bend people to his darkened will) turns his old friends at the Thieves and Assassins' Guilds into an army — and there's a reason he chooses them. Death is still basically the person that Gambit was, only now evil. Remy talks the same, he's got the same charm, and he's still utterly in love with Rogue. His goal? To ensure death never tears them apart again.

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Rogue and Gambit first reunite when Gambit has the Thieves' Guild attack X-Force's plane. In the plane's cargo hold, Rogue slips off her glove, ready to absorb whatever darkness lives in Gambit. "Life does flash before our eyes when we die, and when I died, all I saw was you," Gambit says, stepping out of the shadows without a hint of anything sinister. When Rogue reaches for his face, nothing happens ... but isn't that what they'd always wanted?

Gambit puts Rogue to sleep with his power and flees, taking Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) too because he's got need of a priest. When the Season 2 titles were publicly revealed, "X-Men '97" fans had pinpointed that "The Dead Man's Hand" would be the episode focusing on the resurrected Gambit. It's a title that easily fits a playing card-themed hero returning to life as a villain named Death. Now, the episode reveals another layer hidden up its sleeve: That titular dead man is asking Rogue to take his hand in marriage.

Death retaining Gambit's personality makes this a truly difficult decision for Rogue. She lost him once. Now, she's not only got him back, the invisible barrier between them is gone. She can touch him, and they can embrace as one soul like all lovers should be able to. Plus, becoming immortal herself has to be tempting. Remy's words are so sweet and heartfelt that he almost has you rooting for Rogue to say yes to Gambit's proposal ... which, initially, is just what she does.

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"X-Ternally Yours," an episode of the original "X-Men" animated series detailing Gambit's backstory, revealed the Thieves and Assassins' Guild revere an ancient mutant — the X-Ternal — who hibernates in the Louisiana bayou. Earlier this season, in revealing Apocalypse's origin, "X-Men '97" also showed the X-Ternal was once an Egyptian priestess named Candra (Debra Wilson).

Now, Gambit ties these strings into a knot. Apocalypse once loved Candra, even sharing a piece of his power with her (hence, she's eternal), but she betrayed him. Gambit plans to summon the X-Ternal, take her power, and give it to Rogue. As a sign of his new ruthlessness, Gambit cuts the monologuing Candra off (almost literally), by plunging a scythe formed of dark energy through her chest and stealing the bobble holding her power. But this brutal move finally wakes Rogue up — this is not the heroic man she loved and lost.

Before Rogue has to accept or reject the new Gambit, the X-Men and X-Force arrive and a fight ensues. Professor X (Ross Marquand) reaches out to Remy, unsheathing a last revelation: Apocalypse's soul lives on inside Gambit. That splits the X-Men and X-Force apart, because Cable's (Chris Potter) one above-all-else goal is killing Apocalypse.

While Professor X ultimately can't subdue the astral Apocalypse living inside Gambit, Rogue and her love can — for now, because while Apocalypse is cowed, he's still bound to Gambit. X-Force, meanwhile, teams up with the government-sponsored mutant team X-Factor, who likewise want to destroy Apocalypse once and for all. That sets up the final showdown of the season to be about saving Gambit's soul and the cards Rogue will play to do so.

"X-Men '97" is streaming on Disney+, with the Season 2 finale scheduled for Wednesday, August 12.