Misplaced

"Misplaced" is the 19th episode of the first season of Young Justice, and the 19th of the overall series. It aired on March 3, 2012. It was the first episode of Young Justice to air as a part of the DC Nation programming block.

Logline
When every adult on the planet disappears, only the team, Zatanna, and Billy Batson are left to defeat the five most powerful sorcerers on Earth.

Synopsis
Klarion places a gem in the ground, which he uses to form a magical pentagram and summon four more sorcerers: Wotan, Felix Faust, Wizard and Blackbriar Thorn. The group begins chanting a spell.

Miss Martian and Superboy unload several crates for Batman as well as groceries. Zatanna arrives with Artemis; the former wants to join the Team but her biggest obstacle is her overprotective father Zatara. Suddenly all the adults present vanish without rhyme or reason.

The four sorcerers Klarion had summoned moments ago now disappear.

Billy Batson is with his Uncle Dudley in their house watching a news report about Captain Marvel stopping an attack by Ibac and Sabbac. Suddenly Dudley disappears, as does Cat Grant on television and every other adult in Fawcett city. Billy at first decides to transform into Marvel but he realizes that might make him disappear too.

Meanwhile at the Cave, Kid Flash informs Robin and Zatanna that Happy Harbor High has been turned into a refugee camp. Superboy and Miss Martian are bringing in the town's children there for safety. Robin, in the meantime, has been trying to reach various adult heroes but no-one is available. Robin is also working with Zatanna to figure out what is going on.

While traditional media are offline, kids are posting on various websites the same thing, that every adult on the planet has gone missing. According to Zatanna, pulling off a feat like that requires a high level of magic. Robin brings up security footage of Zatara using a locator spell to find the Injustice League a month earlier and asks her to use the locater spell to find the source. She is not confident about her abilities, and has to practice more.

Superboy is on the streets rescuing children trapped in cars and bringing them to the high school. Artemis is trying to keep the children entertained by singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She does not know the full lyrics, but the children are amused at her version. Wally receives a sippy cup from a baby he just rescued. Artemis asks him if he was able to get through to his parents, but he says they did not pick up the phone. He doesn't want to investigate further, as he's seen enough empty houses. Billy is running through the streets of Fawcett City. He makes sure no-one sees him as he enters a derelict photo booth and orders the computer to teleport him to the Justice League. Unfortunately, the computer does not recognize Billy as Captain Marvel, so he has to come up with a different plan. As he walks past an electronics store, the Team appears on every television screen.

They speak a message of comfort and hope, and ask the elder children to take good care of the younger ones. They will work on a solution.

As Barbara Gordon and Bette Kane nurse several young children, they listen to the broadcast.



Rocket saves a bus full of children that hangs precariously off a bridge.

Several kids listen to Kid Flash as he urges them to protect the younger children in French.

On the other side of the world, children in Taipei find comfort in the message.

Meanwhile Billy has snuck into an airfield and asks the only person there, Amber, if she has a pilot's license.

In the Cave, Aqualad and Kid Flash are discussing the option of using the Helmet of Fate but they agree that they aren't that desperate yet. Zatanna informs them that she's ready to use the locator spell. She successfully pinpoints the sorcerers in Roanoke Island.

Amber has flown Billy to the east coast, and remarks that it's midnight—and it's her birthday. Billy is startled, and before he can ask her if she just turned eighteen, she's gone, leaving the plane without a pilot.

As the sorcerers chant, Klarion and Teekl disappear in the process.

Miss Martian drops off the groceries and supplies Batman wanted. Batman and Zatara spot Zatanna entering with Artemis; they discuss the possibility of allowing her to join the Team. Zatara is concerned about losing his only daughter. Suddenly, the Team disappears.

In Happy Harbor, a panicked man crashes his car into a pole when his son disappears from the backseat. A panicked Dudley watches the news reports about the missing children.

A crowd forms around STAR Labs led by Lawrence Crock. He instigates a riot, accusing the scientists at the facility of knowing more, and even being behind the disappearance. James Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department have their hands full stopping the crowd. Riddler uses this distraction to walk out of the laboratory with a briefcase. Lawrence picks him up with a car and they drive off, content.

At Mount Justice, Batman and Zatara discuss the possibility of using Doctor Fate but they agree that it's too dangerous.

Billy is trying to regain control of the plane. Left with no other option, he transforms into Captain Marvel and instead of him disappearing, the plane does. He hears Amber's scream and manages to catch her. He makes his way to Mount Justice, where he is surprised to find Batman and Zatara, but not the Team. After being told that every child has gone missing, he realizes that there are two worlds—one for adults and one for children. Batman asks him to travel between them and he does.

The Team is surprised at the sudden appearance of a kid in the Cave, and even after Miss Martian reads his mind, they still can't believe he's Captain Marvel. He convinces them by reminding Wally of the time he waited for him when his arm was broken.

With Captain Marvel and Billy as their relay, Batman and Aqualad form a plan. They head to Roanoke to disrupt the magic.

Klarion easily fends off the Team, and remarks that Zatanna's magic is nowhere near the level of his. Kid Flash comes up with the plan to hurt Teekl, but Klarion sees through it. He transforms his familiar into a giant saber-toothed cat and sics it on Superboy. In the other world Red Tornado, Batman, Captain Marvel, and Zatara attack the sorcerers. Zatara orders Captain Marvel to relay the fact that the gem in the center of the circle is the focal point of the spell. He changes to Billy, and relays the message.

Left with no other option, Zatanna summons the Helmet of Fate and allows Nabu to possess her. She struggles at first, because Nabu cannot keep stable in the separated world. After Doctor Fate destroys Klarion's field, Kid Flash runs in to pick up the gem. On the adult world, Captain Marvel tunnels under the pentagram to avoid the four sorcerers that defend it. Zatara and Doctor Fate merge the worlds back together with a spell in unison. Klarion escapes with Teekl; the other sorcerers collapse.

Nabu refuses to give up Zatanna's body. Kent Nelson had tried to reason with him, but with Klarion running wild, the world needs Doctor Fate. He says he released Kent to the afterlife to get rid of him. Shocked at the revelation, Zatara offers to give up his body. He is physically stronger, and more adept at magic, than his daughter. After giving his word, Nabu agrees.

Zatanna is allowed to take off the Helmet. Her father tells her he loves her, and asks the others to take care of her. As he puts on the Helmet, Zatanna tries to dissuade him, but there's no way. She falls to the ground sobbing; the rest of the Team try to comfort her.

The Team helps Zatanna carry her belongings to her room as she moves into the Cave. They try to give her solace, but for the moment, she just wants to be alone. When the others leave, she sits down and cries.

Klarion communicates with the Light, and the Brain is especially pleased. Though it might have been extreme, the plan formed the perfect distraction for Sportsmaster's and Riddler's mission. They arrive and give Brain the briefcase, which contains the last surviving piece of the echinoderm from Atlantis.

Title
"Misplaced" means "unable to be found or recovered". It may refer to the adults and children who find themselves placed in separate dimensions, and thus lost to one another. It may also refer to Billy Batson's initial fear of becoming Captain Marvel, as well as Zatanna's nervousness over the situation. Finally, Zatara relinquishes control over himself to become the new Doctor Fate, and consequently becomes lost to everyone else.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3"| Uncredited ! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles
 * Lacey Chabert
 * colspan="2" | Zatanna
 * Stephanie Lemelin
 * colspan="2" | Artemis
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Robin
 * Danica McKellar
 * colspan="2" | Miss Martian
 * rowspan="2" | Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Superboy
 * colspan="2" | Zatara
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * Thom Adcox
 * colspan="2" | Klarion
 * rowspan="2" | Dee Bradley Baker
 * colspan="2" | Teekl
 * Felix Faust
 * rowspan="3" | Corey Burton
 * Wizard
 * James Gordon
 * colspan="2" | Brain
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2" | Sportsmaster
 * rowspan="2" | Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Batman
 * colspan="2" | Wotan
 * Chad Lowe
 * colspan="2" | Captain Marvel
 * rowspan="2" | Masasa Moyo
 * colspan="2" | Cat Grant
 * Amber Joyce
 * Robert Ochoa
 * colspan="2" | Billy Batson
 * rowspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Blackbriar Thorn
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * colspan="2" | Brain
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2" | Sportsmaster
 * rowspan="2" | Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Batman
 * colspan="2" | Wotan
 * Chad Lowe
 * colspan="2" | Captain Marvel
 * rowspan="2" | Masasa Moyo
 * colspan="2" | Cat Grant
 * Amber Joyce
 * Robert Ochoa
 * colspan="2" | Billy Batson
 * rowspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Blackbriar Thorn
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * Amber Joyce
 * Robert Ochoa
 * colspan="2" | Billy Batson
 * rowspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Blackbriar Thorn
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * rowspan="2" | Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Blackbriar Thorn
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * colspan="2" | Nabu
 * colspan="3" | Computer
 * colspan="3" | Computer
 * colspan="3" | Atomic Skull (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Barbara Gordon
 * colspan="3" | Bette Kane
 * colspan="3" | Black Adam (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Count Vertigo (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Karen Beecher
 * colspan="3" | Lex Luthor
 * colspan="3" | Mal Duncan
 * colspan="3" | Marvin White
 * colspan="3" | Mary West
 * colspan="3" | Monsieur Mallah
 * colspan="3" | Ocean Master
 * colspan="3" | Paula Crock
 * colspan="3" | Poison Ivy (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Queen Bee
 * colspan="3" | Ra's al Ghul
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Riddler
 * colspan="3" | Rocket
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Starro
 * colspan="3" | Ultra-Humanite (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Uncle Dudley
 * colspan="3" | Vandal Savage
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris
 * colspan="3" | Paula Crock
 * colspan="3" | Poison Ivy (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Queen Bee
 * colspan="3" | Ra's al Ghul
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Riddler
 * colspan="3" | Rocket
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Starro
 * colspan="3" | Ultra-Humanite (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Uncle Dudley
 * colspan="3" | Vandal Savage
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Starro
 * colspan="3" | Ultra-Humanite (footage)
 * colspan="3" | Uncle Dudley
 * colspan="3" | Vandal Savage
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris
 * colspan="3" | Uncle Dudley
 * colspan="3" | Vandal Savage
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris
 * colspan="3" | Vandal Savage
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris
 * colspan="3" | Wendy Harris

Continuity

 * Robin refers to the fight against the Injustice League, and Zatara's locator spell, from "Revelation".
 * Kid Flash still has his arm in a cast after breaking it in "Revelation".
 * Zatanna reiterates that she's not at her father's level of magic. She said so in "Humanity".
 * Aqualad converses with Kid Flash about the peril of putting on the Helmet of Fate, because Nabu may not want to relinquish its host. This is a predicament all too well-known to both teens, who faced it in "Revelation" and "Denial", respectively.
 * Billy Batson points out to Kid Flash how he waited on him in "Humanity".
 * Kid Flash tells Artemis that when he fought Klarion donning the Helmet of Fate in "Denial", Doctor Fate won by attacking his familiar, Teekl.
 * Doctor Fate says he released Kent Nelson from the Helmet to the afterlife. As of "Denial", after dying, Nelson went to inhabit the Helmet and played an intrinsic role in convincing Nabu to release Kid Flash, and then Aqualad in "Revelation".
 * The Riddler is revealed to be an agent of the Light. He was the only Belle Reve inmate who managed to escape in "Terrors".
 * Sportsmaster and the Riddler abscond with the remainder of the echinoderm. The Light had attempted to obtain it before in "Downtime".
 * Monsieur Mallah is wearing a new beret after losing his to Kid Flash in "Alpha Male".

Trivia

 * Number 16: The Team helped Zatanna unpack as she moved into the Cave at 09:16 EST.
 * The last timestamp is the first to use Standard Time instead of Daylight Time. The clock is moved back one hour on the first Sunday of November, in this case November 7.
 * Rocket stops a bus from falling off a bridge. This is a running gag, since it also happened in "Schooled" and "Revelation". It is also worth noting it is the same school bus.
 * When Commissioner Gordon is addressing the mob, he tells them "all you're doing is creating a dangerous distraction from what really matters tonight". This overlaps with Sportsmaster and the Riddler driving away with a stolen briefcase, thus gaining a double meaning and explaining the plot of the episode to the viewers.
 * Captain Marvel refers to children's world as a "world without grown-ups".  World without Grown-Ups was the storyline that introduced Young Justice in the comics.

Goofs

 * When Amber checks her watch, it's five minutes to twelve. She disappears seconds later, before midnight.
 * When Artemis lines up to shoot at Teekl, Kid Flash's cast is missing.
 * When the Riddler enters the room, he is carrying the case holding the piece of Starro in his right hand, but he sets it down with his left hand.
 * Furthermore, he was wearing a black glove on the arm that carried the case holding the piece of Starro, but after he sets the case down, both hands are bare.
 * The television broadcast came with credits of another episode.

Cultural references

 * The five sorcerers chant "Wir sind die Pfeifer von Hameln", which is a reference to the German folktale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, about a ratcatcher who lured away a town's children out of spite for not being paid. However, in German, he was not called "Pfeifer", but "Rattenfänger" (Ratcatcher).
 * Kid Flash refers to himself as "Speedy Gonzalez".

Unanswered questions

 * How does Klarion know the four sorcerors in his "old band"?
 * How has Wotan escaped incarceration since "Revelation"?