X-Men ’97 Episode 8 Shows Gambit’s Return and Apocalypse’s Survival

Season 2, episode 8 of the animated series X‑Men ’97, titled “The Dead Man’s Hand,” follows the resurrection of Gambit as a dark, empowered figure. After being buried with the corpse of Apocalypse on Genosha, Gambit returns to New Orleans, brain‑washing his brother Robert LeBeau, former lover Bella Donna, and the local Thieves Guild. He kidnaps Rogue and attempts to bind her to him as an immortal couple. The X‑Men and X‑Force intervene; Professor Charles Xavier enters Gambit’s mind, battles the lingering presence of Apocalypse inside him, and ultimately forces the ancient mutant into a temporary slumber. Rogue’s soul helps defeat the threat, and the episode ends with Apocalypse still alive inside Gambit.

The storyline also reveals a backstory in which Apocalypse once fell in love with the Egyptian priestess Candra, known as the X‑Ternal, who betrayed him and now dwells in the bayou. Dark Gambit kills the X‑Ternal, seizes her relic, and uses it to attempt immortality with Rogue.