With the world’s mutant population in the millions, with a mutant youth culture vibrantly emerging all over the world, with large mutant settlements emerging on several continents, even off world, the old age of mutants had ended, and thus began the new age: Charles Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Jean Grey began discussions in secret, hidden in psychic conference by three of the most powerful telepaths on the planet.

What emerged was a shared vision of mutant nations and institutions, linked by mutual support and defense, anchored by the five mutants who would soon adapt an informal but widely spread name: the Quiet Council. The system allows for ideological conflict, cooperation against external threats, and free movement between factions for mutants. The structure of what would become their society was laid down during the early days of their conference, settling into natural roles in unsurprising places.

Charles Xavier, optimistic but politically naïve, has made the transition from secret mentor to global civil rights leader. He has decided to take a step back from active leadership, declaring, “the dream no longer belongs to just me.” Recognizing that the generation of Scott, Jean, Storm, and even Emma have come of age as mutant leaders, Xavier has instead busied himself with rebuilding his school from X-Mansion to a sprawling series of facilities spanning acres and several levels, both above and below ground, welcoming in a far greater number of young mutant students at one time than ever before.

The next stage is being coordinated with Emma and Jean; to turn The Xavier Institute into a global network of mutant education, research centers studying mutant biosciences, and diplomatic outreach programs. Charles has begun to plan a secret interstellar mutant enclave in Shi’ar space.

Emma Frost took the psychic conference from a philosophical debate into something that began to resemble a real governing structure. Emma brought something the others did not: economic power, political ruthlessness, and institutional strategy. She immediately began to cooperate and coordinate with other wealthy or technically talented mutants to harness their gifts into economic power. The results speak for themselves; Charles has already begun relinquishing the global Xavier Institute network to her stewardship, giving Emma mutant education academies, mutant research and business development organizations, global telepathic networks (though to Emma’s irritation these still wholly depend on Jean Grey to continue to operate efficiently), and intelligence operations (coordinated with Magneto and Cyclops).

Cyclops has had a rough decade or so. Emotionally traumatized by possession from Apocalypse, and a long list of other likewise soul crushing experiences. What began as psychic therapy with Emma Frost quickly began a psychic affair between the two. The fallout from Jean finding out the truth is still, in some ways, going on: the two have separated, their friendship intact but uncomfortable with the emotional distance between them, his relationship with Emma more complicated than ever. Struggling with identity outside being the X-Men’s soldier, Scott is starting to see Genosha and his emerging role as strategist for mutantkind defense as new opportunities for something truly different.

Magneto is the ruler of the Genoshan nation, a controversial but legitimate political leader with millions of mutants migrating there, quickly developing into a powerful new state, on a fast track for UN recognition. He is more absent from the island nation these days, having reformed much of what was Asteroid M anew, though set further from Earth. While his friendship with Charles is re-connected, though strained, it is Magneto’s relationship with the others that define this new era of mutantkind; with Cyclops on Genosha and strategic mutant defense, with Charles on the science and grander cultural designs at play, with Storm on mutant relocation and resettlement.

Yet the defining relationship of the new age of mutantkind is that of Magneto and Jean Grey.

Jean Grey has emerged as a natural leader of mutantkind in the new age, in the way only a mutant can; by growing in power to unseen levels and doing so while retaining the core values of coexistence and love. Recognized by even Emma Frost and Charles Xavier as the most powerful telepath on the planet by far, with telekinetic power that rivals the skill and reach of even Exodus, Jean Grey is the bedrock of this new age, her telepathy underpinning nearly every major coordinated effort as Emma continues to establish new, supporting, telepathic networks in key mutant locations to take psychic ‘weight’ off Jean.

She has grown into something like a cosmic paragon of mutantkind—a figure whose authority is moral, symbolic, and occasionally cosmic rather than administrative, especially as her connection to the Phoenix is visibly, and obviously, returning in strength with ambient cosmic fire sometimes accompanying her power use. She has begun to explore and understand her connection to the Phoenix Force at a deeper, metaphysical, level.

Magneto understands the burden of leading mutants, understands immense power, isn’t intimidated by her. Both of them have spent their lives asking the same question: what does it mean to wield power responsibly? Jean leads the heroic X-Men presence in New York City. Magneto represents the hardline mutant destiny ideology. With Charles retreating from leadership, Jean and Magneto meet frequently to prevent conflict between factions, and over time they develop mutual respect. He sees in her the power to rule mutantkind, moreover, to do so easily…and yet to choose not to, and restraint has always impressed Magneto. Jean, for her part, sees his ideology as not about domination, but about ensuring mutants are never victims again. On this, they begin to agree more and more, though in ways far different than Magneto could ever imagine.