We finally reach the end of the season. All the plans, all the conspiracies, all the twists and turns have been building up to this. I must admit that I’m also rather relived to have gotten through all these reviews. Keeping up — even with the hiatus – has been tough at times. Coming soon: our reviews of Young Justice: Invasion.

Vandal Savage

50,000 years of life and nothing ever troubled me as the founding of the Justice League. Dedicated to maintaining society’s calcified status quo, the League would protect mankind from disaster, crime, tragedy of any kind. Had you never heard of the survival of the fittest? In essence, you heroes sought to protect humanity from its own glorious evolution!

Previously in “Usual Suspects”: The Light, a collation of super-villains led by Vandal Savage, has been orchestrating a grand conspiracy against the Justice League. The League’s sidekicks, who have been organised into their own covert Team, have frustrated the Light’s plans at several junctures, but have been hamstrung by the knowledge that one them is leaking information to their enemies. Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis were all fated by the villains, but ultimately sided with their team-mates. The villain’s real mole was revealed after the League knelt before Vandal Savage. It was only then that Red Arrow’s mind cleared and he realised that he, the most gung-ho mole hunter, was actually the Light’s sleeper agent.

Dec 31st. Washington DC. Roy Harper, alias Red Arrow, is running for his life in a darkened subway tunnel. He barely dodges an arrow that flies out of the darkness, but is thrown backwards by a grenade arrow before he can return fire. The smoke covers the approach of a scarlet speedster and an orange/green suited superhuman who leaves Red Arrow bloodied. An approaching train covers him as he slips away from them into another tunnel. Its only then that Roy’s pursuers are revealed as Green Arrow, Aquaman, and the Flash.

Aqualad and the Team are returning to Mount Justice after the previous day’s victories against the Light’s henchmen (“Usual Suspects”). However, they still do not who is leaking information about them. Batman stuns them with the news that Red Arrow is the traitor. He and Red Tornado explain how the Roy Harper they knew is actually a Project Cadmus clone created shortly after the real Roy Harper became Green Arrow’s sidekick. He was programmed with a drive to join the Justice League and then betray them to Vandal Savage. Batman claims that they stopped Savage’s plan and that Roy is now an armed fugitive. Batman stresses that the hunt for Roy is now the League’s responsibility.

Over the telepathic link, Aqualad tells his Team that they are nevertheless going after Roy themselves. The Red Tornado, who had remained behind after Batman returned to the Watchtower, appears to suffer some sort of malfunction just as he approaches Aqualad. He completely powers down and Zatanna senses a low-level mystic buzz from him – similar to one she was getting from Batman. Robin also remembers Batman uncharacteristically referring to the Team as “the kids”. Kid Flash then notices that Red Tornado was carrying one of the bio-tech chips they confiscated from the Light. Aqualad concludes that “something is clearly not right”. He orders Robin, Kid Flash, Zatanna, and Rocket to get Red Tornado back online while he rest of them find Roy.

Robin says that the Tornado’s problem is hardware, not software. That reminds Zatanna of the alternative human-like “John Smith” body which the Tornado had built for himself (“Insecurity”). They then download the Tornado’s consciousness from the stalled body into the new one. The Tornado suddenly awakens and shouts a warning to the Team just as Black Canary arrives in the Cave. Her sonic attack rips Red’s new body in two, but the Team take her down with Robin’s knockout gas and one of Rocket’s force bubbles. Red Tornado warns them that Canary was just the start and that they must abandon the Cave. The escape in the Super-Cycle just as the teleporter announces the arrival of Icon, Doctor Fate, and Captain Marvel.

Aqualad tells Artemis, Superboy, and Miss Martian that Roy set up a series of weapons caches after he went solo. They are heading towards one of those. Aqualad kicks open the door to find Roy aiming an arrow at his chest. He tells Roy that they have not come to harm him, but they do want answers. Roy demands proof of Aqualad’s identity so Aqualad tells him that it was Tula who broke his heart (“Downtime”). They leave together and Aqualad tells Roy what they were told about him by Batman. He confirms that he was a sleeper agent programmed to serve the Light, they ordered him to divert suspicion from himself on to Artemis, Miss Martian, and Superboy. He apologies and then drops the bomb-shell that Batman didn’t stop him from betraying the League.

The Super-Cycle then catches up with the Bioship and the two squads compare notes. The entire League is now under the complete mental domination of Vandal Savage. The control is achieved via Starro-Tech devices which bond with a target’s nervous system. The technology is a blend of nano-technology, alien bio-tech, and techno-sorcery that has been able to over come four types of alien, super-humans, and even the Tornado’s android body. However, the Tornado was aware of his own takeover as it happened and created a subroutine that would shut his body down should be attempt to infect anybody else (i.e., Aqualad). Roy is no longer enslaved as Starro-Tech was never used to control him, just old-fashioned mental conditioning that ended after its commands were completed.

Black Canary, Red Tornado (in his original body), and Red Arrow beam back to the Watchtower. Canary explains to Vandal Savage that she was able to reinfect Red Tornado, and then infect Red Arrow and the entire Team. However, Savage tells them that Starro-Tech actually turns a person into a puppet with Klarion pulling the strings. They always know exactly who is and is not infected. Green Lantern Hal Jordan chains them while Savage attaches new Starro-Tech chips to them and monologues about why he and like-minded villains collaborated re-establish the old order of the survival of the fittest. Meanwhile, the Team have covertly entering the Watchtower through an undefended corridor are hidden from Savage as the Tornado was able to wirelessly disable the Watchtower’s internal security systems.

The Team splits up into small groups which that target each of the controlled Leaguers. They engage the heroes in battle and then hold the still or otherwise ambush them by stealth. Once the target’s defences are down the teens place a “Cure-Tech” device on the controlled hero. These were reverse engineered from Starro-Tech by the Team’s allies in Atlantis and elsewhere, but don’t work as fast as the originals. They free the target and prevent reinfection, but also renders the target unconscious for a protracted period. Canary, Tornado, and Red Arrow has been inoculated and there playing dumb to spy on Savage. They are able to quickly neutralise Hal Jordan, but Superman’s returning team turns the tide against them. Savage then orders the Team killed and not captured.

Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, and Icon return via the Hall’s cargo teleporter. Miss Martian manages to take Fate down on the first go, but it takes a second go by Rocket to tag Icon and Zatanna tricks Captain Marvel into reverting to Billy Batson. Zatanna tries to free Zatara, her father, from Doctor Fate’s control, but the Helm of Fate’s magical defences frustrate her efforts even with Fate unconscious. Artemis and Kid Flash have more problems with the Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. The only thing in their favour is that the Starro-Tech slows their mentors actions and Klarion’s experience with their powers is limited. Aqualad arrives evacuates hanger deck into outer-space. The Leaguers are swept off their feet allowing Kid Flash to Cure-Tech them at super-speed.

Robin and Wolf are fighting Hawkwoman in the garden while Rocket has Wonder Woman trapped in a force bubble. The Sphere has Green Lantern John Stewart pinned down. Miss Martian uses her greater telepathic power allows her to scramble the Martian Manhunter’s mind. Superman knocks her out and punches Superboy through several floors. Robin is having no greater luck against Batman. Superboy and Robin then decide to team-up. Superboy helps Robin stun Batman with a cannon-ball manoeuvre. Robin then takes Superman down with kryptonite while Superboy holds him still.

Vandal Savage recognises their defeat and tells Klarion that it is “time to go”. They might be able to win, but at the cost of destroying the League and the Watchtower. And the Light’s long-term plans still needs the Justice League – whether they are in control of them or not. The Team rush onto the Command Deck just as Savage and Klarion teleport out. The League’s computer then sounds that it has passed midnight and that a new year has started. “Auld Lang Syne” plays as Kid Flash finally kisses Artemis, Miss Martian kisses Superboy, Zatanna plants one on Robin, and even Rocket gets in on the act by giving Aqualad a peck on the cheek. After he has recovered, Superman congratulates Superboy and finally reveals his own secret identity to Conner.

Aqualad, Robin, and Red Arrow meet with the League’s leaders to discuss what they have learnt. Red Arrow swears that he will find the real Roy Harper. However, the Light are already removing the cryogenically frozen Match and original Roy from Cadmus’s secret store rooms. Green Arrow and Black Canary leave to help Red Arrow build a new life, but Aqualad and Robin stays with Batman and the others. They explain that the entire League was under Savage’s control for little over a day. They can account for the movements of all the Leaguers except for a sixteen-hour window where the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Superman, and Batman vanished. Batman is left pondering “Sixteen hours! What did we do?”

• This episode takes place on December 31st, New Years Eve.
• The Starro-Tech process takes 0.16 nano-seconds.
• Six Justice Leaguers – Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Superman, and Batman – were missing for sixteen hours whilst under the Light’s control.
• The Light kidnapped the original Roy Harper, alias Speedy, shortly after he became Green Arrow’s sidekick and kept him cryogenically frozen at Cadmus. A replacement was cloned and programmed to betray the Justice League. That replacement Roy Harper refused to join the team and eventually took the costumed identity of Red Arrow.

Flashbacks

About 2 minutes in – Batman’s description of Roy’s origins: Roy storming out of the Justice League meeting in “Independence Day”, snubbing the Team from “Welcome to Happy Harbor”, raiding Infinity Island from “Infiltrator”, and then accepting League membership in “Usual Suspects”

About 7 minutes in – Flashback to Sportsmaster confronting Roy in “Targets”.

About 9 minutes in – Red Arrow’s mind clearing at the end of “Usual Suspects”

About 11 minutes in – Vandal Savage’s monologue. The Light reveal from “Revelations”, Starro tentacle from “Downtime”, Hugo Strange from “Terrors”, Batman’s infection from “Usual Suspects”, Dr Desmond from “Independence Day”, Mammoth’s transformation from “Drop-Zone”, Amazo appearance from “Schooled”, techno-sorcery example from “Insecurity”, Guardian from “Independence Day”, Injustice League from “Revelations”, Queen Bee from “Image”, and Psimon from “Bereft”.

The Team’s Character Arcs

Superboy

Superboy begins the series in a fairly unstable state. He’s rejected by Superboy in “Fireworks” and spends the first batch of episodes brooding. It’s not until the confrontation with Black Canary in “Schooled” that he begins to settle. However, it’s really after he starts bonding with Miss Martian in “Bereft”, “Targets”, and “Terrors” that he properly mellows out. The best example of this is in “Disordered” when we see him out on his own for once and he’s actually a very level-headed and effective operator. His reaction to Miss Martian’s true appearance in “Usual Suspects” is just another example of this.

Superboy’s lingering issue is his (preprogrammed?) wish to replace Superman. He experiences peace in that role in “Failsafe”, but when offered Superman’s full power in the real world (“Image”) he finds that it brings out the worst side of him. His closure comes when Superman finally opens up to him in this episode. Maybe it’s Superman failure to engage with Superboy that prompts him to start building a family of his own. It is, after all, he who adopts the Sphere/Super-Cycle (“Bereft”, “Disordered”) and Wolf (“Secrets”?).

Red Arrow

Red Arrow was something of a stealth character. He appeared to vanish after the first episode, but became an increasingly important character as the season went along. The revelation that this Roy Harper was also a clone was buried until the last episode, but there were clues. The Guardian who worked with Cadmus from the start is another, older clone of Roy Harper. He’s voiced by Crispin Freeman, the same voice actor as Roy and the Producers have consistently cast the same voice actor to play related characters. Speedy resists joining the Team in “Welcome to Happy Harbor” as he’s still aiming for the League itself. Then when we see him as Red Arrow in “Infiltrator”, “Targets”, and “Insecurity” its in cases that happen to involve the League of Shadows.

We see just how close the League of Shadow’s oversight of him is in this episode when the real version of his escape from Sportsmaster in “Targets” is shown. The placement of the original scene is clever. Sportsmaster quips “more like Broken Arrow” and we then cut to another scene. Then when they cut back, Sportsmaster and Cheshire are slowly walking towards Red Arrow, but he doesn’t move. You wouldn’t catch it if you didn’t know the detail of him being a sleeper agent. He then grimaces – at the time we think that it’s just a reaction to his situation, but we now know that its him coming out of the programming trance. Cheshire waves hello to him, as if to say welcome back, and Sportsmaster pretends to drive him away. Roy then calls Aqualad and tells him “I may, possibly, be in over my head.”

Kid Flash

Kid Flash’s story arc has really been about his maturity and/or lack of it. He immediately hits on Miss Martian in “Fireworks” and remains completely oblivious to her relationship with Superboy until Artemis breaks the news to him in “Coldhearted”. He’s often shown as the one who wants everything to have a nice clean answer. That’s partly what gets him into trouble in “Denial”, but it’s also what drives his constant arguing with Artemis throughout the season. He wants to know who she is. He reacts strongly to her death in “Failsafe”, but blanks the reason for it during “Disordered”. Its only after his rescue of the Queen in “Coldhearted” that he allows himself to act more maturely. He wants to accept Artemis in “Insecurity” and is relieved to finally know the truth in “Usual Suspects”.

Robin

Robin’s story arc is a lot like Kid Flash’s arc. He also has an early episode that causes him to examine his own maturity. In his case it’s in “Drop-Zone” where he has to face that he isn’t ready to be the Team’s leader yet. Despite that, it’s still Robin who gets to step up as the leader in Aqualad’s absence in “Failsafe”. That exposes him to the consequences of Batman like leadership and he doesn’t like it at all, as he confesses to Black Canary in “Disordered”. Nevertheless, he increasingly takes a second-in-command role in later episodes and effectively leads the Team in “Image” and in “Performance”. That latter appearance is important as it’s completely Robin’s mission. He takes the Team off on his own and has to keep them together. Even in the last episode, Aqualad steps up when Roy, his friend, is involved, but Robin’s the one making the play on the Watchtower and doing the talking during the debriefing afterwards.

Miss Martian

The team’s first non-founding member was Miss Martian. She first appeared at the end of “Fireworks” and we immediately see her attraction to Superboy. From the start, she has this very strange bi-polar personality. She’s emotionally vulnerable and wants to project this sweet, perfect teen image, but her raw power and her persecution on Mars has hardened her in ways she doesn’t really want to admit. The duality between the person she wants people to see and the person she actually is underscores most of her character development. We see this first in “Welcome to Happy Harbor” where she’s trying too hard and almost flunks out of the Team.

Megan and Superboy share a run of three mid-season episodes in which really cement their relationship. They share a mind-meld in “Bereft”, go to school together in “Targets”, and the finally kiss in “Terrors”. Throughout it all we get the “Hello Megan” catchphrase and her attempts to appear like a perfect human girl. The truth is only revealed in “Image” when we see the true origin of her Megan persona. A related sub-plot is her repressed power. It’s the key behind “Failsafe” and surfaces during her defeat of Psimon in “Image”.

Aqualad

Aqualad’s character arc is oddly low-key. He gets a significant early season episode with “Downtime” where we get to see the splendour of Atlantis and his heart-ache at Tula and Garth’s relationship. That sub-plot is played out more in the companion comic-book. He becomes the Team’s leader almost by default in “Drop-Zone”. However, it’s not a role he ever seems confident in. His position is most starkly illustrated in “Failsafe” when he’s shown as unable to sacrifice a friend for the cause. He is burdened by duty – to Atlantis, to Aquaman, to his friends, to the Team. He accepts it, but he doesn’t revel in it. He leads because somebody has to and not because its something he wants to do.

Artemis

Fans thought that Artemis was the prelaunch red-herring and threw out endless names of who she could be. However, the truth was hidden in plain sight. She was Artemis Crock, the daughter of the Sportsmaster and the Huntress, exactly the same as the Artemis character in the comics. We saw the Sportsmaster first in “Drop-Zone”, then a cameo by Artemis’s arrow fired in “Schooled”‘s Amazo fight, and her proper introduction in “Infiltrator”. She had a secret origin in the comic book, but confirmation of her parentage took a while to appear on-screen.

Artemis covered her back story by claiming to be Green Arrow’s niece, but the mystery around her confounded Kid Flash and helped build the sexual-tension between them. Red Arrow also distrusted her – he knew Arrow’s real family tree – and focused attention on her and not himself as the mole. Her struggle with the pressure was high-lighted in “Humanity” and caused her to blow the mission in “Agendas”. The events in “Usual Suspects” nicely subverted her worries when she was unambiguously accepted by her peers and even her sister Cheshire sided with her against their father.

Unresolved Character Sub-plots

Being things carried over into Young Justice: Invasion.

• Aqualad — Pretty much a blank slate. Where will duty take him next?
• Artemis — Building a relationship with Kid Flash.
• Kid Flash — Building a relationship with Artemis.
• Miss Martian — How powerful is she really? What does that mean for the people around her.
• Red Arrow — Where is the original Roy Harper?
• Robin — Is he ready to be leader? What will he become if he doesn’t want to follow Batman.
• Superboy — He’s found closure with Superman’s acceptance and must now build a proper relationship with him.

The Light’s Master Plan

This episode and the last are really the ones where all the strands of the season finally come together to show what the Light have really been up to, the subjugation and control of the Justice League. Each and every crime committed by the Light have been about establishing control over one or other members of the Justice League or Team and/or advancing their research into the Starro-Tech devices.

The Origins of the Bio-Tech chips.

The endeavour that the Light have been expending most of their energy upon is the development of Starro-Tech. The Starro creature that served as the basis of the technology first appeared in “Downtime” where Black Manta tried to steal it for the Light. He was unsuccessful, but Ocean Master (Prince Orm, his ID was only revealed in the spin-off comic) was able to send a fragment of its tentacle to STAR Labs on the surface. Orm claimed that it was so that it could be studied, but it was actually being placed where the rest of the Light could more easily steal it. This was achieved by the Riddler and Sportsmaster in “Misplaced” while Klarion distracted the Justice League and the Team.

Ra’s Al Ghul’s League of Shadows provided much of the Light’s dirty work with the Sportsmaster being their prime gopher. It was he who secured the Kobra Venom and acted as Red Arrow’s handler. It was also the League of Shadows responsibility to secure Starro-Tech’s nanotechnology component in the form of the Utility Fog developed by Dr Rockette in “Infiltrator”. The nano-technology was originally to have been engineered into the chips by T.O. Morrow, but his own schemes and failed attempt to reprogram the Red Tornado removed him from the game forcing the Light to recruit Professor Ivo instead (Klarion was surprised by the change in “Insecurity”).

The Injustice League that appeared in “Revelations” was a distraction and a red-herring for the League after they began to suspect that somebody was moving against them. Likewise, Sportsmaster’s boast in “Targets” that there was a mole on Aqualad’s Team kept them second guessing. However, the Injustice League incident also allowed the Light to study the combination of biology, technology, and sorcery via Poison Ivy’s vines. That same combination would then be used in “Insecurity” to merged the stolen Starro sample with the Utility Fog nano-technology and Klarion’s magic to create the final Starro-Tech chips.

The Team were able to rapidly create an antidote and vaccine to Starro-Tech with the help of the scientists who had created or studied the technologies stolen by the Light. These were Doctor Vulko who originally studied the Starro creature and Queen Mera who is a tutor at the Atlantean Conservatory of Sorcery (both from “Downtime”). They were helped by Doctor Sterling Rockette, who created the Utility Fog in “Infiltrator”, and Doctor Spence, who is the chief scientist in Cadmus as shown in “Agendas”.

Control

The Light have been very active in creating their own Justice League’s equivalent operatives. We saw this from the very first episode “Independence Day” with the development of the Superman clone (Superboy and the earlier Match shown in “Agendas”) and then later on with the revelations about Red Arrow. However, there was also the Blockbuster formula (from “Independence Day”) that was then perfected by the Cult of Kobra by merging it with the super-steroid Venom (“”). Its Kobra Venom created Mammoth, Wolf, and the host of animals that the Brain was testing it upon.

Klarion’s attempt to steal the Helm of Fate was about controlling Doctor Fate and Morrow’s activities can be seen as trying to control the Red Tornado.The Light have also been engaged in trying to bring entire countries under their control. Through the Queen Bee they control Bialya and via Lex Luthor’s negotiations they how have a foothold in Rhelasia. However, their attempts to gain control of the Vlatavan throne via Count Vertigo and invade Qurac by mind controlling its leader were both defeated by the Team.

The Unseen Player

The unseen player in all of this is Apokolips. We saw Apokolips granting weaponry to the Light in “Bereft” when Superboy liberated the Super-Cycle. That supply was highlighted in “Disordered” when Desaad appeared to be behind supplies given to Intergang. However, the same weaponry was used by Bailyian soldiers (“Image”) and Santa Priscian fighters (“Usual Suspects”). I find it hard to believe that Apokolips and even Darkseid would appear as a simple arms dealers. I expect we’ll see them again at some point.

The one element that seems out-of-place if the Parasite’s testing of a black hole generator in “Performance”. I though he was trying to create the Light’s own boom tube. It may be that the portal the six Justice League reappear through in this episode is the culmination of that work, but it isn’t addressed.

Producers Comments

• Dr Spence, Dubbilex, and the Genomorphs – who are shown at the end of this episode – were not dead. (Ask Greg #15739).

Misc.

• Trope – Red Tornado loosing his legs. They were melted in “Humanity”, yet are removed twice in this episode – John Smith’s legs are removed by Black Canary and then his Red Tornado legs are removed by the Justice League.
• Six of the Justice Leaguers were missing for sixteen hours – the Martian Manhunter, Superman, Green Lantern John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Batman. These six are the same as the original Justice League from the DC Animated Universe Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series. The only member who is missing is the Flash, but the DCAU’s Flash is actually Wally West, who is a member of the Team instead of the League in this continuity.

Highlights

• Everything.

Oddities

• Really, the Justice League main computer doesn’t have a better sound processor than that?

My Thoughts