Auld Acquaintance

"Auld Acquaintance" is the 26th and last episode of the first season of Young Justice, and the 26th of the overall series. It aired on April 21, 2012.

Logline
The Team finally learns the identity of the traitor in their midst, forcing a battle against an enemy more dangerous than any they've ever faced before!

Synopsis
In a subway tunnel under the National Mall, Red Arrow is pursued by Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman. He is clearly outmatched: his former mentor knocks him down with an explosive arrow, Flash punches him at super speed, and he breaks his bow when attacking Aquaman with it. A passing train distracts his assailants long enough for him to escape via a small drainage pipe.

The Team arrives at the Cave, proud of their work in Santa Prisca but still questioning who the mole is. Batman reveals that Red Arrow was the mole. Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash are appropriately shocked and in denial of Roy's betrayal, but Red Tornado reveals that he was a Project Cadmus clone. Batman explains.


 * The Roy they knew had replaced the original Speedy three years ago, shortly after he became Green Arrow's sidekick. The clone was programmed with a fervent drive to join the Justice League, which explained his intense anger at being denied in Independence Day. Wishing to eventually gain the approval of the Justice League, he refused to join the Team and struck out on his own. Unaware all along that he was a clone and a traitor, Red Arrow's secondary programming activated upon his induction. He betrayed the League to Vandal Savage by attempting to infect them with mind-controlling bio-nanotech chips.

Batman says that he had figured out that Red Arrow was a clone and had planned ahead, subduing Savage but that Roy had escaped. Robin asks where the real Roy Harper is, to which Batman says he doesn't know, but was most likely dead. Aqualad is determined to find the Red Arrow, but Batman says Roy is a League member and therefore, his apprehension is a League matter. Batman leaves the Team with Red Tornado.

Aqualad is still keen to find Red Arrow, at which point Red Tornado completely shuts down. The Team notices that something is not right: Zatanna says she sensed a strange mystic energy within the Cave, and she thinks that is what caused Tornado's shutdown. She also sensed the same energy emanating from Batman. Robin realizes that Batman called the Team "kids", something he would never do. Kid Flash finds one of the modified bio-tech chips from the briefcase they acquired in the Smokey Mountains, in Tornado's hand.

Aqualad directs Robin, Kid Flash, Zatanna and Rocket to see if they can get Red Tornado back online, while he and the rest of the Team leave to look for Red Arrow.

Robin thinks Tornado's shutdown was a hardware, and not a software issue, but has no idea on how to reactivate the android. Zatanna suggests moving his consciousness to the "John Smith" android Tornado built. The Team hooks him up so that they can transfer his programming to the new android. Black Canary arrives during the download, indignant at their actions. The android then wakes up, yelling at the Team to run. Canary attacks them with her Canary Cry.

Robin attacks her, but is easily repelled. She opens her mouth to scream but finds Robin's attack was a ruse to plant a gas pellet on her. It detonates, and Rocket traps her inside a force bubble with the gas, knocking Canary out. The Team, with John Smith and a bound and gagged Black Canary in tow, escape the Cave in the Super-Cycle, before Icon, Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel have a chance to catch them. John Smith instructs them to stay off the radio and let Sphere track Superboy's signal.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Aqualad has found Red Arrow, in one of the many equipment caches he installed in major cities when he went solo. Aqualad is not looking to capture him; he just wants answers. Red Arrow demands that Kaldur prove he is not under the Light's control by asking him who broke his heart. Kaldur answers it was Tula, who left him for his best friend in Atlantis, and now his best friend on the surface world is aiming an arrow at his chest. The answer convinces Red Arrow, and he joins them aboard the bio-ship, confirming to them he was the mole all along.


 * He was a sleeper agent, programmed by Cadmus to infiltrate the League. Sportsmaster was his handler, who used the key phrase "Broken Arrow" to bring him to an hypnotic state. While in that state, he could retrieve secrets from Arrow, or install further instructions in Arrow's subconsious. Red Arrow would carry out these instructions, completely unaware of what he was doing. Part of these instructions might be to cast suspicion on Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis as mole suspects. 

Aqualad wonders how Batman deduced this and prevented him from betraying the League to Savage. Roy says he didn't.

Meanwhile in the Super-Cycle, Red Tornado reveals that the League is under the complete control of Vandal Savage and the Light.


 * The bio-tech chips, called Starro-tech by Savage, were implanted by Red Arrow. The alien organisms, infused with nano-technology and magic, shut down the independent control of the individual and allowed Savage to reprogram the mind to suit his needs. Even robotic brains like Red Tornado and mystically-protected minds such as Doctor Fate are not immune. However, the chip needed 0.16 nanoseconds to completely subvert the host, allowing Red Tornado to create a failsafe sub-routine. If he tried to infect another person, as what happened earlier when he attempted to contaminate Aqualad, the sub-program would completely disconnect his power cells, shutting him down.

At this point, the Super-Cycle has found the bioship. Megan decloaked the ship to allow the Super-Cycle to enter, and both teams started to compare notes. They are unaware that the bound-and-gagged Black Canary has regained consciousness.

Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Red Arrow zeta aboard the Watchtower. Black Canary tells Savage that she was captured but escaped and used the Starro-techs on the two heroes with her as well as the Team. She informs her master that they are waiting for him on Earth. However, Klarion is monitoring all pieces of Starro-tech and realizes that she's lying; the three are not under mind control. Hal Jordan restrains them.

What Savage doesn't know is that Red Tornado shut down the Watchtower security systems when he came aboard, and the Team has infiltrated the satellite. Using cure-tech, they take out Plastic Man, Atom, Captain Atom and Hawkman. Klarion picks up the shutdown Starros on his monitoring system and realizes that Black Canary and the others aren't under Starro control. The three heroes take out Hal Jordan but Klarion recalls six Leaguers from an away mission to battle them: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, John Stewart, Hawkwoman and Martian Manhunter. They make short work of the heroes, breaking Red Arrow's bow and ripping Red Tornado's limbs off. Realizing the Team has found a way to negate the effects of Starro-tech, Vandal Savage gives orders to dispose of the Team.

Icon, Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel return to Watchtower, but the Team ambushes them. Icon and Fate are easily tagged with cure-tech, but Captain Marvel is too fast. Zatanna casts a spell to make him speak his magic word. Billy wasn't exposed to the mind control, and stays with Zatanna as she tries to take the Helmet of Fate off her father's head.

Artemis, Aqualad and Kid Flash go to the cargo hold and battle their mentors Green Arrow, Aquaman and Flash. Aqualad opens the airlock and he and his teammates hold on while the pressure outrush knocks out the three adult heroes. Once Aqualad closes the outer door, Kid Flash applies the cure-tech to the three Leaguers.

The rest of the Team battle the remaining League members on the Observation Decks. Robin, Wolf, Sphere, and Rocket manage to contain Hawkwoman, John Stewart and Wonder Woman. Batman goes after Robin while Miss Martian fights her uncle and Superboy battles Superman. Miss Martian takes on her true form and telepathically induces Martian Manhunter's weakness to fire. Robin and Superboy join forces and first take out Batman. Superboy then holds Superman long enough for Robin to use a piece of Kryptonite that he stole from the Batcave to weaken both Kryptonians and deactivate tag Superman with cure-tech.

Savage watches the battle on the monitor and tells Klarion they have to leave. Klarion wants to stay and fight but Savage warns that they might destroy the satellite, or kill several League members, and the Light can't have that. Klarion teleports them both away just in time and Red Tornado congratulates the young heroes on their victory.

The computer pops up a view screen indicating the date and time, and greeted the League with a cheery "Happy New Year". As strains of "Auld lang syne" play, Kid Flash takes Artemis in a bridal carry, and kisses her. Superboy and Miss Martian follow suit passionately. Zatanna steals a kiss from Robin, and Rocket gives Aqualad a peck on the cheek. A bemused Red Tornado declares his inability to understand human customs.

When everyone has recovered, Superboy and Miss Martian are looking at Earth through the viewports when Superman comes in. He compliments Superboy for the first time, asks Superboy about his real name. When the clone tells him, Superman responds by revealing his own secret identity, Clark Kent, and he's proud that they're "family".

Red Arrow meets with key members of the Team and the League, distraught over what he has learned about himself. He vows to find the real Roy Harper, and Batman tells him that Guardian is already searching Cadmus for the body. They are unaware, however, that the Light has raided Cadmus, subdued Guardian and the staff, and are carting Match and the original Roy Harper out of the facility.

As Green Arrow and Black Canary take care of Red Arrow, Batman and Robin discuss another problem: during the time that Savage controlled the League, six of its members were gone for sixteen hours and there's no record of where they went or what they were doing for Savage.

Title
"Auld acquaintance" is part of the opening line of Auld Lang Syne, a song traditionally sung in celebration of the New Year in the English speaking world. This episode takes place on December 31 and the song starts playing with the stroke of midnight. Literally speaking, the title means "old acquaintance" which could refer to Red Arrow, who turns out not to be an "old acquaintance" everyone thought he was.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3"| Uncredited ! colspan="3"| Non-speaking roles colspan="3"| Hugo Strange (flashback)
 * Lacey Chabert
 * colspan="2"| Zatanna
 * Crispin Freeman
 * colspan="2"| Red Arrow
 * Kittie
 * colspan="2"| Rocket
 * 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"| Superman
 * Khary Payton
 * colspan="2"| Aqualad
 * Jason Spisak
 * colspan="2"| Kid Flash
 * Thom Adcox
 * colspan="2"| Klarion
 * rowspan="2"| Jeff Bennett
 * colspan="2"| Red Tornado
 * John Smith
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2"| Sportsmaster
 * Oded Fehr
 * colspan="2"| Ra's al Ghul
 * Miguel Ferrer
 * colspan="2"| Vandal Savage
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * colspan="2"| Black Canary
 * colspan="2"| Red Tornado
 * John Smith
 * Nick Chinlund
 * colspan="2"| Sportsmaster
 * Oded Fehr
 * colspan="2"| Ra's al Ghul
 * Miguel Ferrer
 * colspan="2"| Vandal Savage
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * colspan="2"| Black Canary
 * colspan="2"| Vandal Savage
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2"| Batman
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * colspan="2"| Black Canary
 * Vanessa Marshall
 * colspan="2"| Black Canary
 * colspan="3"| Captain Marvel
 * Computer
 * colspan="2"| Stephanie Lemelin
 * colspan="3"| Wolf
 * colspan="3"| Teekl
 * colspan="3"| Atom
 * colspan="3"| Hawkman
 * colspan="3"| Hawkwoman
 * colspan="3"| Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3"| Plastic Man
 * colspan="3"| Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3"| Hawkman
 * colspan="3"| Hawkwoman
 * colspan="3"| Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3"| Plastic Man
 * colspan="3"| Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3"| Martian Manhunter
 * colspan="3"| Plastic Man
 * colspan="3"| Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3"| Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3"| Wonder Woman
 * colspan="3"| Aquaman
 * colspan="3"| Amanda Spence
 * colspan="3"| Amazo (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Black Adam (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Brain
 * colspan="3"| Count Vertigo (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Doctor Fate
 * colspan="3"| Dr. Desmond (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Dubbilex
 * colspan="3"| Flash
 * colspan="3"| Garfield Logan (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Garth (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| G-Elves
 * colspan="3"| A G-Gnome (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Green Arrow
 * colspan="3"| G-Trolls
 * colspan="3"| Guardian
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| Flash
 * colspan="3"| Garfield Logan (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Garth (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| G-Elves
 * colspan="3"| A G-Gnome (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Green Arrow
 * colspan="3"| G-Trolls
 * colspan="3"| Guardian
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| A G-Gnome (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Green Arrow
 * colspan="3"| G-Trolls
 * colspan="3"| Guardian
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| Guardian
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| |[Hal Jordan]]
 * colspan="3"| Icon
 * colspan="3"| John Stewart
 * colspan="3"| Joker (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Lex Luthor
 * colspan="3"| Mammoth (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Match
 * colspan="3"| Monsieur Mallah
 * colspan="3"| Ocean-Master
 * colspan="3"| Psimon (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Queen Bee
 * colspan="2"| Roy Harper
 * colspan="3"| Sphere
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Monsieur Mallah
 * colspan="3"| Ocean-Master
 * colspan="3"| Psimon (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Queen Bee
 * colspan="2"| Roy Harper
 * colspan="3"| Sphere
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)
 * colspan="2"| Roy Harper
 * colspan="3"| Sphere
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Sphere
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)
 * colspan="3"| Tula (flashback)

Continuity

 * The flashbacks accompanying Batman's explanation of Red Arrow feature footage from "Independence Day", "Welcome to Happy Harbor", "Infiltrator" and "Usual Suspects".
 * Kid Flash mentions confiscating bio-chips off Cheshire, which happened in "Usual Suspects".
 * Zatanna learned about "John Smith" in "Insecurity".
 * Aqualad talks of Tula, who broke his heart by striking up a relationship with Garth as revealed in "Downtime".
 * Red Arrow's explanation of his programming flashes back to the events from "Targets", and elaborates on those events.
 * Vandal Savage's speech features a flashback to "Revelation", "Downtime", "Terrors", "Usual Suspects", "Independence Day", "Drop-Zone", "Schooled", "Insecurity" and "Image".

Trivia

 * Main title clips:
 * Batman pulling up a picture of Red Arrow (01:59)
 * The Team looking incredulous (01:45)
 * Aqualad kicking a door open (mirrored) (06:14)
 * Superboy looking angry (17:22)
 * Red Arrow taking aim (00:21)
 * Artemis dodging an explosion (15:16)
 * Number 16:
 * All three timestamps indicate 16 minutes.
 * The Starro-tech takes 0.16 nanoseconds to be fully assimilated by its host.
 * The six Leaguers were unaccounted for for 16 hours.
 * The group of Leaguers unaccounted for 16 hours—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Hawkwoman—corresponds to six of the seven core members of the League in the Justice League animated series, though Hawkwoman replaces Hawkgirl. The seventh member was the Wally West version of the Flash.
 * This episode aired in Brazil on March 19.

Cultural references

 * John Smith's half-exposed robotic face is reminiscent Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the first two Terminator movies. Greg Weisman has also adopted this look for his ' character.
 * Red Tornado comments that human customs still eluded him after watching the Team kiss each other. The New Year's kiss is an American custom, in which people who fail to kiss someone at the stroke of midnight will ensure themselves a full year of loneliness.

Unanswered questions

 * What is "phase two" of the Light's plan and why do they need the Justice League alive?
 * What did the six Leaguers do and where did they go during the missing 16 hours?
 * Why were those six specific members chosen for that mission?
 * What will the Light do with Match and Speedy?
 * What happened to the real Speedy's right arm?
 * Where does Red Arrow stand in the League as of now?