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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Young Justice - "Revelation"

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Episode Fourteen: "Revelation" - Airdate 10/14/11

It's Young Justice Saturday!

by Andy Luckett

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On this episode of Young Justice, secrets are revealed as the Injustice League unites to hold the world ransom!

Hi everyone, Andy Luckett here with a review of "Revelation", the 14th episode of the season which aired on October 14. The action begins in Metropolis, where a serene, sunny day is interrupted by giant vines erupting up through the streets and wreaking havoc. Observing the carnage from afar are Poison Ivy (the plants are hers, of course) Wotan, the Joker, Atomic Skull, the Ultra-Humanite, Black Adam, and Count Vertigo.
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Back at Happy Harbor, Robin and Aqualad are in the middle of a sparring session overseen by Zatara and Captain Marvel. As they finish, Superboy and Miss Martian wander in, along with Artemis and Kid Flash. Batman arrives through the teleporter to inform the team of the plant situation, which by this time has spread worldwide. Watching the footage, Robin and the others theorize that the presence of Kobra venom in the plants points to connections between many of their recent cases, suggesting that the villains they have faced are acting together in a "secret society".
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Just then the Joker, along with the rest of the Injustice League, breaks in over the worldwide satellite feeds to take credit for the attacks, and demand a ransom from the United Nations. However, the Dark Knight is not enlisting Young Justice to fight the plants, but rather to take on the Injustice League itself and destroy the central control for the marauding vines. Zatara voices concern, but Batman believes the team is ready. So, as Batman, Captain Marvel and Zatara rush off to fight the plants in Gotham City, Young Justice takes off for the Louisiana bayou, where Zatara senses Wotan's presence.
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Meanwhile, other teams of Leaguers tackle plant occupation in more major cities, as Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Icon and Rocket battle to save the Eiffel Tower in Paris; while Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Arrow and Guy Gardner do some weed whacking in Star City. In Taipei, the Flash, Captain Atom and Blue Devil(!) work together to prevent the spread of radiation from a nuclear reactor destroyed by the plants.
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As the Young Justice team reaches the bayou in the sentient bioship, they are detected by the Injustice League. As Count Vertigo uses his power to sicken the ship and its passengers, Black Adam smacks it out of the sky and into the swamp, where more of Ivy's vines pull it under. The team escapes by swimming out through a hatch, while Artemis wonders how its possible she has nearly drowned three missions in a row. When they make it to land, however, Vertigo and Black Adam are waiting for them. As Aqualad, Superboy, KF and Artemis engage Vertigo and Black Adam, Robin and Miss Martian sneak off to find and destroy the control antenna for the plants, which is a massive vine infused with Wotan's magic, Atomic Skull's energy, and the Ultra-Humanite's science.
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Unfortunately, Aqualad and the others are temporarily defeated by The IL, and are being taken back to the villains' headquarters. The bioship recovers and attacks their captors, freeing the heroes. At the same time, Robin destroys the mother vine, greatly cheesing off Ivy in the process. With the bioship present, Aqualad is able to break out his secret weapon he brought in case the tide turned against them: the Helmet of Fate! Despite Kid Flash's protests that he will be stuck as Dr. Fate forever, Aqualad puts the helmet on and battles Wotan to a standstill, which gives the Justice League time to arrive. The battle is won, and Batman calls the team's efforts "satisfactory".

However, in an epilogue we see Vandal Savage, asserting that the Injustice League were simply a smokescreen to throw the heroes off the trail of the real goals of the Light. As he says this, the other members join him: Luthor, R'as Al Ghul, Ocean Master, Queen Bee, the Brain, and Klarion the Witch Boy.
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I was very glad, above all, that this episode took the time to acknowledge the connections between many of its recent episodes. The team realizes that Bane's venom was used with the Blockbuster formula to create Kobra venom, which was then used to mutate the Brain's animals in India, which he controlled with inhibitor collars like the ones used in Belle Reve penitentiary, where Superboy and Miss Martian went undercover. So after all of that setup we see a little bit of a payoff as the team get their first inkling of a supervillain conspiracy.

It was also nice to see a good, old-fashioned superhero team vs. supervillain team smackdown, i.e., Challenge of the Superfriends. The nods to that series were here; the villains headquartered in the bayou, their building looking vaguely like the Hall of Doom. Of course, based on the final moments of the episode, we should see a lot more action against the newly revealed members of the Light before the series is through.

There was a fair amount of Aqua-content in this episode as well. Aqualad used his head in bringing along the Helmet of Fate to counter Wotan, and he was able to defeat him and stop himself from being taken over by Fate too. Aquaman appeared, both fighting the vine attempting to destroy Paris and at the end as the Justice League arrived. And, it was a pleasant surprise at the end to see Ocean Master in attendance as a member of the Light. This promises to set up the potential for great stories down the line.

1 comment:

BBNETMAN said...

That is kind of a cool looking Ocean Master isn't it?