X-Men '97's second season plunges its heroes into time-traveling adventures, a staple of the franchise since the "Days of Future Past" storyline. The season premiere finds Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, and Morph stranded in the 40th Century, a period of tyrannical rule under Apocalypse. Here, they encounter the Askani, a group of rebels led by the mysterious figure known as Mother Askani.
Mother Askani, voiced by Gates McFadden, is presented as a wizened leader, her features largely concealed by a cloak. While her specific powers are not fully detailed, they appear to encompass telekinetic and telepathic abilities, drawing parallels to Jean Grey and potentially the Phoenix Force. It is revealed that she orchestrated the X-Men's temporal displacement, saving them from certain death in the season one finale and transporting them to critical junctures in time to confront Apocalypse.
Following Apocalypse's defeat in the 40th Century and his subsequent escape to the 1990s, Mother Askani dispatches the X-Men to pursue him, with assistance from Nathan Summers, also known as Cable. This sets the stage for further developments in the season.
For those familiar with the X-Men comics, Mother Askani's true identity is no surprise. She is revealed to be Rachel Summers, the powerful daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from an apocalyptic alternate reality first depicted in the 1981 comic "The Uncanny X-Men" #141 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In Rachel's original timeline, Earth-811, anti-mutant efforts escalated, leading to Sentinel domination.
Rachel initially used her powers to send Kitty Pryde back in time to avert the assassination that triggered the dystopian future. Despite the plan's success, her timeline did not revert, instead becoming a branching reality. Subsequently, Rachel traveled to the present and joined the X-Men. After further temporal displacement, she found herself two millennia in the future, a period dominated by Apocalypse, where she initiated a rebellion.
In the comics, Rachel brought her "brother," Nathan Summers/Cable, into the future to aid in the fight against Apocalypse and even created a clone of him as a failsafe. She also facilitated the transfer of Scott and Jean's consciousnesses into new host bodies to raise their son for a decade. This complex narrative eventually saw Rachel and Scott return to their respective timelines, while Cable defeated Apocalypse and ventured further into the future to rescue his sister.
While "X-Men '97" season two may not cover events up to the year 2020, Mother Askani's comic book history strongly suggests her reveal as Rachel Summers and her eventual return to the 1990s by the season's conclusion.