It’s been almost three months since a new episode of Young Justice aired on The Cartoon Network, but this past Saturday morning put an end to that unbearable drought as the young heroes of the DC Universe (albeit Earth 16’s version of the heroes) returned to our TV screens in all of their glory. Roy Harper (the real Roy Harper) took center stage after he was finally recovered by his clone Red Arrow in June’s mid-season finale. Meanwhile, the crew of Mount Justice was still mourning the “loss” of Artemis and vowing to take down Aqualad for his betrayal of the group. Unbeknownst to the team, Nightwing, Wally West, Artemis, and Aqualad are all in on a secret mission that required the dire choice of faked deaths and, in Aqualad’s case, forged alliances with the enemy.
The bulk of the episode dealt with Roy Harper’s revenge quest to take down Lex Luthor for not only kidnapping and cloning the former Green Arrow sidekick, but for taking away his arm as well. Roy’s quest took him to Metropolis where he eventually confronted Luthor, but had to battle Luthor’s bodyguard Mercy to complete his mission. Meanwhile, Green Arrow/Oliver Queen and the Roy Harper clone Young Justice viewers have come to know as Red Arrow try to track down Roy to prevent him from killing Luthor.
Roy’s rage was plausible, especially since Oliver adopted him and took Roy under his wing, but couldn’t tell the difference between the young man he called his ‘son’ and a Project Cadmus clone. That probably shattered Roy’s already fragile mind state even further, especially by him being an adopted child, whose history prior to the events of Young Justice are still unclear at this point. Plus, for Roy’s clone to not only have a guilty conscience about living Roy’s life, but go out of his way to rescue the person who helped make his existence a reality speaks volumes, making Ollie look even more despicable in Roy’s eyes.
With that said, what would killing Luthor do for Roy in the long run except satiate a need for vengeance that would have only lasted the same amount of time as Luthor took his last breath. But instead of vengeance, Luthor proposed a different compensation package to Roy, which could be called almost Faustian in nature. The artificial arm, which is stronger than the one Mercy possessed, will be the key to unlock Roy’s dark side. And most DC fans know that Roy’s new codename, Arsenal, could spell trouble for this Earth-16 version of Roy since he committed some less than honorable acts under that particular moniker. 
Whether or not Young Justice decides to take Roy/Arsenal down the rogue path is left to be seen, but with this Earth-16 version of DC continuity anything is possible.
For a cartoon series, the hospital scene between Roy, Ollie, and faux-Roy was a pretty tense experience that lead to an even more exciting – yet slightly drawn out – battle with Mercy towards the end of the episode. While we knew no one was going to bite it in the end, it was still a harrowing scene to watch. The dialogue and plot twists during the Speedy/Mercy/Luthor showdown was top-notch stuff, which makes Young Justice stand out among recent DC animated cartoon shows and taking rank along the likes of Justice League and the 90s Batman: The Animated Series. And we couldn’t be any more the happier.
Other Moments of Note
– Rocket was having a bachelorette party during two scenes of the episode, but who exactly will she be marrying?
– Speaking of those two scenes, we felt that they were kind of unnecessary and could have been saved as one of the DC shorts that run in between episodes of Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Although, it was nice ‘seeing’ the girls take down Captain Cold, the fight took away from the main drama of the episode.
– Sportmaster gets our vote for the Worst Father of the Year Award, because instead of mourning like any other person would do, he made Artemis’s “death” all about his reputation. True, he could have been masking his feelings through his pompous attitude, but come on…
– I might be called a sap, but I really want Megan and Connor to get back together. Not feeling Lagoon Boy/La’gaan at all.
What did you think about Young Justice‘s return?
Photo Credit: DC Nation/Kid’s WB
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It was alright. Worth the wait.
Jason is dead in this continuity!
Finally a show that addresses death in the family. But I sincerely hope red hood doesnt come back.
Yes captain cold getting beaten up was filler. It had nothing to do with the storyline.
i think they are gona bring in red hood coz they showed how jason is dead in introduced arsenal all in one episode. as soon as they show you starfire, you know the outlaws are gona be formed and have a little rivalry with “the team” . it could work too.
I think they could do Red Hood quite well and that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Outlaws will be coming together either as a group or with the comic book line up in the New 52. Remember, this is an alternate universe, and they’ve already changed the status quo in a few ways from the mainstream universe so I am excited for the possibility of a Red Hood. Plus, Bruce Greenwood did Batman: Under the Red Hood and he’s again the Caped Crusader in Young Justice.
I really think they were foreshadowing Red Hood being brought into the series. I am very interested on what’s their take’s going to be of the Red Hood since they seem to do things their own way. It could make for a great story line. I just hope that Jason Todd becomes more like the Jason Todd we see in the New 52 who’s not as obsessed with his death and Batman’s failure but more focused on moving forward, even helping out the Bat family from time to time. It should definitely start that way with him going after Batman (like in the movie Under the Red Hood) but then getting past it after.
I really want Batman back—-sure miss Bruce Greenwood’s voice!