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"Encounter Upon the Razor's Edge!" is the 19th episode of the fourth season of Young Justice, and the 92nd of the overall series. It debuted on April 21, 2022 on HBO Max.
Logline[]
Rocket misses one conference, while another goes poorly.
Synopsis[]
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In the back yard of the Garrick house, Bart zips in and out of the Bio-Ship, taking parts from a table as Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy look on. Once he has nearly finished installing the parts in the Bio-Ship, Bart tells the Legionnaires he won't finish unless they tell him exactly what they are up to. They are reluctant for fear of upsetting the timeline, but Bart reminds them he isn't from this timeline and they have no choice if they want his help.
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Lor-Zod's Time-Sphere arrives above Supertown. Lor-Zod keeps the Sphere out of sync with the timestream to conceal them. Ma'alefa'ak demands a full explanation of their mission. Lor reminds him that he and Mantis have been instructed by Darkseid to follow his orders, but Ma'alefa'ak counters that only a fool would go in blind.
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Tomar-Re and Kilowog near New Genesis, flying under their own power. Kilowog has little hope for the upcoming summit with the New Gods and the Justice League. They are interrupted by a distress call. They fly to a nearby asteroid field, where they find a member of the Blue Lantern Corps with his life support aura failing. Kilowog soon recognizes the Lantern as Razer. Kilowog is thrilled to see his old friend, and teases him for flying without a fully charged power ring. Razer explains that his ring is charged, but he has lost the hope needed to use it.
In the meeting room, Orion officially welcomes Rocket and Flash. Rocket is delighted by the arrival of Vykin, admitting to him that she was dreading negotiating with the Dog of War. Vykin tells her she needs to get to know Orion better. Tomar-Re then arrives, and explains that Kilowog will join them after attending to some personal business.
Outside, Kilowog admonishes Razer for not getting in touch since they last saw each other four years ago, and demands to know what had happened.
- Shortly after they had last met, a Blue power ring found Razer, then a Red Lantern, in space. Razer took up the ring, glad to move past his rage. He did not want to release his Red power ring however, to prevent it afflicting someone else. A chance encounter with Metron solved his problem, as Metron agreed to keep the ring in his Inter-Dimensional Vault. Razer continued his quest, finding many promising clues, but each led to a dead end.
Kilowog attempted to comfort Razer, but with all hope gone, Razer felt only anger could fuel his quest, and so he came here to regain his Red ring.
Elsewhere, Forager and Forager take in the sights of Supertown. The female Forager questions why Forager is missing the summit, but Forager is confident Rocket and Flash can handle the meeting, and he prefers to spend time with Forager. The Foragers chirp and hold hands.
Back at Central City, Bart has gathered a pile of junk food ready to hear the Legionnaires' story.
- They explain that the planet Krypton used the Phantom Zone as an extra-dimensional prison. Those imprisoned were not intended to stay there forever, but after Krypton was destroyed there was no-one to let them out. Over a thousand years later, the last Phantom Zone Projector was found on New Genesis, and the United Planets used it to finally release the prisoners.
- Lor-Zod tells his associates on the Time-Sphere that when they were "unjustly" imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, his mother was unknowingly pregnant with him, but as no-one ages in the Zone, carried him for a millennium. He was born after their parole in the 31st century. The United Planets had settled the parolees on Daxam, a Kryptonian colony with a red sun. By the time Lor was 15, General Zod had relocated his followers to a planet with a yellow sun, granting them the powers Zod viewed as a birthright. General Zod then led a rebellion against the United Planets.
- Saturn Girl continues, explaining that Zod had been a menace determined to dominate everyone, but that the newly formed Legion of Super-Heroes stopped him, using the projector to send him and his followers back to the Phantom Zone. But as a minor, Lor-Zod was not considered culpable, and so wasn't sent to the Zone.
- Lor says he was raised to hate the family El, as it was Jor-El and Zor-El who got General Zod sent to the Zone in the first place, but he came to hate the Legion as well. Lor-Zod tried relentlessly to get the projector, until the Legion were finally compelled to destroy it. The Legion had been inspired into existence by Superboy, another El. Lor stole the last known Kryptonite and a Time-Sphere.
- Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl were pursuing Lor when he travelled to the past, and were exposed to chronoton radiation in the process, making them immune to changes in the timeline. They found that the Legion was gone. Lor had killed Superboy, preventing the Legion's formation. They took the last Time-Sphere and travelled back to stop Lor.
Back in Supertown, Razer goes to meet with Metron, and asks him for the Red ring back. Metron agrees to give it back in exchange for the Blue ring.
In the meeting room, Rocket asks what the New Gods intend to do about Darkseid's interference on Earth. Vykin explains that they cannot be the first to break the hard-won truce between Apokolips and New Genesis, and so will not intervene. They want a third party to mediate, the Green Lantern Corps. Orion is uncertain they would be willing to defy Apokolips as they had released the Furies and Mantis just six months after their arrest. Kilowog defends the release on the basis they were mere accomplices; the main villain got away. After Orion questions why Earth produces so many Green Lanterns, Rocket petitions the New Gods and the Corps to do more to stop the off-world trafficking of meta-humans. Tomar-Re merely acknowledges the request, noting they have a whole galaxy to police and cannot prioritize Earth's problems. Rocket is interrupted by her phone, and steps outside.
- Lor-Zod continues his story. He had found one point prior to the event that inspired the Legion where he knew exactly where Superboy would be.
- Chameleon Boy explains that they had also determined the one time Lor could have struck, when Superboy revealed his existence to the public at the United Nations. The Legionnaires traveled back and stopped him, but Lor escaped, and they had no idea when he might strike again with ten years left to try. They shadowed Superboy and followed him to Mars. But so did Lor.
- Lor kept his Time-Sphere out of sync to remain undetected. He used his heat vision to destroy the Martian Zeta-Tube and the M'arzz-Earth Communications Satellite, then caused the cave-in to expose the Legionnaires' presence to Miss Martian, cutting Superboy off from support. Lor placed a lead box of Kryptonite on Ma'alefa'ak's gene-bomb to ensure Superboy's death.
- Having lost sight of Superboy, the Legion split up to find him. Then the bomb exploded, which the Legionnaires believe killed both Superboy and Phantom Girl.
Ma'alefa'ak confirms it was Lor who killed Conner. Lor wonders if the Martian has a problem with that, but Ma'alefa'ak merely thanks him.
Outside the meeting room, Rocket takes the call from Noble. He tells her that he has had the school meeting. Raquel is initially dismissive, but comes round when Noble asks if she has time for her son. He tells her the school have arranged a one-on-one aide for Amistad to help him in the classroom. Raquel worries about Amistad being stigmatized, but Noble insists appearances don't matter so long as he gets the help he needs. Raquel agrees to consider it, but is too distracted by the failing negotiations.
In Metron's room, Metron brings Razer his Red ring. Reluctantly, Razer exchanges the rings. He puts on the Red ring, and is surprised that there is no reaction. He wonders if it has lost charge. Metron explains that he had detected the Blue ring's power when it was following Razer, and manipulated Razer into wanting to give up the Red ring. While studying the Red ring, Metron seeded false clues for Razer to find, leading him to failures designed to kill his hope. Thus, Razer would return to Metron to exchange the rings, giving Metron the chance to study the Blue ring as well. He tells Razer this now to anger him, so that he may see the Red ring in action. It works, and Razer becomes a Red Lantern once more, immediately blasting Metron.
Outside, Forager and Forager continue to spend time together, but are interrupted by the blasts of Red energy coming from Metron's tower.
The Mobius Chair easily shields Metron while gathering data on Razer and his ring, as Razer attacks with ever more fury.
Noble reassures Rocket that she will deal with the situation, but the call has to end when Rocket hears the explosions coming from Metron's tower.
Razer begins to chase Metron across the Supertown skyline, his blasts damaging the city as Metron's shield deflects them. To Metron's surprise, Razer is able to overcome his shield, sending out a shockwave that destroys statues of Highfather and Highmother. The Foragers are by the statues, and the female Forager pushes the male Forager out of the way of falling debris, but is caught herself and badly injured. Razer sees this and realizes he has been a fool and calms down. As Metron opens a boom tube to leave, Razer demands the Blue ring back, but Metron electrocutes him as he backs away. As Razer remembers what Metron had said about his potential, the Blue ring shatters its containment case and flies to Razer, much to Metron's surprise. The ring slides onto Razer's finger, and he becomes a Red and Blue Lantern simultaneously. A furious Metron demands the rings, but Razer punches him into the boom tube with constructs from both rings.
As the New Gods and Green Lanterns gather around Forager, Razer flies down and heals her with the Blue ring. The Foragers thank him, but he reminds them it was his fault she was hurt in the first place, apologizes, and thanks them for reminding him how to hope. He then uses the power of both rings to repair the statues, but creates four, with the addition of statues of the Foragers. Razer realizes that his rage is a part of him, but that it is no longer all of him. Kilowog jokes about him having the willpower for a Green power ring, and getting rainbow powers. Razer hugs him and says goodbye, before heading off to renew his quest. As he flies into deep space, Razer pledges to find Aya.
Lor-Zod continues, saying that though he had guaranteed his parents' release in the next millennium, he could acquire the projector from New Genesis and release them now.
Chameleon Boy and Saturn Girl tell Kid Flash that Lor found and destroyed their Time-Sphere, stranding them in the past. They were able to find and convince Miss Martian's retired Bio-Ship to help them and journeyed back to Earth.
Lor spent months searching for the projector, until he learned it was stored in Metron's Inter-Dimensional Vault. He knew he would need help to get it.
- The Legionnaires had turned to Superman, in the hopes he could be the one to inspire the Legion in Superboy's place. Then they went to Bart, the only expert on space-time on that planet in that time, for help.
- Lor-Zod had approached Darkseid, and made a winner-take-all deal, not unlike one Darkseid had made with someone else. Darkseid could not directly intervene because of the truce between Apokolips and New Genesis, but did offer resources; Ma'alefa'ak, Mantis, and the Kaizer-Thrall.
Lor-Zod tells his squad they will find the Vault, take the projector, release his parents and take the galaxy.
Satisfied, Bart completed his work for the Legion. He invited them aboard the Bio-Ship, to see the newly equipped Cosmic Treadmill.
End credits scene: Around a cake with three candles shaped 1, 0, and 2, Forager and Forager sing a Bug birthday song for Jay. Jay blows out the candles and Rocket and the Bugs cheer, though Orion is displeased the candles are not as they were.
Title[]
Razor is a homophone of Razer, who is introduced in and is a major part of this episode after encountering Kilowog by chance.
"On a razor's edge" refers to a precarious situation, which could mean the difficult negotiations between the Justice League, New Genesis and the Green Lantern Corps; Razer's decision to embrace his rage and become a Red Lantern once more; or the complex manipulation of the timestream attempted by both the Legion of Super-Heroes and Lor-Zod.
Razor's Edge could also be a reference to "Razer's Edge", the third episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which first revealed how Razer became a Red Lantern, an event referenced by Razer when taking back the Red power ring from Metron. Razer realizing the error of his ways after seeing Forager injured calls back to when Razer found his wife dead in "Razer's Edge".
Cast and characters[]
Voice actor | Character | |
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Dee Bradley Baker | Chameleon Boy | |
Green Lantern Tomar-Re | ||
Denise Boutte | Rocket | |
Ben Diskin | Orion | |
Ma'alefa'ak | ||
Nika Futterman | Forager | |
Phil LaMarr | Metron | |
Jason Marsden | Bart Allen/Kid Flash | |
Phil Morris | Lor-Zod | |
Noble Davis | ||
Kevin Michael Richardson | Green Lantern Kilowog | |
Vykin | ||
Jason Spisak | Forager | |
Razer | ||
Kari Wahlgren | Saturn Girl | |
Non-speaking roles | ||
Beast Boy (flashback) | ||
Bio-Ship | ||
Brainiac-5 (flashback) | ||
Cyborg (flashback) | ||
Darkseid (flashback) | ||
Dru-Zod (flashback) | ||
Em'ree J'onzz (flashback) | ||
Faora Hu-Ul (flashback) | ||
Grayven (flashback) | ||
Flash | ||
Jax-Ur (flashback) | ||
Jor-El (flashback) | ||
J'emm J'axx (flashback) | ||
Kaizer-Thrall | ||
Kalibak (flashback) | ||
Lightning Lad (flashback) | ||
Mantis | ||
Martian Manhunter (flashback) | ||
Miss Martian (flashback) | ||
Non (flashback) | ||
Steel (flashback) | ||
Superboy (flashback) | ||
Superman (flashback) | ||
Ursa Zod (flashback) | ||
Vor-Kil (flashback) | ||
Zor-El (flashback) |
12 | Character debut |
0 | Speaking debut |
0 | Episode debut |
Continuity[]
- Chameleon Boy remarks that they have been assembling materials for the Cosmic Treadmill for three and a half months. This places the starting point on May 15, when they approached Bart Allen in the end of "Ebb Tide".
- Bart Allen makes several references to the events of "Bloodlines" and the outcome of his time travelling in season two.
- Lor-Zod reminds Ma'alefa'ak that he must follow his orders, by Darkseid's command which he did via Grayven in "Beyond the Grip of the Gods!".
- This episode introduces Razer, a character originally created for Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and continues his storyline from the series' finale. The showrunners of that series, Jim Krieg and Giancarlo Volpe, wrote this episode and Jason Spisak and Kevin Michael Richardson reprise their roles as Razer and Kilowog, respectively. Greg Weisman has stated that Green Lantern: The Animated Series is "canon adjacent",[1] meaning a similar but distinct version of the events in the series happened in the Earth-16 universe.[2]
- Bart is eating Chicken Whizees. In "Satisfaction" he not only expressed a liking for this snack, but also claimed to be addicted to them.
- Orion alludes to the skirmish at the Orphanage in "Into the Breach". According to him, the Furies and Mantis were apprehended by the Green Lantern Corps and released six months afterwards.
- Orion asks why there are so many Green Lanterns from Earth, referring to Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner and possibly the fourth one alluded to by Orin in "Leviathan Wakes".
- Lor-Zod claims he tried to kill Superboy outside the United Nations, on the day he revealed his existence to the world in "Nevermore".
- Saturn Girl and Lor-Zod's overlapping accounts include footage from "Nevermore", "Inhospitable", "Needful", "Involuntary" and "Ebb Tide".
- Ma'alefa'ak learns that it was Lor-Zod who laced his gene-bomb with Kryptonite in "Involuntary", resulting in Conner's death. M'gann had confronted and accused M'comm of doing that in "The Lady, or the Tigress?".
- Noble Davis calls Rocket to follow up on their previous conversation regarding Amistad. Rocket is still in denial of her son's special needs.
- Lor-Zod says that Darkseid compared their "winner-take-all arrangement" to a pact he had made before "with some savage or other". This refers to Vandal Savage and the pact their struck around the turn of the 13th century, seen in "Evolution".
- Ma'alefa'ak refers to Conner as M'gann's fiancé. They had been engaged since Conner proposed in "Princes All".
Trivia[]
- Giancarlo Volpe stated that the references to Hal and Aya were deliberate homages to Josh Keaton and Grey Griffin, who respectively voiced those characters on Green Lantern: The Animated Series.[3]
Goofs[]
Cultural references[]
- Razer's line "You won't like me when I'm angry" is a famous quote uttered by David Banner, aka The Hulk, in the 1978 TV series The Incredible Hulk.
Questions[]
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Unanswered questions[]
Quotes[]
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References[]
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2022-04-21). Tweet. Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2021-10-19). How I Spent My Weekend.... Ask Greg. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ↑ Volpe, Giancarlo (2022-04-22). Tweet. Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
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Season four "Encounter Upon the Razor's Edge!" |
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