Young Justice S01E22 Review: The JLA Roundtable

Young Justice, Season 1, Episode 22: Agendas

I really do like Agendas. Sure, it's the second part of "oh, the Team gets compromised due to their character flaws" that follow after the very strong M'gann episode before, but I personally really like what they did with it nonetheless. The plotline of this episode is distinctly divided into two, as most Young Justice episodes are, with the B-plot surprisingly focusing on the Justice League on the Watchtower. The League has been... mostly relegated to the sidelines, with the only ones who really participate in episodes being ones who are tied to the Team themselves -- Red Tornado, Black Canary, Batman, Marvel, J'onn and Zatara. Here, we see the entire force of the League, some twelve-man strong, gather to discuss events, and it's definitely well done that the episode opens on the DC Trinity -- Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

The JLA meeting is basically discussing to expand the League,  something that is probably warranted due to recent events, but J'onn makes the very clever note that making the League bigger might also cause villains to band together into teams more dangerous than the prior incarnation of the Injustice League. The League then begins voting on the candidates, and the ones they pick are... well, mostly not going to matter because it's a Young Justice show first and foremost, but the fact that they included these scenes portray a larger world so, so well and I do love how they just vote about member entry with gravitas yet while throwing around some gossip. 

The newcomers to the League are mostly superheroes that have cameoed earlier in the season, with more obscure characters like Blue Devil and Icon being discussed next to relatively more iconic ones like the Atom or Plastic Man. There is an absolutely hilarious moment where somebody suggests Guy Gardner, but the other two Green Lanterns (Hal and John) just shoot that suggestion down simultaneously. Also interesting is the brief discussion about Dr. Fate's membership, considering he usurped Zatara's seat who Fate brushes off as being something that both Fate and Zatara agreed on in order to better keep Dr. Fate in check. The brief flash of protectiveness that Dr. Fate shows over Zatanna shows that, well, John Zatara is still around under that golden helm.

But the big point of discussion on the JLA is about Captain Marvel. See, Billy's real identity is a secret to every other member of the League (except Batman, because... Batman) and they're not very pleased that a little kid is part of the very dangerous Justice League when they're bending over backwards to make an age limit with the Young Justice team. The other big thing that they're promoting is Red Arrow, who, while highly experienced now that he's an independent hero, the other members of the League feel that it's not right to reward Roy's rebelliousness considering the other sidekicks have been playing ball with the rules they set up. Superman refuses to let any other member of the Team join the league (though is it just his own personal distaste with Superboy?) and Batman defends Captain Marvel, saying that the whole point of training children is so that they don't grow up broken like Batman himself. The discussion of biological age is also well done, with J'onn mentioning that martians age differently than humans (M'gann is like 70+ years old, but is considered a teenager) and there's the problem of Superboy, who's not even a year old.

The League then takes a vote, and while we don't quite learn the results of that vote until the next episode, it's still a thrilling bit as the League's seriousness is infectious and all the conversations are very well-done and well-scripted.

The main Young Justice plot, after a brief 'd'awww' moment of Zatanna crying and being consoled by M'gann (which is a moment I really like) is Superboy, who hears a message that only he can hear, and finds out that the person who summoned him is none other than Lex Luthor. Conner, smartly, doesn't care much for Luthor, and instead is dismissive of the villain until the words "Cadmus made another Superman clone" perks his attention. Superboy investigate Cadmus, and we get various reactions. Guardian (who, by the way, is Roy Harper's uncle) is long-suffering, Dubbilex is cooperative but firm, and Amanda Spence is indignant.  We get the neat bit of seeing the genomorphs walk around with jobs and shit, like real people and all, but Dubbilex telepathically confirms the existence of the clone, while also noting that the genomorphs will never truly be free.

Of course, Superboy brings Wolf the wolf with him this time, and they find "Project Match", a clone of Superman similar in shape to Superboy. Superboy releases Match and, well, Match is a lot less sane than Superboy ever was, even compared to when he was initially released from his pod, what with burning symbols in his chest and shit. To Superboy's dismay, Match displays the ability of flight, something that Superboy lacks. Match beats down Superboy, who, coupled with the dual prospect of failure and waking up in the cloning tank he detests so much, causes him to lash out at Guardian and Amanda Spence. Luthor offers Superboy a backstory -- Superboy's DNA isn't completely kryptonian, and the gaps were filled with human DNA. And, well, Luthor gives Superboy a bunch of drug patches that will suppress his human side for a set amount of time. Superboy declines, of course, but as with all smart tempters, Luthor tells Superboy to keep it anyway, 'just in case'.

And as Superboy continues to investigate, Dubbilex tells Superboy of something he finds out... Match isn't a newer, superior clone, but rather Superboy's predecessor, deemed a failure. The human DNA strands injected to Superboy isn't because they weren't able to get a complete sample, it's on purpose to make Superboy... more intelligent, I guess? There's a weird B-plot running alongside this of missing genomorphs, and apparently Dubbilex is responsible for those, liberating genomorphs so they can create a city of their own underground, and that is where Match was taken. Who, of course, breaks loose, knocks Wolf and Dubbilex around, and Superboy is forcced to use the shields in order to stop Match from causing casualties. Superboy's rampage is brutal, and while he didn't kill Match, it does cause Guardian and the rest of Cadmus to arrive and find Genomorph City. Match is frozen, Cadmus is in disarray, and Superboy leaves with a bad taste in his mouth.

Luthor explains everything to Superboy. He is responsible for everything. Cloning Match, cloning Superboy, wrecking the plans of the genomorphs to make their own society, and drops the bombshell that Superboy is part Luthor, with him being the human donor that gave Superboy his human DNA. Luthor tells Superboy about how Superman doesn't trust him (considering how adamant Superman is about not discussing Superboy in the JLA scenes, it's not unfair for Luthor to say that), and he'll never become like Superman. And the kicker? Luthor says a code, "red sun", which freezes Superboy in place, leaving him alone hours later with nothing but the strength-enhancing shields, more confused and angry than ever.

Perhaps there are some weaker moments, like the rather abrupt conclusion to the Superboy/Match battle, or the poorly-built-up Genomorph City subplot, but I do like this episode. Both Superboy's personal journey and the backstory doled out little by little are all well done, and the JLA round-table is immensely exciting despite it being just a bunch of people talking in a room.

Roll Call:

• Heroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, Red Tornado, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Lantern (John Stewart), Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Dr. Fate, Hawkwoman, Hawkman, Icon, Rocket, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Superboy, Wolf, the Atom, the Sphere, Guardian, Blue Devil, Red Arrow, Aqualad, Plastic Man
• Villains: Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor, Match
• Others: Dubbilex, Amanda Spence

DC Easter Eggs Corner: 

• Superboy being revealed to be the "son" made up of Superman and Lex Luthor's DNA happened during his tenure in the Teen Titans, and just like how it is here, Luthor had programmed a vocal command that allowed him to take control of Superboy, although in the cartoon it's only limited to stopping him.
• "Red sun" is a reference to how Superman is reduced to a mere mortal if he is under red sunlight. 
• Match, in the comics, is an imperfect clone of Superboy, in the tradition of the various Bizarros. Match in the comics was created by an organization called the Agenda as opposed to Cadmus (hence the title of the episode). The reverse-S that Match burns into his chest is a homage to both Bizzaro and Superboy-Prime.
• Green Arrow's reference that Icon might be a kryptonian is a reference to how Icon is an alien from the planet Terminus, and was in the comics (once he was folded into the mainstream DC community) briefly suspected to be a Kryptonian.