Brew’s Crew: That conniving vixen of the UCT, the Matriarch!

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(Editor’s note: This is another in a series of irregularly-scheduled columns by Managing Editor Byron Brewer, mainly dealing with cosmic comics and their many denizens. Mr. Brewer’s opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CosmicBookNews.com. He welcomes both raves and opposing views.)

By Byron Brewer

When you talk Universal Church of Truth, you are talking Matriarch.

I was delighted to see this dedicated villainess in the limelight again when Guardians of the Galaxy started under scribes Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. A Jim Starlin creation, she has always been shrouded in mystery of a sort, and so to see her come alive again was wonderful.

We all know what’s happened since … but I digress.

Anyhoo, the past history of the female from the planet Sirus X remains a mystery. It is known that she was an entrepreneur that ran a brothel, prior to the Magus crossing her path and declaring her the Matriarch of the Universal Church of Truth. She had become unsatisfied with the powers granted to her by the Magus and sought to overthrow him by using his past self, AKA Adam Warlock, to overthrow her messiah and become omnipotent head of the Magus’ galaxy-wide empire.

Matriarch believed that by killing Warlock, the religious domain that she ruled over would cease to exist, so she resorted to electronic brainwashing of Warlock hoping to enslave the Magus as well. Warlock escaped the Matriarch’s mental control by slipping into … madness!

The mischievous Pip the Troll (late – perhaps very late … of X-Factor) often referred to her as Slink; the nature of their relationship remains undefined.

Together with the Magus, she proved to be an expert strategist and efficient leader. They led the fanatical Universal Church of Truth to dominion over thousands of planets throughout the Milky Way. When they encountered a planet whose inhabitants chose to oppose their religious ways, the entire planet went under the process of purification. This purification process meant that the majority of the inhabitants of the planet were destroyed.

When, relatively recently, the Matriarch returned as leader of the UCT, and she was engaged in conflict with Adam Warlock and the Guardians, the Matriarch sent Raker and his Cardinals out to bring back evidence that this new Adam Warlock was authentic by obtaining DNAsamples. The Matriarch possessed a cocoon that she believed held the body of the real Warlock within it. (Uh, news flash from Titan …)

When Raker returned with conclusive DNAproof that this being with the Guardians was truly Adam Warlock, the Matriarch approached the cocoon only to be attacked and threatened by whoever was inside of it. Before she could have the cocoon opened, Adam returned and announced that he was the leader of the UCT.

This Warlock-turned-Magus was seemingly defeated by Star-Lord using a Cosmic Cube obtained by Kang, but not before he seemingly killed several Guardians. (This was later revealed to be an illusion cast by the Magus; the Guardians were held as his prisoners until Phyla-Vell freed them.) The Matriarch later appeared on Knowhere and took Moondragon (handcuffed to Cynosure of the Luminals), who possessed a being within her that the members of the UCT thought to be their new messiah.

The Matriarch was planning to give birth to this being, which would then kill the billions of followers of the Church on the planet. This plot was foiled by the Guardians of the Galaxy who rescued Moondragon with the help of a full squadron of Luminals.

Magus may or may not be gone, but I am sure we will surely see the enigmatic Matriarch again someday. (I doubt it will be in the coming Bendis Guardians … but one can hope).