Summary of Cable #68 part III
by The Mighty Juggernaut
Rainer Ho Ten Soeng

Therefore without any further delay he puts out his rocket-driven boots and hands them over to Cable after programming them for a one time maximum burn that will last about ten minutes. With the speed and the ability to fly now available to him, Cable will be able to attack the Harbinger and sweep it away as far as possible from the city before it explodes. It will be a hazardous and dangerous mission but is perhaps the only chance the people of New York City still have....

Cable realizes what has to be done and without hesitation he grabs what could very well be his last chance of saving the lives of millions of innocent people even though the odds are all stacked against him. It's quite possible that he will not make it back alive this time; it's far from unthinkable that this will be his last mission he will ever volunteer for, the last service he will ever be able to provide to humanity. Being a born soldier and warrior that is not something to get too sentimental about but Nathan nonetheless feels the urge to ask Iron Man a favor: would he be so kind to contact Sam Guthrie as well as Stacey Kramer in case the Harbinger would manage to take him down with it? Stacey and Sam deserve to be contacted if he would die and they deserve to know if something would happen to him; after all this time he at least owes them that much.... Could Iron Man please look them up and tell them what happened to him in case the worst would happen? Between the two heroes there's a kind of silent understanding and mutual respect and Cable instinctively feels that Iron Man will respect his favor if he would be caught in the arms of Death today. Thank Goodness at least that is taken care of. And seeing that everything he needed to do is being looked after, Cable takes off using Iron Man's boots to confront the Harbinger for the last and final time.

Fortunately it's not hard to find the Harbinger; just following the trail of destruction it has created so far will easily take you towards it. And Cable doesn't arrive one moment too soon: Captain America and the Vision are bravely trying to stop the Harbinger but they are having just as little success as before. The Harbinger is hitting them hard where it hurts most blow after blow. It's a royal rumble and unluckily the two Avengers are losing this battle far more faster and harder than they ever feared possible in their worst nightmares! The Harbinger is kicking ass in a major way! But then suddenly something unexpected happens: out of nowhere Cable comes flying at full speed towards the Harbinger, catching it and sweeping it away from the battle scene!

Never has a little miracle been so welcome as on this moment....

Cable managed to grab the Harbinger and drag it out of the city with him. But that's about the only good thing he can tell so far. The Harbinger is leaking incredible amounts of pure energy making it red hot and almost impossible for Cable to hold it in his arms without burning himself. But Cable just can't let go of it no matter how painful it might be to keep on to it. He has to get the Harbinger as far away from the city as possible; he has to save all those people.... And suddenly it strikes Cable that he is about to die in a few moments. This is it! This is the big one! Instinctively Cable feels that he won't be able to make it out of this one alive.

Damn, he never thought his life would end like this.... he doesn't want to die right now, not when he has finally started to live but it is already too late to do anything about it anymore. The Harbinger was simply too good.... The Askani'Son gave it his very best shot, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to stop Apocalypse from claiming victory and terrorizing humanity for millennia to come. By the Bright Lady, could he have really failed in such an appalling way? Perhaps not, perhaps it just depends how you look at things. Cable always thought he'd judge the worth of his life by whether or not he succeeded in destroying Apocalypse. But now in the final moments of his life he knows better. He may have been able to stop the High Lord once and for all but his life has not been worthless because of that. No, all the individuals, whether it were friends and enemies or allies and adversaries, that he has touched and that have touched him; all the evils he could never deny and all the human truths e has fought so hard to embrace, made his life worthwhile and complete.

He has lived a rich life with all of life's ups and downs. Too bad it will all end here but perhaps there are others better than him who can go on and fight Apocalypse after today; the Bright Lady knows that at least he did everything he could.... Goodbye Stacey.... I am so sorry that we were given so little time together.... Goodbye Blaquesmith, it was an honor being trained by you.... Goodbye father, hopefully we will meet again one day.... Goodbye everybody, I am afraid the final curtain has fallen and it's time to split....

Cable's about to die and he knows it. There's no escaping the jaws of Death this time. Well, so be it. He didn't expect to die today nor did he want to do so but this is the life he has chosen and he has always accepted the dangers attached to it. It's probably just as a good a day to die as any other day and the Harbinger is radiating so much energy by now that the end can't be far away anymore. There's nothing left to do and Cable closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable detonation to come. Hopefully it will all be over soon....

But then again something of a miracle happens: just seconds before the Harbinger is about to blow up, a teleportation portal opens up and Cable is being pulled into that portal by an unknown person! The Askani'Son managed to deceive Death again but who pulled him into that portal? Who saved him? And where is Cable now?

It's all a big mystery yet but fact is that Cable was rescued not a moment too soon: shortly after the portal closed up again the Harbinger detonated itself creating an unbelievably huge and powerful explosion. The sound of the explosion is deafening and the shockwaves caused by it are among the most powerful ever registered. But Cable managed to sweep the Harbinger to the open sea pretty far away from the city and therefore the explosion occurs miles away from the coast of New York without harming anyone. New York is saved! For now the nightmare has ended! Apocalypse may not have lost the war yet but he sure did lose this battle! Humanity will prevail for at least a little while longer!

The threat is over, the danger has disappeared and civilization breathes greatly relieved once again. But not everybody is able to share the feelings of joy and happiness of the general public.

There are those who have survived the drama only to be left behind to mourn the dead. Irene and Blaquesmith are some of those people. Blaquesmith's equipment doesn't pick up any life signs of Cable anymore.... could this mean that Cable did not make it out alive this time? It seems so unreal but could Cable be really dead? Is this really the end of the line for the Askani'Son? Was he destined to become a myth born on the battlefield from this day on? The ice-cold grip of dismay and horror slowly closes in around the hearts of both Cable's mentor and his chronicler as the realization of what probably happened hammers a way in into their conscience....

And Stacey? Stacey may have physically survived the threat of the Harbinger but her heart and mind are numb and beaten to a jelly. The night may have ended but it feels like the sun has gone down on her forever. In her heart she knows that Nathan's gone no matter how hard her little brother tries to cheer her up. The world did not end but a piece of hers has been shattered and destroyed for good. What is she going to do without Nathan? How is she going to cope with the difficulties of life now that he isn't around anymore? Nathan's gone and despite the victory claimed by by humanity that is a loss that turns that same victory into a devastating and sad defeat for Stacey. Life has become less beautiful and meaningful for Stacey all at once; perhaps Apocalypse's coming reign of terror has made one victim already....

=====

The Good

I guess this is the easiest part of this summary since I can in general repeat the things I have said about the previous issues so far! :-) I will immediately admit it: I will perhaps say some of the things you read below for the umpteenth time but fact is that I simply love the book and the direction it is going at the moment!

Just like in the previous issue the story was exciting and action-packed at one moment while at the same time it was also grim and tense at other moments to clearly portray the horror of Apocalypse's intentions with humanity. All the different elements fitted in nicely to make one whopper of a great story IMHO. And of course Jose Ladronn was more than up to par to accompany the story with his excellent and dynamic art. I have great faith in Rob Liefeld and Joseph Loeb but despite that it somehow breaks my heart as a a Cable-fan to see that the current creative team on the book will leave in the near future. It really is too bad....

But enough complaints! This issue contained way too much goodies to complain for too long! :-) For instance I liked the fact that the relationship between Cable and Blaquesmith was explored a bit deeper than before. In the past we have have often seen Blaquesmith commanding his pupil around and I always wondered how those two individuals would really feel about each other: would they really like each other? Fortunately, this issue answers this questions unequivocal: Blaquesmith admits being fond of Cable and Cable's behaviour in this issue warrants the conclusion that he likes his mentor as well. The fact that Blaquesmith realized that he not only taught Cable but he himself learned a lot from his pupil as well only adds to that. There seems to be a deep and mutual respect between the Askani'Son and his mentor and I for one am glad to see that. There are people who really care about Cable and that must be something which strengthens him and keeps him going when the going gets tough.

And although I only spoke of Blaquesmith so far I think that Stacey surely should also be mentioned in this respect. It becomes clear that Nathan and Stacey have developed some pretty strong feelings for each other and that is a wonderful thing. A romance in Cable's life can only enrich him and make him a more complete person and I for one am glad to see that Stacey is just a normal human.

Now please don't get me wrong, I had nothing against Cable dating Domino but I just feel that it great that Cable interacts a bit more with normal people like you and me. It gives him so much more in-depth characterization and it will make him realize so much more how important his mission is. Besides that Superman and Lois Lane managed to have a great relationship together so why shouldn't Cable and stacey be able to do the same thing?

In this regard I felt furthermore that it was interesting to see that Irene had such a positive influence on Cable. We don't see that much of Irene in the book but she is an important person in Cable's nonetheless and it's great to see that she really means a lot to Cable. Just as interesting however was the fact that Blaquesmith and Irene can't really stand each other! That's not a big surprise but the revelation that they merely tolerate each other for the sake of Cable made me smile a bit; I mean both Irene and Blaquesmith look to be hard-headed persons with whom I would prefer not to argue! :-)

The relationship between Irene and Blaquesmith will undoubtedly lead to some more firework in the upcoming issues! And that is not necessarily a bad thing IMHO: a bit of friction between some of the characters can add some spice and dynamics to the book just like for example is the case with the X-Men after Marrow became a member.

It wasn't a big surprise either to see that Cable is no matter how you look at him a very heroic, brave and responsible person. It just felt right to see him trying to save New York City and its citizens no matter the possible consequences for the future of mankind. Cable lives in the here and now and he has a job to do in the present and it's good to see that no prophecy is going to stop him from doing that. That shows how determined Cable is and I think he is going to need all of that determination when he will be facing the Eternal One soon. But heroism is not shown when in actual battle; I felt that Cable acted like a true hero as well when he asked Iron Man to contact both Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) as well as Stacey if he shouldn't make it back. That shows not only that Cable is a responsible man (Cannonball and X-Force could perhaps continue the battle if Cable would lose his life) but also that he is a caring man who doesn't want the people who are close and dear to him to live in uncertainty. Joe Casey really delivered some great characterization here.

Last but not least I think I should mention the beautiful scene between Stacey and Kenny in that underground hide-out. It was a simple scene without frills but it was all the more touching because of that. Apocalypse can never win as long as there is love and compassion around and little Kenny proved to me that in his own way he is as much a hero as Captain America or Thor. Kenny may be mentally a bit disabled but he sure is a brother Stacey can be proud of. Way to go Kenny! :-)

=====

The Bad

Yeah.... as much as I liked this issue there still were some things I didn't understand of the story. It's perhaps not entirely correct to call those points bad things about the issue just like that though; it are IMHO merely some points which should or could have been clarified a bit more in either this issue or hopefully one of the coming issues. To begin with I didn't really understand why Blaquesmith distrusts Ozymandias so much; why did he have to treat him so impolitely? Sure, it is true that Ozymandias has been a servant of the most vile evil who ever walked this Earth for centuries in a row, but shouldn't the fact that Ozymandias warned him about the things to come and explained the meanings of the prophecies to him count for something? Ozymandias may perhaps not be the most charming person and I doubt if I would buy a used car from him but I think it's clear that for his own personal reasons, he sincerely wanted to help Blaquesmith and his pupil. So why did Blaquesmith bark at him so much? And talking about Blaquesmith: what has Cable's mentor against Irene? What is causing the friction between them? Is it merely a matter of colliding personalities? And how come that Cable on the other hand is best of buddies with Irene? Shouldn't that tell Blaquesmith something about his own attitude and behaviour towards others?

Another thing which I didn't get was formulated in a good question of Blaquesmith to Ozymandias: if Ozymandias truly believes that the prophecies are gospel and can't be tempted then why did he contact Blaquesmith in the first place? I mean, what would be the use of explaining the prophecies to the mentor of the 'Chosen One' if you would truly believe that it would already be too late to save humanity, then why bother in the first place? What good would that do? Furthermore I wondered a bit about Cable's behaviour in this issue. He sure acted like a brave and courageous hero but one can wonder IMHO if he was doing a smart thing here? I mean just think about it: Cable is the Askani'Son, the 'Chosen One' who is destined to confront and defeat Apocalypse one day.... Well, what would have happened with all that if Cable would have died today? Who would have confronted Apocalypse in that case? Who would have stopped his reign of terror from ever becoming a reality? Cable could have never known that he would be rescued seconds before the Harbinger would explode so why did he have to take such big risks? Wasn't that a bit irresponsible of him?

Besides that you can ask yourself if Cable shouldn't have listened a bit better to the prophecies: according to Ozymandias there is nothing now which will be able to stop Apocalypse from crushing humanity under his iron boot heel anymore now that New York City is saved from the Harbinger. How exactly do Cable and Blaquesmith plan to beat the odds now that prophecies have doomed the future of mankind?

And of course: who did save Cable? My best bets at this moment are either Ozymandias (he could have saved Cable to give humanity a fair chance of stopping Apocalypse in his tracks) or Mr. Sinister (he once looked at Cable as his weapon against Apocalypse; I can therefore imagine that he wouldn't want Cable to die before he actually confronted and defeated the High Lord).

You can also question Apocalypse's behaviour in this respect however. He deliberately activates the detonation mechanisms inside the Harbinger in order to destroy New York City.

But I guess Apocalypse must have known what the prophecies have predicted centuries ago already, don't you think so? I mean, 'Pocy must have known that if his Harbinger would destroy New York chances are that his reign of terror in which the strong would exterminate the weak would never become a reality. So you can wonder why Apocalypse did try so hard to destroy the city after all? Why did he make his Harbinger so hard to defeat? I'd say that if 'Pocy had to choose he would rather have the realization of his coming empire while New york would be unharmed then the other way around....

And what exactly did Cable mean when he said that he regretted dying right now since he he actually just started to live? I can understand that Cable would hate to lose close friends like Irene and Stacey right now but fact is that Cable loved Aliya, his first wife, more than anything else in life so how can he say that he never truly lived before? Didn't he truly live when he was with Aliya or Domino? And why does Cable ask Iron Man only to contact Sam and Stacey if he would die? Don't you think that Scott and Jean or Blaquesmith and Irene for example would deserve to get informed as well first hand if Cable would have died? Isn't it a bit strange that Cable doesn't ask Iron Man to notify his own parents or his own mentor if he wouldn't make it back?

=====

Well, that was it for this month guys! I hope you had a great time reading this summary; I know I sure had a good time writing it! :-) Hopefully we will meet again in thirty to learn the 'Maximum Secret'! Don't miss it because I have a feeling we will all be in for the ride of our lives!

Excelsior! Rainer Ho Ten Soeng

Return To

Go to the Site Index For a complete mapping out of this site. From here you may jump to any point in the Askani'Son's history that you wish.

This page hosted by