Review: Young Justice: Phantoms “Og Hitrof Dna Reuqnoc!”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Zatanna must rally the Sentinels of Magic before Chaos consumes the Earth.
Our Take:
We’re one step closer to the conclusion of Phantoms’ first half, and let me tell you, there’s going to be nothing but pure chaos from this point on. Last week, we see that Klarion got untethered by Child after his anchor cat Teekl got its neck snapped by Flaw. In this episode, which means “conquer and fortih go” in reverse, we see Zatanna, Doctor Fate, and her students going on a mystic search for Child.
This is another solid continuation of Zatanna’s story arc that features, you guessed it, chaos. Lots and lots of chaos. It probably might be one of my favorite episodes of the season so far. For one reason, it involved the best subplot that’s ever been put into a Phantoms episode, if not a Young Justice episode. The one I’m talking about was Klarion’s quest to search for heroes to assist him.
We encountered a random sequence involving a school bus coming out of nowhere and nearly hitting the main characters throughout the arc. This episode represented how that happened, with Klarion traveling through time while possessing the bus full of children. It was an amusing and well-executed scenario that gleefully breaks the pace of the episode’s emotional plot with its humor and Thom Adcox-Hernandez’s performance as Klarion.
The episode also worked well because of the other subplots. Like Klarion’s side adventure, they too break the main plot’s pacing. However, they also significantly influence the characters’ development, mainly Beast Boy and Zatanna’s father, also known as Doctor Fate.
The episode showcased more of Beast Boy’s depressed state while filming his “Space Trek” show, which I thought was suitably engaging. The other subplot involved a different flashback, which sees the rise of Zatanna’s father from being an ordinary magician to joining the Justice League to becoming Doctor Fate. If you’re a massive follower of Young Justice, you might see this as unnecessary to its storyline. However, as someone who just started the show with its recent season, I thought it was an interesting flashback that led Zatanna’s father to his destiny as Doctor Fate.
Overall, this was another enjoyable continuation that sets the stage for its chaotic finale next week. Despite some minor issues with its pacing, the episode’s main story and side plots are some of the best I’ve seen from the season’s first half regarding the stakes, narrative, and animation. I still consider the first two episodes to be my favorites so far, but this one managed to provide enough mystic mayhem to get me hooked for the story arc’s conclusion.
