IGN's review of X-Men '97 Season 2, Episode 7, "Strange Land, Savage Heart," praises the instalment for finally giving Colossus significant depth, exploring the compassion that defines both him and Nightcrawler. The episode opens with the death of Colossus's sister Illyana on the day Genosha fell, providing the catalyst for him to abandon Xavier's dream and join Magneto's Acolytes, mirroring his path in the original comics.

The main plot sees Exodus and the Acolytes kidnap bigot Graydon Creed, prompting the newly formed X-Corp team to intervene and prevent his assassination, in a conflict that plays out more as an ideological "trial" than a physical battle, alongside a subplot featuring Bishop and Polaris in the Savage Land. Nightcrawler fails to sway Colossus towards mercy, and Exodus executes Creed regardless, though Colossus ultimately rejoins the Xavier Institute by the episode's end. The instalment closes with a teaser for the season's final two episodes, showing X-Force discovering Apocalypse's remains in Greece, setting up questions about Gambit's fate ahead of the next episode, "The Dead Man's Hand."