Young Justice - "Salvage"

It's Young Justice Monday!

Hey again everyone, Shrine Correspondent Andy Luckett here with a review of "Salvage", the thirtieth total episode of Young Justice. As we pick up this week, Red Arrow (aka the clone of Roy Harper) is operating in Washington, DC. While stopping the robbery of an electronics store, he is observed by Green Arrow.

On the Justice League Watchtower, Adam Strange engages his Zeta shield technology to protect Earth from unauthorized alien teleportations. Lagoon Boy is happy about the new protection, but Superboy asserts that the shield will not block spaceships or Boom tubes. After seeing Lagoon Boy and Miss Martian snuggling and with no missions on the docket, Superboy grabs Blue Beetle and decides to go look for action.

Back in Washington, Red Arrow is confronted by his mentor, along with Black Canary, Nightwing and Wally West (no longer operating as Kid Flash). The group confronts RA about the bit of money he took when stopping the thief, but he says he needs it to keep searching for the real Roy Harper. Black Canary tries to appeal to Red Arrow, and she reveals that he's gotten a bit sloppy in recent months, not taking care of himself. Red Arrow responds that his body is just a poor imitation of the real Roy.

Meanwhile, Superboy and Blue Beetle are cruising around DC in the supercycle. Superboy wants to track the origin of Aqualad/Black Manta's alien bomb. Since Intergang deals in alien technology, he wants to start there, especially since Bruno Manheim and Whisper A'Daire have a meeting nearby, apparently at the Hall of Justice. Huh? Sure enough, they find the villainous pair close to the Hall, but Blue Beetle's suit cannot scan the contents of Manheim's briefcase. Superboy takes the opportunity to ask BB about why he talks to himself so much, and Beetle explains that he is talking with the Scarab, an artificial intelligence created by former Blue Beetle Ted Kord. Apparently Kord was killed by the Light. Beetle is able to scan the Hall, only to find that it is deserted.

Manheim opens his briefcase, which sets off vibrations that awaken the Appellaxian host bodies the League keep in their trophy room. The creatures combine into a massive form and burst through the wall, and Manheim commands the new creature to attack the heroes. Superboy makes a few dents in the monstrosity, only to find it can repair itself. Beetle tries his sonic cannon, only to have the creature redirect the energy back at him. At Manheim's command, the creature grows wings and flies into the air.

Back at Red Arrow's "intervention", Green Arrow tries to persuade RA to become his partner again. But Red Arrow's anger stems from not only being a clone but also the fact that the others have given up the search for Roy Harper. Next, he is approached by Jim Harper (also a Roy Harper clone) who has given up his role as Guardian to carve a new path for himself. He lays it out to Red Arrow: the original Roy Harper is most likely dead, never to be found. He asks RA to honor his memory by living a good life.

On the trail of the Appellaxian creature, Blue Beetle and Superboy discuss how the Appellaxians came to Earth and united the League. Superboy says that the crystal-bodied creature could redirect sonic blasts, which is what happened to Beetle's attack. When the Appellaxians were originally defeated, their energy essences dispersed but the host bodies were left behind. Superboy theorizes that Manheim's technology reignited traces of Appellaxian energy in the bodies and put them under his control.

Close by, the creature lands and deposits the Intergang leaders on the ground. Manheim explains to A'Daire that he plans to use the creature to further his Intergang empire. Once Superboy and Beetle show up, Manheim sics the creature on them. The heroes can do very little against it, and the stakes are raised when it heads off to a nearby nuclear reactor. Watching from the shadows are two figures. One is revealed to be Sportsmaster, but the other says that the creature's destruction of the power plant could prove useful. Sportsmaster (calling the other figure "partner") goes to finish off Blue Beetle and Superboy.

The heroic pair capture Manheim and A'Daire, then go to stop the creature. They are able to pin it down briefly, but it doesn't hold. Beetle comes up with an idea that maybe he can make his sonic cannon into a device to communicate with the creature. By doing this, he understands that the creature is in great pain and wishes to end its life. The shadowy figure from the woods makes his move and fires a more powerful sonic weapon, destroying the creature for good. Blue Beetle is disturbed that a live creature was killed, and Superboy thinks it was Manheim's doing. But they find him and Whisper still imprisoned, but unconscious. Sportsmaster rejoins his partner, who tells him that he destroyed the creature to keep it from becoming a tool of the heroes.

Back in Washington, Wally West tries his hand at helping Red Arrow. He explains that since the real Roy Harper was kidnapped prior to the formation of Young Justice, the original YJ members never knew him. The only "Roy Harper" they've ever known is the one still around. This tactic doesn't work either, and Red Arrow leaves. Later, Wally returns home and meets with Artemis, whom he is still dating. It appears things are going well between them.

Red Arrow returns home to find Cheshire waiting. She has become his wife, but has been away for a long time. She reveals that they have a daughter together, Lian. Cheshire tells RA that he needs to get his act together to be there for his daughter. She then says that she has pulled a bunch of strings to get a lead on the possible whereabouts of the actual Roy Harper.


An enjoyable episode. They have now established Roy Harper's family with Cheshire and Lian, and we see that Wally and Artemis have stayed together as well. There is a new "big bad" in the mysterious "partner" of the Light, and I'll be curious to see what his plans work out to be. The concept of the Appellaxian creature being reanimated by the "residual psychic energy" of its former hosts was a creative idea. And we got the story on the creation of the Scarab suit that Blue Beetle wears.

Not much Aqua-content this episode, just a cameo by Lagoon Boy that helped to set up the Superboy/Blue Beetle adventure. And Aqualad's turn to the evil side is mentioned as well. Next week, Alpha Squad returns to Bialya. See you back here to discuss that soon!