[7.6/10] I like the answer to the big Martian mystery of who killed the king. The fact that it was the priestess, but not out of deliberate malice, is an interesting twist. Sometimes accidental murders can feel cheap. They can mean there’s no agency to the culprit. But here, the Young Justice writers have their cake and eat it too. Sy’rra not intending to kill the king, but having an involuntary psychological reaction to his bigotry, lets there be emotion and motive behind the murder, while ameliorating the blame Sy’rra deserves and making her sympathetic.
I particularly appreciate how it ties into the racial themes of this Mars arc. The king seemed to be progressive, promoting reforms that would help bring equality to his people. But he drew a hard line at his red martian son marrying a green martian woman. It speaks to a certain NIMBY quality people can have about social and political reforms, where they may agree with broad principles but balk when it affects them personally.
For her part, Sy’rra is understandably devastated that her bid to convince the king to let her be with her true love resulted in more bigotry and a reinforcing of the caste system rather than a breakdown of it. It’s particularly tragic that her effort to bring her and prince J’emm together is what sets them irrevocably apart, since her killing the king meant they could never be psychically intimate again. Her becoming a priestess in response has a certain Tale of Genji quality to it, and while the rushed conclusion to get to the confession is a little easy, the answer is satisfying and poignant.
Even the mystery dovetails nicely with the racial themes of the arc. While the “magical residue” bit is a touch convenient, I appreciate that Sy’rra was able to sneak into the palace by pretending to be a white martian servant because the guards view white martians as so beneath their notice or concern, and because they wouldn’t believe any green martian would deliberately choose to make themselves a white martian. I also appreciate that another white martian servant refused to cooperate with the manhunters, because he knows how those officers treat people of his caste, something a disfigurement confirms without making explicit. Once again, these themes are salient to the times, and well rendered via the metaphor of martian society.
That said, Prince J’emm’s ability to sway martian society comes a little too easy. The evil vizier’s speech about how none of this would have happened if S’yrra had observed the caste system and that this speaks to the need for traditional order is total bullflop, but superficially plausible to a scared society. J’emm being able to wipe that away in one big speech about Martians needing to be open to new ways feels like too simple a fix, especially since the speech is generic and full of rote truisms, even if the points it makes are valid. The truth is, the Mars arc bit off way more than it could chew in four episodes in terms of the societal prejudices it tackles, but I still wish it didn’t make the prince resolving them as tidy as it seems here.
I guess we can point to M’comm’s terrorism as a pretty big fly in the ointment of tidiness there. He’s apparently being aided by some mysterious Legionnaire enemy who has a camouflage bubble and can slink around undetected. The Legionnaires didn’t seem able to stop him, and only a last minute save from Conner diving into magma can halt the anti-red and green martian virus from spreading, in a desperate sacrifice that devastates everyone around. The problem is that I don’t buy it for a second. The show does its best to set up that it’s plausible Superboy could die here. We’ve had multiple mentions of him being away from the yellow sun to recharge with all this time underground, and low on oxygen. That, combined with kryptonite in the bomb (a curious inclusion) makes it superficially plausible that Conner could perish amid this heroic sacrifice. But we see his body, and there’s extra special heroes around to monitor him, so I just don’t believe this is really the end, which blunts my ability to be moved as those close to him like M’gaan and Garfield begin mourning. Maybe I’m wrong and he doesn’t end up popping into the future or something, but I doubt it.
Still, this bout of schmuck bait notwithstanding, I generally like how the episode wraps up the major story threads it’s been weaving at the beginning of season 4. Once again, there’s a touch too much exposition and on-the-nose dialogue, but the thrust of this one is well-considered and well done.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-08-12T05:02:54Z
[7.6/10] I like the answer to the big Martian mystery of who killed the king. The fact that it was the priestess, but not out of deliberate malice, is an interesting twist. Sometimes accidental murders can feel cheap. They can mean there’s no agency to the culprit. But here, the Young Justice writers have their cake and eat it too. Sy’rra not intending to kill the king, but having an involuntary psychological reaction to his bigotry, lets there be emotion and motive behind the murder, while ameliorating the blame Sy’rra deserves and making her sympathetic.
I particularly appreciate how it ties into the racial themes of this Mars arc. The king seemed to be progressive, promoting reforms that would help bring equality to his people. But he drew a hard line at his red martian son marrying a green martian woman. It speaks to a certain NIMBY quality people can have about social and political reforms, where they may agree with broad principles but balk when it affects them personally.
For her part, Sy’rra is understandably devastated that her bid to convince the king to let her be with her true love resulted in more bigotry and a reinforcing of the caste system rather than a breakdown of it. It’s particularly tragic that her effort to bring her and prince J’emm together is what sets them irrevocably apart, since her killing the king meant they could never be psychically intimate again. Her becoming a priestess in response has a certain Tale of Genji quality to it, and while the rushed conclusion to get to the confession is a little easy, the answer is satisfying and poignant.
Even the mystery dovetails nicely with the racial themes of the arc. While the “magical residue” bit is a touch convenient, I appreciate that Sy’rra was able to sneak into the palace by pretending to be a white martian servant because the guards view white martians as so beneath their notice or concern, and because they wouldn’t believe any green martian would deliberately choose to make themselves a white martian. I also appreciate that another white martian servant refused to cooperate with the manhunters, because he knows how those officers treat people of his caste, something a disfigurement confirms without making explicit. Once again, these themes are salient to the times, and well rendered via the metaphor of martian society.
That said, Prince J’emm’s ability to sway martian society comes a little too easy. The evil vizier’s speech about how none of this would have happened if S’yrra had observed the caste system and that this speaks to the need for traditional order is total bullflop, but superficially plausible to a scared society. J’emm being able to wipe that away in one big speech about Martians needing to be open to new ways feels like too simple a fix, especially since the speech is generic and full of rote truisms, even if the points it makes are valid. The truth is, the Mars arc bit off way more than it could chew in four episodes in terms of the societal prejudices it tackles, but I still wish it didn’t make the prince resolving them as tidy as it seems here.
I guess we can point to M’comm’s terrorism as a pretty big fly in the ointment of tidiness there. He’s apparently being aided by some mysterious Legionnaire enemy who has a camouflage bubble and can slink around undetected. The Legionnaires didn’t seem able to stop him, and only a last minute save from Conner diving into magma can halt the anti-red and green martian virus from spreading, in a desperate sacrifice that devastates everyone around.
The problem is that I don’t buy it for a second. The show does its best to set up that it’s plausible Superboy could die here. We’ve had multiple mentions of him being away from the yellow sun to recharge with all this time underground, and low on oxygen. That, combined with kryptonite in the bomb (a curious inclusion) makes it superficially plausible that Conner could perish amid this heroic sacrifice. But we see his body, and there’s extra special heroes around to monitor him, so I just don’t believe this is really the end, which blunts my ability to be moved as those close to him like M’gaan and Garfield begin mourning. Maybe I’m wrong and he doesn’t end up popping into the future or something, but I doubt it.
Still, this bout of schmuck bait notwithstanding, I generally like how the episode wraps up the major story threads it’s been weaving at the beginning of season 4. Once again, there’s a touch too much exposition and on-the-nose dialogue, but the thrust of this one is well-considered and well done.