The fourth episode of “Zatanna’s arc” is upon us, and those quotations are very intentional, but we can get to that later. It is no surprise, but this episode continues to escalate things more and more. Child ended the last episode with a literal snap, and she decides to continue causing as much chaos as she can, and illustrate that there may be nothing that anyone can do to stop her. Also, the enigma of the bus is cleared up. Let’s take this ride!
We kick the episode off learning more of the history with the history of Zatara. He was a stage magician that had some real magic mixed in, and when he used that magic to stop a fire he caught the eye of Kent Nelson. After he saved the audience he knew that he could do more to save people, and he started to do so. Zatara grew under the tutelage of Kent, but it came at the price of more time away from his family. We see that Zatara’s wife Sindella was diagnosed with cancer, but he still performed and fought until eventually she passed and he wasn’t there. Losing his wife sent Zatara reeling, and he joined the Justice League to find purpose, but was still reeling as he saw others inspired by his actions. Eventually, this leads to Zatanna putting on the helmet of Fate, and him giving himself over to it willingly as if his life had led to that moment. We see that Zatara has been talking to Fate and tasks him with relaying his story to Zatanna when the time comes.
We move over to Gar on the set of Space Trek 3016, who is struggling to maintain the role he has on set. J. Anson takes Gar aside and talks to him about his previous struggles with Granny Goodness and Outsiders missions, but dives deeper as well. He both asks and offers to Gar to get some assistance with his mental health, but Gar brushes it off again by saying he is tired. J. Anson agrees that he could take a break and that a replacement has been built up in his stead.
In a rare moment we actually take the final moments of the last episode to kick off our time with Child again, and we see that Klarion is forced into his true form. With seemingly little effort, Child destroys the tower of Fate. Zatanna manages to save those inside with a quick spell, but it only postpones the inevitable. We cut back to Klarion careening through time and space looking for the heroes he needs, and he finds THE bus and makes it his anchor. With the total destruction of the tower of Fate, Dr. Fate is convinced that Child needs to be stopped, and the hunt for her begins. The group follows her to Sydney where Child has caused a volcano, but is no longer there. Phantom Stranger has mobilized the League, the Outsiders, and every mystic champion he can to combat the chaos. Klarion continues to careen through time and space, and the group continues to not find Child quickly enough in Manhattan, Poseidonis, Taipei, or Agra. They finally catch up to Child in the North Pole where they culminate all of their power into a single strike. Child is completely unphased and with a snap she knocks the entire group out and seals Dr. Fate in ice. Klarion in bus form arrives in the North Pole finding the heroes he needs in the time he wants.
These review recaps never feel like they cover the episode completely, but this one falls a bit shorter than most with the constant stream of scenes from here, there, and everywhere. We think the word whiplash is very applicable to the back and forth between Klarion, Team Zatanna, and Zatara’s history. There are scenes, characters, and locations from across the history of the show in all of these plot lines. We also saw things we haven’t seen before, as some of the cuts are only seconds long, and will take us some time to process and decode all of them but that is the ultimate joy of being a Young Justice fan. In writing this review, it feels like the best word to describe it all is “chaotic” and there is little doubt that was the plan given the circumstances.
Additionally, we're also sending all the kudos to the episode's director, Christina Sotta, and her storyboard and revisions team (Emily Hu, Kelly Kao, Rozlynn Waltz, Christopher Jones and Yujin Lee) for somehow managing to put together the crazy amounts of scenes and still have them all be engaging, and frankly terrifying. If this is what episode 12 has let us, who knows what kind of madness we're in for the midseason finale!
We are sure you are on the edge of your seat waiting to see what those quotes were all about at the very beginning of this review, and here we are! One of the most interesting things that we have discussed internally is what an arc in Young Justice: Phantoms really is. It feels as if there are unmet expectations between what the fandom feels an arc should be and what an arc is. This arc was believed to be “Zatanna’s arc” but instead it focuses on magic within Earth-16 from start to potential finish. Zatanna is here, but it is hard to feel like it is her arc any more than it is the arc of her proteges, or Dr. Fate, or the Lords of Order and Chaos. That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that other than not being what was expected by some. When thinking about these episodes in that light, it truly changes the feelings surrounding them. This episode is no different, if you are looking for a “Zatanna episode” this isn’t really it, but it shows so much about the magical world of Young Justice, more of who Child is compared to Kalrion, more about Zatara, Dr. Fate, and the proteges which ends up culminating into a solid addition to the season.
What did you think of the episode? Are you equally as terrified for the midseason finale? Let us know in the comments, our forum and via our Twitter!