X-Men '97 Episode 5 Ending Explained - Did [SPOILER] Really Die?

It's fitting that "X-Men '97" Season 1, Episode 5 is titled "Remember It," because ever since it aired, we've been doing our best to forget.

In what's easily the best episode of the series so far, fans witnessed the fall of the Master of Magnetism and the Ragin' Cajun as Magneto (Matthew Waterson) and Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) get taken out by the monstrous Tri-Sentinel, leaving Rogue (Lenore Zann) alone and audiences unable to put their broken hearts back together. They were the key figures among the enormous number of casualties suffered during the attack on Genosha, along with the likes of Sebastian Shaw (Todd Haberkorn) and the Morlocks. But have these mutants really been killed by the cockroach-shaped Sentinel? The answer is absolutely yes — but that doesn't mean they're permanently done for.

Revealed as an unexpected guest to the gala (in addition to the subtle cameo of the Watcher from "What If..?"), Madelyn Pryor (Jennifer Hale) was visited by her son Nate Summers, aka Cable (Chris Potter), who traveled back from the future we'd last seen him transported to shortly after being born. While it might seem like he was only there to deliver a message, details about the rest of the season suggest that Cable isn't done with the past. And if he's lucky, he might end up saving it along with those who were lost in the Genosha massacre. It's just a matter of time.

We've had a rough idea of what the animated series' storyline would entail when "X-Men '97" Season 1's episode titles leaked online, including next week's "Bright Eyes." At first glance, it felt safe to assume that this was referencing Scott Summers, aka Cyclops (Ray Chase), aka "X-Men '97's" officially confirmed coolest mutant that isn't Wolverine. However, a fleeting moment between Madelyn and Cable suggests otherwise. Before her son is yanked back to his timeline, she realizes who she's talking to by looking into his glowing eyes, suggesting next week might throw us into the future to follow Cable (or "Bright Eyes") on his mission to stop the attack on Genosha.

Heading into the future could open up a host of possibilities, not only by seeing Cable in action but also by the return of Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), who was last seen transporting Scott and Madelyn's newborn to the future in Season 1, Episode 3 – "Fire Made Flesh." Hopefully, with these two men out of time on the case, they'll be able to work together to avert the attack and thereby save any mutants that were zapped into oblivion by the Tri-Sentinel—Magneto and Gambit included. In doing so, it could also allow Cable to blow the whistle on whoever was behind the mutant massacre in the first place.

We'll find out who is to blame for the mutant massacre as well as if Cable can stop them when the next episode of "X-Men '97" drops on Disney+.