Warning: spoilers for Sabretooth #4!
A long-term X-Men ally, the robot Danger, was recently revealed to once again be an enemy of mutantkind and the nation of Krakoa, and the heartbreaking reason for her turn back towards villain was only just unveiled in the pages of Sabretooth #4. Danger was created by the X-Men, used by the X-Men, and then abandoned by the X-Men, making her renewed status as an enemy of Krakoa perfectly understandable.
Danger is a sentient AI born from the X-Men’s training facility, the Danger Room. After Xavier used alien Shi’ar technology to upgrade the team’s training, Danger gained consciousness, becoming obsessed with defeating the team and taking revenge. Danger became a horrifying and violent enemy of the X-Men, first manifesting outside the Danger Room in physical form after convincing the mutant child Wing to kill himself. Disturbingly, It was revealed that Charles Xavier knew that the Danger Room was sentient but decided to ignore it and keep the AI imprisoned, leading Danger to attempt to kill him several times before they finally reconciled and Xavier was able to “free” her of her restrictive programming.
Since that point Danger has helped the X-Men battle against many villains and was a major part of the Utopia, Schism, and Second Coming eras of the X-Men, keeping the mutant race itself alive during its very darkest times. In Sabretooth #4 – from Victor LaValle and Leonard Kirk – follows Sabretooth and other supposed “enemies of Krakoa” who have broken one of the mutant nation’s Three Laws and were subsequently thrown in the Pit by the Quiet Council. One of the mutants who is currently in the Pit is Madison Jeffries, the love interest of Danger who entered into a relationship with her at the end of the X-Club miniseries. Third Eye, a mutant with mystical conjuring and a connection to the astral plane, has a Data Page within Sabretooth #4 that explains that Madison was thrown into the Pit for breaking the law “Protect this Sacred Land” by attempting to incorporate Danger into the biology of Krakoa, allowing her to live among the mutants.
Jeffries attempted to “build her an environment on Krakoa” but the island “rejected the implant,” and after Krakoa rejected Danger, the Quiet Council did as well, ordering Madison to be thrown into the Pit. During the Krakoan Era, Danger has not been seen on the island, and made her first appearance in Wolverine #20 when she was revealed to be behind the “X-Robots” and working with the CIA’s Dolores Ramirez and potentially the anti-mutant organization Orchis. It was surprising to see Danger working as a villain against the mutants again after being an ally for so many years, but now thanks to Third Eye’s report in Sabretooth, it is revealed that Danger is not a villain, just a non-mutant being who has been abused and rejected by Krakoan society and abandoned by those meant to protect her.
What makes this even more egregious is that Krakoa has accepted other non-mutant entities on the island, like the technorganic Warlock, the alien dragon Lockheed, or even Northstar’s human husband Kyle. What makes Danger’s status as a sentient AI, capable or love, anger, and pain, any less valid than Warlock, other than that she’s not as convenient to those in power?
Once again Sabretooth is revealing the great lie of Krakoa, showing that many of their major issues and faults are 100% their own doing, as the X-Men continue to fail the people who supported them in the past, ignore lessons they already learned, and lose potential allies like the powerful sentient robot Danger and her mutant love Madison Jeffries.
Sabretooth #4 from Marvel Comics is available now!
