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With the shocking turn of events going down in X-Men'97, fans came to witness another of their favorite characters staring down the barrel of a figurative gun at the end of episode 5.
The episode saw the return of the mutant-hunting machines, the Sentinels', and the attempts of the X-Men to stop them. The Sentinels even targeted the Morlocks, a bunch of peaceful mutant residents of Genosha who were under the protection of Magneto and the X-Men.
Gambit, one of the major characters of X-Men'97, seemingly bit the dust at the end of the episode along with Magneto. The character's selfless nature was his undoing in that regard.
X-Men'97 ending: Gambit dies trying to protect Rogue
Gambit's seeming death occurred after Magneto's battle with the Sentinel, when the mutant leader's apparent demise in an explosion triggered his lover Rogue to go all out in a fit of rage. However, Gambit wanted to spare her life, knowing full well that the Sentinel charging at her would make mincemeat out of the mutant. As such, episode 5 saw Gambit first subdue Rogue before taking on the Sentinel himself.
Gambit's abilities allowed him to charge the Sentinel's metallic arm, filling it with energy once he grabbed it. He does manage to explode the machine, although Gambit meets his own end in another giant explosion. The episode ends with this cliffhanger, with Rogue finding the seemingly lifeless body of her compadre. The episode seems to explicitly spell out Gambit's death, although we might soon see him return in a future episode.
X-Men'97 ending: Rogue loses two close friends
The relationship between Magneto and Rogue was one of the bolder things X-Men'97 decided to adopt from the comic books. When the Sentinels attacked Genosha, Magento was one of their prime targets because of his Omega-level abilities. When Magneto was targeted by the Sentinels, he held his own for a long time before taking the robot out in an explosion that seemingly also claimed his own life.
Magneto's death hit Rogue hard, and she jumped to his rescue without any regard for the danger posed to her whatsoever. To save her, Gambit was forced to perform a selfless sacrifice. While we have yet to see the aftermath of Gambit's death on Rogue, including the possible guilt she felt for unintentionally endangering her comrade, along with grief for both him and Magento.
X-Men'97 ending: Gambit and Magneto might not remain dead for long
X-Men'97, a direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, features the attempts of the X-men to deal with the aftermath of Professor Xavier's departure to an alien planet, consequently forming an uneasy alliance with Magneto in the process of battling two villainous factions of superhuman foes and anti-mutant robots. Hence, it is unlikely that he will remain dead for long.
Considering Magneto has died in the comics several times, it will not be far-fetched to wonder if he is going to return in some way or form. Gambit's death is a creative twist of events that X-Men'97 decided to show, although fans are speculating that the aftermath of the same will be the same as his comic book counterpart.
In the comics, Gambit was killed in the Otherworld (not in the real world like here) but was resurrected by the powerful mutant Apocalypse. Whether or not X-Men'97 decides to go for that storyline is yet to be revealed, but if it does, Gambit's death would be a nice foreshadowing of events.
Marvel Studios Animation is in charge of the production of this new (yet continuing) series, with Jake Castorena acting as the supervising director. John deMayo is in charge of the writing. This new rendition is rumored to have two series, with the first series having weekly episodes that drop on Disney+ every Wednesday. To date, five episodes have been released.
