"To save my world, I have to help Apocalypse destroy a past one."

After four consecutive self-contained episodes, X-MEN wisely ramps up the pace and the tension directly at the season's mid-point with a high-octane two-parter. "Time Fugitives" goes big in all the right aways, logically bringing together the show's resident time travelers Bishop and Cable as their respective futures are placed in direct conflict. Also returning is arch-villain Apocalypse, who is immortalized as a true existential threat unlike any other our heroes have faced by his malignant presence in two of the three distinct timelines tracked across these episodes. With recurring season 2 foes the Friends of Humanity continuing to sow anti-mutant sentiment amongst the public, the script has its hands full juggling a plethora of characters within a dense plot. Nevertheless, with the aid of veteran comics and science fiction writer Elliot S. Maggin pitching in, alongside some clever animation reuse through the magic of time travel, the story makes good on its epic ambitions as a series stand-out and fan favorite.

Cable in particular receives a welcome makeover following his introduction as a blank slate, stock badass/mercenary. It's confirmed from the jump that he's a time traveler, though this was probably best avoided in the first season given the proximity of his appearances to Bishop's arrival. Here, that redundancy is treated as a feature rather than a bug, with Bishop's successful efforts to create a better future threatening to unravel Cable's (even more distant) future. Time travel nonsense aside, it comes down to a classic moral dilemma wherein Cable must make the impossible choice between two horrible alternatives. Unlike our initial encounter with the character, this Cable is informed by an actual backstory and origin that the comics had finally settled on -- and all the better for it. Here we meet a world-weary soldier and hardened pragmatist by circumstance, but a principled man nonetheless. More importantly, this Cable is a dedicated leader and father, one who grapples with his conscience constantly in search of any way for his and Bishop's respective worlds to co-exist. Equally clever strategist that he is, Cable's solution is ingenious (and, true to form for this series, accidentally socially relevant over 30 years later). In a season defined by its focus on character development, this reinvention of Cable arguably outshines the high-concept action surrounding it.

X-TRA: Though Apocalypse's genetically engineered plague is only referred to once as a "techno-virus," it's fitting that this line is spoken by Cable. When his parentage is ultimately confirmed in X-MEN '97, we learn that Cable is the child of Cyclops and Jean's clone, Madelyne Pryor. Notably, he is exposed to a virus by Mr. Sinister, with symptoms very much resembling (and that Beast even compares to) this very same plague. Sinister's variant is more lethal, prompting Madelyne to send the stricken infant into the future as his only hope of survival.