X of Swords: Destruction is a great end to an incredible event. This issue perfectly wraps up everything X of Swords: Creation started and then some, setting forth a new direction for key characters, the entire X-Men line, and the expectations of readers with future superhero events. X of Swords: Destruction is a towering achievement of gripping drama woven into an intense battle sequence. Read Full Review

X OF SWORDS: DESTRUCTION #1 is a fitting final chapter filled with the spectacle of any great finale from start to finish but never loses sight of what the story has ultimately been about: Family. Read Full Review

In the end, I think the X of Swords event was a huge success. I'm happy to see that most of the plot lines were concluded and feels like a new chapter for the mutant nation of Krakoa. I'm curious about Mister Sinister and his role in the future and how some of our heroes will cope with the trauma of this event. Read Full Review

Overall this chapter and 'X of Swords' altogether reins triumphant! It's a thrilling ride from start to finish that defies expectations. It's the first massive crossover in 'Dawn of X' and leads the way to many more as it succeeds in everything it promised and then some. Read Full Review

Overall, this was an extremely powerful way to end the event. However, I cant help but wish more of what we got in X OF SWORDS: DESTRUCTION #1 was layered throughout each of the prior 21 issues. Giving this issue alone a grade, it was rock solid and packed with enjoyment. Sure, it had its magical twists that emerged from nowhere BUT the story still flowed well and ended with dominance and authority. Nonetheless, my feelings towards this entire event are certainly a mixed bag. Read Full Review

It's hard to imagine a more fitting end to an X-Men epic at this grandiose scale. Read Full Review

X Of Swords: Destruction is a good ending to a remarkably uneven event. The creative team pulls out all the stops in this one, presenting an ending that opens up some possibilities that are intriguing. That said, the events ultimate place in history depends more on how those events play out than anything else. The ending of X Of Swords saves the story from many of its more unfortunate excesses in the first half. Its not perfect, but its a lot of fun. Read Full Review

X of Swords Destruction closes out this event by completing Apocalypse's character arc. An arc that shows a more humble lover ready to support his colleagues. Even if he does steal the show from the rest of the cast and distract the reader with plot holes. Read Full Review

Hickman, Howard, and Larraz find their hero in Apocalypse only to abandon all of the other characters who have been a part of this story. There's just simply not enough room for them here even if most of them show up in a background of a panel or two. It's not that this is a disappointing end to the larger story but it is disappointing that they had to sacrifice so many of the elements and characters that sustained the previous 21 issues of this event. Read Full Review

X of Swords ends with a lot of pomp and circumstance, but it's more style than substance, in my opinion. Some great art and some cool moments, but nothing that really sticks or resonates. Read Full Review

X Of Swords: Destruction #1 delivered all of the hype moments fans expect from an ending to the final issue of a big crossover event. Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard wrapped things up in a way that creates a lot potential future stories that fans can be immediately invested in for all the X-Men titles. Unfortunately, the length of this crossover ended up being the biggest enemy of X Of Swords as the conclusion did not feel like a completely satisfying end to how long we spent with this story. Cutting out a few plot developments would've helped make this a much more better story when all was said and done. Read Full Review

It's time for the crossover to end. That's a good thing. The crossover itself? Not so much. Read Full Review

A solid conclusion to a mixed event, but visually impressive if nothing else. Read Full Review

There was a lot of exciting build-up for it to just end this way. What is left, is a bunch of open ended questions, that probably won't get answered. It feels like Hickman, had a bunch of great ideas but simply ran out out page space. Read Full Review

A bombastic end to an epic story. Took an odd turn when the tournament began, but this finale was the showdown I think we were all hoping for. And good Lord was Pepe Larraz ever born to draw X-Men comics.

perfect example of how artist and colorist can make an ok story , great

It is the great ending of the trash the happened in previous issues. In my opinion, this event should be shorter, because all “funny” competitions ruined an atmosphere of danger and hopelessness. However, we are here to discuss the final issue. So, it is absolutely epic. Amazing art and script gave me a lot emotions.

was amazing so perfect

Yeah, I think this ended really well. The landing has been stuck.

Strong strong ending. This event is definitely one of the best X-Men events I've read since I started in the early 2000s. It was epic, fun, and ranged in nearly every type of story to satisfy everyone. And even though I usually hate endings that just tease the future of another story, this tease was so awesome, it has hyped me up for the next phase of X-Men (Reign of X). Loved seeing the X-Men all finally reunite as a team. I don't remember the last time I saw a splash page with all the mutants going into a fight like that. Loved the story of Apocalypse and how Howard/Hickman gave him so much likability and badass moments in this story. And the art for this event, especially by Larraz, has just been stellar. All the imaginative panels and sequences were so amazing to see. The future of X-Men is bright and the hype is still going. Ever since Hox/Pox and Dawn of X, the entire X-Line has been the only books I've consistently liked and looked forward to reading. more

Excellent ending.

This was amazing ! The middle part of the event was certainly boring , but this issue make it up for everything! way to go Hickman and Howard!

Really liked it

Pepe Larraz holy shit

What an excellent ending.

Saturnyne wins big, Amenth is neutralized (but not destroyed), and it looks like most of the mutants make it out OK. Hooray for a happy ending. Superb execution (especially in the art) of a climax that was more or less inevitable by this point. I won't claim that I saw this end from the beginning -- I don't think anybody could -- but I scored well on short and medium-term predictions. (The Peak and the Vescora were big-time Chekhov's Guns, Saturnyne was throwing the tournament, and, in the final act, this was going to turn into the Two Towers.)

Mark me down as the weirdo who was bored by the event's slow first act and then delighted by the absurd tournament; I feel like the majority of readers had the opposite reaction. But I think we can all agree this was a hell of a finale. And there were plenty of little wrinkles around the edges to keep things surprising.
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Cool cool cool.

Now that's how it's done. Obviously Hickman and Howard work well together and it shows in these few issues but man is Pepe Larraz killing it with the art. He makes everything have weight and elegance to it. He's an awesome story teller. This event was dragged out to death and hurried at the end so it was a mistake to milk it for 22 issues that barely added anything to the story. This should have been a 6-8 oversized but focused issues. Then again how is Marvel gonna learn if people keep buying it all. I hope they didn't damage the line too much. I'm still here but only because this last issue did a terrific job holding my interest. Fool me once...

Love an event with lasting consequences. It'll be interesting to see who they put on the council after the shakeup (I'm thinking Beast?). The action was outstanding, and the writing was Hickman-esq. Lots of exposition with plenty of world building/ future set up.

Overall, XoS had a strong beginning, extremely weak middle, and a strong end. Not the best sandwich, but enjoyable.

This event dragged on for a while and was very expensive, but this issue made it all worth it. Theres a splash page here that will make any X man fan absolutely giddy in the vein of Endgame's finale.

As for the event as a whole, very bloated, with a TON of unimportant info sprinkled about(very little of the texts blurbs we've gotten over the issues end up actually mattering) but hey, for lore nuts its gold.

Pepe Larraz is seriously unreal, hes not just great at drawing.... his eye for composition and paneling shoes incredible skill and talent, and his rendering can make virtually any scene feel incredible even if it actually isn't. Ive seen his work since he did that Kanan mini, and he has improved so much since then and could seriously be legend status one day.

Overall, no regrets following this event. Felt like a movie, and in some ways it kind of was. more

It's been a while since I read a comics event that didn't have an underwhelming ending.

I'm giving this grade to the event as whole. I really didnt like the first few and so I put off reading it and got so far behind but the more it progressed the better it got and made mode sense. Then the tournament started and it just got weird and then ended with some dood issues. I can't say its a great event that you'll want to read over and over but, its pretty solid overall even though there were some issues that just werent that good.

X of Swords: Destruction
“Chapter: 22”

Publisher: Marvel @marvel
Writer: Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard @tinihoward
Artist: Pepe Larraz @pepelarraz
Colors: Marte Gracia @martegraciacolor
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Pepe Larraz

The Captain Britain Corps have returned to level the playing field for the champions of Krakoa but are countered with a massive demon horde from Amenth. Under psychic orders from Cyclops, Magik opens a massive portal and brings forth the Peak space station with Jean leading nearly the entirety of the X-Men! With the massive demons of Amenth before them, Cable has the realization that his sword is anything but, and returns to the Peak and uses it to unlock a door, releasing the Vescora to devour all before them. Apocalypse uses the opportunity to rip the Annihilation helm from Genesis but is shockingly claimed as its new host. Able to resist Annihilation’s influence, Apocalypse surrenders himself to Saturnyne in an effort to save his people. Using Shogo’s dragon fire to cleanse the hostilities, Saturnyne reshapes Annihilation and officially declares victory to Krakoa. As a sign of peace between nations, two mutants must switch sides to live amongst the enemy. Genesis chooses her husband, Apocalypse, who then wisely chooses the mutant island of Arakko and its millions of inhabitants. With the contest complete, Saturnyne now finds her rule over Otherworld strengthened.

The ramifications of Apocalypse’s choice are huge! Literally millions of new mutants now exist in our reality. In the end, Apocalypse goes out as a true hero. So many great scenes in this book. Brian announcing the return of the Corps, Jean’s “To me, my X-Men!”. Say what you will about some of the disappointed aspects of the duels, all in all I feel like this was great writing. And the artwork throughout the event was amazing.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
Overall Event: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
Reviewed by: @meanadam of The Comic Book Club of Instagram
Note: Follow @the_comic_book_club on Instagram more

''Captain Krakoica'' OMG I found my wife.

XOS Ch. 22: And so it ends (finally). I kinda liked this issue but this event was too long with too many unnecessary chapters that did nothing for the overall story. The contest was ultimately rendered moot when Arakko's army decided to try and take everything by force. It's almost like you could just read X Of Swords: Creation then skip straight to Excalibur #15 and X Of Swords: Destruction; thereby reading the battles in those issues as basically one long fight if you wanted to. Ultimately I cannot recommend X Of Swords to X-Men fans. There's some great stuff to be sure but in the end it is an overly long drawn out exercise in one of the comic industry's worst tendencies: line-wide crossovers.

Total ratings (all 22 chapters): 165/220

Event grade: C more

Good ending to a very mixed bag.

Disappointed that the Vescora were just a plot device in the end.

Also, what were they planning to do with the Peak considering that they didn't even think of using them until Saturnyne talked to Cable?

never really found this event to be good for me. It just went on way too long, and it was underwhelming compared to House and Powers of X.

The thing tat gets me most is that Saturnyne gets to be all powerful, but still needs a man to comlete her. ow in being a multiversal entity sh never finds a brian to likes her. LOL