Hey there everyone! Today we're reading UXM #154-155, the start of another Shi'ar arc and prologue to the era-defining Brood Saga!

After a period of fairly grounded storytelling, our heroes head back to space to save an Empress and explore their myriad daddy issues!

Our issues open with a twist on CC's classic Danger Room cold open, as Scott & Ororo play a fun game of mutant handball that is not at all a metaphor for the tense rivalry being set up between the two.

Each is central to the issue's main question: what does it take to be leader?

Elsewhere in the Bermuda Triangle and citing financial woes, Charles moves the team into Magneto's erstwhile octopus island. Kurt, reasonably has some concerns about this strange, uncharted place, but Charles will hear none of it and dismisses our furry elf's concerns.

Carol- who we last addressed in the incredible Avengers Annual #10 with @AnneComics- stands atop one of the Lovecraftian balconies contemplating her fate and musing that things might be easier if she had just died. Logan, no stranger to memory loss, tries his best to comfort her.

Back at the mansion, Scott & Ororo sit down for a well-earned dinner and openly confront their relationships to the team and each other. Leadership's a running theme throughout the issue, and we finally receive confirmation that Ororo is- despite her questioning and self-doubt...

...wants the role. Scott, inversely, knows he is capable of leading the X-Men, but isn't sure if it's a role he wants anymore. Scott's *intended* arc during the Run is about feeling safe to move on and chart out on his own, the seeds of which continue to grow in these panels.

Part of the arc involved reconnecting Scott with his family, little of which had been explored prior to the Run. Corsair, absent for almost fifty issues, returns here to finally address the secret of Scott's parentage. CC doesn't let the moment go off simply, either, as a...

...conflicted Scott can't sort out of this is a joyous or painful moment. Storm senses his turmoil. In their fight against the Sidrian Hunters, the mutual respect shared by these two brilliant heroes becomes apparent, as they develop a coleadership-type relationship, each...

...as willing to take orders from the other as they are to give them. Scott, perhaps more than any other X-Man, trusts Ororo's capability and skill, something that throws even his father off guard as they spring into action to escape from the Sidri.

Ororo flies off wondering if she actually does have it what it takes to be a leader, questioning if her contemplation undermines her readiness for leadership, when the opposite is true. It was never Scott's tactical perspective, but her heart that makes Ororo a leader.

Corsair, by contrast, shows both leaders a type of callous decision making that Ororo a panel earlier muses is villainous, as he does whatever it takes to get the job done... in this instance, blowing up a series of tankers regardless of the collateral damage.

With the Sidri off their tail, Scott has time to confront his anger with Ororo. Even more than it does with Corsair, her "betrayal" cuts deep. His expectations mean Ororo's let him down, even if those expectations are unfair. Relationships remain among Scott's weaknesses.

We ultimately learn that Lilandra has been captured and removed from the throne, setting up the more plot-heavy end of these issues, as the Shi'ar ministers set forth an ultimatum: recover the Empress or watch as Earth is destroyed. One cue, we meet the dreaded Brood.

The Brood will feature in some manner throughout each of the next several dozen issues, and are here partnered with Deathbird, who despite seeming quickly dispatched by one of Scott's optic blasts, escapes off with a captive Charles in tow and few of her motives revealed.

As the issue comes to a close, Scott shakes Corsair from the wild state induced by the Brood's psi-scream and moves toward a moment of reconciliation with his father, signaling his openness to giving Corsair a chance.

The arc from #154-157 sets things in motion for the coming Brood Saga and thematically plays with the family drama inherent to the X-Men across all four issues. Up next, we'll read UXM #156-157 and follow Deathbird into space to rescue Charles & Lilandra... if it isn't too late!