Operation: Rebirth
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| “Operation: Rebirth” | |
|---|---|
| X-Men: Evolution episode | |
 Captain America as he appears in this episode. |
|
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 24 |
| Written by | Bob Forward |
| Directed by | Gary Graham |
| Production no. | 24 |
| Original airdate | March 30, 2002 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Walk on the Wild Side" | "Mindbender" |
| List of X-Men: Evolution episodes | |
Operation: Rebirth is episode 24 of the animated series X-Men: Evolution. It originally aired on March 30, 2002.
[edit] Synopsis
Nick Fury informs Wolverine that Magneto has stolen a device once used to create the super-soldier Captain America. Wolverine, Rogue and Nightcrawler go to recover it. Meanwhile, Logan reminisces about his history with Captain America during World War II.
[edit] Plot
The Rebirth project had been developed during WWII, and it was responsible for the creation of Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) - but it also took a devastating toll on his life. After learning from Nick Fury that a backup copy of the rebirth project had been stolen by Magneto, Wolverine (aka Logan), Rogue and Nightcrawler track him down to a base in the Sahara Desert. During the attack on the base, Kurt has an opportunity to destroy the project, but refuses when he learns the Rebirth chamber is being used by Magneto to restore his own life. The Rebirth chamber is subsequentially wrecked beyond repair by Wolverine following the emergence of a fully rejuvenated Magneto. Despite his rage at Wolverine for this, Magneto shows mercy and allows the team to escape. The last scene shows Logan standing before Captain America's frozen body in SHIELD headquarters.
Intersperced within the main plot is a series of flashbacks by Wolverine, harkening back to his life during World War II when he was a commando serving in the Canadian armed forces, before his involvement with Weapon X which gave him his adamantium skeleton. A friend of Captain America, they participated in a raid on a "POW camp" in which one of the prisoners released was Magneto, who was then a child. In a later flashback, Logan and Rogers destroy the Rebirth project to prevent anyone else from being harmed by it.
The "B" plot in this is a story of Kurt growing up. An early scene shows him and Rogue being confronted by a bully on the way home from school. After the bully grabs his wrist and breaks his holo-inducer, Kurt reacts with fear and resignation - although ultimately their secret is saved by the timely intervention of Jean who uses her mental powers on the bully, making him leave and forget. When Nightcrawler is made part of the team to find Magneto - his first mission - he reacts with an abundance of joy and eagerness. And yet, despite his desire to please them, at the critical moment when he has a life and death decision over the fate of Magneto, he refuses the shouted commands of both his teammate & half-sister Rogue as well as his superior Wolverine, and allows Magneto to use the rebirth chamber to restore his life. This mercy - and his childhood rescue from the "POW camp" by Logan - is later paid back by Magneto, who allows the team to leave.
In all, there are seven depictions of the interaction of a protagonist within an authority structure for this episode: the hunting of Wolverine by SHIELD, Captain America's use by and ultimate enfeeblement by the U.S. Government, Nightcrawler & Wolverine when the former refuses to destroy the rebirth chamber, the bully (who usurps authority by force) bullying Rogue and Kurt, Rogue's assertion of herself with Wolverine within Cerebro, the POW's within the "POW camp", who are so cowed by their experiences that they have to be ordered to leave in order to free themselves, and Logan's and Roger's destruction of the rebirth project. In each, the protagonist chooses how to react, whether with acceptance as in the case with Nightcrawler & the bully or the camp inmates, and also with Rogers allowing himself to be used as a super soldier. The protagonist may also choose to assert themselves in the face of authority - Kurt's refusal, Rogue's talking back, and the destruction of the rebirth project. Note critically that the choice of acceptance conains a poison pill which destroys the protagonist's most valued asset: For Wolverine it was freedom, for Captain America it was his vitality, and for Kurt it is his spirtuality - on the one face he can live in fear (the bully) and on the other face by "following orders" he would follow the path of his mother Mystique as prophesized by Magneto.
Finally, there is a repeating cycle of threat/action/salvation. Kurt is threatened by the bully, but is saved by Jean. The young Magneto is threatened with extermination but is rescued by Captain America and Logan. Magneto is threatened with death from old age but is saved by Nightcrawler. The team is threatened with death but are released by Magneto. Captain America is in perpetual cyrogenic stasis - but Wolverine vows to keep fighting the good fight. In each of these cycles, it is the decision to act, and to act ethically ("fight the good fight", not "follow orders") which brings salvation.
