Spoilers below for Excalibur #13!

Captain America is Marvel's iconic patriotic superhero, but the other side of the pond has a defender of their own: the loyal defender Captain Britain. Captain Britain isn't just a title, it's an institution. Whoever bears Merlin's Amulet of Right carries the task of defending both the United Kingdom and the entire Marvel Comics multiverse. As the X-Men shake up the international stage, the power of Captain Britain has fallen into the hands of mutantkind, creating a Captain Britain with duel citizenship and duties to two nations. Now England's superhero tradition is in chaos. One of the X-Men's most fearless heroes did the unthinkable and destroyed Captain Britain rather than give it up.

Captain Britain was originally written and drawn in 1976 by X-Men writer Chris Claremont and Hulk artist Herb Trimpe - later joined by 2000AD's Alan Davis. The wizard Merlin offered Brian Braddock the Sword of Right and Amulet of Might, representing destruction and creation. Braddock chose the Amulet, passing the test and becoming Britain's national superhero. Captain Britain went on to join Claremont and Davis's Excalibur, a team that combined him with members of the X-Men to travel across the multiverse and protect its many dimensions.

Related: Captain Britain is The Next Queen of England in Marvel Comics

2019's new Excalibur series ties into the X-Men franchise, where mutants declared the island of Krakoa their sovereign nation. Brian was kidnapped and stripped of his powers, leaving his sister Betsy Braddock (who was once the X-Men hero called Psylocke) to take the amulet and become Captain Britain in his stead. When Brian came back, he failed the test, admitting he would rather wield the sword. Since then, Betsy has led Excalibur, championing England and Krakoa together while dealing with the loss of the Captain Britain Corps and the enigmatic witch Saturnyne who replaced them. The new issue, Excalibur #13, brought the conflict between Betsy, Brian, and Saturnyne to its climax.

Saturnyne called Betsy (and the other new Captains Britain) a "heretic Captain" because she didn't take Merlin's test; so she decided to strip the psychic mutant of the Amulet of Right and give it to someone who would obey her rule - preferably the unmoored Brian Braddock. But the willful mutant denied her. "I don't need it," Captain Britain said. "There is one very powerful magical law I have come to rely on: the power of a psychic's raw will. Without an amulet, you'll have to rely on one of us rejects." Braddock uses her telekinesis to shatter the amulet into pieces.

It's a drastic move, but one that proves how tenacious Betsy is: she would rather destroy her tools than give them up to a controlling authority since she believes the Captain Britain Corps needs her more than she needs them. After dragging her off to a dungeon, Saturnyne revealed to Brian (as she tried to seduce him) that the amulet was merely a symbol, and the real power was in her hands. Then she forged a new sword that would act as the symbol of Captain Britain; all he had to do was take it.

But when Betsy broke free and took the sword for herself, Brian accepted his new role: Captain Avalon, who serves the crown and the Braddock family, not the witch Saturnyne. He'd only slid into her eager hands to distract her and help her sister regain what she had earned. As the X-Men prove themselves in X of Swords, the two Braddocks will fight side by side, a Briton for Krakoa and a Krakoan for the UK.

Excalibur #13, written by Tini Howard with art by R.B. Silva, color by Nolan Woodard, and lettering by Ariana Maher, is available now.

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