Yet another episode of X-Men: Standing Guard, yet another review. Thanks to all of you for your support on this series. I've been monitoring the traffic stats and our numbers are steady and increasing! We're averaging 80 views a day (when new content is released & on weekends) which is very good for me! Keep those reviews coming, though! We're looking for 50+ reviews to be renewed for Season 2. I have no worries we'll make it, because you guys are awesome! Remember if we get 50 reviews before June 4 (the first part of the Season Finale), then I'll publish a special sneak peek at Bishop during the Season Finale!

If all goes according to plan, the Season Finale will run back-to-back-to-back from June 4-18. This is going to be a huge event guys. We've just got our characters to a good position and then—BAM! Everything changes. There are going to be some nasty (and rather unusual) repercussions after the Days of Future Past event (which is what the Season Finale is based on, but we get much more!) that will wash over into Season 2 and Bishop, affecting the Season 2 Finale!

Anyway, down to business: This is the last episode before the three-part Season Finale! It was much shorter than recent episodes, about half the length of Episode Nine "Secrets" and Ten "The Price of Revenge", but just as important. There's been about three weeks gap between episodes (a recurring theme I'm afraid, not enough time to spread out episodes enough, Season 2 will be balanced better), and so Xavier has attempted to recruit three mutants: Alison Blair/Dazzler, Samuel Pare/Squid, and Meghan Gwenn/Pixie. While only Pixie and Squid agreed to join, we will be seeing Dazzler (in person) during Season 2.

I did something strange with the plots this episode. Normally the B-Plots build towards the A-Plot throughout the episode, but this time I had the A-Plot build towards the B-Plot! Very strange…What did you think of the plot switcheroo? Tell me below!

I tried to fit in a vibe that things are normal, but war is still approaching, thus training with the Sentinel.

X-23 had a huge leap forward in terms of character development this week. She's still her perfect-grammar, bad-ass fighter self. The fact that she is a clone has not phased her as much as it would most people. In fact, she's quite cheerful. X got a new codename this week: Wildecat, and a new power: a throwing claw. I feel X-23, in an effort to escape her past, would change her code-name at least. I also feel that a female Wolverine would also have different powers from the male version. Thus Wildecat and the third claw were born! Tell me though, do you like this change or no? One final thing on X-23: she and Wolverine keep contact to a minimal. Wolverine isn't very fatherly and isn't quite sure what to do with a "daughter", and X just doesn't want to meet Logan. She despises him for letting her go through what she did.

We went to S.H.I.E.L.D. this week. I love S.H.I.E.L.D. While the TV series wasn't very good, I did take some inspiration from it, especially the episode where the team visited S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy to lay the groundwork for my Academy. The Academy was mostly a "filler" plot. I needed something to take up the bulk of the episode and to introduce a few mutants (and plotlines) for future seasons. I'm sure there are a few questions you have about the events at S.H.I.E.L.D. Rogue swiped her badge knowingly, asking Fury for help in a roundabout way. Hill is the only other person on the planet who knows Rogue's secret. Why was Trask there himself and what happened to him? Trask was there because he wanted to recruit Roberto and Jubilation to the Sentinel Project science division or threaten to expose them as mutants and force them to work with him. What happened to him was Hill shot him in the back of the head with a tranquilizer dart and he got knocked out. If you have anymore questions, leave them below!

Kelly is a sly devil, isn't he? Manipulating the Master of Magnetism into kidnapping Hank McCoy was a brilliant move on the part of the devil, wasn't it? Hank McCoy is out of the way, giving Kelly complete control of the government and their resources, eliminating the barrier between the Sentinels and mutant-kind, generating bad press for mutants, and even (for the moment) getting S.H.I.E.L.D. on his side. Not bad, Kelly, not bad.

The episode's ending was a shock, I'm sure. HYDRA is a serious threat to world peace. S.H.I.E.L.D. takes them very seriously. If you paid close attention, I was building up to this reveal by quietly and constantly bringing up HYDRA all season. This plot twist is going to directly affect the Season Finale, Season 2, Bishop, and so much more! I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Days of Future Past (the episode) to see how deep the conspiracy goes.

Quite a few Easter eggs this episode:

-Squid's gills; while in the comics, his entire head is a squid, that didn't quite serve my purposes, so I gave him a normal head, but put the gills in as a flashback

-Logan beheading the Sentinel from…well…every X-Men comic

-Rahne & Roberto; in the X-Men: Evolution television series, Rahne (with the little screen time given) expressed interest in Roberto.

-"I know things"; not a big one, but I think we'll be seeing this quote again before the end of the season. Bonus points to the first to tell me who said that line.

-Everything within S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy; I got all (well, most,) of this from MARVEL's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

-The machine used on McCoy; obviously similar to a little something Magneto whipped up in the original X-Men (2000)

-QuinJets; One of the jets used by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the comics and Cinematic Universe

-"Good, let's vanish"; The Avengers (2012)

If you read the Epilogue, you saw two things: Hank McCoy as Beast and Kelly ordering Sentinels, Trask's promotion, and Mystique's abduction. The last will play a huge role in the Season Finale.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the episode. Although it was shorter, there was a lot going on and a lot building up. I appreciate all of the support you guys are giving, keep it coming! For information on the Season Finale, check out my profile, for exclusive sneak-peeks and round-the-clock updates, follow me on Twitter (link on profile). If all goes according to plan, the Season Finale should air from June 4-18! Thank you for reading and enjoy your weekend!