It’s actually not that complicated or difficult: because Tony is not a hypocrite. He’s an egotistical shit whose solutions constantly cause new and bigger problems, and he knows it. Does he regret some decisions he’s made? Yeah. Put in the same situation, would he do the same things again? Yeah. His goal, in moving forward, is to be better and be equipped to make better decisions that maybe won’t have as terrible of unintended consequences. He’s only as good as his current level of intelligence and store of information, and he knows it. He keeps building better machines to solve problems, hoping to build one good enough. It’s a little crazy; it’s also honest.
Jean fails because she is the Phoenix and she denies what the Phoenix is. She is content to use the power of the Phoenix for her purposes, while regretting the insatiable destructive power that comes with it. Once, she destroyed a whole world as the Phoenix and she’s been trying to make up for it ever since. She denies it was her... even though it was. She is the Phoenix, yet positions it as a separate being where, when she does something good with the power, it’s her, but, when she does something bad, it was the Phoenix. There is no acceptance of this other part of her; she is divided and she is a hypocrite.
The most important panel of Jean’s interaction with the Progenitor comes after she tries to argue that all of the good she has done, the worlds she has saved, must make up for the destruction of that one. The Progenitor says in response, “Your friends would have saved those worlds without you. And they have not burned any,” while her expression has the horror of realisation, drawn perfectly by Francesco Mobili and Frank Martin. It’s a harsh judgment and moment of clarity for Jean – yes, she’s done good with the X-Men, but she was never essential that good being accomplished by the X-Men. If they would have succeeded without her, did she actually accomplish any sort of penance?
Now, that the Celestial gives a specific answer to that question (no) doesn’t mean it’s the right answer. Obviously Kieron Gillen isn’t arrogant enough to think himself capable of solving complex moral quandaries like this – and, if he were, I’d hope he would put those skills to better use than superhero comics – the answer given is one that fits within the moral framework of the Progenitor. The problem isn’t that she can’t make up for destroying that world; the problem is that she tries. She thinks herself somehow above violence and killing, yet is bonded to an elemental cosmic force whose very nature is rooted in destruction and rebirth. The nature of the Phoenix is to destroy and she fights against that, regretting an act of largescale destruction, never investigating the other half of the equation.
Judgment Day is, as Dave Buesing (the proprietor of Comic Book Herald) tossed off on Twitter last week, a similar event to Original Sin. That was an event about revealing hidden truths, while this is one about revealing the hidden motives, goals, and contradictions of characters. Who is honest with themself about who they are, what they are doing, and why? Captain America thinks himself an inspiration for good upon a world power as it sinks further and further in decay and corruption, bringing the world down with it. Cyclops thinks himself the leader of the X-Men. Tony Stark thinks himself a genius problem solver who can’t escape creating new problems with his solution. Jean Grey thinks herself a loving, peaceful woman who is separate from the Phoenix.
“You are the Phoenix, now and forever.”
When the Progenitor says “justify yourself,” it means justify yourself to yourself while it shines a light on the truth. Who are you really, at your core, and can you justify that person to yourself and your self-image? That doesn’t mean the ‘real’ you is good or moral or worthy... it’s just the true version of yourself. Is the version of Jean Grey that tries to do good and ‘make up for’ the destruction of the Phoenix a good force in the world? It seems so. Would a version of her where she fully embraces the Phoenix be a good force in the world? There’s a definite possibility that it would not. That’s not what the Progenitor cares about. Is Jean Grey honest with herself about who she is as the Phoenix? No, she is not. So, she fails.
This approach to an event is different from what we’re used to. The death and destruction of the event so far is par for the course. The idea that ‘nothing will be the same’ is similarly the norm (though, as we all have access to post-Judgment Day solicitations, we know that to be the usual bit of fibbing... not that I’ve seen anyone actually promise that for this event now that I think about it). It is an event of revelation about these characters and where it goes from here is anyone’s guess. Will it change the characters moving forward? It doesn’t have to. Having your soul laid bare before a god and revealed a hypocrite may inspire change, though I’m not sure anyone would be surprised if it didn’t. For a lot of people, it may invoke a deep sense of shame that they do their best to ignore while they resume their normal lives. I’m sure there will be plot consequences from Judgment Day; I see the potential for character consequences that deeply affect some moving forward. The event is a brief moment of clarity to take a good look at these characters and who they are at their cores, and it will be interesting to see if any realign and change based on this.
Eros has not officially had judgment passed upon himself. Unofficially, it was his appeal to the Progenitor of the hope of change and needing more time that prompted the final judgment. “One day” is always in the future, some distant horizon, one that Gillen recasts as that endlessly elusive place for Eros to return to, a demonstration that his parents’ goals to create a new Eternal were worthwhile. Except, of course, by avoiding that fate, all he did was prove the opposite. Thanos was a genocidal maniac, while he was a “moderately successful adventurer.” Up until this point, that has been the real Eros. Here, he distinguishes between Eros and Starfox, like the latter was a role that Eros played when, if it’s who you’ve chosen to be for the majority of your life, is it a role? That he sees it as different, separate from himself is the hypocrisy teased out in this event. He wants to be something more and his actions have shown him doing that thing where a character is revamped by a clever writer and artist with an updated look, attitude, mindset, inventive use of powers... maybe it will stick. Maybe change is possible.
Reading the Eros in Judgment Day so far, I’ve yet to be convinced. Whether it’s Gillen not completely comfortable with the character in this new mould or if it’s a purposeful element of the character as he’s embracing a new delusion, I can’t say for certain yet. We haven’t seen enough of this ‘new’ Eros to know if it’s going to stick or not. His fight with Zuras has Eros arguing for change through a return to the status quo, which is certainly a fun idea to just toss out there. If the Eternals are to change and progress, then they need the same leader that they’ve had for millennia. It reads to me like a stall for time, which it very much is.
I read and reread AXE: Starfox #1 and I’m more and more convinced that we’re getting a preview of the self-delusion of those who are going to run from their true selves after this event. Eros is Starfox, a sociopathic moderately successful adventurer who found himself in a position where he needed to adapt to the most likely version of himself that could let him return to his true self. The freewheeling Starfox would never have gotten out of the Exclusion, so he invented a serious form of Eros that could appeal to the Eternals... one that turned out to be perfectly suited for the crisis at hand. The slick, charming sociopath is always there. It’s not a coincidence that Eros says he wants to inspire and the first failure we saw was Captain America for the very same self-view.
The more I think about it, the more I think that it seems like Gillen is ignoring Starlin’s recent interpretation of the character because Eros is ignoring it. When the Progenitor failed the people of Earth, it was a judgment of Eros – and by association, the people that chose to have him speak on their behalf, deluding themselves into thinking that Starfox could be their saviour.
That’s why the judgments continue...
Next: nine, count ‘em, nine Judgment Day tie-ins.