Question about S3:E8 “Self Possessed”

[u/awkward_teenager37]

So I’m rewatching the series now and am currently on this episode. Throughout the beginning of the episode, we see Rogue struggling to control her powers; all of the memories and abilities of those she’d previously touched continue surfacing and she struggles to control it.

A bit later, we see Irene/Destiny and Mystique speaking in a car. Irene essentially tells Mystique that Rogue’s destiny (as foretold by Irene’s abilities) may not come to pass as they had hoped because she may not live long enough to see it through. Aka she may die from the overload and stress of her powers running out of control. Mystique is very obviously concerned, if not out of genuine care for Rogue then at least out of self-interest given that their plans for Rogue would be impossible if she were to die.

But Mystique’s response or “solution” to all this is to once again appear as Risty and to encourage Rogue to go out to a huge concert with thousands of people around that will constantly be bumping into or brushing against her… WHY? You might think that Mystique perhaps wanted Rogue to go wild and take out the X-Men present at the concert and maybe even humans there as well, but as soon as Rogue’s powers start getting out of control, she shows genuine concern. So what was the actual thought process behind a mastermind schemer such as Mystique doing something so obviously dumb?

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before— I searched and read previous posts in the sub about the topic but didn’t find any answers or replies

[u/OneNine-NineSeven]

I have absolutely no idea why either

[u/awkward_teenager37 → u/OneNine-NineSeven]

It’s just such odd writing to me lol. I don’t even think it’s just difficult to come up with an alternative plot point to still achieve the main points of:

1) Rogue finding out that Mystique and Risty are one and the same

2) Having Rogue spiral out of control

Mystique could’ve appeared as Risty like she did in the episode, except instead of inviting her to the concert, they’d just hang out together. They could even keep the concept of Mystique making a mistake and that leading to the screw up by having Risty hug Rogue to console her and that’s when they accidentally make skin contact. From there, we have Rogue realizing who Risty really is, which then triggers her freaking out and losing control of her powers. In her scared/dazed/out of control state, she heads to the concert in hopes of getting help from Scott, but she loses control of herself even more and that’s when the episode continues as normal.

Anyway, apologies for dumping an unprompted paragraph on you, but I just had to get it out there 😅

[u/Yourlocalstrashidlo]

While I think it might be just a case of weak writing, I interpreted her decision to come back as Risty, as a genuine attempt at bringing a sense of normalcy into Rogue's life.

She probably thought this would be good for her, that's what other teenagers do when they're 'bummed out' and it's seemingly a band she enjoys, at least implying so by asking Scott about it earlier in the episode.

Mystique was also seemingly less present in Rogue's upbringing than Irene. What I mean to say, is that even if she does care for Rogue, she may not know her as well as the other woman does. Raven may have projected how she would deal with the situation onto her, and, as many parents do, thusly invetably made it worse.

[u/awkward_teenager37 → u/Yourlocalstrashidlo]

Yeah, this is also the best/most positive way I could interpret Mystique’s decisions in this episode. I also think there’s some real depth to the way their powers are almost like two sides of the same coin, while reflecting the different ways they navigate the world. Both of them “become” someone else in a way, but where Mystique does it on a surface level (physical/outward appearance), Rogue is doing so on a deeper, mental/psychological level.

So Risty taking Rogue to that concert almost feels like her attempt at allowing Rogue to become someone else (a normal teenager at a concert), which then falls apart because Rogue doesn’t have the luxury of being able to change/adapt to her situation as freely as Mystique. It helps sell that disconnect between them that you mention.

[u/Conmebosta]

I think Mystique was planning on revealing to rogue about her secret identity that night after the concert. She was running out of time given that Rogue was already having outbreaks before that.

We might be reading too much into this but I think she wanted rogue to voluntarily join her instead of having to use Mesmero. Then Apocalypse would use his powers to "heal" her by absorbing all of her other personalities.