Young Justice: Invasion 2.10 – Before The Dawn There Are Revelations…

Welcome back, Young Justice. How we have missed thee…

The popular Cartoon Network show returned with a vengeance after being oddly yanked from its regular time slot for a later airdate, which happened to be this morning, and boy did it deliver. Although, many fans caught the episode last year before it was yanked off YouTube and iTunes, so this is pretty much old news to many. With that said, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to having moments of ‘information overload’ during the episode, but it wasn’t that serious  enough to knock the episode for what it achieved overall.

Blue Beetle and The Reach

Before starting with this particular arc, I’m going on record as saying that my knowledge of the Blue Beetle mythos is fuzzy and amateur at best, so bear with me. However during the opening scene, I immediately picked up that the Blue Beetle scarab and the aliens analyzing it were of the same species called The Reach. Many fans had already pegged The Reach as being in cahoots with The Light, but what could this mean for Blue Beetle, and most importantly, the Beetle’s human host Jaime Reyes? Well if you let Impulse put it, a helluva lot of trouble.

According to Impulse, Blue Beetle has a part in the bleak future he comes from and it all starts with the Reach’s invasion of Earth, which we know is already in its infant stages. Impulse also revealed how this was the main reason for him to time travel back to present day to stop his best friend from becoming a tyrant and traitor of the human race. But just when we think the invasion has just been served a major blow to its endeavors, the end of the episode proved other wise (more on that later). So will Jaime Reyes have to battle his scarab over control of his body, or did the scarab prove his allegiance with his host by taking on the Black Beetle in that epic showdown in the Reach’s loading dock?

The Meta-Gene as a Weapon

With the metagene being revealed as being a driving force for the invasion, I couldn’t help but think back to the Everyman Project featured in DC’s 52 storyline. But further digging revealed that maybe the Young Justice writers were harkening back to the 1988 Invasion! crossover, where multiple races teamed up to invade Earth. If I’m late in deducting this, then… Oh well.

The question now is will the metagene be used in creating super soldiers from members, or potential members, of Young Justice? If this is the case, could Mal Duncan become a future target and in light of said event, he eventually develops a super power?

Miss Martian Discovers The Truth

Can we get an “uh-oh” for this storyline?

While rescuing her kidnapped teammates, Miss Martian came across Kaldur and went in on his ass without any hesitation. What she didn’t expect to find while screwing with his head was that 1) Kaldur is undercover for the team, 2) Artemis is alive and undercover as well, 3) she’s so out of the loop of what’s going on that it left her stunned for the rest of the episode. The other problem is that the only other member of the original five person team, Superboy/Connor, is still in the dark, but for how long?

Also, wonder how much damage did Miss Martian inflict upon Kaldur and if it will compromise his and Artemis’s cover in the long run?

Take Us To Your Leader. We Promise We Won’t Invade Your Planet.

The Reach went public at the end of the episode, but only to counter The Team’s and Justice League’s plans to warn the world of their diabolical plans for world domination. The plan was unfortunately perfect, given that G. Gordon Godfrey, the most vocal opponent to all alien life form on Earth, bought the Reach’s claims of peace hook, line and sinker. The invasion is officially under way and our heroes will have to tread lightly while fighting against Earth’s doom if they don’t want to come across as jealous, paranoid super freaks.

Overview

As stated at the start of this review, there were times where I felt the episode overdosed on feeding us a lot of info in the midst of the rescue attempt. For instance, the flash forward to Impulse’s depiction of Blue Beetle’s future was abrupt, especially in the middle of the battle between the team and Black Beetle. Personally, the scene would have fit perfectly between the Team’s escape and the debriefing between Aquaman, Captain Atom, and Nightwing to serve as a denouement of sorts for Blue Beetle’s story line. But on the contrary, Jaime wouldn’t have had the urge to take on Black Beetle, giving his teammates the opportunity to escape. What do you guys think?

Kaldur’s mind warp by Miss Martian was a bit much only because it was too long. Just a glimpse of Artemis as Tigress and a scene with Kaldur, Nightwing, Wally, and Artemis discussing their plans would have been sufficient enough to set up Miss Martian’s revelation of her friends being double agents for their sakes.

With all that said, the origin of the Blue Beetle was well written into the plot of the episode.

I really wished Cartoon Network would show decent previews for next week’s episode, but alas that won’t be the case. What were your thoughts on Young Justice: Invasion – “Before the Dawn?”

Photo Credit: DC’s Young Justice