In Santa Prisca - yes, Bane's island where the trap for "USUAL SUSPECTS" was set five years ago - the Light and the Reach have organized a formal meeting to address grievances. The Reach have brought their often flustered Ambassador as well as their lead scientist, a bunch of expendable minions, and the seemingly unbeatable Black Beetle. Four out of the seven of the Light have seemingly assembled (Vandal Savage, Black Manta, Ra's Al Ghul, and the Brain) as well as their own "security" squad of minions (Aqualad, Tigress, Ubu, Mallah, and Deathstroke). The Reach take the Light to task for improperly guarding the "Beetle site" in Bialya where the team successfully liberated Green and Blue Beetles. While of course the Light wanted the team to succeed and in fact allowed it deliberately, Vandal covered it by claiming ignorance because the Reach are often stingy with details - which isn't untrue. We also learn the exact terms of their alliance - that supposedly the Light would be the Reach's favored agents in return to aiding them in enslaving the earth - although Black Manta hardly seems to have accepted such terms. After about the first few minutes, though, the situation quickly falls apart for our villains - just about the first time that's really happened for the Light.
While there are a ton of characters and quite a few character moments, if any one had focus this episode, it was Kaldur. In this episode we see the many ways in which he differs from his father Black Manta, as well as other areas where they're similar. It seems that Kaldur is capable of being just as ruthless, if not more so, than his father; on the other hand, he also appears far more patient and calculating. When a fight quickly breaks out between minions, it is Kaldur who calls some order. By the end of the episode one could easily see Kaldur taking command of Black Manta's forces if he so chose; although of course he wouldn't employ them for plunder. On the downside, it's Ra's who notices the "glamour charm" for the first time on Tigress, and exposes her as Artemis. The episode proceeds with quite a clever slight of hand. I'll admit a part of me gasped when Deathstroke "shot" the two of them, until I remembered there was still half an episode left and that by this count, Artemis had seemingly "died" at least three times (the others being "FAILSAFE" and "DEPTHS"). It naturally turns out that the Light's only mistake - underestimating "the team" because of their young ages - proved to cost them dearly. While a part of me still thinks Vandal Savage was a little suspicious of Kaldur back in "THE FIX" when Psimon was sicced on him, he naturally had nothing to prove his suspicions. Everything Kaldur had to do to earn his passage into the Light in prior episodes, he did. And with Psimon put out of commission and a "Martian psychic booby-trap" being the best explanation, there was no logical proof to no longer trust him (even if less than Black Manta did for obvious reasons). Much as I predicted, the infiltration of the Light wasn't merely to learn about their partner in the invasion - it was to get in deep enough until a critical time when all or most of them were together at once, and then stage a raid. After all, the Light rarely all assemble physically in one place. It was good to eat my words a little as we see the Light slip up for once; in a show where the defeat of the antagonists was rare, it thus becomes an event and something worth weight and sacrifice when it happens. It isn't just beating Mum-Ra every week like a routine, and thus it feels like the sort of epic accomplishment it should be.
Lots of action in this episode as naturally the Light always have counter plans of their own; a cave which they designed, and a horde of league of shadows ninja at the ready, and Klarion's absence all season being revealed. To a point this was an episode of Xanatos Gambits vs. Xanatos Gambits. Still, while the Light suffered their worst blow in 50,000 years (according to Vandal), they didn't flee empty handed. Aside for the Brain and Manta, they all fled, with Savage and Klarion managing to flee with the Warworld - quite a hefty consolation prize. And it seems that the League of Shadows aren't any harder to infiltrate as Black Manta's organization, as several team members snuck inside wearing their ninja gear. While Aqualad vs. Black Manta was easily the highlight "match" of the episode, just about everyone got to spank some expendable minions. Not that such thing are usually impressive - any named character can usually beat nameless henchmen if the plot desires, from G. Gordon Godfrey to Lian - but at least the scene was storyboareded well enough that it's at least an entertaining fight against expendable minions. Black Beetle impales Ra's and sends him for another bath in the Lazarus Pit; I was a bit miffed since while Ra's was clever enough to reveal Artemis, we saw none of his swordsmanship skills in action. Believe it or not, the last time I saw Ra's actually fight anyone in animation, it was in "BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD", despite him appearing in two seasons of this show and "BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD". Not to nitpick too much, but Black Beetle sneaking up on someone should rarely happen considering he's some 8 feet tall and rarely very quiet about it. It's akin to a usual pro wrestling match when someone is caught off guard by a 6' 10'', 500 lb behemoth with a chair with an entire audience shouting a warning. In fairness of course, while Ra's can fight he's hardly an unbeatable master combatant even in the comics - he gets sent to the Lazarus Pit A LOT. I did like that little moment when Ubu seems to gain some might once he saw Ra's collapse. That Ubu, a loyal minion he be.
While there has been chatter about how poor a combatant Black Manta has seemed, I was probably more interested in how his subplot with Kaldur ended. Naturally, themes with less-than-noble fathers and their children have come up quite a bit in Greg Weisman productions, and while Black Manta may hardly be the perfect father (willing to "beat" a lesson into his son), it seemed clear that Black Manta genuinely cared for his son far more than Sportsmaster cared for his "baby girls" or in another show, Norman Osborn for his son, Harry. This angle naturally made a villain who could have been one note seem a bit more noble and even tragic than he could have been; yes, he was a terrible villain willing to plunder and murder, but he was still played like a fiddle by the son he did a lot for once he came around. From his perspective, it wasn't unreasonable for him to want vengeance on Miss Martian after she rendered Kalder catatonic and to do anything to fix him. Black Manta was trying to train Kaldur to take over the family business and be a better man; it just happened that the family business was plunder. As noted before, Kaldur seemed to inherit some sense of ruthlessness from his father, and naturally the bit where Kaldur dons some armor from one of the "Manta-men" in "DOWNTIME" could now be seen as prophetic. In the end of course, as Kaldur stated, while Manta has some nobility to him, he's twisted it in his zeal for personal gain and conquest. I did notice some of the militant code-words to Black Manta, such as "free man" and his position that one had to be merciless to carve out a piece of a world against you. Did he get wrecked a lot? Sure, but many villains do. At least he had a personality, and without expecting it we got the sort of father/son conflict that a lot of superhero shows have but usually telegraph more due to experience. He had it coming, but it is sympathetic to be betrayed by a son that you did genuinely love, even if for a worthy cause. By giving villains some noble qualities, you give them more weight and that's one of the many things this episode, and show, does well.
But of course to ignore the one detail of this episode would be to ignore the detail which caused a certain section of the message board forums to quiver in anticipation - the return of Kid-Flash. It had been a mere eight episodes since the show'd utilized him, and while his scene at the end of "DARKEST" was rather good, his theory of Aqualad being a triple agent wound up being paranoia. There are some who insisted that some arc was happening for him, and that with a little patience more would come. I, on the other hand, saw the writing on the wall at the start of the season and eventually even Greg Weisman acknowledged that as the season wound on he wasn't one of its leads. There is a part of me who felt that one of the founding characters of the show shouldn't have been dismissed so easily and steadily, but them's the breaks and that's how the story sorted out. While his appearance here was fun, there was a slight awkwardness to it and he still did no more than I expected - he beats some minions, and he reunites with Artemis (no levers were pulled). He's HER boyfriend, not the other way around; she is the dominant character in the show's universe to me. As I have stated before, this is perhaps a case of equal time as there have been many otherwise perfectly engaging heroines reduced to merely being the girlfriend of some male hero in comics or animation - one could argue even Wonder Woman has been reduced to this in the current JUSTICE LEAGUE comic. They have a "battle couple" moment together, and some sassy dialogue with each other. More to the point, we saw none of the concerned seriousness that Wally seemed to have in most of his prior appearances - especially "DEPTHS", "DARKEST", and even "BLOODLINES". Here Wally's joking around like he used to do in Season 1, with nary any of the serious concern he usually had this season. The "Didja miss me, Vandy?" line was naturally a shout-out to "COLDHEARTED", but also probably surprising from the same guy who seemed to be the voice of doom every time he spoke in earlier episodes. After all, you knew it was dangerous when Wally was the one warning Nightwing, right? The bottom line? Despite a lot of hemming and hawing and what has seemed like years worth of debates, I'm close enough to spike the football here. Kid-Flash spent this episode as he did prior ones this season; as a support character. He had no reason to exist this season aside to support Artemis, Impulse, Red Arrow, and Nightwing. He also "passes the torch" to Impulse for the right to use his mantle, which was another shout out to "BLOODLINES" and the whole Flash family thing. I know Bart Allen becomes Kid-Flash in the comics, but I always found Impulse to be a better name (even if Wally had outgrown a "kid" name by this season). It's a cute moment and they have some good lines together, but I can't help but wonder if Wally's absence hindered it. Impulse treats it as a grand gesture, and while I am sure it was symbolically, the fact that Wally retired and spent most of the season that way sort of lessened the impact - the unintentional feeling was Wally essentially dumping a mantle he no longer wanted on his more powerful and ever eager time flung relative. "Here, sport, go be Kid-Flash now so I can retire with my hot girlfriend, again."
Artemis naturally issued some delicious lines, whether to Ra's or to Wally, and her own arc seemed to end. Wally seemed content to return to retirement after that battle - again, the fact that he says that after two costumed appearances amounting to little in roughly a year's worth of time makes it seem hollow. We never found out exactly why they retired, beyond just wanting a normal life. Naturally in "THE FIX" we learned that Artemis regretted taking up Nightwing's offer and is probably eager to return to retirement as well. Unlike Wally, such a thing for her doesn't seem hollow because she was utilized a lot this season - especially in a role which forced her into posing as the sort of criminal that Sportsmaster would have preferred and she'd spent her life avoiding. The show had teased her death twice this season, but the fact that it seemed to work every time sort of cemented what a lynch-pin she was for this season. While "the plan" may have belonged to Kaldur and Nightwing, it was she who became instrumental in its success by the final act. Unlike with Wally, I can understand why she would want to retire more; she's done with having a taste of villainy which reminds her of her terrible father, and she's sought a stable family life since Cheshire left when she was a child. Whereas due to the lack of focus, it can be easy to assume that Wally was merely a superhero until he was worthy enough of a "spitfire" and then quit while he was ahead, and literally nothing could get him off that couch aside for a reunion. I imagine this would have been handled better in a longer season, but apparently this season needed room for the runaways and more of Arsenal. There's rumors via Twitter of something altering this dynamic for "ENDGAME", but these are the same people who have seen some lofty Flash arc coming forever. They've been wrong for months and I believe nothing until I see it. It may seem as if it was "natural" for Wally to become Flash in a theoretical third season, but given the current state of DC Comics, I am not sure. A third season may have phased them out a bit more. Regardless, seasons that won't be don't count; it's what the show leaves us with which will.
Naturally, the newer class get to step up a bit; Impulse and Beast Boy get to take down Brain and Mallah, after all. I imagine the latter was an homage to the "Brotherhood of Evil" arc from TEEN TITANS, which is an odd thing to homage since in this show, Queen Bee killed Gar's mother and he never met Mento or the Doom Patrol. Between the impaling of Ra's and the gorilla bite, I was impressed that this show seemed to stretch what CN would allow in terms of violence for any show which isn't dubbed anime. Lagoon Boy manages to save Miss Martian from Klarion's fire-dragon spell, which for some seemed awkward because they broke up last episode; I thought it worked for me. Firstly because it gave Lagoon Boy a good power moment after a season of being beaten down and captured a lot, and also because it gave the hint that there was no ill will between them and maybe even a future. I mean, do ALL couples just break up once and that's it? Just because Miss Martian feels La'Gann is just a rebound, means she has to feel that way forever? That just because she dumped him, Lagoon Boy can't still care for Miss Martian and be there for her when she needs him? While I still say Megan may not be a "dream girlfriend" until she comes to terms with her own identity issues, but she may still be La'Gann's "angelfish". Beast Boy seems to get in the only line of disapproval about Nightwing's whole manipulation, and while amusing it did seem like a cop out. The show hadn't ignored fall-out from the plan - Superboy and Lagoon Boy did chew Nightwing out a bit in "THE FIX" - but what about the other members? Beast Boy was among those literally allowed to be captured and tortured by the Reach for days until being rescued. It was essential but still not pleasant, I imagine, in the long term. Miss Martian naturally got her chance to work around Artemis' "death" and the mixed emotions it brought, but what about the others? They didn't mind their emotions being manipulated for theater? Or is earth-16 like the regular DCU where people die and come back every second Tuesday? Much like some of the stuff with Wally, I imagine this is another victim of the shortened season, but it perhaps could have been designed better. I expected Nightwing's plan to cause a serious moral dilemma for the rest of his peers once they found out; instead it's all high fives and milk shakes because they captured some bad guys and nobody died (beyond all performances to the contrary).
Let's talk about some villains. There have been some complaints that Deathstroke was essentially written out in exposition, but I didn't mind this too much because it was required for the surprise. Besides, after 5 seasons of "TEEN TITANS" I had gotten a lot of Slade so I didn't mind him being dismissed too much. I have seen other complaints about Vandal Savage and Klarion swiftly beating three Leaguers before making off with Warworld, but I also don't see this as a major concern. There wasn't enough time to show the battle and in the end it's details; Klarion is more than powerful enough to beat the three of them, especially with the element of surprise. "Why didn't Vandal Savage kill them/take them hostage?" There wasn't time, and if he'd done either, the heroes would have made more effort to follow him if they were seeking a rescue or to avenge their own. By that point Vandal Savage was in damage control; his alliance with the Reach was shattered and his Light was scattered. It was time to cut his losses and flee with his major prize, the Warworld. After all, within the right hands it IS an army of one, where he can forge a new path on some other planet, or at least a solid defense until he and Klarion plan anew. It was a tactical retreat; a rare one for Vandal but still one which was needed. Him zealously fighting to the last or scoring "bodies" out of spite would have been counter productive. Besides, he's employed the League as pawns in his plans many times, and you never know when Black Canary or Captain Marvel may be useful for such things. While Savage's flaw may be arrogance in regards to youths, he also is patient. A successful getaway is worth a lot, especially compared to the Vandal Savage of Bruce Timm/Dwayne McDuffie who tended to stick around for losing battles. In contrast, a villain who fights to the last and out of spite is Black Beetle, which is exactly how "ENDGAME" has been planned - his attempt to slash and burn the earth before fleeing a failed investment before the GL's show up. Aside for when Green Beetle "beat" him in "TRUE COLORS" - presumably an act to quickly endear him with the heroes - Black Beetle has never been defeated in combat, and he's taken on the entire team and a "scarab controlled" Jaime at once. Black Beetle relishes combat to a fault, as he has many times this season when he could have ended many battles but instead took too much time playing with his food. If the Ambassador's flaw was being feckless and weak willed, Black Beetle's flaw is being too much of the other way around - more warrior, less strategist. The Ambassador finally got his comeuppance, but it was easy to feel a little sorry for the Reach Scientist, being tossed between two megalomaniacs.
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and I'm considering having the death of Barry be the opening scene. I think it'd be the next logical major event in the YJ world's story. Something has gotta snap Wally out of this "I'm too scared to play hero" nonsense. It would rock the Flash family to the core not to mention the League. Impulse would undoubtedly be seen as too young and immature to pick up the mantle so they'd probably approach Wally... who's proven himself before.
That was cool
It's a lovefest over here by comparison.
