Though the second part of season four will be coming this spring, there is a lot to talk about with the first thirteen episodes of ‘Young Justice: Phantoms’. Considering it’s been two years since ‘Young Justice: Outsiders’, fans (new and seasoned) have a lot to talk about, and rejoice in season four. And, ‘Phantoms’ is a very apt description so far as we will see with this recap review. Needless to say, this post has SPOILERS so proceed at your own risk. Thank you.
Season four starts off with a revelation that M’gann and Conner are finally getting married. This is a great start to the story as the team’s first couple finally prep to tie the knot. Though the happy beginning just forebodes a series of problematic events as the season continues. It’s nice to see our group celebrate a little down time before the literal sh@t hits the fan. One of these problematic events is the discrimination shown once the couple reaches Mars, which is yet another socio-cultural reality tackled by this series. This leads to our first set of ‘phantoms’ from the future.
The end of season three hinted on the addition of the Legion of Super-Heroes to the series, and we get to see three members of this DC super team in the early story arc. Here we have Chamelion Boy, Phamtom Girl, and Saturn Girl shadowing M’gann and Conner along with Gar for an as of yet unknown reason. Though if you know your comic book references, they are probably there to protect Superboy aka Conner since he is the reason for the Legion forming. I can only assume that’s the rout the writers are taking since the series is Young Justice-centric and not Superman-centric.
Later we find out that Conner seemingly dies at the hands of kryptonite bomb planted by an unknown assailant. My money is that the phantom killer from the future is the Mordru (or connected to him) which links to the Lords of Chaos (more on that later). You can imagine the effect of Conner’s death is to poor M’gann (they weren’t even married yet), but Conner’s death seems to have hit hard on Gar as well. This leads to our next phantom which resonated throughout the entire series so far.
With the death of Conner, Young Justice highlights the effects of depression through the eyes of Garfield Logan aka Beast Boy. Granted M’gann aka Miss Martian was gravely affected by Conner’s death, it is through Gar’s eyes that we get to see just how depression hits: no rhym or reason. It’s an important plot point of ‘Phantoms’, and you have to remember that Gar is one of the youngest members of the team. As such, we see varying degrees and manifestations of depression in Gar. Here’s hoping he snaps out of it somehow for his own good, and the good of the team.
Moving on to the present, the phantoms of the past rears their ugly heads through the eys of Cassandra Cain aka Orphan. I’m a huge Cassandra Cain comic book fan whether as Orphan or Batgirl, and I’m happy for her to have a story arc of her own in season four. This also connects with the history of both Artemis aka Tigress and Chessire, the sisters on opposite ends of the hero spectrum. Here, we see an opportunity for redemption for both Cassandra Cain, and Chessire in spite of their assassin pasts. The message here is resounding: you can move away from your dark past if you give yourself a chance. As to how this rehabilation of these two characters pan out, we’ll have to wait and see in the next episodes. Also, I’m happy that they had Barbara Gordon portrayed as Oracle. In my opinion, Oracle is one of the best modern characters in recent history in spite of, and because of her disability.
Finally, we have the phantoms of the present with Zatanna taking center stage. If I’m happy with the Cassandra Cain story arc, I’m jubilant with the Zatanna story arc. She is one of my favorite comic book characters along with Raven, and Death of the Endless. This is the magic story arc with the Lords of Chaos as the time antagonists. Here we find out that Vandal Savage has an existing agreement with Klarion that now is put to the test. The presence of the Lords of Chaos just strenghtens my belief that Mordru is somehow the big baddie who will be revealed by season’s end.
In any case, the conflict between Klarion and The Child who are both agents of chaos draws in everybody. In the crossfire, we discover that Zatanna is training new magic weilders which include (Tracy) Thirteen, Kahlid Nassour, and Mary Bromfield (Marvel). With the resolution of Zatanna’s story arc, the balance of chaos and order is restored, and we find out that Zatanna has her reasons for having students. The decision was based on helping her fatther Zatara by providing alternate hosts for the Helmet of Faith. This includes herself, and her students minus Mary who was deemed unstable by Zatanna for the task.
With that, the group’s run-in with chaos ends on a happy note. However, there are still some outstanding story hooks that remain unresovled. For one, Gar is still in depression, and we have yet to see him snap out of it. I expect that to be a huge part of the story for season four moving forward. Also, Zatanna had a vision of Conner’s soul at unrest. From episode thirteen, it appears that Conner is actually trapped in the Phantom Zone. Maybe he was placed there to protect him from the kryptonite bomb? That would explain why there is no body. With that, we end the first half of season four.
Additionally, I would just like to mention one other story element incorporated from Young Justice: Outsiders. During the end credits of season three, we see Wolf as the star of the end credits. In ‘Phantoms’, the creators took this up a notch by providing short clips that enhance the story elements for the series. I find this to be a welcome addition to Young Justice. In effect, the end credits aren’t wasted on just credits, and these addtional story elements provide more layers to this beautiful series.
So, what’s there to expect with the second half of season four? well, we don’t have stories that center on Aqualad aka Aquaman, Nightwing, and Rocket so I expect future episodes to center on them. If we are to believe the title image of season four, that should be the case. Then, there is the overarching story of depression through the eyes of Beast Boy, and , to a certain extent, Miss Martian. I suspect that how they overcome depression will be a salient point of the second half of the season. Next, we have the Legion, and the mysterious ‘killer’ of Superboy aka Conner. Let’s see if Mordru actually shows up. Finally, I’m hoping for the return of Wally West (Yeah!). Maybe he becomes the key to saving Conner from the Phantom Zone.
If you aren’t watching Young Justice yet, you should. This is one of the best comic book adaptations out there. Young Justice: Phantoms is streaming on HBO Max.
Obskura And Then Some 