Synopsis and Review by Rachel Grey: Thanks!
Synopsis: Brian Braddock and Meggan battle with the Sentinels and their leader, Omega Sentinel Karima Shapandar, who have come to arrest Brian on charges of treason. In the process bystanders Pete Wisdom, Courtney Ross, and Linda MacQuillan try to escape the wreckage but when Ms. MacQuillan trips, she transforms into another member of the Captain Britain Corps and remembers her mission to help Brian save the universe. She is joined by Justicer Bull, another Corps member who helps Brian battle the Sentinels, during which Brian grabs Karima and tries to explain himself but becomes twin-synched with his sister Betsy again. Captain Britain watches Marvel Girl take down Blob while Nocturne possesses Banshee and takes out Caliban and Callisto with his sonic scream. Unfortunately, Karima uses this opportunity to knock Brian down and prepares to blast him. However, Courtney Rose intercepts the shot and sacrifices herself. Pete Wisdom then blasts Karima away with his knives while Brian mourns Courtney. Meggan comforts her husband despite the fear and jealousy she feels. With that, her and Captain Britain leave while Wisdom, Justicer Bull, and Ms. MacQuillan occupy the Sentinels.

Back to the battle with the Marauders, Nocturne uses her possession of Banshee to finish off the group by ramming him head first into T-Rex, impressing Psylocke. Just then, Brian and Meggan arrive and start to discuss what to do about the breach in reality when Karima and the Sentinels catch up to them, having beaten the Corps members and Wisdom. The Sentinels then channel all their energy to Karima for one big blast. Rachel and Betsy sync and use all their might to create a telekinetic shield to protect everyone, causing a backlash, which destroys all the Sentinels and Karima. They have no time to rest, as they must fix the dimensional breach. To buy some time, Juggernaut plugs the breach with Blob as Roma and Saturnyne urge Brian to move quickly through Meggan before they have to destroy the 616 universe.

Meggan says she can harness the power in the rift and everyone else can help seal it. Nocturne then possesses Psylocke to increase her powers. With that, Juggernaut releases Blob and Meggan, now BIGGER then Juggernaut thanks to the energy form the breach, rushes into it. Psylocke then starts to close the breach while Rachel prepares to seal it. Inside, Meggan gives her final words to her beloved husband as Brian starts to realize what is actually going to happen. She urges Brian to follow his heart before the breach is sealed and she sacrifices herself. Brian stares at the breach and sky in wonder as he comes to terms with his loss.

Review: I have mixed feelings about this issue. It was definitely not bad by any means. In fact, I think this entire arc was one of the better House of M tie-ins, if not only because it has some affect afterwards. The story is progressed with good speed and flows nicely. It's always cool to see Corps. members too. They might even see some more use with New Excalibur. My main complaint is the death of Meggan. As an Excalibur fan, I've always liked Meggan. I was surprised and really sad to see her go. It seems to me that it was a ploy for a possible love interest for Brian in New Excalibur. I actually hope she gets resurrected or isn't really dead later on. At least we got to see her fight those Sentinels.

I know Bachalo's art has been a big discussion among readers. While I don't think his art is exceptional, and prefer more realistic art, I found the art to be very enjoyable. I thought he drew Meggan very well and made it easy to distinguish all the characters and their faces, which many artists do have trouble doing. The only person I didn't like was Juggernaut. His arms seemed to small at times and the constant showing of his hugely drawn teeth just didn't appeal, and I thought he was the best part of the very good cover. Hs art can also be confusing or unclear at times, but none of that was present in this issue. Very good.

Overall, I really enjoyed this arc. It was definitely one of the better arcs since the forming of the X.S.E. I'll admit, some of the arcs have been pretty bad, but this could very well be the start of a new trend. I feel like Claremont just does better with characters he used on Excalibur, maybe with the exception of Rachel, but that should be fleshed out in the next two arcs. It was a fun little rump through an alternate world, which I always like, and was an excellent set up for one of my new favorites: New Excalibur.