Young Justice’s latest episode boosts the momentum and officially adds two more players to the Bat-family. This animated universe continues to grow into a storytelling juggernaut.
On Friday, Young Justice: Outsiders dropped its next batch of episodes (number four through six) on the “DC Universe” streaming service. Check out my review for episode three. Apart from the excellent storytelling, Young Justice also revealed two new characters from their Batman universe, and confirmed what happened to a third.
This sixth episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, entitled “Rescue Op,” is very straightforward. The cold opening shows Black Spider chasing after a man named Marlo, who gets crushed by a boulder. The boulder is controlled by another female meta with the same geo-force powers as the other Markovian metas (Brion, Baron DeLamb/Bedlam).
Next, the show confirms the fate of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, who is seen in a wheelchair. Barbara has indeed become Oracle, and she has a relationship with Nightwing/Dick Grayson. How Oracle ended up this way in the comics is at the hands of the Joker as seen in the 1988 graphic novel: Batman: The Killing Joke. Young Justice will probably reveal a similar path for the paralysis of their Batgirl, but might also have a completely different take.
Brion’s sister Tara is confirmed to have her meta-gene activated by Dr. Helga Jace. However, Helga is unsure about Tara’s subsequent powers. But, because of the family ties, it is probable that Tara has geo-force powers like her brother. Nightwing agrees with this assessment and shows the boulder killing from the opening as evidence of another meta. Black Spider was seen in the area of the murder, so Dick believes the League of Shadows must be involved.
Because Ra’s Al Ghul (the Demon’s head) is the leader of the League of Shadows, Nightwing warns that they must be cautious before proceeding. Brion agrees to wait, but a moment later is preparing to go to the League of Shadow’s headquarters – Infinity Island. Halo and Forager agree to go with Brion, as a bond has begun to form between them, mostly because of their ‘outsider’ status. So, these three “outsiders” take Sphere as their transport to Infinity Island.
Nightwing, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Black Lightning end up going to Infinity Island to rescue “The Outsiders.” Here, they are forced to battle Sensei, Ubu, and another ninja dressed in a red hood.
Ra’s Al Ghul stops the fight and says he is no longer the head of the League of Shadows or a part of The Light. Ra’s says he doesn’t know the whereabouts of Brion’s sister and he allows Nightwing and company to leave with no further fighting.
Here’s the best part of this Young Justice episode. The ninja in the red hood asks Ra’s a one-word question: “Grayson?” Clearly, this is the resurrected Jason Todd (the second Robin). Young Justice has a reference to fallen Todd in a season two episode (entitled “Satisfaction”), so clearly this Robin existed somewhere in the five-year time jump between season one and two.
But within the two-year time jump to season three of Young Justice, Batman/Bruce Wayne had his own dealings with the al Ghul family. Just after the Todd revelation, Talia al Ghul (daughter of Ra’s) emerges, holding a baby. This baby can only be Bruce and Talia’s lovechild, who eventually becomes the fourth Robin, Damian Wayne.
Whether any of this follows exactly with the comics isn’t really the point. The great part about Young Justice is that it continues to open more avenues (and eventually more stories) in the fruitful DC universe.
The Young Justice version of Oracle, Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne have their roots in the comics. But they will be used to tell new stories in this particular universe. It is a big part of what makes the show so compelling. Just one simple word (“Grayson”) or shot (Talia holding a baby) broadens the story.
And so yet another week of three episodes leaves me anticipating the next three. Young Justice continues to nail it on every level.
Final score: 10/10