STORY: "The Good Shepherd" (23 pages)  The X-Men reflect on the death of Moira MacTaggert, while Cecilia Reyes goes through withdrawal symptoms from Rave.

What you need to know:
Professor Xavier reflects on his early relationship with Moira MacTaggert, who died in X-Men vol 2 #108.

Cecilia Reyes spends the issue in the Danger Room, trying to overcome her addiction to the drug "Rave."  This is a hangover from the Neo storyline in X-Men vol 2.

Rogue and Wolverine finally remember that Shadowcat's been missing for six issues.  Ultimately, this storyline went nowhere.

We establish that Destiny's diary actually runs to thirteen volumes, and that so far the X-Men only have one of them.  Mystique has several of them, and indicates that the stress of trying to decode them has driven her mad.  She dumps her volumes on Professor X and leaves him to worry about it.  This is set-up for X-Treme X-Men, which initially focussed on a splinter group of X-Men hunting for the diaries.

Gambit turns up at Mystique's hospital bed and apparently plans to kill her.  Storm talks him out of it.

Comments:
Chris Claremont's final issue is one part epilogue for Moira MacTaggert, one part closure of stray storylines, and one part introduction of X-Treme X-Men.  (He had one more issue to go over in X-Men, which carried the remainder of the X-Treme X-Men set-up.)

Moira's epilogue is a nice little anecdote about Xavier and her as students.  It gives her some degree of send-off, which was only fitting for a character who'd been a fixture for some 25 years.

Cecilia Reyes' storyline from X-Men turns up out of nowhere, on the basis that it's got to be resolved somewhere.  It's alright, I suppose - there's only so much that can be done with the "coming off drugs" story.

The set-up for X-Treme X-Men is quite nicely handled, albeit that the search for the diaries turned out to be a plot that wandered around for months before being quietly buried.  In a curious bit of metafiction, the diary turns out to include a crudely drawn version of Gambit and Storm's scene with Mystique, and Claremont cuts between the two.  It's a nice little gimmick.

Read the original review.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X (last behind the scenes in Generation X #73; next in Uncanny X-Men 2000; also in flashback following the flashback in issue #12 and preceding the flashback in Excalibur vol 1 #79; also in flashback following the flashback in issue #117 and preceding the flashback in issue #309; also in flashback between X-Men vol 2 #84 and issue #365)
The Beast (between X-Men vol 2 #108-109)
Colossus (last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in Wolverine vol 2 #159, then in X-Men vol 2 #109)
Gambit (last in Gambit #24; next in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in Gambit #25)
Nightcrawler (last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in Cable #88, then in Wolverine vol 2 #159, then in Wolverine vol 2 #161, then in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in the second story in X-Men Unlimited #30, then in Gambit & Bishop Alpha, then in Gambit & Bishop #1, then in the second story in X-Men Unlimited #32, then in issue #395)
Wolverine (last in Wolverine vol 2 #158; next in flashback in Wolverine vol 2 #165, then in Wolverine vol 2 #159-161, then in X-Men vol 2 #109; also in flashback between X-Men vol 2 #108 and Wolverine vol 2 #158)
Bishop (last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3, then in flashback in Gambit & Bishop #1, then in Gambit & Bishop Alpha, then in Gambit & Bishop #1-6, then leaves the X-Men)
Psylocke (last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in Excalibur vol 2 #1-4, then in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3, then in flashback in Gambit & Bishop #1, where she leaves the X-Men)
Rogue (last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in Wolverine vol 2 #159, then in X-Men Unlimited #31, then in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3, then in flashback in Gambit & Bishop #1, where she leaves the X-Men)
Storm (next in Cable #88, then in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3, then in flashback in Gambit & Bishop #1, where she leaves the X-Men)
Thunderbird III (next in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in X-Treme X-Men #3, then in flashback in Gambit & Bishop #1, where he leaves the X-Men)
Archangel (in flashback only; last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in Iron Man vol 3 #37, then in X-Men vol 2 #109, then in flashback in Wolverine vol 2 #176, then in issue #394)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Cecilia Reyes (last in X-Men vol 2 #107; also in flashback following issue #362 and preceding the flashback in X-Men Unlimited #24)
Moira MacTaggert (deceased in flashback; last in X-Men vol 2 #108; no further appearances; also in flashback which is her chronologically earliest appearance, preceding the flashback in Excalibur #79)
Rahne Sinclair (in flashback; last in X-Men vol 2 #108; next in the New Mutants story in X-Men Unlimited vol 1 #43)
Robert Kelly (in flashback; deceased and behind the scenes; last in X-Men vol 2 #108; no further appearances)

VILLAINS
Mystique (next in the second story in X-Men Unlimited #48)
Joe MacTaggert (in flashbacks which are his chronologically earliest appearance, preceding issue #127)

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