STRYFE: Page 4 of 4

Argument

Being a child of time travel and divergent timelines, Stryfe is in every sense, a "chaos bringer." Though the dystopic future in which he was raised seems to be a divergent timeline, its path was close enough to the 616 reality to create a paradox in regards to his very name. By his own admission, Apocalypse named the infant his Canaanite troops found in the Askani stronghold after "an ancient enemy," presumably Stryfe himself, who bested Apocalypse before his Dark Riders. [Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #4, X-Cutioner's Song crossover] With a paradox living within his very name, the logic of causality - cause preceding effect - may be called into question.

The most egregious example of this is Stryfe's reappearance in Latveria, using his "pyramond" which he launched from the Moon. Last seen, Stryfe's consciousness (or "soul") had been the plaything of the demonic Blackheart, who clearly had no intention of giving up so valuable a prize. This being the case, how could Stryfe escape his infernal prison?

Any guess would be speculation, though there some interesting questions which lend themselves to consider. For instance, Stryfe never technically died. Both he and Cable had been sucked into the time vortex on the Moon, with only Cable emerging on the other side. His body seemingly lost, Stryfe's consciousness had latched onto Cable's and then later assumed control over his template's body. It was only after he was convinced to relinquish control did Stryfe depart... but depart to where?

As with most of the demonic creatures in the Marvel Universe, it's not clear how Blackheart obtains his souls. Whether it's truly a destination after post-mortem spiritual judgment or solely a location for those who unwisely made deals with demons, neither would truly apply to Stryfe, as he had neither truly died nor made any bargain. If one takes this into account, as well as the fact that his body never materialized, the answer might be as simple as his time-lost body having returned to the very location in which Stryfe and Cable had disappeared into the timestream. With his mortal body returned to the mortal plane, Blackheart might have lost control of Stryfe's soul, allowing it to rejoin with body and soul once more. A bit of evidence to support this is that Stryfe next appeared launching his pyramond from the Moon, accompanied by the Dark Riders, who last had been seen there in his service.

Another possibility, though not mutually exclusive, is that he was released by Blackheart on a mission... regarding Le Bete Noir. After his reappearance, Stryfe had continued in his plots and machinations to acquire personal powers. However gone were his grandiose aspirations and confidence when the hour of Le Bete Noir's return was imminent. Now a drastically changed man, lacking any sort of inner fire, Stryfe nevertheless possessed inexplicable and specific knowledge of the ancient entity. In his explanation to Gambit and Bishop, he spoke of how different cultures, believing it to be something akin to Beelzebub, Mephistopheles or Satan, had attempted to free it.

Stryfe provided no explanation as to how he knew what he knew about Le Bete Noir, but perhaps the clue was within the story itself. One of the names he had mentioned, Mephistopheles, was the fuller version of Mephisto, Blackheart's father. While perhaps a coincidence, it might be possible that Blackheart had an interest in Le Bete Noir and used Stryfe to destroy it. What good would it be to Blackheart, a soul reaper, if Le Bete Noir emerged and resulted in the destruction of the world? Stryfe's knowledge, actions and very freedom would make much more sense if it were all at the behest and intentions of his former tormentor, Blackheart.

If this is the case, then Stryfe's next appearance might be explained as a reward for his good service to Blackheart. Once again very much alive, Stryfe was found by Bishop in a bar, curiously named "Betty Noir's." Though it seemed to take place in "the near future," (thus presumably further along the 616 timeline) Stryfe had no memory of the incident with Le Bete Noir and his personality was once again that of "the Chaos Bringer." Even if Stryfe had been helped up until his point by his former tormentor, it is doubtful that he would enjoy further help from Blackheart either against Apocalypse or from his prison nearly a thousand years in the future.