Alpha Male

"Alpha Male" is the thirteenth episode of Young Justice and aired on October 7th.

Logline
Already exhausted and rattled after a home turf invasion of The Cave, The Team learns that Aqualad – their friend and leader – withheld vital information that put them all at risk. When Batman sends the Team and new “den-mother” Captain Marvel to India to investigate bizarre reports of armed animals attacking human beings, can Aqualad pull his fractured Team together?

Synopsis
Gotham City Mayor Hamilton Hill is big game hunting in India. He spies a large tiger and prepares to shoot it when Hill and his party observe strange devices coming out of the ground that subdue the tiger. Hill decides to shoot the unconscious tiger anyway, but his party is attacked and chased off by Monsieur Mallah who shoots at them with a minigun.

The morning after Red Tornado and his "family" attacked the team, various members of the Justice League are repairing the Mount Justice Headquarters. Superboy's super-hearing overhears Aqualad tell Batman that Sportsmaster had suggested that there was a traitor on the team but that it now seemed likely that the traitor was Red Tornado. Superboy violently grabs Kaldur and yells to the team that Aqualad knew there was a traitor and didn't tell the rest of the team. Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis all angrily question Kaldur until Batman intervenes. When Superboy says he's going to destroy Red Tornado, Batman replies that because he is a member of the League, the League will deal with Red Tornado and he has a different assignment for the Team. Despite their protests that it is a joke, Batman assigns the team to investigate the strange gorilla in India that Mayor Hill had encountered.

Batman informs the team that since Red Tornado is gone, different members of the League will fill in and that Captain Marvel had volunteered to take the first shift. Captain Marvel informs the Team that he is looking forward to "hanging" with them.

Title
The term "Alpha Male" refers to the leader of a pack. This episode revolves around wild animals being controlled by the Brain, as well as Aqualad's ability to lead the Team being up into question.

Credited


Continuity

 * The first timestamp places the opening sequence between the events of "Targets" and "Terrors."
 * This episode follows the aftermath of the event that happened in the previous episode, "Homefront".
 * The relationship between Miss Martian and Superboy (which began in "Terrors") is currently established.
 * The Brain apparently has been using Kobra Venom on fauna, after Sportsmaster had procured it for the Light in "Drop-Zone."

Trivia

 * Captain Marvel names the tiger "Mr. Tawny." In the DC Comics, Tawky Tawny was a humanoid tiger and a close friend of the Marvel Family.

Unanswered questions

 * If the Brain was using Kobra Venom, is he working for the Light?
 * Is the Brain the Fench speaking member of the Light?
 * What happened to the Brain and Monsieur Mallah in the end?

Quotes
  
 * Miss Martian: Stop behaving like a character from a 70's sitcom!
 * Captain Marvel: Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word.
 * Aqualad: Because Batman is... Batman.
 * Artemis: Why are you smiling?
 * Kid Flash: One word: Souvenir!
 * Kid Flash: How's about Krypto?