4x10 Nomed Esir!

[7.7/10] Maybe it’s just the infusion of so many magic-users into the proceedings, but this is the Young Justice episode that’s felt the most like Greg Weisman’s former show, Gargoyles to me. That’s especially true for the flashbacks to Vandal Savage’s rise and nigh-literal fall in Atlantis. Something of the explanation that his offspring are not only responsible for Atlanteans specifically, but metahumans or “homo magi” in general, feels like the sort of all-encompassing historical explanations that the prior show would do.

I’m here for it. Perhaps it’s a little too neat and over-explanatory. But it also makes for a fable of Vandal Savage trying to make things better, losing his supposedly immortal grandson in the process, sinking a great continent with greater loss of life, and spurring a new type of beings through his exchanges with the lords of order and chaos. It helps give the whole conflict and epic, even tragic feel, and I appreciate its scope and tone.

I also appreciate the setup of various players recruiting all of earth’s magic-wielders they can find because the threat that Child represents is so grave. The reveal that Savage is narrating all of this to try to recruit Nobu, that Phantom Stranger wants to enlist both Zatanna and Jason Blood(!), and the sense that it’s important they defend Klarion, not for his sake, but for theirs, makes this feel like the epic confrontation it should be.

The magic fight is one of the coolest in the show to date. Beyond just an energy beam fight that mayn magic battles turn into (though there is some of that), Child bringing in a rock avalanche, Kalrion slicing her to pieces only to see her gloop back together, and the sense of her harnessing all of the lords of chaos’ powers with Flaw in tow gives this one a character and a feel beyond the usual standard array of punching and kicking.

Apart from the magic business, I also truly appreciated the subplot of Em’ree working hard to connect with M’gaan to get her out of her shell after what happened with Conner. The story is painful, but a sweet one, especially when Miss Martian catches on that her sister’s trying to get a reaction out of her to help her gain some catharsis. I don’t know if it stands up psychologically, but from a storytelling perspective, Em’ree making herself an object of frustration to get M’gaan to confront her own feelings, that ends with the two sisters embracing and being there for one another as M’gaan cries her tears over her lost love, is really strong stuff.

Overall, a nice place to take this arc, which has me curious on the historical front, the epochal mystical threat front, and the grief and mourning front.