Superman: The Animated Series, Season 4, Episode 2-3: Legacy
"Legacy" is the series finale to Superman: The Animated Series, and it's... a weird one. On one hand, it's suitably epic, absoltuely demolishing the status quo and delivering that big Darkseid episode that I really wanted. It's no 'Destroyer', of course, but it's still a pretty dark and well-done finale. It's a shame that the series itself doesn't actually get the chance to try and explore the ramifications of a world that hates Superman -- a fact that was mostly glossed over for a good chunk of Justice League. Still, it was a bold move and a very ballsy finale, especially when they weren't sure if they were getting another season. I'm not entirely sure if the finale for Superman: TAS was made with the knowledge that they were going to be able to wrap up Superman's character arc in Justice League or not, but it is definitely an interesting place to take Superman.
We get to see Apokolips descend on a race of bug people, led by some dude in black-and-red armour with a spiky Boba Fett helmet, brutally massacring beating into submission the native bug-men. Is this Darkseid's newest champion, better than Kalibak, Steppenwolf and the Furies? Is this going to be Superman's new challenger? Oh, no, wait, it's Superman himself! What? We then get to see Superman address Darkseid as 'father', and apparently go offscreen for an orgy with the Female Furies (that was some rather... suggestive dialogue for sure -- with the subsequent scene showing a half-dressed Superman waking up and greeted by the very sensual Lashina, who calls him 'boy-toy') and at one point Granny Goodness goes to 'fix' his brain to purge it of weird memories of a life on Earth. Granny Goodness tells Superman of his 'origin story', where he was sent from the dying planet of Krypton... not to Kansas, but to Apokolips, and is adopted by Darkseid as his greatest champion, bringing order to a lawless universe.
It's a pretty brutal plan, as Darkseid soon puts to motion his plan to use Superman as the destroyer of mankind, sending the Man of Steel down to spearhead his own armies to siege earth, breaking Earth's hope as its greatest champion goes around waving the flag of Superman and fighting against them instead of for them. It's wonderfully petty for Darkseid, and he knows that this is apparently a way to get around his treaty to Highfather.
All throughout it, only Supergirl, the Kents, Lois and Jimmy are even still supportive of Superman, as Darkseid's plan ends up victorious. And we barely see Jimmy or the Kents this episode. Lois abandons humanity for the hope that Superman is still under there somewhere, even as Lex Luthor joins forces with General Hardcastle to take down Superman once and for all. Supergirl tries to cover for Superman by piloting the Superman robots (surely there's a more practical way? Like, having Supergirl herself actually fly around Metropolis while giving Clark an excuse that he's sick or some shit?) and later confronts the mind-controlled Superman himself.
Luthor builds a Kryptonite cannon, and uses it against Superman during the invasion, all his fears about the alien being validated in a single day, taking out both Superman and Supergirl. Lois, still faithful to Superman, manages to break into the military facility, save Superman and Supergirl, and essentially help Superman regain his memory. However, the damage has been done. Superman telling everyone that "guys, I was mind controlled" doesn't do jack shit when he's running around blowing up tanks and jets a day ago. Hardcastle and Luthor are far more than willing to euthanize Superman.
I really loved how Luthor actually thought that "this isn't possible" in a private conversation with Mercy, because, as he tells Supergirl earlier in the episode -- he knows his enemy well. I do love how Luthor, despite being a relative second-stringer in this episode, manages to be a big presence in influencing human politics and menacing Superman, being the spearhead in the smear campaign against the Man of Steel.
And most damning among the changes in Superman's allies would be Professor Emil Hamilton. We haven't seen Hamilton in a while, and while he's talking about how helping Superman or the wounded Supergirl would be treason, Superman loses his temper and lifts Hamilton up by his neck... something that he immediately regrets, but the damage is done. Hamilton fears him now, and anyone who watches Justice League Unlimited would know just what this would lead to. "Did you see the look on Hamilton's face? He'll never trust me again." Superman tells Lois. And that's the worst thing that Darkseid could've done to Superman. Not kill him, not kill his allies or loved ones... but absolutely destroy the trust and the status as a beacon of hope that he's became.
And while Superman goes on a truly epic one-man rampage across Apokolips, ripping a Mother Box from the STAR Labs vault and in quick succession -- vaporizing an army of parademons with heat vision, shoving Granny Goodness into the same memory-wiping machine, beating up the Female Furies and dropping them from the sky, punching Kalibak aside before finally facing on the one-on-one fight with Darkseid. (Only the absent Steppenwolf and the non-combatant Desaad doesn't get trounced by Superman here) It's definitely epic, but it's also terrifying because moments ago Superman used that same strength to conquer Earth.
And in the end? Sure, Superman beats Darkseid pretty bad, and shoving his hand in front of Darkseid's eye beams and having the omega beams explode in Darkseid's face, ripping his castle apart and sending the broken Darkseid down onto the slums of Apokolips isn't even enough to defeat him. Unlike Darkseid, Superman didn't even manage to assassinate Darkseid's character as an indestructible god-tyrant, because even the slaves that toiled for Darkseid, instead of beating the felled tyrant, goes to nurse Darkseid and bring him to safety. "Do with him as you will", Superman says, thinking that they would do what slaves tend to do and revolt... and even the sight of a broken Darkseid isn't enough to incite the slaves to do so. Darkseid's cult of persona remains intact, while Superman's long-crafted status as a beacon of hope is completely shattered.
Yes, Superman is still nice. He still has allies -- Supergirl shows up and asks him to go home. Among the montage of people who are interviewed, Jimmy demands that Superman is still a good guy. Lois kisses Superman as the final scene in the series, saying that he can win back people's hearts 'one at a time'. Yet arguably both Luthor and Darkseid, despite the pummelling they received, still won. It's a ballsy move to end Superman: TAS, ending it at this episode that truly feels like the end of an era, a bittersweet ending that actually feels more like a backdoor pilot to a Metropolis where Superman has became a controversial character.
Over it all, we've got so much amazing scenes in this two-parter. Supergirl is an absolute delight, Luthor is well-portrayed, action hero Lois is amazing, Lashina is sultry, Darkseid's monologues are great, Granny Goodness is horrifying... and through it all, Tim Daly gives the best Superman monologues that I've ever heard. We don't have a lot of chance for Superman to be anything but heroic and that icon of justice we all know and love... but a frustrated and vulnerable Superman? It's certainly amazing to behold.
It marks the end of Superman: TAS, which thankfully isn't the end of this world -- we'll continue on with Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, two series that I have completely reviewed in the previous years and is archived well in the blog. We'll see where I go from here. I'd love to go do Batman Beyond, actually, because it's another series that I haven't watched in its entirety.
Now excuse me as I boot up 'Destroyer' again and see Superman lay waste to Darkseid in a proper one-on-one.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Among many other unrealized concepts, apparently this episode was meant to be the pilot to a new season of Superman where he'd have to win back the people's trust. It ended up being shelved as the creators were asked to continue work on Batman Beyond instead, and the plotlines for this episode would be recycled for the Cadmus and Darkseid storylines in Justice League Unlimited.
- If it's not obvious enough that Superman totally had sex with at least Lashina, a scrapped episode for Batman Beyond involves Batman Beyond and future Superman discovering Superman's son from that affair having deposed Darkseid as the ruler of Apokolips.
- The Mother Box at STAR Labs was the one recovered by Superman in "Little Girl Lost".
- Various referencces to "Apokolips... Now" are mentioned, among them Turpin's death, the treaty with New Genesis, as well as Darkseid's promise to use Superman as a pawn if he would not be Darkseid's champion.
- Hamilton's fear of Superman, as well as his brief role as Supergirl's doctor, would be revisited in Justice League Unlimited. Superman's rampage as Darkseid's herald would be referenced in multiple Justice League and Justice League Unlimited episodes.
- The idea that Superman is raised by Darkseid as a champion of Apokolips was explored in the Elseworlds story "Superman: The Dark Side", printed several years before this episode was created. Superman landing elsewhere other than Kansas and raised by the Kents has been a popular Elsewords story, with several famous ones among them being "Red Son", "The Nail" and the version in Flashpoint.
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