Illyana’s story becomes increasingly difficult to separate from the danger surrounding the entire team. Limbo is part of how she travels, part of her history and part of the pow…

Illyana’s story becomes increasingly difficult to separate from the danger surrounding the entire team. Limbo is part of how she travels, part of her history and part of the power she uses. When her control over it is threatened, the problem follows her friends too. The apparent deaths of the X-Men in Dallas hit her through Colossus. Her reaction includes grief and a desire to blame Forge for what happened. That is Illyana’s understanding of events at the time, not a reliable statement that Forge deliberately murdered her brother. The distinction matters when describing what drives her choices. Her attempts to escape the pressure do not leave Limbo behind. During the space story, she is still dealing with the ways her sorcery and the realm can affect what happens around her. She cannot treat teleportation as a neutral convenience when every jump involves that connection. Inferno brings the conflict to New York on a much larger scale. In New Mutants #71–73, Illyana’s struggle with S’ym and N’astirh intersects with the fight to protect abducted children and stop the demonic invasion. Her friends are trying to reach her while she faces the consequences of the Darkchylde transformation and the struggle for Limbo. By the end of #73, the Illyana who emerges is a young child. That is a major change in the team, not a costume alteration or a brief absence from class. The teenage Magik who has been transporting, arguing with and protecting these friends is no longer available to continue in the same role. Keeping the outcome inside this era gives it its proper weight. There is no need to jump ahead to explain what later comics might do. At this point, the New Mutants have survived Inferno, but their relationship with Illyana and the shape of the group have changed profoundly.