With only a few episodes left for X-Men '97, we finally learn who the villain in the show is. All this time, fans thought it was Mr. Sinister. But as it turns out, there is a far bigger enemy: OZT in X-Men '97. Here's what you need to know about this group.
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Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for X-Men '97, so proceed with caution.
What is OZT in X-Men '97?
Die-hard comic fans know what OZT in X-Men '97 means. But for the unacquainted, this is an operation that aims to eradicate mutants. The letters stand for Operation: Zero Tolerance.
In the source material, the crossover comic story arc takes place after Bastion and Henry Gyrich infiltrate the US government. With this, the two are able to launch their genocidal plan to finally eliminate every single mutant from the face of the earth.
Bastion is the one who created and led the anti-mutant organization. The comic series covering this operation ran from May to November 1997.
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Who is Bastion?
In the comic book franchise, Bastion is introduced as a regular human called Sebastion Gilberti. The villain was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. after he formed the terrorist group against mutants.
After his capture, the villain's past was uncovered. This led to the discovery that Bastion is actually two separate beings: Master Mold and Nimrod, a Sentinel from the future.
During a fight with the X-Men, the two entities entered the Siege Perilous, a mysterious crystal that combined them into one.
The villain, however, has no memory of his past. He was raised as a human.
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Bastion and His Sentinels
To help in his mission of eradicating mutants from the world, Bastion created other Sentinels using the Siege Perilous' magic. In X-Men '97 episode 7, Bastion creates a robotic Prime Sentinel using Trask.
Jean Grey learns that Bastion has imprisoned Trask's mind in the Prime Sentinel. Now acting as a sleeper agent, Bastion activates the Prime Sentinel to defeat the X-Men.
Aside from Trask, episode 7 reveals that Bastion holds Magneto as a prisoner. Originally, it was perceived that Magneto had died during the attack on Genosha in episode 5.
But as we see in episode 7, Magneto is alive and under a power-dampening collar. At the end of the episode, Bastion reveals his plan to turn Magneto into a Prime Sentinel.
If he becomes successful, he could release Magneto to the X-Men and activate his implant when his plan is set. We'll likely see this happening in the next few episodes.
Do you think Bastion is a worse villain than Mr. Sinister? Let us know in a comment below.
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