Episode:Night of the Sentinels, Part One

The X-Men learn that what appears to be an outreach program may be behind violent robot attacks on mutants who have registered with the program. (Series Premiere)

Story
A news reporter says that a violent attack by a mutant has escalated mutant hatred. A couple turns off the broadcast as they discuss their adoptive daughter, who happens to be a mutant. Her father registered her with the Mutant Control Agency, which the mother is not happy with. He defends the agency as an outreach program to help these poor unfortunate people. Their daughter, Jubilee, overhears and wishes she could just be a normal kid again.

A large robot flies through the sky overhead. It lands in the street and its heads up display shows that it is searching for Jubilee. In the house, Jubilee's parents are discussing how she fried the VCR simply by touching it. Jubilee's mother asks her husband if he regrets taking Jubilee in, to which he says no. The large robot breaks into Jubilee's room but finds her gone and proceeds to search for her.

Jubilee went to an arcade at the New Salem Mall where she feels her parents are ashamed of her. The large robot appears outside the mall that Jubilee is at. In Jubilee's stress she fries the arcade machine she is playing at, revealing to all the others that she is a mutant. While running Jubilee runs into two women while the large robot breaks into the mall.

Jubilee and the robot see each other where it announces its intentions to capture her. The two women that Jubilee ran into before suddenly reveal that they are themselves mutants. Both can fly, one has control over the elements, and the other, Rogue, has super strength. A man buying playing cards and flirting with the checkout girl overhears the commotion and goes to help. The robot then overpowers the two women and sends them flying out the roof. The man, calling himself Gambit, comes to Jubilee's rescue with exploding cards. When the robot is about to kill Gambit Jubilee comes out from hiding and shoots sparks and distracts the robot. Jubilee runs into the parking lot with the robot close behind shooting knock out gas at her, when she meets a man named Cyclops. Cyclops then shoots an energy blast out of his visor and decapitates the robot.

Jubilee wakes up in a hospital room of some sort in a large mansion, and causes the monitor she's hooked up to to short out. She finds that she is locked in the room but with her powers she destroys the lock. While trying to escape Jubilee sees several strange people and overhears a report about herself getting kidnapped by mutants and Senator Robert Kelly talking about how all mutants are dangerous. Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey enter the room discussing how the confrontation at the mall was unfortunate but unavoidable. Xavier then reads reads her mind and finds that she wants to escape.

Xavier activates an intruder alert and Jubilee finds herself on the run from several of the mutants she just saw. She ducks into a room called the Danger Room and accidentally starts some program. She finds that she is now in a trapped filled room with Gambit and Wolverine. When it appears that Wolverine is about to kill Gambit Jubilee steps in uses her powers to blast him away. The door opens and the dangers end.

The woman who could control the weather takes Jubilee to tell her what is going on. She reveals that everyone there is a mutant, like herself. She also says that no one knows a mutant at birth, that it is usually revealed about her age. She tells Jubilee that Xavier is their leader and they are called the X-Men. Because she can control the weather she is called Storm. Jubilee will be safe at Charles Xavier's School For The Gifted. This school is no ordinary school but one where mutants can learn to control their powers. Jubilee wonders why people hate them. Storm says it is because people fear what they do not understand.

Xavier hacks into the robot's head to retrieve its data. Xavier finds out that the image the robot used to track Jubilee is from the Mutant Control Agency's files, which is how the robot knew to look for her. Although occasionally supported by the government, it is a private organization. Someone at the agency must have a secret agenda.

A man appears at Jubilee's home and asks her parents about possible associations with other mutants. Her mother reveals that they've only had their foster child about a year. Jubilee gets off a bus to make sure her parents are alright, unknowingly being track by multiple robots who easily capture her this time.

Xavier explains that the headquarters for the Mutant Control Agency must contain information on hundreds of mutants, and they must stop it. Storm is to go in with Wolverine, Beast, and Morph and Cyclops will be in overall command. Cyclops questions whether this is the best decision since the team formed to use their powers for the good of humanity and so humans will trust them. Xavier tells him they have no choice but to do this. Jean Grey then informs Cyclops and Logan that Jubilee is missing. Logan goes after her and while Cyclops tries to stop him he is unsuccessful.

The Blackbird lands in a forest close to the Agency headquarters. The X-Men walk to the perimeter where Wolverine surprises them by already being there. Apparently he was unable to find Jubilee. Storm, Wolverine, Beast, and Morph enter the complex and knock out a few guards along the way. Wolverine stops them before they trigger infrared beams by smelling the ozone. Beast then uses his powers to find a security panel and shut off the system. The four are about to enter a door while a group of heavily armed guards wait on the other side.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Quotes
" Mommy! Buy me that! Buy me that!"
 * -Kid at seeing a Sentinel

"We don't want you lousy mutants around here!"
 * -Arcade owner to Jubilee

"Do not be alarmed. I am here to serve and protect."
 * -Sentinel as it crashes into the mall.

"You must like to play cards." "I like solitaire ok. Unless I got someone to play with."
 * -Gambit and the store owner flirting

"What did I ever do to anybody? I didn't ask to be a mutant. I'm just a kid."
 * -Jubilee

"My fellow Americans, I am an idiot."
 * -Morph as Senator Kelly

"Tag, you're it. This game is over."
 * -Wolverine to Gambit in the Danger Room

"What is this place?" "One part gymnasium, one part survival room. Affectionately called: the Danger Room."
 * -Jubilee and Beast

"I go where I wanna go!"
 * -Wolverine

"Whenever I got into trouble in school I just turned into the principal."
 * -Morph

"The faint heart averted many feet and many a tear, in our opposed path to perservere."
 * -Beast quoting Coventry Patmore, from his poem "Farewell" in the collection "The Unknown Eros."

Trivia

 * The first episode in the Marvel Animated Universe.
 * The title is most likely inspired by the movie Night of the Living Dead.
 * Besides being the first appearance of the main characters, it is also the first appearance of Robert Kelly, the Sentinels, and Henry Peter Gyrich.
 * Sabretooth, Domino, Cannonball, and Magneto make cameo appearances. Though Cannonball's appearance would contradict the events of "Hidden Agendas".
 * Jubilee's mother's name is Martha, her father's name is never stated.
 * Although it is the first appearance of the Sentinels they are never actually called that, only robots. Neither is Gyrich ever called by name.
 * According to the Sentinel's HUD Jubilee's mutant file number is 051063-244, her full name is Jubilation Lee, she is 5' / 152 centimeters tall, weighs 90 lbs / 40 kilograms, is Chinese-American, and lives at 764 Lucille Court West.
 * According to her clock, the Sentinel attacks Jubilee's room at 7:30.
 * The Sentinel scan says that Storm is 5'11 and 127 lbs, Rogue is 5'8 and 120 lbs, and Gambit is 6'2 and 180 lbs.
 * Calvin Claude fragrance is obviously inspired by Calvin Kline.
 * First mention of Genosha with an ad for the Genosha Beach Inn.
 * Gyrich's license plate is 5656.
 * Rogue states that she first developed her powers at the age of thirteen.
 * Beast says he had dandruff.

Inconsistencies

 * Footage from the Sentinel's head in the Mansion includes a shot of Jubilee on her bed crying. Unless the Sentinel staked her out prior to the earlier scene, it couldn't have gotten that shot (since it landed after she was out of her bedroom entirely), nor that angle (which would be from an interior wall).
 * The Sentinels seems to change size depending on the shot. At one time they are able to look straight into a second story window while at another they are almost twice that size.
 * When Morph is boosted over the fence the guard should clearly see his true form and his transformation yet does not seem at all surprised until Morph turns around and appears like him.
 * Morph transforms into a replica of the guard just to knock him out and then transforms back. Why transform at all when the guard clearly saw him change and he did not ending up fooling anybody?
 * Morph produces a gun containing knock out gas seemingly out of no where. It was not seen before nor afterwards. This is a goof unless the gun is part of his body which means he can produce knock out gas at any time, and has not used this power again.

Continuity
Rogue's comment about putting her boyfriend in a coma at thirteen will be shown to us in the season one episode "The Cure".

Background
The show was originally going to premiere over the Labor Day weekend in September; however, due to production delays, it was soon pushed to the end of October. This episode originally aired as a "sneak preview" even though it wasn't ready for broadcast. Therefore, there were many animation errors in these two episodes. The errors were later corrected when FOX re-aired the pilot in early 1993.

Morph was created specially for the series. In fact he was designed specifically to be killed off, in order to show how serious the show was. He does seem to be based on Changeling. Changeling was chosen because of his past ties to the X-Men, as well as his deceased status in the comics. The character proved to be so popular that he came back later in the series and a version appeared in the comics.

This is not the first episode featuring the X-Men. An episode titled was produced and aired in 1989 but was considered a failure. Marvel would eventually go back to the drawing board and make this series starting with this episode.

Reaction
"Stu" of Marvel Animation Age said that the pilot was one of the best of series although they work better together. Other than introducing the characters and premise of the show very little happens. The Sentinels, being the X-Men's worst nightmare and the opposite of what they stand for, was a big risk being used so early in the series. But they worked perfectly and were more than a match for the X-Men. Jubilee was an annoying brat. The fact that there was only one minor fight in an action cartoon separated it from other Saturday morning cartoon shows. The Mutant Control Agency was a solid idea to present the ideas of the series early on. It was a great introduction and good cliffhanger. Though it was surpassed by Part Two.

On TV.com the episode has a rating of 9.0 Superb.