Guardian's secret plan inAlpha Flight borrows heavily from a plot from the originalX-Factor. With the mutants having fallen after the second Mutant Massacre, Canada is looking out for any signs of mutant life within its borders. Orchis has convinced Earth's governments that mutants are secretly evil, and that they murdered many of humanity's greatest emissaries. Considering the fact that Captain Krakoa is terrorizing the world, Canada has good reason to believe that mutants cannot be trusted.

With Orchis' blessing, the Canadian government is banishing the very people it once relied on to protect the country. The Alpha Flight team has returned, and Guardian, Shaman, Snowbird, and Puck are apparently ready to betray those who were once their closest friends. Only all is not as it seems. Alpha Flight isn't truly turning their backs on their mutant teammates, and they have secretly been inspired by the X-Factor team from the 1980s.

RELATED:What If...? Revealed How Alpha Flight Could Have Easily Destroyed the X-Men

How Life Has Changed for Canada's Mutants

It has never been especially easy to be a superhero in Canada. Mutants rarely face the sort of discrimination that they do in the United States, but that hardly means that life is perfect. Superheroes themselves are often the target of government attacks. Long beforeAmerica's superheroes descended into Civil War, Canada had a registration event of its own. The nation passed the Super-Powers Registration Act in 1993'sAlpha Flight #120 (created by Simon Furman, Pat Broderick, Bruce Patterson, Bob Sharen, and Janice Chiang). As a consequence, every Canadian with superpowers was drafted onto Alpha Flight or one of its superhuman teams.

That Canada is now targeting mutants directly is the largest change that has come from Fall of X. Instead of controlling every hero equally, the government is focusing its attention on one small population. That is what made it so unbelievable that the non-mutant Alpha Flight members would turn on their mutant partners. Every single member of Alpha Flight has suffered the same indignities and discriminations that the mutants are currently dealing with. That's exactly why Alpha Flight is leaning into an oldX-Factorplot.

RELATED:Canada Dispatched Alpha Flight On A Disastrous First Mission Against An X-Men Favorite

X-Factor's Greatest Mistake

When Jean Grey came back to life after the events of theDark Phoenix Saga, everything changed for the original X-Men. They banded back together, disguised themselves, and formed X-Factor — a group of hunters on a mission to capture and cage young mutants. If that was a bizarre move for the original X-Men, it was because they were secretly moving to gather newly manifesting mutants. When they needed their powers, the five would return as the X-Terminators — the undisguised original X-Men. It eventually proved to be an abhorrent decision that only increased the public's fear of young mutants. If the X-Terminators wanted to help their fellow mutants, they utterly failed.

Alpha Flight appears to be doing the same. Instead of directly standing up against the Canadian government, they are merely playing the part of obedient stooges. In actuality, they are working with the rebel mutants: Northstar, Aurora, Fang, and Nemesis. It allows them to rescue mutants in need while delaying Canada's efforts to sabotage mutant escapes. The rebel Alpha Flight members need time to put together a ship to Chandilar. Taking a page out of X-Factor's book could buy them whatever time they need.

RELATED:Fall of X’s Biggest Returning Team Has a Violent History With the X-Men

Alpha Flight Is Improving on X-Factor's Plan

Those differences are exactly why Alpha Flight's plan is so much more reliable than X-Factor's. Alpha Flight is actually communicating with their teammates, rather than leaving them in the dark like X-Factor did. The original X-Men never told the new X-Men team about their plans, which led to public clashes and a bitter war. It even led to a profound rivalry that took months to ease. Alpha Flight's colleagues, on the other hand, are all aware of the plan. The rebels are seemingly working with the surviving mutants in America, and they are well-coordinated with their non-mutant teammates. It's a vast difference that could completely change the team's success.

Additionally, instead of coming at a time of relative tranquility for mutants, Alpha Flight is making their move afterthe world-shattering Mutant Massacre. There are few allies left on Earth for the mutants, and they have very little left to lose on their home world. Sentinels everywhere are tracking their every move, and most mutants have been sent into exile. Their only safe haven is a world embroiled in civil war. Even if Alpha Flight's plan backfires the way X-Factor's did, there is little damage that they can actually do to mutants. It is difficult to sink public opinion further when mutants supposedly butchered politicians in Washington, DC.

Alpha Flight is also taking care not to insult mutants on the world stage. Even when hunting down Argent inAlpha Flight#1 (created by Ed Brisson, Scott Godlewski, Matt Milla, and Travis Lanham), they take care to remind the public — as cameras roll — that the mutant has no prior incidents. They give Northstar and Argent the opportunity to share their side of the story with the public. The mutants can reach a public that might otherwise ignore their words, and they can plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the people. Another benefit is that Alpha Flight has no intentions of making this a long-term plan. This is instead meant to be a temporary move to get the mutants to Chandilar. They can play the enforcers, while the mutants play the heroes. The non-mutant Alpha Flight members only need to pretend for so long, rather than retaining a failing strategy like X-Factor did. Even if the cover starts to slip, the mutants still have the time needed to get away.

Alpha Flight may not be aware that they are borrowing strategies from the original X-Factor team, but that could be to their benefit. In subtle and practically imperceptible ways,Canada's premiere superhero team has improved on X-Factor's mistakes. The team is standing tall to protect their mutant allies. In doing so, they are proving to be better allies to the mutant cause than Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, or Angel were when they still called themselves the X-Terminators. If the mutants can escape to Chandilar, it will be in large part due to Alpha Flight's support.