TheX - Men ’s Apocalypse will do anything to convey back his First Horsemen - could they actually be his children ? The Jonathan Hickman relaunch has see the entire mutant subspecies gather onthe living island of Krakoa . In theory , everyone has adjust aside their own agendas , with each mutant populate for the good of their slipstream . In world , stacks of mutants are still doing their own affair , and some are even turning on one another .

Apocalypse has made the most of the novel mutant status quo , insist he has only ever work for what he saw as the commodity of his multitude , and reinvent himself as the first priest of Krakoa . But Tini Howard’sExcaliburseries has made it clear he has n’t prepare aside his former Machiavellian ways , but is instead using Krakoan resources for his own determination . The scale of Apocalypse ’s program is breathtaking ; it has literally involvedconquering the mystic dimension of Otherworldin the name of the Adam - Men . It ’s become vindicated the forthcoming " X of Swords " event is the consequence of Apocalypse ’s actions .

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As convoluted as Apocalypse ’s schemes may be , his goal is likely a wide-eyed one ; to restitute the long lost First Horsemen of Apocalypse . He views the age of Krakoa as the arrant time to chasten a mistake he made millennium ago ,   when he consigned people he cared about to an everlasting war . But why does Apocalypse care so much about these First Horsemen ?

Apocalypse Is Unusually Dedicated To His First Horsemen

Jonathan Hickman has been systematically rewriting Apocalypse ’s backstory since long before he took over the go - Men dealership . In fact , hisSHIELDseries break Apocalypse allied with   the Egyptian Pharaoh Imhotep and an other   Moon Knight   all the way back in   2620 BC , where they fought against an alien intrusion from the monstrous Brood . Powers of X#2 unveil this was n’t the last timeApocalypse examine himself to be a hero , with Doug Ramsey determine of an ancient battle on the Edwin Herbert Land called   Okkara . This stead was split apart by a mystical blade shout out the Twilight Sword , torn apart into the twin sustenance islands of Krakoa and Arakko . Apocalypse and his First Horsemen stood against a host of fiend who emerged from the bout in realness , and Apocalypse successfully stop up the disruption , frame Arakko into another property of some kind . His First Horsemen were mislay to him , stranded in this mysterious realm .

The same issue hinted Apocalypse is far more dedicated to these First Horsemen than to any of their successors . It included a so - call " Sinister Secret , " stripe - way gossip from Mr. Sinister :

" For years , this fittest - of - all sport has routinely surrounded himself with a particular - numbered retinue . These hanger - on stick around for a while until they are finally supersede with new , more exciting member . What most people do n’t know is that if the original members return , these pretenders would be dropped so fast their straits would spin . "

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The commentary proved prophetic , because inExcalibur#9 Apocalypse revealed everything he is doing is about slump an ancient wrong - the one that cost him his First Horsemen .   " Krakoa is only half of a whole , " he explain . " Forever long . And I made it that way . It was brutal and bloody . I did it because I was the only one who could . Only I could have send my four finest warriors into cherry-red hellhole , and – worse than asking them to buy the farm for me – I asked that they dwell , fighting forever . " Apocalypse regret what he did , and he ’s desperately set about to loosen it .

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Why Does Apocalypse Care So Much About The First Horsemen?

But why is Revelation so implicated about his First Horsemen ? The ancient variation generally views others as little more than a means to an final stage , discarding them as instrument when he has no more purpose for them . But the First Horsemen are clearly different . Although Apocalypse did indeed ship them into everlasting battle , he regrets that , and will go to any lengths to get them back . There ’s a level of excited adhesion here that is most odd .

An important hint may rest in the fact these First Horsemen look to be immortal . AsExcalibur#11 prompt readers , this is actually quite rare ; only a nonage of mutants are bless with immortality . This sub - group of mutants are called " Externals , " and these ancient beings partake in energy like a single living being . If one dies , the others become substantial , but any death is only ever irregular . It ’s fairish to assume these First Horsemen are Externals , like Revelation of Saint John the Divine himself . But that seems particularly unlikely . external are rare , with only a XII born since the dawn of fourth dimension . The odds of Apocalypse successfully observe , and recruiting , four Externals to service as his first warrior are minute .

Unless , of course , there is another link between Apocalypse and his First Horsemen . Mutant world power are genetic in nature , passed on from one generation to the next . Revelation of Saint John the Divine is one of the previous mutants , andall his descendants are known to possess wondrous power . It ’s likely this would have been keen in the first coevals , before the X - factor essentially became stretch over the course of the millennia . The first children of Apocalypse could potentially have been external as well . If this theory is correct , then there is a simple rationality Apocalypse so desperately want his First Horsemen back ; he is a father missing his kid .

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X - Men#2 offer digest grounds for this hypothesis , with Apocalypse encountering one of the Summoners of Arakko . He deal the Summoner with an unusual academic degree of warmth and affection , recognise she was herself descended from one of his First Horsemen - specifically War . " I mean to save all of my baby , " Apocalypse swore to the Summoner . Readers assumed he was speaking metaphorically , viewing the mutants of both Krakoa and Arakko as his spiritual youngster . But it ’s exclusively possible Apocalypse was in reality being literal in this ; that he desired to get his fellowship back , and that this desire will be the causa of theX - Men ’s   " X of Swords " event .

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