Magneto dreams.
He is resplendent in all his power, quoting: “Pray let me cross over and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Lebanon.” In dreams, he parts seas of mercury, inscribes the law on slabs of stainless steel.
But when Magneto wakes up, he finds himself locked in a cage of gristle and bone, feeling every one of his borrowed years, and more besides. His helmet lies on his hover chair, daring him to wear it. Magneto sighs. But he is Magneto. He dares.
A little later, Beast shouts after him; he assumes Max is heading into the town Merle. He counsels against making such a spectacle of himself. Magneto retorts that Henry is covered in blue fur. A gaudy helmet and a floating chair are relatively tame in comparison. Henry explains that the helmet sends signals and asks him to try to put their new neighbors at ease.
He accedes to Henry’s request, more out of exhaustion than anything else, and makes his way through the snow in an ordinary wheelchair, his head covered by a kippah. He is sure, though, that he will never break bread with these people. Some of them maintain they had no idea Sentinels were being assembled half a mile from their doors… but a lifetime ago millions of friends and neighbors closed their eyes and ears, while trains trundled past, headed for the camps. He will never trust his neighbors again.
A man runs into Magneto, making him drop his kippah. The man apologizes but Magneto calls him an idiot. A young girl picks up his “pretty hat.” Magneto snatches it from her hand and tells her it is a kippah. It is no more a pretty hat than an umbrella is Captain America’s shield! Her father comforts the girl telling her the old man is probably having a bad day. She sniffs, noting he seems so sad.
Magneto has chosen his tribe, or rather fate and biology have chosen it for him. But no matter how far he may run from it, there is another tribe with a far older claim on him. He puts his kippah back on his head and enters the synagogue.
Inside, a middle-aged woman announces that she was wondering when he’d drop by. Magneto replies he’s been busy. This is the last place he was expecting to find a temple. She admits they have a tiny congregation and introduces herself as Rabbi Sagan, but he can call her Rachel. Making it clear she knows who he is, she invites him to a cup of coffee.
Later, he talks about all the mutant homes he has been part of: Asteroid M, Utopia, Avalon, Genosha… and now Krakoa. Lifetimes spent chasing haven after haven, promised land after promised land… and for what? Every time the gates of Eden slam in their faces, it destroys them a little more. He expresses his fear that there may be no sanctuary. Just an endless cycle of intolerance and oppression, with no deliverance in sight. When Genosha fell, he looked out over the ruins and knew they had only one or two chances left to marshal their factions together in pursuit of a common dream. That chance will never come again. So, he is Moses in this scenario? Rachel asks. Leading his tribe out of pharaoh’s benighted lands through the wilderness?
He corrects her that was Charles. The bald schmuck with the eyebrows? she scoffs. No, he never saw himself as an instrument. It’s Max. It has always been him. But there is a problem. She touches his hand and points out that Moses was a humble man. Is he?
He admits he has been humbled over and over. Rachel stresses that that is not what she asked. She tells him to remember his Torah. At the end of their people’s wanderings, Moses was commanded to climb Mount Nebo, where Hashem told him he would not live to cross the river Jordan.
He asks what she is insinuating. Rachel explains his fear is a result of his pride. Does he really fear there is no promised land for his people or does he fear they will not be able to reach it without him?
This is absurd! he shouts. Calling this a mistake, he rolls outside. Angrily, he makes his way through the snow, but then a car loses control on the icy road and slams into his wheelchair. Max is hurled some distance and lies barely conscious in the snow while the car has started to burn…
