Polaris Becomes The Gifted’s Answer to Magneto in Season 1 Finale

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Gifted’s two-part season finale, which debuted tonight on Fox.

Lorna Dane’s embrace of a more militant philosophy shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched the first season of Fox’s The Gifted, as she’s long displayed a willingness to use her powers against anyone who threatens her, her friends in the Mutant Underground, or her unborn child. But even as her mutant abilities have increased, so has the influence of the manipulative telepaths the Stepford Cuckoos, who in tonight’s two-hour finale gave Polaris the push she needed to take drastic action against Dr. Roderick Campbell, head of the Hound Program, and his ally in the U.S. Senate. The ramifications promise to be far-ranging.

The Gifted creator Matt Nix has long teased that Polaris would become aware that, just like in the comic books, Magneto is her father. Esme Cuckoo (Skyler Samuels) begins to connect those dots for viewers, even as Lorna dismisses the talk of her father’s identity — and his role as a king of the original Hellfire Club — as little more than gossip. But in the opening flashback of the season’s final hour, we’re introduced to Lorna (Emma Dumont) four years ago, during her incarceration at a mental hospital, where she uses her magnetism-manipulating powers to play with a magenta medallion that looks strikingly similar to Magneto’s emblem. Asked about it by a nurse, Lorna dismisses it as, “Just a gift I got a long time ago, from someone my mom knew.” The similarity to Pietro Maximoff’s line in X-Men: Days of Future Past — “You know, my mom once knew a guy who could do that” — is difficult to miss.

As so much of importance on The Gifted is introduced first in flashbacks — the Hellfire Club, the Purifiers, Sen. Montez — we could be all but certain that, by the end of the episode, Polaris would embrace her heritage. It was only a matter of how, and perhaps why. The latter is provided by the botched attempt by the Mutant Underground and the Cuckoos to kidnap Dr. Campbell from an anti-mutant conference.

Using the “terrorist attack” to his advantage, Campbell leaves with the like-minded Sen. Montez, intent on flying to Washington, D.C., to secure the necessary support to expand the Hound Program nationwide. The Cuckoos are determined to stop that from happening, and they reach out to Lorna as an ally. “Campbell has to be eliminated,” probably-Esme tells Polaris as one of the Hellfire Club’s swanky safe houses. “One way or the other, someone has to make some hard choices here. […] Whether you like it or not, you’re like your father.”

Although Lorna again shrugs off talk of her father as little more than rumors, Esme calls her bluff: “Lorna, I’m a telepath. I know that he gave you that medallion for your 13th birthday. All he ever wanted was for you to be proud of who you are. You know what has to be done here, don’t you?”

The answer, unsurprisingly, is yes, as Lorna and two of the Cuckoos slip out of the house to intercept the private plane carrying Campbell and Montez. Sending away the Cuckoos so that Eclipse, Thunderbird and Blink won’t think she’s acting on their behalf, Polaris ignores the pleas of her friends — of her boyfriend — and pledges “to make a new world.” Moments after the plane leaves the runway, Polaris uses her powers to destroy it in midair, and then disappears.

While the apparent death of Roderick Campbell may indeed slow the planned expansion of the Hound Program, the assassination of Sen. Montez would seem to have long-term consequences. It of course brings to mind Sen Robert Kelly, whose assassination by Mystique and the Brotherhood in Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men leads to the dystopian future of the “Days of Future Past” storyline. It’s unlikely The Gifted will introduce an alternate timeline as a result of Polaris’ actions, but a nationwide crackdown on mutants seems all but guaranteed in Season 2.

There’s more immediate fallout, however, as the members of the Mutant Underground re-assemble in Nashville, Tennessee, following the failed mission and the destruction of their Atlanta headquarters during an assault by Sentinel Services. Already divided about what their next steps should be, the ranks of the Mutant Underground are further disrupted by the sudden appearance of Esme Cuckoo and black-clad Polaris, who have come to recruit.

“There’s nothing noble about struggle, Marcos,” Polaris interrupts, “and sacrifice is just a pretty name for losing. […] The Mutant Underground is dying. That world, where we don’t have to hide — that we’ve always talked about — I want to build that, for all of us, for my baby.” But Lorna and Esme didn’t travel all of that way for speeches; they know precisely who they want: Fade, Sage and a couple of others, including Andy Strucker, who’s long bristled at pleas for peaceful solutions in the growing conflict with humans.

What the split means the Struckers, and the Mutant Underground, will clearly be central to The Gifted‘s second season. However, the finale seems to set the stage for a well-funded, ascendant Hellfire Club — one led by Polaris in her father’s place — taking the fight to Sentinel Services and humanity. Perhaps then we’ll finally learn whether Magneto was right.

The Gifted stars Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker, Sean Teale as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz, Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong, Coby Bell as Jace Turner, Emma Dumont as Polaris/Lorna Dane, Blair Redford as Thunderbird/John Proudstar, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, and Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker.