Legion wrapped last night with a great episode, but it was the very end that threw everyone for a loop. What the heck just happened?! Let’s throw out a few theories, based on the comics and the show, to figure it out.
As a reminder, at the end, David was abducted by something that resembles a steampunk Poké Ball, complete with the ability to catch ’em all, as it sucks David inside itself and slowly floats away. Even for a show about psychic parasites and the astral plane it was a jolt. So who’s behind it?
A World Government?
It’s not precisely clear just who Division Three, in the series, actually works for, but it’s safe to assume they have some governmental ties. But that doesn’t rule out another government deciding David’s too much of a risk and attempting to contain him. Melanie informs the Division that David is a walking weapon of mass destruction, after all, and that would presumably start alarm bells ringing not just in the U.S. government, but likely around the world. Although, that said, if they’d mastered the kind of technology that lets them send little drones to abduct people, why’d they bother waiting so long? And, if they were so worried, and they could get the drop on David, why not kill him?
The Shi’ar Empire?
In the comics, Professor X becomes embroiled in the struggle for the throne of the Shi’ar Empire, an alien race of purple people with mohawks, thanks to falling in love with their exiled queen. They could toy with David’s past by making him a lost alien prince, because, hey, his life isn’t weird enough. Giving a little weight to this theory is that while Legion‘s time period is uncertain, the technology we’ve seen is relatively down to earth, and anything more out-there, like the talking coffee-maker, tends to be a patchwork experiment. Floating people-grabbers are, it’s safe to assume, not commonplace, so this might well be alien tech.
Mojo?
Mojo, in the Marvel books, is basically an alien reality TV producer; he kidnaps interesting creatures from across the multiverse and makes them fight or do stunts for his addicted audience. It all lines up, certainly, and honestly, it’s easy to see Legion‘s creator, Noah Hawley enjoying the meta idea of a TV producer bedeviling some poor soul who just wants to be left alone. Still, that’d be a heck of a swerve for the show (Mojo is strange even by the standards of the X-Men comics), so we’re not entirely on board just yet.
Mutant Separatists?
Another consideration is despite the advanced technology on display, the floating abductor seems a bit raw. It looks handmade, and isn’t particularly zippy; considering the speed it floats off at, it might have been sent after David before the show even started. That’s particularly interesting since several mutants, most notably the X-Man Forge, are capable of putting together highly advanced tech on the fly, and this doesn’t seem to be an aggressive device. Somebody clearly wants David alive, and also thinks he’s not going to come along willingly if they give him a ring and ask to grab coffee. It seems unlikely that Melanie’s band of mutants is the only one out there, so David might have just been forcibly recruited to a cause.
Of course, it could also be nothing from the comics. Legion has tended to use the comics as a jumping-off point instead of faithfully adapting them, so it could be something from extreme left field. Thankfully we’ll have an answer at some point: Legion has been renewed for a second season.