One Man's Worth

One Man's Worth is the first and second episode of season four of X-Men: The Animated Series.

Plot[]

Part I[]

On May 11, 1959 Bishop, Wolverine and Storm fight a new type of Sentinel called Nimrod. A young Charles Xavier accidentally triggers an explosion and dies. In the year 2055, Forge tells Bishop and his sister Shard that the others have gone back in time before they have so Bishop and Shard enter the time machine and travel to the year 1959. In the present day Storm and Charles Xavier are outside the mansion enjoying the beautiful summer day. Storm spots a butterfly and calls it beautiful. Wolverine who is up in a tree jokingly says "Who, me?" He then jumps down and gives Storm an apple. At that moment there is a disturbance in the space time continuum and history is changed to where all of Earth has become a desolate war zone.

A war between mutants and humans has now started. Wolverine, Storm, Beast and other mutants are now part of a resistance. The humans then send in robots to kill the mutants. Magneto (who is the leader of the mutant resistance) manages to take out one of the robots. However, several more surround him and he is outnumbered. Wolverine and the others then go to help Magneto because they know that if they lose Magento they will also lose the war. Magneto then manages to escape and orders his men to push the robots back to the river. They manage to defeat several robots, but Storm is injured. Wolverine runs over to her, but Storm is fine. A ring is then shown on Storm's finger revealing that in this reality she and Wolverine are married. The human army then sends in a unit of super humans to fight the mutants (the unit of super humans is an evil alternate reality version of the Avengers). One mutant then traps the super humans in a force shield and sends them flying away.

Wolverine then takes Storm to their hide out to be treated by Jean Grey who is a nurse in the alternate reality. At that moment they are attacked by a robot sent by the humans. However, Mastermind uses his powers of illusion to fool the robot into thinking there was no one there. Bishop and Shard then arrive in the alternate timeline and realize that they were too late to save Xavier and prevent this terrible timeline from happening. Bishop then says that they need to back to 1959 to stop the assassination but this time there won't be any X-Men to help them. Wolverine then walks up to Bishop and Shard wanting answers. Shard then tells them that they are time travelers that have come back through time to prevent this timeline from happening. Bishop tells them that with their help they are going to save the life of Charles Xavier. Storm asks who Charles Xavier is (because in this timeline Xavier was killed in 1959 and did not create the X-Men). However, before he can answer more robots attack and Wolverine, Storm, Bishop, and Shard make a run for it. When they get to safety Shard shows them a holographic image of Charles Xavier and tell them this is who they must protect. Shard also tells them that Xavier fought for basic mutant rights and bring mutants and humans together and that they were part of the X-Men in that reality. Wolverine is hesitant to fix the timeline because he knows that if it is fixed, he and Storm would no longer be together. However, Wolverine does end up agreeing to help them. Bishop also tells them that Xavier was assassinated by a mutant named Fitzroy who was hired by Master Mold (the leader of the Sentinels) to kill him so that he could not form the X-Men. Bishop, Shard, Storm and Wolverine then traveled back to 1959.

As Bishop arrives in 1959, he confronts Charles Xavier and tells him that time travel is possible. Xavier believes that Bishop is crazy and walks away from him. Xavier then runs into Wolverine, Shard, and Storm who tells him that the future depends on them keeping him alive. Later at a restaurant they tell Xavier about the alternate reality that was created because of his death. Xavier; however, has a hard time believing this. Shard then gives Xavier permission to read Bishop's mind and after doing so realizes that they are telling the truth. The manager then runs over and threatens them to get out because he won't serve an interracial couple. Wolverine then brings out his adamantium claws and threatens to kill him. However, Storm tells Wolverine to let him go which he does. Bishop then tells Xavier that unless he allows them to help, he will be dead, and the future will be doomed. The owner then has two thugs named Moose and Rocco came out to fight them. Shard then orders the others to keep them away from Xavier. During the fight Xavier runs away in terror. Storm, Wolverine, Bishop, and shard then go searching for Xavier.

They come upon Xavier. However, it turns out to be a Sentinel from the future called Nimrod. Bishop fires his laser gun at him but to little affect. Within a few seconds they are able to defeat Nimrod. Shard then comes upon Fitzroy, and they travel through time to get away. Xavier watches from inside a building and as he opens the door it activates an explosive.

Part II[]

As they rush toward the building more explosions go off and Xavier is believed to be dead. Bishop knows that the future is doomed without Xavier, and he blames Wolverine for this. The restaurant owner and the police then go after the mutants. However, Storm creates a tornado and blows them away. The four of them then travel to 2055 so that they could have Forge send them back to before Xavier was killed. When they get back to their own time, they notice that things have changed such as their headquarters being much, much bigger. Forge (who is now a cyborg) comes out and because the timeline has been changed does not know them and activates a security alarm. Bishop then learns that in this timeline there is no resistance and Forge works for Master Mold. Sentinels then come in and try to kill Bishop, Storm, Shard, and Wolverine. They fight the Sentinels, and the Sentinels even go after Forge who tells him that he has been loyal to Master Mold. Shard tells Forge that in another time they were friends. Bishop then manages to take out the final Sentinel. Bishop agrees to help them but the time machine was damaged. Forge then attempts to fix the time machine.

At that moment Fitzroy is talking to Master Mold whom he says that Xavier is dead and that he is now the undisputed ruler of the world. Master Mold then asked about the mutants Fitzroy battled in the past because they exist outside of time and could possibly change the timeline. Master Mold then orders Fitzroy to destroy the time machine to prevent them from changing the timeline. As Fitzroy leaves the overhears Master Mold tell Nimrod to kill him after he destroys the time machine.

At that moment while Forge is fixing the time machine they are attacked by more Sentinels. They then protect Forge so he can fix the time machine. Then Nimrod and Fitzroy appear. Fitzroy is now on the mutants' side and traps Nimrod in a force shield. However, Fitzroy is injured, and Nimrod is able to escape the force shield. Wolverine, Storm and Bishop then go through the time machine leaving the others behind. Forge and Shard are then killed by Nimrod.

Moments later Bishop, Storm and Wolverine arrive in 1959. Bishop then says that this time they won't fail, and he plays a message given to him by Fitzroy. Elsewhere, the bar fight is happening again, and Xavier runs away. Xavier then runs into Wolverine, Storm, and Bishop and they take him to a safe place. Storm then shows Xavier a video of him being killed in an explosion. Wolverine then says that they will protect him. Xavier is doubtful about what they say but after reading their minds he realizes that they are telling the truth. Xavier also learns that one person doesn't want their mission to succeed. Bishop aims his gun at Wolverine knowing that it's him. Wolverine doesn't want their mission to succeed because he doesn't want to lose his wife, Storm, which will surely happen if the timeline is fixed. Bishop then asks why he shouldn't end him. Wolverine replies by saying that he can't help but feel the way he feels but that doesn't mean he would become a traitor. Xavier's friend, Cindy then walks into the room. However, Wolverine uses his sense of smell to learn that Cindy is really Nimrod in disguise. Wolverine and Bishop then attack Nimrod. After shooting at Nimrod a few times the Sentinel is destroyed but quickly begins to repair itself. Bishop then notices that Nimrod is wearing an armband that is keeping him in this particular time. Bishop manages to destroy the armband and Nimrod is sent back to 2055.

At that moment Fitzroy appears and traps them in a force shield with a bomb set to explode in one minute. Storm tells Fitzroy not to kill Xavier. However, Fitzroy doesn't listen to her. Bishop then plays a message from Fitzroy in the future who says that if he kills Xavier, Master Mold will become all powerful and he will kill him. Fitzroy then turns off the force field and Wolverine throws the bomb outside to a safe distance where it explodes. The timeline is now fixed and Fitzroy travels back to his own time. Storm and Wolverine wonder why they have not yet disappeared, and Bishop tells them that as long as they wear their arm bands, they will exist outside of time, but the charge only lasts a few days. The timeline is then reset too how it was before.

Cast[]

Actor	Role
Cathal J. Dodd	Wolverine / Logan
Alison Sealy-Smith	Storm / Ororo Munroe
Philip Akin	Lucas Bishop
Kay Tremblay	Shard Bishop
Marc Strange	Forge
Cedric Smith	Professor X / Charles Xavier
?	Trevor Fitzroy
?	Bantam
David Fox	Master Mold
David Hemblem	Magneto / Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
George Buza	Beast / Hank McCoy

Cameos[]

Avengers[]

Captain America
Iron Man
Giant Man
Wasp
Wonder Man
Black Widow
Hercules
Scarlet Spider
Daredevil

Resistance[]

Mimic
Colossus
Sabertooth
Sunfire
Wild Child
Nightcrawler
Mister Sinister
Holocaust
Gambit
Pyro
Callisto
Blob
Caliban
Mastermind
Blink
Angel
Tar Baby
Copycat
Frenzy
Rogue
Morph
Jean Grey
Masque
Sunder
Polaris
Banshee
Malcolm
Randall

Other mutants[]

Lobdell

Sentinels[]

Nimrod

Normal humans from 1955[]

Restaurant owner
Moose
Rocco
Cindy

Trivia[]

These two episodes inspired the Age of Apocalypse story line that ran through the X-Men comics from 1995 to 1996.
This episode shows a future where only Magneto's ideals survived as Professor X was killed before he could make any difference in the world; the end result is a nightmarish future.
In part one while in the 1950s, Wolverine is helped by a character that looks exactly like Marlon Brando's character in the movie On The Waterfront.
The character, Lobdell, the guard Fitzroy feasts upon, is named after then current X-Men writer, Scott Lobdell.