"Young Justice: Phantoms" Season Four Talkback (Spoilers)

[Mostezli]

I don't know if that tracks with the fact that the saboteur put Kryptonite on the bomb unless the Legion really misread what the saboteur was after.

I just now noticed Beast Boy mentioned it was laced with Kryptonite after he died...which is strange because Superboy didn't & said he's the most immune person to this bomb to disarm it.

 

[Frontier]

I just now noticed Beast Boy mentioned it was laced with Kryptonite after he died...which is strange because Superboy didn't & said he's the most immune person to this bomb to disarm it.

They didn't know about the Kryptonite at the time, which was an added feature of the bomb to make sure it took Conner out. It wasn't there before.

 

[Mostezli]

They didn't know about the Kryptonite at the time, which was an added feature of the bomb to make sure it took Conner out. It wasn't there before.

Yeah, it's the detail that warrants the speculation into him being the target, but I figured being burned alive on top of the explosion reacting with magma should have been sufficient causes of death.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Conner was already weakened from being away from the Sun for so long on Mars. I presume the kryptonite was there to ensure he wouldn't survive, plus to prevent Superman from saving him (the heat was enough to keep Martian Manhunter away).

 

[Medinnus]

It sounded like an Irish accent (and I say that as someone who has Irish ancestry)!

As someone who has spent time in both Dublin and Glasgow at the SAP and Verizon offices there, let me assure you it is both and neither There are distinct elements of both, but mostly its a Hollywood Voice Actor version.

 

[Frontier]

As someone who has spent time in both Dublin and Glasgow at the SAP and Verizon offices there, let me assure you it is both and neither There are distinct elements of both, but mostly its a Hollywood Voice Actor version.

Well, assuming we get Jason Blood/Etrigan, hopefully Troy Baker's British accent is more convincing (because of anyone in the cast who would play them, it would probably be him) .

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. They really dived into the deep magic lore of the DC universe, which was fitting given that this is Zatanna's arc. The backstory on Savage and Klarion's history was pretty intense, especially when they showed off just how much Klarion killed him for about a year. Since they're perfectly fine working together now, seeing their first interaction and Klarion sitting on the dead bodies of Savage's children was pretty brutal. The introduction of Child and Flaw was pretty interesting. I'm not familiar with them from the comics, but the form of a little girl was a good contrast to how cold and detached she was. Flaw's little doodle face was funnier than I expected it to be. That poor security guy was just so brutally murdered.

It was nice to see Zatanna managing her own students. I forgot that Traci already showed up, but her other students were new. They seemed to be hinting at some kind of tragic past for Mary given how she was forced to give up her powers and I guess still can't say Shazam.

Beast Boy's depressing is still so painfully raw and real. He obviously does need some intervention, if not just seeing a therapist to help him with his grief, but I can understand why they wouldn't be more direct with him at this point. It is a delicate situation and being too rough or forceful could just make him worse or retreat further into his depression. It's such a huge contrast to how he was last season too. He was so set on creating the Outsiders and giving meta teens more hope, but now he's struggling to get out of bed.

The fight was pretty good and seeing the magic team being strangled like that was pretty rough, but obviously they wouldn't be killed. The meeting between Child and Klarion should be interesting. The narrator turning out to be Phantom Stranger talking to Savage was pretty cool. His sudden disappearance even surprised Savage.

The end credit scene of the Legion watching Beast Boy's TV series was pretty funny. I've been wondering when they'd show up again and having them appear for a quick end credit cameo made me laugh. Beast Boy's speech is a good contrast to how depressed he currently is. He was acting, but he still sounded so much more emotional and energetic than he has been for months in-universe. It also makes me more confident that they didn't fail in their mission on Mars. I don't think that they'd be just casually watching a TV show on a phone eating popcorn if they failed in preventing Connor's death or whatever else their mission was supposed to be. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

 

[Red Arrow]

I am personally not a big fan of the magic episodes (although Misplaced was great), because I feel Klarion the Witch Boy is too powerful and the only way the heroes can win is by luck or by some deus ex machina. So I am expecting this arc to be a bit less fun for me than the previous two.

This episode mostly set the scene. Klarion seems to despise Girl? Maybe he will work together with Zatanna? That would be interesting.

I think the next time Beast Boy reappears, he will get some therapy/advice. This is the second time we see him like this, and Hollywood likes the number 3.

The twist regarding Atlantis was very interesting. I bet Aqualad's arc will be linked with Zatanna's!

Season 1 of Young Justice made it look like all members of the Light are equals (partners), but Vandal Savage, Klarion and perhaps Ra's Al Ghul are much stronger than the other members. The other members feel much more like pawns now? How did they persuade Lex Luthor to join? Maybe he thinks Vandal Savage's victory is inevitable and wants to be on the winning side of history?

I am not sure if this was already discussed in the season 3 talkbacks, but has anyone realized that both Atilla the Hun and Ghengis Khan have raped many women across Eurasia? And if we go back even further in time, he was among the first humans and also spread his metagene this way. So basically all metahumans got the gene from their ancestor, Vandal Savage.

 

[Mostezli]

Maybe he thinks Vandal Savage's victory is inevitable and wants to be on the winning side of history?

Isn't this Lex Luthor still anti-superheroes? The Light's goal is to make humanity the strongest in the universe.

 

[Red Arrow]

Isn't this Lex Luthor still anti-superheroes? The Light's goal is to make humanity the strongest in the universe.

Yeah, but this is mostly Vandal Savage's goal. I doubt any of the other villains actually care. Klarion is part of the Light because he is a sadistic manbaby and thinks it's fun. Queen Bee is part of the Light because she wants more power over her neighboring countries and thinks the Light can help her with that. The other villains have similar goals in mind. But then Lex Luthor... He is the leader of the UN, the CEO of LexCorp, runs a black market for weapons... I feel like he does just fine on his own? Or maybe many of his successes were thanks to the Light.

 

[Troy Troodon]

Gotta love how the most recent episode of depicts body horror that's pretty much R-rated, yet one of the characters respond with "Holy Moley!" I mean... if you're gonna go all out with the gore and bloodshed, you may as well throw in profanity as well.

 

[Frontier]

Gotta love how the most recent episode of depicts body horror that's pretty much R-rated, yet one of the characters respond with "Holy Moley!" I mean... if you're gonna go all out with the gore and bloodshed, you may as well throw in profanity as well.

I mean, Mary is Billy's sister. It runs in the family .

 

[Troy Troodon]

I mean, Mary is Billy's sister. It runs in the family .

Fair enough

Another defense a friend made is that it can actually be funny in a way. "You'd expected the usually R-rated profanity but get the more Silver Age Comic bookey "Holey Moley" just works." "There is a time for this, and there's a time for Wonder Bread!"

so the fact they still act like this is still a Golden Age comic despite being in the modern age is kind'a endearing

 

[ShadowStar]

I mean, Mary is Billy's sister. It runs in the family .

Yeah, and I'm glad that they included little details like that in "Odnu!" to suggest a connection that goes beyond merely having similar codenames and powers. I hope there's more to come on this front.

By the way, since the Marvels/Shazams are very much suited to being public heroes, I hope that Sergeant and Lieutenant will ultimately join the Outsiders or the Justice League. It seems like Mary and Freddy aren't on that path, which is unfortunate, but I would like to see them step out into the limelight (or Mary anyway, since we don't know anything about this version of Freddy for the time being).

 

[Yojimbo]

Yeah, but this is mostly Vandal Savage's goal. I doubt any of the other villains actually care. Klarion is part of the Light because he is a sadistic manbaby and thinks it's fun. Queen Bee is part of the Light because she wants more power over her neighboring countries and thinks the Light can help her with that. The other villains have similar goals in mind. But then Lex Luthor... He is the leader of the UN, the CEO of LexCorp, runs a black market for weapons... I feel like he does just fine on his own? Or maybe many of his successes were thanks to the Light.

No, he was ousted from the UN. This episode revealed Troia is now the Secretary-General.

 

[ShadowStar]

No, he was ousted from the UN. This episode revealed Troia is now the Secretary-General.

I hope this means that we'll see her again soon. The Secretary-Generals of previous seasons have appeared in multiple episodes, after all.

 

[Frontier]

By the way, since the Marvels/Shazams are very much suited to being public heroes, I hope that Sergeant and Lieutenant will ultimately join the Outsiders or the Justice League. It seems like Mary and Freddy aren't on that path, which is unfortunate, but I would like to see them step out into the limelight (or Mary anyway, since we don't know anything about this version of Freddy for the time being).

The Marvels are a lot like the current Outsiders where they make more sense on a public Superhero team than they do as cover ops agents.

No, he was ousted from the UN. This episode revealed Troia is now the Secretary-General.

I hope this means that we'll see her again soon. The Secretary-Generals of previous seasons have appeared in multiple episodes, after all.

I'd love for a Donna episode that just finally establishes her backstory and why they call her "Troia" all the time. And if she had a Wonder Girl-esque costume .

Maybe we'll see Themyscira some day...

 

[DBTrilogy100]

"Odnu!" marks the start of the 3rd saga of Season 4/Phantoms. The episode starts with a narration about the origins of the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos (the former are represented as yellow crystals while the latter are represented as red crystals); the narration also brings up a possible interpretation of the conflict between Good Vs Evil as Good being the "balance" and Evil being the "imbalance". The next scene shows Zatanna testing 13/Traci Thurston, Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield & Khalid Nassour in Manhattan on May 13th by having them capture creatures called "Trogowogs". Zatanna praises the trio for their progress but gently points out that they need to "maintain a better awareness of [their] surroundings" as she captures the 3 remaining Trogowogs; Zatanna also makes a point to assure the trio that they didn't fail the test but scored a "B-" as she returns the Trogowogs to their home and undoes the glamor spell that kept them hidden from the general public. Zatanna proceeds to give the trio more individualized advice (suggesting 13/Traci Thurston concentrate on using her "urban magic" rather than "bad luck magic", suggesting Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield think less "like a superhero" by using more "imagination" and suggesting Khalid Nassour maintain balance between the "natural" & the "magical") while making a point to be tactful and assure them that they are still making progress. A Lord of Chaos (represented as a red crystal) from the opening narration arrives in Manhattan and causes a blackout via a red energy wave which surprises Zatanna & her students. The energy wave spreads throughout Earth and catches the attention of Dr. Fate in Salem and Blue Devil in Hollywood (who is acting as the current supervisor of the Hub and the Outsiders).

Vandal Savage is in his lair at Khüiten Peak (due to timezone differences, the timestamp indicates it is May 14th in that timezone) having a video conference with the other Light members; Bad Samaritan/Zviad Baazovi is updating the other Light members on the situation in Markovia when Klarion notices the energy wave and quickly makes his exit while saying he doesn't have any time to explain what's going on. Klarion's sudden actions leads to Vandal Savage to remember a past event. The flashback is joined by a narration about how Vandal Savage (back when he was known as "Vandar Adg") created a village for his offspring who were the 1st generation of Meta-Humans; at some point, Vandal Savage went to conquer other lands but found the village he made destroyed by Klarion (who also killed many of the inhabitants of the village) when he eventually returned. Back in the present timeframe, Mist/Andie Murphy is cleaning the refrigerator at the Hub due to the blackout; Blue Devil is confused when he sees this as he recalls it being Beast Boy's turn but Mist/Andie Murphy explains she offered to do so because she noticed how tired Beast Boy is (a fact that we get to see for ourselves). Back in Manhattan, Zatanna takes her students to a merry-go-round and uses her magic to make the seats they picked fly (Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield even points out the Mary Poppins reference). As the group fly on their seats, Khalid Nassour asks Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield about Zatanna's superhero comment and Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield proceeds to explain that she used to be a member of the Young Justice Team (I know that it's just called "The Team" from an in-universe perspective, I'm simply calling it the "Young Justice Team" from an out-of-universe perspective for the sake of helping me keep my thoughts straight) but eventually stopped because she felt she "had to" give up the power and felt she "wasn't ready" for the power. Eventually, Zatanna & her students arrive in New Orleans where they meet up with Madame Xanadu/Nimue Inwudu. The next scene is a flashback with a narration about Vandal Savage's first meeting with Klarion. Klarion quickly realizes Vandal Savage's immortality when he is unable to kill him while Vandal Savage quickly realizes Klarion is a not a mortal being when he sees the powers Klarion demonstrates.

Back in the present timeframe, the Lord of Chaos (still represented as a red crystal) enters a jewelry store and turns the "Star of Atlantis" into a giant diamond creature. The Lord of Chaos changes from a red crystal into the form of a blonde girl in a school uniform and thanks the diamond creature for acting as her "anchor" in the mortal realm; the Lord of Chaos names the diamond creature "Flaw". A security guard (named "Marvin Fargo") arrives and asks the Lord of Chaos what she is doing there (calling her "child") and is surprised by Flaw's presence; the Lord of Chaos actually takes a liking to what Marvin Fargo called her and decides to officially name herself "Child"; Child thanks Marvin Fargo for his part in naming her and instructs Flaw to "reward" him...by killing him. Child finds her new form to be cute while also expressing curiosity about what the inside of a human looks like. Back at the Hub, Blue Devil catches Beast Boy in the elevator and takes this chance to see how Beast Boy is doing bringing up his unusual tired state; Beast Boy insists he's fine and we'll get more rest to do his chores but Blue Devil is still not convinced that Beast Boy is fine. Back in New Orleans, Madame Xanadu/Nimue Inwudu explains to Zatanna's students that she used to be a con artist but the events from Season 1's "Denial" was the catalyst that eventually lead to her unlocking her true magic powers that had been hidden. Madame Xanadu/Nimue Inwudu confirms that she knows why Zatanna is here and admits she lost track of the source of the energy wave but assures Zatanna that she can point the group in the direction of the source's previously known location; Madame Xanadu/Nimue Inwudu proceeds to teleport Zatanna & her students to the jewelry store (while also asking for payment & wishing the group luck with this new threat). The next scene is a flashback with a narration continuing to detail Vandal Savage's first meeting with Klarion. Klarion attempted to kill Vandal Savage in 300 different ways (one way per day) and seeing Vandal Savage survive each attempt lead to him becoming fascinated with Vandal Savage while Vandal Savage saw an opportunity in Klarion while also learning about the Lords of Order & the Lords of Chaos. Vandal Savage manages to convince Klarion to spare the rest of his offspring by asking him to meet with him in this village (which he calls "Atlantis") in 1000 years and Klarion decides to humor the request.

Back in the present timeframe, Zatanna & her students are horrified to see Marvin Fargo's body has been ripped apart. Thanks to his time in medical school, Khalid Nassour quickly realizes that the one responsible for this act was trying to learn about human anatomy and Zatanna agrees with Khalid Nassour's hunch. Klarion suddenly arrives and proceeds to fight Zatanna & her students while making a point to avoid the spell that lead to him being trapped in the Tower of Fate in Season 3/Outsider's "Early Warning" (Klarion mentions it took him 16 days to escape from the Tower of Fate). While Zatanna & her students fight Klarion in Manhattan and Beast Boy heads to a pharmacy to buy some sleeping pills in Hollywood, Child arrives on Roanoke Island where Child summons a magical symbol on the ground followed by flicking Flaw's face which creates a sound that catch's Klarion's attention. Klarion immediately realizes who is calling for him and he isn't happy about who it is in the slightest bit; Klarion begrudgingly stops the fight and teleports to Roanoke Island to meet up with Child. The next scene reveals that the narration throughout the episode was Phantom Stranger talking to Vandal Savage who is annoyed at being told what he already knows. Phantom Stranger responds that he is reminding Vandal Savage about something that shouldn't be forgotten before quickly disappearing when Vandal Savage looks away for a moment. The end credits scene shows Saturn Girl & Chameleon Boy watching Space Trek 3016 on a phone.

Zatanna takes the spotlight in the 3rd saga of Season 4/Phantoms which means magic will be the main theme of said saga. It was nice to see Sergeant Marvel/Mary Bromfield appear in the series after being mentioned in "behind the scenes" material and it seems like this saga will help shed some light on why she is no longer acting as a superhero (hopefully information on Lieutenant Marvel will also be mentioned). Greg Weisman once mentioned that they can no longer use "Marvel" for the Shazam characters which makes me curious how they will try to work with that restriction. Like what happened with Orphan in the "Crock Sisters Saga", it looks like 13/Traci Thurston will get some time to shine in this saga after being introduced in Season 3/Outsiders. The aftermath of events from the "Mars Saga" continues to be shown with Beast Boy continuing to slide into despair and I imagine we will see the aftermath of events from the "Crock Sisters Saga" being addressed too. A new Lord of Chaos is introduced in Child and she already proves herself to be a foil to Klarion by acting like the Delightful Children From Down The Lane from Codename: Kids Next Door compared to Klarion acting like a brat prone to throw temper tantrums. It was nice to learn more about Vandal Savage's backstory, especially since it seems to be clarifying the specifics of Klarion joining the Light and I'm guessing it will also tie into his connection to Nabu, as well. Likewise, it was nice seeing Madame Xanadu/Nimue Inwudu & Blue Devil receive expanded roles in some capacity. Overall, this saga seems like it will be a great way to share details about the lore of the Earth-16 Universe while also giving the spell casters some time to shine.

 

[Red Arrow]

This episode actually changed a LOT. I feel like we can now think of Vandal Savage as some kind of hero (?) trying to save humanity from Klarion. If Savage doesn't succeed at impressing Klarion, all metahumans will die...

This has basically been Savage's motive since season 1!

No, he was ousted from the UN. This episode revealed Troia is now the Secretary-General.

Thank you for pointing this out. Whenever I bingewatch something, I forget important plot points like this.

 

[Yojimbo]

Weisman says Thirteen mostly casts in Latin while Khalid uses a combination of Latin, Classical Greek, and Arabic.