| Operation: Rebirth | |
| Season Two, Episode 10 | |
 | |
| Air date | February 16, 2002 |
| Written by | Bob Forward |
| Directed by | Gary Graham |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Walk on the Wild Side |
next Mindbender |
- "There was a small boy in Poland that owes you that much."
- —Magneto to Wolverine
Premise[]
Nick Fury informs Wolverine that Magneto has stolen a device once used to create the super-soldier Captain America. Wolverine, along with Rogue and Nightcrawler go to recover it. Meanwhile, Logan reminisces about his history with Captain America during World War II.
Summary[]
Logan is being chased through the woods on his motorcycle by a military-like group. He ends up cornered on a cliff. Nick Fury shows up in a helicopter and calls Logan Weapon X. Wolverine tells him Goodbye and that he doesn't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Fury won't let him leave and Logan gets mad. He asks Fury what he wants. Fury tells him that "Rebirth" has been stolen. Logan tells him that it's impossible, that Rebirth was destroyed. Fury tells him that there was a second one, a backup. SHIELD is unsure who took it, but there were magnetic pulses that bent metal. Of course, Logan knows it's Magneto right away.
At school, Kurt and Rogue are hassled by a kid named Drew Paille that breaks Kurt's Image Inducer. Drew freaks out, but Jean shows up just in time to wipe his mind and send him packing. Kurt is really upset about the whole incident and teleports away.
At the Institute, Logan tells Xavier about Rebirth. A machine created to "enhance" humans and create super soldiers during World War II. It was only used on one man, Steve Rogers. A flashback shows Rogers during the Rebirth experiment and then later as Captain America fighting in the war. A younger Logan meets Captain America for the first time. Xavier interrupts to say that he didn't realize that Logan was that old. Logan goes on to tell him that Rebirth ended up destroying Rogers and now he believes that Magneto has it.
Xavier tries to find Magneto using Cerebro, but fails. Tons of other mutant signatures turn up though and the he, and Logan talk about a massive mutant population boom. Kurt and Rogue are eavesdropping and get caught. Rogue tells them that she remembers some info that she drained from Magneto in New York (On Angel's Wings) and she thinks that he's hiding out at a base in the Sahara Desert. So Logan, Kurt and Rogue head out to the Desert.
Logan & Rogers meet
On route, Logan has another flashback to WWII. He's teamed up with Cap. America on a mission to free some POW's in Poland. The mission is successful and the boy that Cap carries out of the camp uses his mutant powers to deflect some bombs that come hurling towards them. Wolverine asks the boy what his name is and he tells him that it's Erik Lehnsherr.
Back in the present, Kurt asks Wolverine why there was only one super soldier created using Rebirth and Logan tells him that the process actually caused a "cellular breakdown" that was killing Captain America. In another flashback Wolverine and Captain America destroy Rebirth to keep anyone else from suffering.
The team gets to Magneto's base and find someone inside the second Rebirth machine. Sabretooth attacks Wolverine and Kurt and Rogue try to get to the machine to destroy it. Both of them are trapped by steel beams while Sabretooth and Wolverine continue to do major property damage going at each other. Kurt teleports to Rebirth and is about to set the bomb when Magneto calls out to him from the chamber.
Magneto tells Kurt that he's using Rebirth to replenish himself, that without it he's going to die and if Kurt blows up the controls he will be killing Magneto. He asks Kurt if he's that much like his mother. Kurt is unable to blow up the machine and Magneto turns young again as Rebirth rebuilds his cells. Turns out Rebirth doesn't harm mutants the way it does humans.
Wolverine is finally able to KO Sabretooth and pulls Magneto from Rebirth. He arms the detonator and Rebirth explodes. Magneto is furious and creates a huge metal monster that attacks the X-men. He decides in the end to release them though, because Kurt spared his life.
Later Logan visits Captain America alone. Cap is encased in a cryogenic chamber, waiting for them to find a cure to the damage done by Rebirth. Fury comes in and tells him it's time to go and to remember that he was never there.
Quotes[]
Xavier: The percentage of the population possessing the X-gene is increasing exponentially. It's becoming difficult to keep track of them, even with Cerebro's recent enhancements.
Wolverine: No way mutants are going to be under wraps for much longer.
Magneto (looking at Kurt) However you spared my life, I will spare yours. (looks at Logan) There's a small boy from Poland that owns you that much.
Nick Fury: Remember you were never here.
Wolverine: Yeah, I know the routine.
Kurt: (high-fiving Rogue) Yes! The fuzzy man is on the mission!
Notes[]
- Introduction of Nick Fury and Captain America.
- Captain America has no lines.
- Ironically, Rogue just took a History test on World War II.
- Drew Paille who was picking on Rogue and Kurt was wearing a Captain America T-shirt.
- Wolfsbane appears and is called by name, but she has no lines.
- This is the first time Scott Summers does not appear.
- It is revealed that Magneto was liberated from a POW camp in World War II by Wolverine and Captain America.
- S.H.I.E.L.D. tracked Logan with a "long range MRI" - MRIs work by rapidly fluctuation magnetic fields to image soft tissues. These fields would permit the tracking of the Adamantium grafted in Wolverine.
- Grim Reminder is the first episode to focus on Wolverine, who would go on to get a single episode about him in every season.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Trivia[]
- This episode along with "Joyride", "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Mindbender" are available on the DVD X-Men Evolution: Enemies Unveiled.
- There is an episode similar to this one in the original X-Men: The Animated Series titled "Old Soldiers".
- Captain America is the only Marvel Hero to cross with Evolution, and third superhero referenced during the series. The first being the Iron Man and Spider-Man from On Angel's Wings.
- In a flashback Wolverine and Captain America liberate a "Prisoners Of War camp". BS&P didn't want them to say "concentration camp" In an animated series.
In the comics[]
- Erik Lehnsherr was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
- In the comics, Kitty Pryde was contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. where she became a special agent for a while.
Cast[]
|
Main Cast |
Recurring Cast Guest Cast |