Young Justice: Phantoms has been killing it so far in its fourth season. The move from Cartoon Network to DCUniverse did the show a lot of good in its third season, but the move over to HBOMax for this latest outing has only sweetened the deal. “Og Hitrof Dna Reuqnoc!,” and “Kaerb Ym Traeh!” conclude the 5 part saga of Zatanna (Lacey Chabert)and the Sentinels of Magic as they face off against the Child (Erika Ishii) for the fate of the world. Stakes are extremely high, and things feel like they could go south at any moment. Even with Cosmic forces of nature working with you, you aren’t always guaranteed a win. And if you are, there’s no knowing what that win will look like.
The Sentinels of Magic have been deemed worthy by Dr. Fate (Kevin Michael Richardson), and just in time too! The Child is not about to let Klarion (Thom Adcox-Hernandez) continue his existence on the mortal plane if she has anything to say about it. Definitely be sure to check out the previous recaps to make sure you’re up to speed, and be warned that if you aren’t caught up you WILL get ALL the spoilers. Without further ado, lets dive into “Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!”
S4E12 “Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!”
S4E12 starts with a narrated flashback from Zatanna’s father, Zatara (Nolan North)/Dr. Fate. In it he reveals that during a fateful performance a curtain caught fire and he used his real magic to extinguish it. The crowd believed the ruse and cheered accordingly, but Kent Nelson was there. He saw. He knew. Kent Nelson was the former Dr. Fate that had been part of the Justice Society of America. Over time the JSA would eventually become the Justice League.
We then jump right back to the final events of the previous episode and witness the death of Klarion’s anchor Teekl. Klarion reverts to his diamond form and rises back into the sky as his cat falls to a heap on the ground. The Child then sets her sights on the Tower of Fate, causing a devastating explosion. Zatanna is able to make them all intangible, mostly, as the blast rocks the Tower and brings it to the ground.
Jenga!
With the Tower leveled, the Child surveys her destruction with glee. Dr. Fate rises first and angrily tries to strike out at the new Chaos Lord, but her anchor, Flaw, bashes him back into the rubble almost comically. Dr. Fate is sent sprawling across the debris until he lands with a hard thud. The Child then continues to set siege on what’s left of the Tower. Mary (Erika Ishii) slowly stands and tries to use her powers, but with the Tower destroyed she can’t summon up enough energy. She rushes to her ailing friends and begins syphoning off their magical energy for herself. There’s no time to ask for permission. Only time to act. She strikes with the power of Zeus, but the Child dodges out of the way like it’s nothing.
Strong Goku energy.
The Child mocks them all before leaving to continue her chaotic rampage elsewhere. Zatanna rushes to her father to try to help him. Her shocked face does not bode well. The Helm of Nabu is cracked and her father lay lifeless in the rubble.
There’s no time to waste though. We then cut to Gar (Greg Cipes) on the set of “Space Trek 3016” as he and his co-stars attempt to film an episode. They’re on take 16, and Gar clearly isn’t feeling it. He’s completely monotone and barely there mentally. The director comes up to him to say that the crew is working very hard and he needs “more, ‘more’” from Gar. The young man promises something he can’t deliver as everyone retakes their places for the scene. The camera rolls and Gar blanks completely. The director sighs and there is a long cut to black before the bright and colorful stream of time and space comes into view.
Klarion zips through spacetime in his incorporeal diamond form, the reality of his situation setting in as he begrudgingly mutters that he needs “a hero.” Then suddenly we cut to… a schoolbus? THE schoolbus! Ah, at last. Just as a young girl is hopping on the bus for school, they are all suddenly transported to a bridge as its suspension cables are snapping! Superman (Nolan North) AND SUPERBOY (ALSO Nolan North) are there rescuing people from the bridge before it can collapse.
How is this possible?!
As normalcy resumes all is made clear. This is somehow early in their relationship as Superman is still chastising Superboy for not being in full control of his abilities. He zips off into the sky, leaving Conner there to sulk a bit, as Klarion’s diamond form appears again. He needs a different hero, but first he needs an anchor to the mortal plane. He sees the schoolbus that he transported and, mistakenly calling it a motorcycle, chooses it as his new anchor. His villainous eyes consume the dials in front of the bus driver as he exclaims that he’s taking control. A portal consumes the bus, and everyone in it, as Zatara resumes his narration.
After saving the audience with his “backwards magic” he wanted to do more than just entertain people with his power. He saw Superman on the news and was inspired when he saw his daughter’s reaction. He wanted to be that for her. Superman was an immigrant, like him, and after much prayer Zatara decided to follow suit and donned a costume himself. He became a vigilante. One day, as if summoned by magic, Kent Nelson came knocking.
Following Zatara from past to present, Zatanna still desperately tries to get a response from her father or the Lord of Order that possesses him. He rises, clearly hurt, and acknowledges that he should not have hesitated to help them. Meanwhile the Sentinels of magic have a word about Mary’s stealing of their magic power. Mary insists that there wasn’t time to ask. She had to act and try to take the Child down. Tracie (Lauren Tom) and Khalid (Usman Ally) disagree at first, but they understand. They ask that Mary not do it again without asking and she immediately agrees. Dr. Fate mends himself, all but his helm which remains cracked, before angrily opening a portal and commencing the hunt for the Child. Zatanna heals her students and they all follow Fate into his ankh portal to parts unknown.
Back in Hollywood, the director talks to Gar about his performance, or lack thereof. On the last season he was constantly late because of Outsiders missions or the feud with Grannie Goodness (Deborah Strang). This season, even when Gar is there, he can’t focus. The director halfway reaches out and asks if Gar needs any help dealing with Conner’s death, sounding insincere. Gar brushes it off, saying he’s just tired, and the director uses this as an opportunity to tell him to take a break for a little while. Gar is beginning to believe that he’s not necessary on the show or in the Outsiders anymore. He’s slowly losing purpose. There is another long fade to black before Zatara’s narration resumes.
Kent Nelson became a mentor to Zatara in his vigilantism and magic. As he spent more and more time saving the innocent with his powers, however, he spent less and less time with his family. Eventually, his wife, Sindella, was struck ill with cancer. He had to keep performing to pay her medical bills. Had to keep fighting to ensure she and their daughter were safe. Even feeling as though God was on his side, eventually Kent came knocking again. This time bringing melancholy and bad news with him.
“In some random hotel, in some random city…”
Returning to the present, Dr. Fate, Zatanna, and the sentinels arrive in Sydney Australia to see the devastation wrought by the Child. A massive volcano has been forced up from the depths below. Lava courses down the new mountain destroying anything that isn’t already mangled. A pillar of fire blasts into the air. Dr. Fate explains that the Child is already gone and they cannot undo the damage she brought with her as he opens another portal to pursue her. The sentinels all disagree. They want to stay and help the battered people of Sydney. It’s at this point that the Phantom Stranger (D.B. Woodside) returns. Matter-of-factly he explains that he has already summoned the Justice League, the Outsiders, and any mystical hero he could find. With the help of Madame Xanadu, they are all attending to the crises as they arise. This leaves them to handle the Child. As much as they want to stay, even Zatanna agrees that they have to go.
Another quick cut of the schoolbus, now possessed by Klarion, as it careens down a swerving mountain road suddenly hits the screen. The Harpers’ security van is nearly hit by the bus before it vanishes again. Klarion can’t seem to find the heroes that he needs. The schoolbus bounces from one perilous situation to the next as he continues his search. He’s not looking for Superman or Superboy. He’s not looking for the Harpers. He’s not looking for Green Arrow, Black Canary, or Green Lantern. His frustration is audible as he continues on.
Back with Zatanna, the group arrives in Manhattan to find that Child has reversed gravity! Wonder Girl and several of the Outsiders struggle to maintain some semblance of order and to get the people to safety. Even the villain the Magician has stepped up to the plate and is trying to help. Another pillar of fire blasts high into the sky as the group turns to leave and continue their search for the Chaos Lord.
The schoolbus, still zipping around spacetime and appearing seemingly at random, appears in Metropolis roughly a year ago and nearly hits the Legion of Superheroes before it disappears again. Zatanna and the gang land in Atlantis to find the Child has also been here and gone already, and quickly follow. Jumping between Klarion, as a bus, and Zatanna’s group gives a very hectic and desperate feel to the sequence and it feels very appropriate given the circumstances. Klarion complains that he keeps seeing the same heroes over and over again as he bounces around time and space with his unwilling passengers.
Zatanna’s gang land in Agra, seeing the desert now engulfed in snow and its people frozen in blocks of ice. The sentinels all want to stay and help because there aren’t any other heroes there yet, but Dr. Fate and Zatanna insist that they must continue until they find her. The fewer responders means the closer they are to finding her. Meanwhile, Klarion’s bus nearly hits Zatanna and the sentinels before their meeting with Xanadu, and all is revealed. They are who he’s been looking for. But he needs them after they know what’s going on.
From high above the earth on his Warworld, Vandal Savage (David Kaye) observes the devastation. The fiery pillars shooting high into the sky. He is displeased, and his concern is growing. This brief shot shows just how powerful and dangerous the Child truly is. From his vantage point, Savage can see multiple Pillars of Fire shooting high into the Earth’s atmosphere. Everything he has worked his entire existence for is in jeopardy, and you can feel the tension.
As the scene fades away from the immortal, we hear the comforting tones of Zatara again as his narration resumes. The loss of his wife nearly broke him. If not for Kent Nelson’s inspiration and help he would surely have been lost. He joined the Justice League so that he wouldn’t be alone in his fight against mystical evils. Safety in numbers after all. He started training Zatanna and she would join him in his stage performances. Just as Superman had been an inspiration for him starting out, Zatara was now seeing how he was becoming an inspiration for the next generation of heroes. This was both a good and bad thing. He knew the importance of his work, but also the dangers that came with it. Thinking back to when Zatanna nearly became Nabu’s vessel, Zatara knew then that he had no choice. Not really.
His fate was sealed.
We see Zatanna’s meeting with her father from a few episodes before, now in context. The two only have a single hour every year to share together before he must return to the Tower of Fate as the Lord of Order on Earth. One. Hour. Every. Year.
As this emotional bomb is still going off, we return to Gar in Hollywood on the set of “Space Trek 3016.” Gar is slowly walking away as his replacement speaks his lines. The clam-headed man, in character, is saying their only chance is to surrender. He hams it up and really chews the scenery for his big moment. The director exclaims with joy at the young actor’s performance as Gar slowly trudges away, defeated. He has already surrendered.
Next, the magic users arrive at the North Pole where Child is waiting for them. Even with their combined might, the magic users are unable to destroy Child’s anchor. Not even a scratch or dent on the jeweled behemoth. Child then unleashes her own attack. A new pillar of flame rises, but before Dr. Fate can react, the Child already has him encased in a literal closed fist of ice. All the while she playfully sings, “You can’t kill me.” It’s deeply unsettling. Before she leaves the magic users to lick their wounds, she has one more terrifying and clearly true statement for all of them.
“You can’t kill me. But I can kill every living thing on this world.”
From Dr. Fate’s body in the frozen cold we move inward. In a dark and seemingly endless space, Zatara speaks to Nabu’s helmet. The story of his life has all been here in this moment. He makes a final plea to the Lord of Order that he pass this story on to Zatanna when the time comes. Nabu tries to refuse, but Zatara is stubborn and forces the Lord of Order to agree. Nabu has taken everything from him: his agency, his body, his LIFE. He will pass on this message.
The credits roll as Superman talks to Black Lighting, Nightwing, and Aqualad. They stand together as red and blue lights from police and paramedics flash on the survivors from Agra. Superman admits that the Justice League needs a reserve unit, and as much as he hates to admit it, they will probably see more action than not. And very soon. The heroes stand together, concerned and silent as snow falls and the crackle of police radio continues in the background.
Final Thoughts
9/10: Taking the story to darker and darker places, while still holding fast to the heart of each of its characters.
“Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!” picks up the baton where the previous episode, “Teg Yeaer!” left off. Teekl’s death sets off a chain of desperate acts that leaves us feeling just as beaten down as the Sentinels of Magic. The Child’s power seems insurmountable and our heroes are at an all-time-low. All of this is still done with an eye for how all of this makes them feel. There is just enough time given to each of the characters involved that you know exactly where they’re at mentally and emotionally with the situation. I couldn’t wait a week to get into the next episode because I knew it was going to be the finale for this saga. Speaking of which…
S4E13 “Kaerb Ym Traeh!”
After the devastation wrought by Child against Dr. Fate at the end of the last episode, we open on the now sleeping volcano that has erupted into Sydney Australia. The Phantom Stranger explains that despite the Pillar Fire calming, the world had still been shaken and rocked. Warped beyond reckoning or repair. Vandal Savage himself arrives in a flash via boom tube, and he and the Stranger depart. A plan already in motion to put an end to this madness. The Stranger doesn’t even have to ask. He already knows exactly where Savage needs to go.
Back at the North Pole, Klarion finally arrives to meet with Zatanna and the Sentinels. He’s finally found them in the right time and place to be helpful to him. Dr. Fate manages to free himself from his frozen prison as the kids and bus driver all make their way outside, relieved to no longer be hurtling through time and space as Klarion’s unwilling passengers. Klarion briefly mourns the loss of his familiar, and anchor to the mortal plane, Teekl as Dr. Fate explains why he has taken the form of a schoolbus. Fate and Klarion don’t see eye to eye and don’t want to work together, but the Child poses far too great a threat for their feud to take precident at the moment. The team and the gaggle of school children all board Klarion the bus to depart as members of the Justice League arrive to tackle the Pillar of Fire left by the Child.
Meanwhile at the Outsider’s HQ in Hollywood, Gar is scrolling through social media alerts and seeing the devastation that Child has unleashed. He can’t bring himself to do anything about it. He doesn’t care. Even when his partner, Perdita (Hynden Walch), arrives unexpectedly with food to surprise him and cheer him up, he can’t be shaken from his ennui. He quickly moves to put the food in the fridge. The look on Perdita’s face says everything. She knows something is wrong.
Returning to Klarion the Bus Boy, he and Dr. Fate have hatched a plan to combat the Child. Klarion insists that he have a new cat before there can be any chance of success. Zatanna and the Sentinels all talk amongst themselves to the various passengers and the bus driver. They all come from 10years in their past. Before the Team. Before the Invasion. Before everything. The bus arrives at a frightening old animal shelter looking like it could be the set piece for any Stephen King novel as we fade back into narration from the Phantom Stranger.
The Stranger and the Savage convened with the Lords of Order and Chaos so they might make their case. High aloft in the cosmic chamber, Savage appeals to them saying that they preserve balance both great and small across the cosmos, but on Earth he has been what has maintained that balance. The Lords disagree. Using the Phantom Stranger as a conduit, they share their words with the immortal human. Savage has sided with Darkseid and advanced the Earth into a cosmic player in the ever-raging battle between Order and Chaos. It appears they hold no pity for Savage or the Earth, regardless of its current standing.
With a flash of lightning we return to the animal shelter. Zatanna, Mary, Khalid, and Tracie each present the Bus Boy with cats from the shelter, but none are the right cat. Klarion then explains that the cat is supposed to find him, not the other way around. Almost immediately we see that there is a kitten lovingly rubbing itself against one of his tires. Klarion squeals with delight as he names his new anchor. Retaking his form, Klarion, Zatanna and the Sentinels, and Dr. Fate proceed on their mission. The driver and children, no longer haplessly being tossed about time, are given a much-needed respite as the others take their leave.
The magic users all arrive at the rubble of the Tower of Fate with Klarion and get straight to work. Fate creates a spell circle similar to the one the Child used to summon Klarion before, and the Witch Boy’s new anchor bellows out an adorable meow to summon the Child to them. Child chastises the Witch Boy upon her arrival for having taken up with Dr. Fate and the others. Though she mocks him, she is also clearly intrigued by this new partnership.
Back in Hollywood, Perdita observes Gar’s room and how he’s been keeping since his return from Mars. Gar isn’t making any attempt to look her in the eye. Her voice cracks a bit as she reaches out to him. She wants to help him. She can see that he isn’t handling Conner’s death well at all, and can truly relate to him. Gar looks up at her from his bed as she asks him to let her help.
The battle with the Child rages on. Fate and Klarion attempt to blast her simultaneously, but this only adds to her immense power. While she is busy tending to them though, the Sentinels strike. Mary absorbs the energy from the Child’s Pillar allowing Khalid to blast her with his own anatomical spell. Not unlike when Child exploded a security guard to see how humans tick, Khalid unleashes a mighty magical assault that separates the Child into four distinct layers: skin, muscle, brain system, and bones. This seemingly has no effect though, other than being terrifying, as the Child explains. She is neither organic nor fighting alone. A snap of her fingers and she returns to normal. We see the image of the Lords of Chaos high in the cosmos as she is wreathed in red energy. A maniacal laugh bursts from her and she continues her assault with gusto.
Not fair. OP
High above in the cosmic den of the Lords of Order and Chaos, Savage continues his plea. He explains the nature of his deal with God-King of Apokolips. All will end with a final battle between their two worlds. If Darkseid were to immerge victorious he would claim the Anti-life Equation and reign supreme over the universe. Chaos would cease to exist and Order would become moot. “…As light without shadow.” In a final attempt, Savage asks that the Lords consider the “Holy Balance” and do as they have always been meant to: preserve that balance. He offers to do this as a partner with them, adding both cosmic forces to his already impressive list of allies. The Lords agree, but they will not simply remove the Child.
“Let the scales balance themselves.”
Back on Earth, this deal takes a drastic tole on the Child. Klarion feels the change immediately. Child tries to maintain her menace with excess, and it works at first. She grows more and more angry as Klarion and the others try to oppose her. She sets Flaw to take care of the Sentinels while she deals with her opposite and the Lord of Order. Mary tries to keep Flaw at bay, but even the Power of Zeus isn’t enough to stay the golem. Mary then takes to syphoning off the energy of her friends and the wildlife around her again, but even then she still can’t overpower Flaw. Both Klarion and the Child watch as she makes her attempt with interest. They like the idea that she will take what she wants when she wants it.
While the physical battle continues, the emotional one is coming to a close. Perdita continues to try to break through to Gar, but he refuses to listen. He doesn’t want help. He wants to not feel anything at all. Perdita accidentally knocks over his medicine bottles revealing that Gar has been abusing his medicines. She insists, trying to shock him out of his malaise, that he needs help, but the plea falls on deaf ears. Gar angrily sends her away and is left as alone as he claims he wants to be. The shot lingers on him as he stands defiantly alone by his bed as the camera pans slowly away.
We return to the battle with the Child to find that Khalid and Mary are both unconscious after the attack from Flaw. Zatanna is barely able to keep the shield above them all for their protection. Tracie, however, steps up to the plate. She has seen Flaw’s… flaw. Using her bad-luck magic, she is able to expand Flaw’s small crack in his chest and shatters him in front of the Child. Her anchor now destroyed, the Child reverts to her previous form and returns to the heavens. With victory in hand, Klarion and the others part ways.
Dr. Fate admits that Zatanna’s Sentinels proved themselves far more competent than he anticipated as they all begin the cleanup. Zatanna and Mary have a hard conversation about her powers and how she needs to train more before she can join in what the others will be doing. Zatanna then proposes that she, Khalid, and Tracie each alternate with Zatara to wear the helmet and allow the wearer a chance to live a normal life. Mary is outraged that she isn’t included. She feels left out and like she’s being punished for trying to do what she thought she needed to in the moment. She even brings up how she didn’t have to say “the word” to help. Zatanna explains that she still has to learn to be conscious of where her power is coming from and how she relates to it. This only makes things worse, and Mary stubbornly asks to be sent home to Fawcett City.
Zatara, reluctantly, agrees to the rotation, knowing that his daughter won’t have it any other way. Khalid asks her the hardest question though. “Did you take on protégés with the express purpose of freeing your father?” She doesn’t directly answer him, and that’s all the answer that’s needed. She looks away and to her father before looking back to Khalid. He decides to take the first in the rotation and becomes Dr. Fate, allowing Tracie to talk to her family about this change and allowing Zatanna real time with her father.
Khalid, the Helm of Nabu, and the Phantom Stranger all converse of the events that have transpired. Nabu refuses to “thank” Savage, but the Stranger explains that not all of this was his doing alone in the beginning as we see Zatanna and her father share an embrace that is long overdue.
“Ten years ago, I made my father disappear. My greatest act of prestidigitation was bringing him back.”
The magic users all return to the temporally displaced schoolbus to send them home, but before they do Zatanna gives the driver a card for Dinah Lance/Black Canary. She tells him to make sure everyone has a copy of it and insists that they contact her for counselling. Before they send the bus away, she uses her magic to see what they went through while Klarion possessed the bus. She sees flashes of their adventure, but there’s also something else…Conner! She saw Conner’s ghost! And he needs their help!
The credits roll as Dinah Lance talks to Zatara on the grassy plot inside the Watchtower. They’re talking about the children from the schoolbus that Klarion possessed. Over the 10years since they were returned to their own time several of them had reached out to her. They shared things with her that she had never been able to share or express with anyone, until now. Dinah shakes out of her nostalgia for a moment to ask Zatara how he’s held up. In these final few moments, the man breaks down in tears at finally being free. His faith and his love got him through “the long night.”
The episode cuts to black, but rather than ending however, we’re treated to another sequence. This time of Mary as she sits alone, quietly crying to herself, in a back alley of Fawcett City. While she cries, Grannie Goodness starts to speak. We hear her telling Mary that her “friends” have been keeping her down, manipulating her, and trying to use her to raise themselves up in her place. They’re jealous of her, she says. She whispers in the back of Mary’s mind.
The final moment of the episode is heartbreaking. Tears still running down her face, Grannie Goodness compels Mary to speak the magic word and become her better self… and she does. She gives in to Grannie and to her addiction with a whisper. “Shazam.”
Final Thoughts
9/10: A powerful conclusion to this saga, and an intriguing lead into the next set of episodes.
These episodes rode a crazy line to the finish and setup some very intriguing things for the second half of the season to explore. What’s going to happen with Conner?! Is he alive somewhere, or is his ghost reaching out from the beyond? Will Gar get help, or will he fall further away from his friends? How will this new Dr. Fate arrangement effect Zatara and the others? Most of all though, what’s going to happen with Mary?! Grannie Goodness whispering in your ear is never a sign of good things for your life. I can only hope that her friends find her and bring her back before it goes too far. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, I’ll be here watching intently and taking all the copious notes I can. Be sure to check back here after the next episode drops on HBOMax, and check them out for yourself if you haven’t already! Catch ya next time!
I’ve worked my whole life to become a comic book illustrator, writer, and stand-up comedian. Batman and Captain Benjamin Sisko helped put a good head on my shoulders. I spent most of my childhood saving Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom and seeing the Justice League save all of creation time and time again. I live in Johnson City, TN with my wife Kary and daughter Laila enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery and occasional show. Three puppies round out the family and take up the rest of the time that isn’t spent debating which Wes Anderson or Studio Ghibli movie to watch. I spend an inordinate amount of time binge watching SVU, Futurama, and Letterkenny, and when I’m not watching I’m listening to “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” or playing the occasional game of D&D. If there’s a nerdy endeavor out there, I’ve probably at least tried it.
