‘X-Men ’97’ Season 2 Finale Recap: “Survival of the Fittest”

I dunno, this doesn't feel like a very satisfactory payoff.

2:26 PM EDT on August 18, 2026

X-Men '97 Season 2, Episode 9
"Survival of the Fittest"
Writers: Brian Ford Sullivan, JB Ballard and Anthony Sellitti
Directors: Chase Conley, Emmett Yonemura
Cast: Voices of George Buza, Chris Potter, Ray Chase, A.J. LoCascio, Jennifer Hale, Holly Chou, JP Karliak, Arian Hough, Lenore Zann, Ross Marquand, Gui Augustini, and Cal Dodd

It's season finale time, so the "Previously On" segment is longer than usual. We get a recap of the Apocalypse plotlines of the season thus far, and honestly, rewatching this after seeing the full episode, it makes the ending of this episode ring even more hollow, cuz a lot of the earlier Apocalypse material rips.

In terms of the opening credits, both Jubilee and Sunspot are back with the X-Men, but the big news is that Val Cooper and X-Factor are now standing in for Magneto and the previous assortment of evil mutants when the two sides rush together at the end. It's X vs. X!

Destiny Calling

Picking up where last episode's cliffhanger left off, Cable is monologuing about his Mother Askani-given destiny to destroy Apocalypse, and how, right now, that means killing Gambit before Apocalypse's consciousness resurfaces and takes him over for good. Meanwhile, Rogue, Nightcrawler and Beast are making an underwater visit to Beast's old girlfriend, Ship. Beast fires up Ship's operating system, and Rogue asks for help in defeating Apocalypse. Ship reluctantly opens up the gateway to the Celestial shrine where Apocalypse gained his power, cautioning the X-Men that those who go in, don't come out without paying a price. Rogue unsurprisingly dives inside.

At the same time, Val Cooper and X-Factor arrive outside the X-Corp building, demanding Gambit. When the EMP shield around the building goes down, Cyclops and Jean realize Cable is with them, which means its time for a battle of the Xs. But X-Factor doesn't just have X-Force for backup — they also have some mech suit-esque Sentinels with human pilots, who descend on the building.

Inside the Celestial shrine, Rogue gets to meet Eson (who destroys the immortality jewel Dark Gambit stole from Candra and gave to Rogue in the last episode, in case you were worried Rogue was going to be immortal).

Eson is largely unmoved by Rogue's romantic entreaties in the face of his big picture and titular "survival of the fittest" outlook. But Rogue does at least convince him to let her sacrifice herself for Gambit, and he gives her the power she needs to take on Apocalypse, leading her to emerge in a new black and yellow fit with a cape and a Wonder Woman headband and a sparkly glow.

Rise of Gambpocalypse

Back at X-Corp, we get pretty much the best sequence of the episode, as it channels the vibes of the original series' first season finale, "The Final Decision" (still the best episode of that series as far as I'm concerned), in which the X-Men face off against tremendous odds and everybody gets a moment or two to show-off. Jubilee gets to fly the X-Jet and take out Havok (Jubilee is awesome and he also goes down like a chump). Storm blows away a bunch of the Mech Sentinels with some strong winds, and Forge has a cool rocketpack. Strong Guy, Madrox, Wolfsbane and Siryn (who apparently joined X-Factor between episodes) punch a hole into the building, and Cable uses his big ass gun to blast through a bunch of floors only to land in front of his parents. Wolverine and Morph take on Psylocke and Archangel. Bishop and Polaris form the last line of defense for Gambit, but when they get overpowered by X-Factor, Gambit wakes up and helps turn the tide. It's all very fun and energetic, if a bit nonsensical at times (Gambit is somehow able to blow up Madrox dupes?).

Then Cable blows up several floors of the building fighting his parents, landing right in front of Gambit. Whom he shoots in the head, much to the horror of the X-Men.

Oh, but whoops, that just releases Apocalypse, who takes control of Gambit's body and transforms into a truly hideous visual nightmare consisting of Apocalypse's body with Dark Gambit's head, a trench coat, and a red energy scythe instead of a bo staff. I guess this was his plan all along, and somehow fusing with Gambit makes him more powerful than he was before? I dunno, this doesn't feel like a very satisfactory payoff.

Anyway, Gambpocalypse makes short work of the X-Men, and ultimately makes them his red-eyed thralls. Somehow, this proves Gambpocalypse's "lesson" to Xavier that the people he cares for will be his undoing (but, like, they'd be fine if Gambpocalypse wasn't possessing them, so how is that proving anything?). Just then Cosmic Rogue flies in, freeing the X-Men and touching Gambpocalypse, drawing the Apocalypse out of him and compressing Apocalypse's evil essence into a little jewel, which she gives to Cable.

Gambit's back to normal (and still alive) so that's good. But as they hug, Rogue loses her sparkly glow-up. She's confused, since she thought she had to die to save Gambit. At least until Beast shows up, clutching Nightcrawler's bible. Sure enough, Nightcrawler is hanging out in front of Eson, trading himself for Rogue. As we see montages of life returning to normal amongst the X-Men (none of which include them grieving for Nightcrawler…) he speaks of how the X-Men will grieve for him but memories of him will lead to new blessings and a better future, a kind of refutation and affirmation of Eson's maxim at the same time. And on that somber note, the season ends.

Except for the post-credits stinger! Some time later, it turns out Graydon Creed has been elected president, and then Val Cooper gets shot by someone who looks just like her! It's Mystique! And she's got a bone to pick with the US government! See you in 2027 for Season 3!