Endgame

"Endgame" is the 20th and final episode of the second season of Young Justice, as well as the 46th episode of the series. It aired on March 16, 2013.

Logline
On the verge of finally ending the alien invasion, the team discovers the price of victory may be the entire planet Earth!

Synopsis
In a courtroom, the accused Leaguers are asked by a tribune if they have anything more to "offer" before a verdict is reached. Icon rejects the opportunity, claiming that they have already presented enough evidence to prove his clients' innocence. Despite his confidence, the Leaguers are found guilty on all counts, and are taken away. Miss Martian, Superboy and Adam Strange arrive at the court just as the audience members leave. They have evidence that would clear the League—a holographic recording of the Light and the Reach admitting that they framed the League. Unfortunately, they are too late.

On the Reach flagship, Black Beetle expresses his desire to leave the meat-infested planet, but the Scientist points out that the infestation is already aboard their ship. Black Beetle claims that since the ambassador is gone, he will no longer restrain himself, and will now kill all the heroes.

Aqualad, Blue Beetle and Green Beetle arrive at the bridge. Green and Blue Beetles subdue every Reach agent, including the scientist, with their staple guns, while Aqualad takes on Black Beetle. They exchange blows, but Black Beetle overpowered Aqualad. He turns his attention to Blue and Green Beetles, but Green Beetle attacks first.

Using his telekinetic powers, Green Beetle slams Black Beetle to the ground, and connects his tendrils to reset Black's scarab and set him free. Black Beetle claims freedom is overrated, and responds with an attack of his own. Using the link forged by Green Beetle, he sends a surge of energy through the link, and destroys Green Beetle's scarab. B'aarz O'oomm's armor crumbles, and he collapses to the floor, unconscious. Black Beetle muses that he would have died if he wasn't a Martian, but his survival would easily be remedied.

Back in Rimbor's courtroom, the Tribunal admits that the evidence presented by the Earthlings is compelling, but the High Court has already ruled. Icon argues that they have to overrule, since there is a recorded confession that solidly places blame of the attack on Rimbor on the real criminals: the Light. Furthermore, the recording explained the motive—bringing the Earth to the Reach's attention.

The Tribunal agrees, but asks them to offer something "more". Realizing that they were asking for a bribe, Superboy and Miss Martian improvise. She says that whatever decision the court renders will have repercussions throughout the galaxy. Superboy adds that the new evidence offers the court an opportunity to demonstrate that truth and justice prevails on Rimbor. The Tribune interjects, saying that reputation is not the "more" they are accustomed to receiving. The young heroes respond by claiming that if the tribunal demonstrates its fundamental fairness, then more disputes would be brought to it. The higher volume of cases would naturally translate into more "mores" that the tribunal will receive.

On the Reach flagship, Blue Beetle blocks a killing shot Black Beetle took at B'aarzz O'oomm. Black Beetle focuses his attention on him, blaming him for the Reach's debacle. He sticks his tendrils into Blue Beetle's back, and tries to destroy the blue scarab the same way he destroyed the green scarab. Jaime Reyes and his scarab declare that they now share control, and are now comrades. Blue Beetle clamps down a tendril on Black Beetle's armor, and kills his scarab with the resulting pulse. Black Beetle's host collapses, and Aqualad congratulates Jaime on the victory. But what he learned while he was connected to Black Beetle unnerved him. The Reach had already implemented their plan to destroy the Earth in order to erase all evidence of Reach tampering there.

In a park, two beetle-like Reach drones emerge from a lake, followed by a red device which activates an energy sphere above it. Almost immediately, black thunderclouds form and spread over the city, raining lightning to the ground.

A supercell shrouds the city in darkness, and six stationery tornadoes appear around the Eiffel tower.

Much like Gotham City, lightning strikes hit the city, emanating from a black thundercloud. The red Reach device causing the instability is in the courtyard of a League of Shadows monastery, guarded by a drone.

Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightwing, the Atom and Aqualad discuss the ongoing chain of natural disasters, while the League is spread thin saving lives across the globe. Blue Beetle claims that this is all due to Black Beetle's Magnetic Field Disruptors scattered around the world. The disruptors are causing a deterioration of the Earth's magnetic field, which in turn is causing all the not-so-natural disasters. Blue Beetle locates twenty disruptors, each protected by Reach drones. Upon reaching critical mass, they turn into their "chrysalis" mode which will completely destroy the world.

The discussion is interrupted by an incoming transmission from United Nations Secretary General Tseng, which, much to Captain Atom's surprise, was initiated by Lex Luthor. Luthor offers the League a possible solution for their problem. Although skeptical, the League hears him out. As the Light has always planned to betray the Reach, LexCorp has developed an anti-Reach software, a virus that can disable the Magnetic Field Disruptors.

While waiting for the Tribune's decision about the accused Leaguers, Miss Martian admits to Superboy that the deterioration of their relationship was her fault. She knows it's too late to rekindle it because he is already dating Wendy Harris. Superboy is surprised at her conclusion, and tells her that they are just friends. He's merely acting as a sounding board between Wendy and her real boyfriend, Marvin White. The Tribunal exit from their chambers, finally reaching a verdict: all charges against the League are dropped, and they will be released forthwith. Icon thanks them, and tells them the League owes its freedom and reputation to them and the Team. Entrusting the welfare of the leaguers to Icon and Hawkman, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Adam Strange take their leave and teleport back to Earth.

Forty heroes are gathered in a briefing in Metropolis, held by Captain Atom. Blue Beetle is working with Lex Luthor to create Reach-tech Eggs laced with the LexCorp anti-Reach virus. Each hero will be paired off with another, so the twenty squads can tackle all twenty disruptor sites simultaneously. While one squad member distracts the Reach drones guarding the disruptors, the other will plant the virus by physically touching the egg to the disruptor. Wonder Girl is very skeptical about trusting Lex, but Robin assures her that it isn't in Luthor's best interest to have his home world destroyed. In any case, the heroes don't have much choice either.

On Rimbor, the freed Leaguers walk down a street, happy to be heading home. Suddenly, Vandal Savage broadcasts a message through three holographic monitors to the citizens of Rimbor and the whole galaxy. He declares Earth off-limits to all incursion or invasion, and threatens those who breach Earth's security with retribution. Superman is skeptical that Savage can back up his threat, but Batman points to the Warworld currently passing through Rimbor.

Meanwhile, Snapper Carr coordinates all twenty squads from the Watchtower.

Aqualad and Lagoon Boy engage a couple of Reach drones protecting a disruptor. Aqualad orders Lagoon Boy to plant the egg while he provides cover. Still stung at Aqualad not informing him about his deep-cover mission, Lagoon Boy sarcastically expresses surprise at being trusted now. Aqualad disagrees—after all, he trusted Lagoon Boy enough to let him take his place on the Team. Lagoon Boy accepts the explanation, and the Atlanteans begin their attack. Using his hydrokinetic powers, Aqualad creates a sea monster-like creature and smashes two drones. Lagoon Boy uses his Atlantean sorcery to inflate himself and smash another. Aqualad cuts the remaining drones with two water swords while Lagoon Boy deactivates the disruptor.

Kid Flash is running around evading the Reach drone's attacks. Artemis tries to shoot one down but misses. The drone shoots a nearby school bus, blowing it up. Artemis is sent flying, but is caught by Kid Flash. He tells her that they'll go back to Paris someday, when they don't have a world to save. Artemis replies that they will always have a world to save, then shoots an arrow at the drones. It appears to miss, but disperses powerful magnetic pellets that attach to the drones and draw them towards each them until they short-circuit. Kid Flash deactivates the disruptor, and runs up to Artemis. Before she finishes her report, they kiss passionately, over the confused inquiries of Lucas Carr.

In the sewers beneath the city, Static and Black Lightning battle two Reach drones. While Black Lightning takes care of the drones, Static deactivates the disruptor. After they finish, Black Lightning offers to be Static's mentor.

Black Canary reports to the Watchtower that she and Asami have disabled their disruptor. All twenty squads have deactivated all twenty disruptors, Snapper Carr notes jubilantly. However, the Atom points out that the Earth's magnetic field is still being disrupted. Blue Beetle contacts the Watchtower to tell them he has found a twenty-first Magnetic Field Disruptor.

Blue Beetle informs the heroes that the twenty-first disruptor is in the North Magnetic Pole, and was previously hidden from his previous scans by Earth's magnetic field. Since there are no Zeta Tubes in the Arctic, the Flash offers to take care of the situation.

The Flash races to the final Magnetic Field Disruptor, with Impulse providing him with backup. They find it inside an ice cave, but it was too late—the device has reached its chrysalis stage. The Earth's magnetic field begins to destabilize. Flash and Impulse escape the collapsing cave, and a vortex forms around the crysalis. They are unsure of what to do, but Luthor instructs them to run. Not run away, as Flash initially assumes, but run in the direction opposite to the vortex's energy flow. It might be possible to siphon off the energy through the speedsters' speed trails, but a massive amount of kinetic energy is required. Artemis questions Wally whether it is sufficient, but he has already left in the zeta tube.

As the pair of speedsters begin their run, the Atom tells them not to slow down until the chrysalis is completely neutralized. The pair begin to run in the opposite direction of the tornado. They successfully create a counter-cyclical vortex that is beginning to siphon off the chrysalis' energy. Impulse notes the plan is working, but Flash tells him that their efforts have only weakened, not stopped the chrysalis. Even at their top speed, they still can't generate enough kinetic energy.

Fortunately, Kid Flash shows up to contribute his kinetic energy, and the three speedsters begin to add more of an impact. The Bio-Ship descends on the location, disgorging Nightwing, Superboy, Blue Beetle, Miss Martian, Aqualad, and Artemis. The heroes are starting to stabilize the Earth's magnetic field, but the scarab informs Jaime about a problem. Kid Flash's slower speed has turned him into an exit valve for the chrysalis' energy—having absorbed it, he will "cease" in 16 seconds. Flash notices the problem and tells Impulse that they have to slow down and siphon off the energy attacking Wally. Wally realizes that it is too late for him, but he is more worried about reactions of Artemis and his parents. He asks his uncle to tell them something, but fades away before completing his sentence. Shortly after, the chrysalis is neutralized, and Flash and Impulse finally stop running, completely exhausted. Everyone is happy, until Artemis notices Wally's absence. Her tears start welling when Flash tells her Kid Flash wanted him to tell her he loved her, and she breaks down and cries. She is comforted by Miss Martian.

The Leaguers that were on Rimbor and all three Green Lanterns return to Earth. Surveying the wreckage, Superman wonders if they are too late, but they are greeted by the Team. Aqualad reports that the crisis has passed, though at a terrible cost.

Artemis goes to see Wally's parents. She breaks down into tears, and the three comfort each other.

Cat Grant reports on the Independence Day celebrations while the Green Lanterns escort the Reach ship to stand trial before the Guardians of the Universe. Inside the ship, the Scientist tells the Ambassador and the unarmored Black Beetle that she should have been allowed to complete her research into the scarab problem, but they glare her into silence. The scarab tells Jaime that it is over.

Superman, Batman, Black Canary, and Captain Atom watch G. Gordon Godfrey announce Secretary General Tseng's resignation. He promotes Lex Luthor as his replacement, then welcomes him onto the show as Superman turns off the broadcast in disgust. Captain Atom officially turns over his chairmanship of the League to Black Canary. Nightwing tells Aqualad he is taking a leave of absence after what happened to Wally and that Barbara will be there to step up if he needs help.

In the memorial garden, Artemis compliments Bart on his Kid Flash costume. When he expresses his doubts, she tells him that he's honoring Wally's memory and Wally would be proud. Bart notes that she's still in the Tigress costume and Artemis says that "Artemis" was Wally's partner, and she needs some distance.

Robin and Wonder Girl welcome Virgil, who asks them to call him Static, to the Team, and he tells them that the rest of the runaways are getting out of the game. Superboy wonders how long Tim and Cassie have been a couple. Miss Martian tells him that Cassie got the courage to kiss Tim after she realized how short life was when Wally passed away. As Miss Martian and Superboy agrees that that kind of courage can be hard to come by, Aqualad summons them to the mission room.

Batman tells them that the Team will now operate out of the Watchtower with the League because they earned it. Aqualad starts assigning new missions: Team Alpha, consisting of Superboy, Miss Martian, and Beast Boy, will go to Mars to help Green Beetle; Tigress, Kid Flash, Bumblebee, and Guardian will search for proof that LexCorp is bring out the Reach's drink under a different name as Team Beta; and everyone else will be on Team Gamma to follow Batgirl's lead on Vandal Savage. Watching from a distance, Nightwing remarks, "Business as usual."

Vandal Savage reaches Apokolips aboard the Warworld. Savage exits through a Boom tube to a hallway, walks past Desaad and G. Gordon Godfrey, and reaches the end to meet with Darkseid. They shake hands and Savage remarks, "Business as usual."

Title
An "endgame" is the ending scenario of a particular game; when and how it will end, most prominently used in chess. This could refer to the Reach's plan to destroy Earth. In fact, Blue Beetle specifically refers to the Reach's plans as an "endgame."

Cast and characters
! colspan="3" | Non-speaking roles
 * Cameron Bowen
 * colspan="2" | Robin
 * Tim Curry
 * colspan="2" | G. Gordon Godfrey
 * Miguel Ferrer
 * colspan="2" | Vandal Savage
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Batman
 * Kevin Grevioux
 * colspan="2" | Black Beetle
 * Bryton James
 * colspan="2" | Virgil Hawkins/Static
 * rowspan="2" | Phil LaMarr
 * colspan="2" | Green Beetle
 * colspan="2" | Aquaman
 * rowspan="2" | Stephanie Lemelin
 * colspan="2" | Artemis/Tigress
 * colspan="2" | Computer
 * rowspan="2" | Eric Lopez
 * colspan="2" | Blue Beetle
 * colspan="2" | Scarab
 * Yuri Lowenthal
 * colspan="2" | Lagoon Boy
 * rowspan="2" | Jason Marsden
 * colspan="2" | Impulse/Kid Flash
 * colspan="2" | Atom
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * colspan="2" | Black Canary
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Nightwing
 * Danica McKellar
 * colspan="2" | Miss Martian
 * rowspan="3" | Masasa Moyo
 * colspan="2" | Scientist
 * colspan="2" | Cat Grant
 * colspan="2" | Bumblebee
 * rowspan="3" | Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Tribune
 * colspan="2" | Superboy
 * colspan="2" | Superman
 * rowspan="2" | Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * colspan="2" | Black Lightning
 * Mark Rolston
 * colspan="2" | Lex Luthor
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * James Arnold Taylor
 * colspan="2" | Flash
 * Tony Todd
 * colspan="2" | Icon
 * Greg Weisman
 * colspan="2" | Lucas Carr
 * Michael T. Weiss
 * colspan="2" | Captain Atom
 * Mae Whitman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Girl
 * rowspan="3" | Nolan North
 * colspan="2" | Tribune
 * colspan="2" | Superboy
 * colspan="2" | Superman
 * rowspan="2" | Khary Payton
 * colspan="2" | Aqualad
 * colspan="2" | Black Lightning
 * Mark Rolston
 * colspan="2" | Lex Luthor
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2" | Kid Flash
 * James Arnold Taylor
 * colspan="2" | Flash
 * Tony Todd
 * colspan="2" | Icon
 * Greg Weisman
 * colspan="2" | Lucas Carr
 * Michael T. Weiss
 * colspan="2" | Captain Atom
 * Mae Whitman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Girl
 * Tony Todd
 * colspan="2" | Icon
 * Greg Weisman
 * colspan="2" | Lucas Carr
 * Michael T. Weiss
 * colspan="2" | Captain Atom
 * Mae Whitman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Girl
 * colspan="2" | Captain Atom
 * Mae Whitman
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Girl
 * colspan="2" | Wonder Girl
 * colspan="3" | Adam Strange
 * colspan="3" | Ambassador
 * colspan="3" | Arsenal
 * colspan="3" | Asami Koizumi
 * colspan="3" | Batgirl
 * colspan="3" | Beast Boy
 * colspan="3" | Blue Devil
 * colspan="3" | Brain (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Captain Marvel
 * colspan="2" | Darkseid
 * colspan="3" | Desaad
 * colspan="3" | Doctor Fate
 * colspan="3" | Eduardo Dorado Jr.
 * colspan="3" | Galet Dasim
 * colspan="3" | Green Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Guardian
 * colspan="3" | Guy Gardner
 * colspan="3" | Hal Jordan
 * colspan="3" | Hawkman
 * colspan="3" | Hawkwoman
 * colspan="3" | Jason Todd (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Jay Garrick
 * colspan="3" | John Stewart
 * colspan="3" | Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3" | Mary West
 * colspan="3" | Mercy Graves
 * colspan="3" | Monsieur Mallah (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Plastic Man
 * colspan="3" | Ra's al Ghul (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Red Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Rocket
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Sphere
 * colspan="3" | Ted Kord (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tempest
 * colspan="3" | Tseng Dangun
 * colspan="3" | Tula (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tye Longshadow
 * colspan="3" | Ubu (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Wolf
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Jay Garrick
 * colspan="3" | John Stewart
 * colspan="3" | Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3" | Mary West
 * colspan="3" | Mercy Graves
 * colspan="3" | Monsieur Mallah (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Plastic Man
 * colspan="3" | Ra's al Ghul (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Red Arrow
 * colspan="3" | Red Tornado
 * colspan="3" | Rocket
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Sphere
 * colspan="3" | Ted Kord (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tempest
 * colspan="3" | Tseng Dangun
 * colspan="3" | Tula (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tye Longshadow
 * colspan="3" | Ubu (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Wolf
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Rudy West
 * colspan="3" | Sphere
 * colspan="3" | Ted Kord (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tempest
 * colspan="3" | Tseng Dangun
 * colspan="3" | Tula (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tye Longshadow
 * colspan="3" | Ubu (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Wolf
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Tula (hologram)
 * colspan="3" | Tye Longshadow
 * colspan="3" | Ubu (photograph)
 * colspan="3" | Wolf
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Wolf
 * colspan="3" | Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna
 * colspan="3" | Zatanna

Continuity

 * The trial against the League, which was last seen in "War", is concluded.
 * Miss Martian and Superboy present the evidence the Team gathered in "Summit".
 * Miss Martian thinks Superboy is dating Wendy Harris; she made that assumption based on what Nightwing told her in "Intervention".
 * The arrival of the Team at Mount Justice mirrors the scene in "Fireworks" where the Justice League arrives at Cadmus Labs. This was also used in "Revelation" and "Happy New Year".
 * Impulse takes up the mantle of Kid Flash, following the conversation he and Wally had in the previous episode.
 * Virgil officially joins the Team under the name Static, after being offered membership in "The Hunt".
 * The episode ends on July 4 and July 5, the same dates the two-part pilot took place on.

Ratings
"Endgame" garnered an average of 2.051 million viewers, making it Cartoon Network's highest rated show of the entire week and the second highest rated episode of the season after "Runaways".

Trivia

 * Number 16:
 * There are 16 timestamps. Ten of them show 16 minutes.
 * When the scarab notifies Jaime of Kid Flash's impending death, he has only 16 seconds to live.
 * James Arnold Taylor replaces George Eads as the voice of the Flash.
 * Nolan North replaces Miguel Ferrer as the voice of Tribune, though Ferrer does provide voice work for the episode, as Vandal Savage.
 * Due to the running time, a handful of scenes were cut for time. These include:
 * A revisit of the broken translator gag which appeared in "War";
 * G. Gordon Godfrey leading an anti-Reach protest at the United Nations before the battle between Black Beetle and the heroes;
 * Blue Beetle's arrival at the Watchtower;
 * More dialogue in between Luthor's call to the Watchtower;
 * A brief conversation between Kid Flash and Impulse in Metropolis;
 * Lucas Carr coordinating from the Watchtower;
 * A second kiss between Kid Flash and Artemis;
 * More dialogue from Static in the sewers;
 * Static telling Robin and Wonder Girl about a relationship between Tye and Asami while the two heroes hold hands.
 * This episode is featured on Young Justice: Invasion – Game of Illusions: Season 2 Part 2.
 * The press release for the DVD included an alternate name for this episode; "Spin".

Goofs

 * When the Leaguers were on Rimbor about to hear the verdict, the lower front part of Wonder Woman's top was miscolored yellow instead of red. In the next scene, it is red, but in the following, it turns to yellow again.
 * When the Super-Cycle lands in front of the Justice League at Mount Justice, Icon is not colored.
 * In the wide shot when the Team is welcomed in the Watchtower, Virgil is depicted in his old clothes, with a blue shirt. In subsequent shots, he wears his black T-shirt with the thunderbolt.
 * When the Justice League leaves the Watchtower, Aqualad's shoulder tattoos are not colored.
 * When the forty heroes are assembled, Artemis is missing her right glove.
 * When Blue Beetle turns his head to Aqualad to tell him they lost due to Black Beetle's plan to destroy the earth, his mouth briefly remains in place, thus standing on the wrong side of his face.

Unanswered questions

 * Why does B'arzz O'oomm need the Team's help?
 * What is the Light planning to do with Darkseid?