Siege Perilous (comics)

Siege Perilous
Dazzler and Havok try to stop Rogue from being sucked into the Siege Perilous by Nimrod / Master Mold. Uncanny X-Men #247, art by Marc Silvestri.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain Britain #1 (1976)
Created by	Chris Claremont
In story information
Type	Landmark

Siege Perilous is the name of two fictional devices appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The first appeared in books starring Captain Britain, and the second in books featuring the X-Men. Both devices were created by writer Chris Claremont, who named it after the Siege Perilous, the empty chair at the round table of King Arthur.

First

The first Siege Perilous, which appeared in Captain Britain #1 and 2 (1976), was a circle of standing stones which transformed Brian Braddock into Captain Britain.

In the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Earth was attacked by a Skrull armada and a wave of empowered Super Skrulls. The Skrulls had infiltrated the ranks of the British government, though they were exposed by John, a Skrull turncoat loyal to MI:13 and who had taken the form of John Lennon. The Skrulls' target was the Siege Perilous. Captain Britain and his team head there to defend it.

Second

The second Siege Perilous, which appeared in Uncanny X-Men #229, was a collapsible extra-dimensional gateway with mystical powers. Appearing as a jeweled, hand-held artifact when inactive, Dazzler used it to view many alternate versions of herself, simply by directing a focused beam of light into it. When opened, the Siege Perilous grew into a large gateway size, and could grow large enough for objects as large as the Master Mold to enter it. Those who passed through the Siege Perilous were judged by mysterious entities and then teleported back to Earth, usually naked and amnesiac, and often substantially transformed in some way. The Siege Perilous featured prominently in the histories of Psylocke, Rogue, Havok and Bastion, among other X-Men characters.

The X-Man Psylocke experienced a precognitive vision in which she and the few other active X-Men at the time (Havok, Dazzler, Colossus, and herself) were slain by the Reavers. Upon teleporting back to their Australian base, the vision was proven true as the Reavers had arrived, and closed in on the weakened heroes. Left with no alternative, Psylocke used her telepathy to convince her teammates to enter the Siege Perilous in order to save their lives. After the X-Men vanished into the crystal, the Reavers brought the artifact to their leader, Donald Pierce, who crushed it with his bare hands.

External links

• Luzifer, Peter. "SIEGE PERILOUS". uncannyxmen.net. October 11, 2003