Marvel’s Runaways season 3: Which Master of the Mystic Arts trained Nico Minoru?

In the season three finale of Marvel’s Runaways, Nico Minoru returned to her friends with an assortment of new powers at her disposal. She briefly alluded to training with a master but didn’t specify who. Was it Stephen Strange?

Before getting ahead of ourselves, Nico Minoru probably didn’t train with Stephen Strange in season 3 of Marvel’s Runaways. She left to learn from someone much more experienced than herself in the penultimate episode of season 3, but that probably wasn’t the Sorcerer Supreme. Our guess is it was the Witchbreaker.

The reason we suspect Witchbreaker had some role to play are the abilities Nico came back with. A brief glimpse at Future Nico (Lyrica Okano) showed her meditating and floating above the ground. Her reunion with the Runaways then showcased her ability to cast spells without the Staff of One. These powers are important because Nico learned similar tricks in a particular comic-arc.

During a brief event where the Runaways were displaced in time, Nico Minoru wound up in 1907. There, she met with one of her ancestors who agreed to train her. The Witchbreaker then taught Nico how to properly use the Staff of One — and magic in general — without the use of an artifact to manifest her abilities. Mind you, Nico escaped the Witchbreaker’s grasp with her ancestor’s own staff, which tells us they didn’t part ways amicably.

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In any case, the live-action version of Nico showcasing these same abilities all but confirms our theory about the Witchbreaker. There’s a small possibility that Nico learned from another Master, but our guess is the Runaways’ writers stuck to characters within their respective universes when they chose which Master of the Mystic Arts to name as Nico’s teacher.

What’s more interesting is the potential for Witchbreaker to have an expanded role in the Runaways’ universe. Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin) and Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz) both figured out time travel in the future so they could easily travel back to the 1900s where Witchbreaker is located. Once there, it would simply be a matter of Witchbreaker hitching a ride back to the present.

On the other hand, perhaps Nico was sent to train under a different master. It would have to be someone well-versed in harnessing dark energy so Stephen Strange and Wong can be ruled out. But their former ally Baron Mordo stands to be a viable candidate.

While Mordo did extract Jonathan Pangborn’s magic in the Doctor Strange post-credits sequence as part of his sick new philosophy, it’s possible he’s had a change of heart. Or perhaps Mordo sought Nico out, all in an effort to obtain more power from a witch with unlimited potential. Posing as a mentor isn’t new to Mordo either and he could’ve easily convinced Nico to train with him.

Sadly, we’ll never learn exactly what happened. There’s a small chance the Runaways will appear elsewhere and we’ll find out who Nico trained with, though odds are this is the last time we’ve seen these young heroes onscreen.

Who do you think Nico trained with during her time away? Let us know in the comments.