Bobby's role in getting through to him is one of the most important parts of the whole change. When Warren is serving Apocalypse as Death, his friends cannot simply assume that…

Bobby's role in getting through to him is one of the most important parts of the whole change. When Warren is serving Apocalypse as Death, his friends cannot simply assume that recognizing them will be enough. They are facing someone who has been manipulated into fighting them, and getting close to him carries a real risk. Bobby uses an ice duplicate, and Warren believes he has killed him. That is what breaks through. The horror of what he thinks he has done reaches something Apocalypse has not managed to remove. I like looking at that moment in terms of their history. Bobby is not a stranger Warren has been told to care about. These two were part of the original X-Men together. They have been teammates beyond that first group, too. There is a relationship there that existed long before Apocalypse put Warren in this position. The trick also comes at an emotional cost. Warren has to experience believing he has killed his friend before he can learn that Bobby survived. Breaking the control does not erase the experience of being under it. That gives the reunion a much rougher shape than everybody simply welcoming him home. He is still carrying what happened, including his anger and the feeling that his friends were not there when he needed them.