Young Justice season 3, episode 5 review: Away Mission

Heroes are born and others are tested in the fourth episode of Young Justice: Outsiders.

Young Justice continues to set the table for the season ahead, and while things have been interesting thus far, they’re really starting to pick up. The last episode revealed that the three Markovian refugees are bunking with members of Dick Grayson’s team. This lead to a few growing pains, but Grayson has now made it his mission to find a place for them. And he may have found it in this latest episode, “Away Mission.”

Not So Happy in Happy Harbor

Prince Brion, who is still living with Connor and M’gann in Happy Harbor, is growing restless over his current situation. He expresses this frustration with his brother, Gregor, who is now the king of their native land. Although Gregor is trying to help his brother, Markovian resistance against metahumans is keeping him from doing so.

While Brion, Connor, M’gann and Snapper Carr wait for Dick to arrive, they are visited by Tommorow People member (and Connor’s old friend) Bear. The New Genesis native needs help in stopping a potential war between the New Gods and Bugs. M’gann offers to bring the team to New Genesis, while Connor opts to stay and help with Brion. This upsets M’gann, who was hoping to spend some time with her fiancé.

At this point, it’s extremely clear that Superboy sees a lot of himself in Brion, and is gradually become somewhat of a mentor to the young prince. It’ll be interesting to see how their relationship progresses, and how it affects Connor’s other relationship. M’gann was not too happy about him staying behind.

Field Trip

M’gann rounds up the remainder of her team consisting of Blue Beetle, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Static and Thirteen, and they all head for New Genesis with Bear. Having Bear back in this episode was honestly refreshing. The last few episodes have been relatively darker, and his jovial personality adds a bit of levity.

This episode also gives us our first real look at New Genesis in the Young Justice continuity. With it, comes our first look at Orion, who is seemingly instigating the feud between the Bugs and the New Gods. Interestingly, Orion was also accompanied by two strange but powerful creatures.

It turns out that Bear was sought out by Forager, one of the Bugs who witnessed Orion cheat his comrades out of minerals. He’s also unsure of Orion’s apparent deception. Eventually, the team and the Bugs arranges another mineral to catch Orion. But when they do, M’gann gets a major surprise.

These scenes on New Genesis are beautifully animated and like the planet Rann, they give us a sharp look at the cosmic side of this universe. The new origins and design for Forager takes some getting used to, but this new take grows on you with time. Aside from this, it’s just nice to see the current team again after spending so much time with the vets.

The Pains of Family

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Bear previously mentioned that Orion is actually away from New Genesis and that the other is an imposter. This proves to be the case, and M’gann discovers this Orion is actually a fellow white martian, her younger brother, M’kann M’orzz. M’kann has been masquerading as Orion and destroying the trust between the Bugs and New Gods in exchange for renewed relations between the red, green and white martians. The two creatures accompanying him are also revealed to be trafficked metahumans from Earth.

M’gann is completely against her brother’s plans, and the the two siblings engage in a battle of the minds. Here, M’gann shows her brother flashbacks of their youth as ridiculed white martians on Mars. She also tries to show him the chances of honest change through her experiences on Earth. Unfortunately, she is unable to reach M’Kann, and he escapes, but not before killing the two trafficked creatures.

The Bugs are still left under the impression they’ve been swindled by the real Orion, and blame both the team and Forager for what’s happened. With this, they banish Forager from their clan, forcing him to leave New Genesis. The team, having seen compassion and heroic potential in the lovable bug, agree to take him to Earth. Forager the sadly agrees to leave his home.

Based on the posters and trailers, it’s clear Forager is going to join the Earth heroes. His arc in this episode had “superhero origin” written all over it. His interactions with the team should be fun to watch. And if anything, he’ll could serve as the heart of the group, which will likely be needed going forward. Also, having M’kann as a villain creates a few story opportunities, especially for more backstory on M’gann.

More Heroes Rise

Meanwhile , on Earth, Dick, Connor, Artemis and Snapper are trying to decide what to do with Brion and Halo. As they talk things out, Halo and Brion begin to connect, as she feels as though she needs to “fix” him. Eventually, Brion begins to test his powers, with the others looking on. Although he is still not completely in control, it’s clear that he is very powerful.

Halo is the next to flex her superhero-powered muscles, and in the process, she discovers that she can not only project shields but energy blasts, as well. The group also gets a better sense of her Wolverine-like healing abilities.

By the end of the day, Brion plans to leave to find his own way, but Connor offers to help him find direction. This nearly draws him in, but Dick offering to help him find his missing younger sister leads him to stay. So far, these two characters are proving to be entertaining. Hopefully, they’ll evolve as time goes on, and not just as heroes but as people. Having Brion stay angry and Halo remain naive could get annoying.

Next. Young Justice: How are the new heroes different?. dark

Overall, Young Justice is still putting the pieces in place for this long stretch of episodes, but it’s shaping up nicely. Three new heroes were born, and a new villain has risen. At this point, there’s no telling how it’ll end, but it should be quite a ride.

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