Dani Moonstar continues sharing leadership with Sam while the New Mutants lose some of the stability that made their classroom feel like home. She has to help hold together peop…

Dani Moonstar continues sharing leadership with Sam while the New Mutants lose some of the stability that made their classroom feel like home. She has to help hold together people who are frightened, grieving or drawn into conflicts that seem much bigger than the team. Her power is particularly useful when there is no shared language of trust. She can reveal an image drawn from a person’s fear or desire. The danger is that revealing something does not mean she already knows how it will be interpreted, especially when she is dealing with an unfamiliar culture. New Mutants #69 gives that limitation a concrete example. An attempt to use an official’s desire to help the group land produces the wrong result and leaves them accused of bribery. Dani cannot simply decide in advance that the image she brings out will be the convenient one the team needs. That is worth keeping alongside her confidence. She is experienced enough to act, but experience does not make every plan safe. The others can be frustrated with her, and she still has to continue helping them through the situation. During Inferno, her responsibilities include protecting vulnerable people while the battle around Illyana becomes increasingly chaotic. It is a useful reminder that the co-leader’s role includes deciding who needs defending, rather than measuring success only by which opponent she can defeat. Dani also brings a personal connection to her classmates that no outside commander could immediately replace. She knows their habits, their tempers and the ways they hurt. Through this phase, that familiarity is part of the team’s survival. Leadership involves keeping those relationships working while accepting that neither her powers nor her confidence can give her complete control over what happens next.