Jean and Banshee: the rescuers become victims too

Jean and Banshee: the rescuers become victims too Jean Grey and Banshee enter this story as people trying to help. Masque turns their own bodies into obstacles they have to get past before they can keep doing that. Jean is left with tentacles where her arms should be. Banshee’s transformation takes away the mouth and vocal apparatus he needs for his scream. The changes are specific to the people he is hurting. A telekinetic and a sonic fighter have very different ways of getting through danger, and he interferes with both. Jean’s situation is particularly awkward because adapting to movement and using her telekinesis compete for her concentration. She has to work with an unfamiliar body while they are still in danger. The fact that she is powerful does not make that adjustment effortless. Banshee loses one of the most obvious ways he could protect the others or clear a path. For someone whose power is so closely tied to his voice, the change has an immediate tactical effect. Masque has done more than change how he looks. Neither of them has joined the Morlocks by being transformed. They are victims trying to escape and help the other captives. That distinction is important in a story where the villain treats other people’s bodies as if changing them gives him ownership. The situation also leaves Forge with more responsibility. He has to find a route, keep people together and work on a solution while the danger is still closing in. They cannot wait somewhere safe for the problem to be solved. This is one of the uglier uses of a mutant power because so much of the damage is aimed at a person’s independence. Masque is deciding how somebody can move, speak or defend themselves. Getting free therefore means more than defeating the people chasing them. They need control of their own lives back.