What Does The Ending Of X-Men: Apocalypse Really Mean?

What's The Plot?

Ten years after Days Of Future Past, the presence of mutants is known, causing much conflict over their place in human society, forcing our heroes into various different roles: Professor X's school is up and running, Mystique is freeing trapped mutants and Magneto is hiding in Poland.

"First mutant" Apocalypse is resurrected by a cult and takes Storm, Psylocke, Angel and Magneto as his four horsemen. He dispenses with Earth's nuclear arsenal and kidnaps Professor X, destroying the X-Mansion in the process, and sets about cleansing the world of humans.

After the school is destroyed, the X-Men are attacked by William Stryker and the key heroes are taken to Alkali Lake. They are freed by Jean Grey, Cyclops and Nightcrawler, with a little help from a feral Wolverine, and, thanks to a psychic message from Charles, head to Cairo to stop Apocalypse.

And How Does It End?

Apocalypse sets Magneto to work destabilising the Earth's poles while he tries to transfer his consciousness into Professor X to gain his telepathic abilities. The X-Men manage to save Xavier, but not before he loses his hair, and when Apocalypse goes on the offensive, Magneto has a change of heart seeing his old friends in peril (only he can do that). Professor X battles Apocalypse on the astral plane, somewhat unsuccessfully, and is eventually saved by Jean Grey, who uses her Phoenix power along with the rest of the X-Men to defeat the false God.

After the battle, Magneto and Jean rebuild the mansion, Storm joins the school and Mystique starts training a new batch of X-Men. The future begins.

So that's the plot. All pretty simple, right? But there's a lot more to it, and some burning questions raised, so let's get down to the ending breakdown.