[7.4/10] I like the twists in this one, which is not something I say much these days. I’ve reached the point where I found most twists cheesy and even grating, so finding ones that aren’t super motivated, but still quality, is a boon.
The least interesting of them is the reveal that Oceanmaster became a clone of Aryan to sneak his way into ruling Atlantis. It’s a fairly baroque plan, and Oceanmaster has barely been established as a character, so it’s not like his bitter determination to rule has that much depth. You can appreciate the idea that Vandal Savage helped make this happen because he wanted it to impose order on three-quarters of the world, but the motivations are a bit thin all around.
That said, I love the Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque twist that after obtaining the Crown of Aryan, a gift from the Lords of Order to help imbue their champion with the abilities he needs to protect the world, it’s too much for Oceanmaster. The “Be careful what you wish for” punishment in pursuit of power has the ironic twist of an old Twilight Zone episode. Whether it’s because Oceanmaster is unworthy, or it’s just too much power for any but the strongest to wield, makes the culmination of his and Savage’s evil plot a dose of bitter poetry.
But I also like that rather than King Orin taking back over as king, he recognizes his wife as the one who fulfills the prophecy. Again, I’m a little over the prophecy business in general. But I genuinely didn’t see the idea of Mera becoming the leader coming. The way she’s managed this situation warrants recognition, and her husband recognizing the good she can do under the mantle of a depowered crown of Aryan takes this in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Candidly, I thought that Kaldur finding the crown as going to morph somehow into him being made king rather than the faux-Aryan, but I like this direction much better.
I also appreciate King Orin’s magnanimousness and fairness with the clone of his brother. It’s high-minded, to say the least, to free Oceanmaster’s clone with the idea that he is not responsible for Oceanmaster’s crimes of the past, and was under a malign influence for events in the present. The idea of giving someone like that a second chance is a powerful one.
Otherwise, the mission to find Aryan’s crown didn’t do much for me. It didn’t require much cleverness, just fighting a few random sea monsters and lucking into it, so the whole thing played like a perfunctory fetch quest for Kaldur. And sure, he decides to take a break at the end of all of this so he can process all he’s been through, but it’s not clear what exactly motivates him to have a change of heart on that front. It just sort of happens. That said, Khary Payton knocks it out of the park in the monologue about how far they’ve come and how much they've lost that runs over the closing credits.
That just leaves Conner in limbo. There wasn’t as much time for his story int his one, considering there was a lot of endgame to the Atalntis arc that had to be taken care of. But a brief interlude to show him concentrating on his own rage and the fear that he's just an animal, not someone in control is an interesting direction to take things. I don’t know about Lex showing up as another ghost in this realm, spouting his trigger word from season 1, but there’s definitely some unfinished business from that season that the show never completely resolved in terms of Conner’s shared parentage, so I’m glad to see them addressing it now.
Overall, a creditable end to this arc, which zigged when I expected it to xag and found satisfying, unexpected places to take some of its major story. This wasn’t my favorite arc, especially coming on the heels of the superior Zatanna arc, but it’s still solid.
This entire season has beautifully woven the show’s on-brand themes of individuality and recovering from trauma(s). A stirring reminder to know when to take a step back.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-08-28T03:45:09Z
[7.4/10] I like the twists in this one, which is not something I say much these days. I’ve reached the point where I found most twists cheesy and even grating, so finding ones that aren’t super motivated, but still quality, is a boon.
The least interesting of them is the reveal that Oceanmaster became a clone of Aryan to sneak his way into ruling Atlantis. It’s a fairly baroque plan, and Oceanmaster has barely been established as a character, so it’s not like his bitter determination to rule has that much depth. You can appreciate the idea that Vandal Savage helped make this happen because he wanted it to impose order on three-quarters of the world, but the motivations are a bit thin all around.
That said, I love the Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque twist that after obtaining the Crown of Aryan, a gift from the Lords of Order to help imbue their champion with the abilities he needs to protect the world, it’s too much for Oceanmaster. The “Be careful what you wish for” punishment in pursuit of power has the ironic twist of an old Twilight Zone episode. Whether it’s because Oceanmaster is unworthy, or it’s just too much power for any but the strongest to wield, makes the culmination of his and Savage’s evil plot a dose of bitter poetry.
But I also like that rather than King Orin taking back over as king, he recognizes his wife as the one who fulfills the prophecy. Again, I’m a little over the prophecy business in general. But I genuinely didn’t see the idea of Mera becoming the leader coming. The way she’s managed this situation warrants recognition, and her husband recognizing the good she can do under the mantle of a depowered crown of Aryan takes this in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Candidly, I thought that Kaldur finding the crown as going to morph somehow into him being made king rather than the faux-Aryan, but I like this direction much better.
I also appreciate King Orin’s magnanimousness and fairness with the clone of his brother. It’s high-minded, to say the least, to free Oceanmaster’s clone with the idea that he is not responsible for Oceanmaster’s crimes of the past, and was under a malign influence for events in the present. The idea of giving someone like that a second chance is a powerful one.
Otherwise, the mission to find Aryan’s crown didn’t do much for me. It didn’t require much cleverness, just fighting a few random sea monsters and lucking into it, so the whole thing played like a perfunctory fetch quest for Kaldur. And sure, he decides to take a break at the end of all of this so he can process all he’s been through, but it’s not clear what exactly motivates him to have a change of heart on that front. It just sort of happens. That said, Khary Payton knocks it out of the park in the monologue about how far they’ve come and how much they've lost that runs over the closing credits.
That just leaves Conner in limbo. There wasn’t as much time for his story int his one, considering there was a lot of endgame to the Atalntis arc that had to be taken care of. But a brief interlude to show him concentrating on his own rage and the fear that he's just an animal, not someone in control is an interesting direction to take things. I don’t know about Lex showing up as another ghost in this realm, spouting his trigger word from season 1, but there’s definitely some unfinished business from that season that the show never completely resolved in terms of Conner’s shared parentage, so I’m glad to see them addressing it now.
Overall, a creditable end to this arc, which zigged when I expected it to xag and found satisfying, unexpected places to take some of its major story. This wasn’t my favorite arc, especially coming on the heels of the superior Zatanna arc, but it’s still solid.