Stranger met Vandal Savage on a mountain top and recollected Vandal and Klarion's first encounter and how their bond was forged. When Vandal asked why he was telling something he already knew, Stranger simply said it was to remind him of what must not be forgotten. Before he could explain what that meant, Stranger was gone.[2]
The Stranger appeared to Zatanna and her students. He suggested that they needed to help Klarion defeat Child. When Zatanna rebuffed the idea of helping a Lord of Chaos, the Stranger sent her to witness their battle on Roanoke Island to gain perspective. When her students protested, he asked if they wish to help her. When they said yes, he teleported them and himself with a swirl of his cape.[3]
They emerged in the sanctum sanctorum of Jason Blood. They convinced Blood that help was needed to fight Child, and the occultist reluctantly transformed into Etrigan the Demon. The Stranger sent Etrigan to join the battle.[3]
The Stranger and Zatanna's students arrived shortly after the battle ended. They rescued Zatanna from the flood water, and Etrigan changed back into Blood.[3] Zatanna knew they would need more help and sent Blood and the Stranger on a recruitment drive.[4]
The Stranger would go on to recruit a number of mystic heroes (and even villains) as well as the Justice League and the Outsiders. He arranged for Madame Xanadu to predict Child's moves and send teams to deal with her disasters.[5]
The Stranger appeared before Doctor Fate, Zatanna and her students. He helped convince Zatanna that her group needed to go after Child and stop her, rather than helping deal with the disasters she was causing.[5]
After Child's volcano and pillar of fire were quieted, the Stranger, Red Tornado and Terra were surprised by the arrival of Vandal Savage. Savage told the Stranger they had work to do, and the Stranger teleported them both away with a small smile.
They arrived at an unknown location where Vandal could talk to the Lords of Order and Chaos. The Lords spoke through the Stranger. Vandal tried to convince them that he was best placed to maintain the balance on Earth. The Lords rebutted that it was Savage who had made Earth a major front in the war between order and chaos due to his deal with Darkseid. Savage countered that if he and Earth lost their final conflict with Darkseid, the Anti-Life Equation would forever upset the balance. The Lords agreed, and the Chaos Lords withdrew their support from Child.
Later, the Stranger appeared to Nabu and Khalid Nassour in the Helmet of Fate and described what he and Savage had done. When Nabu made it clear he had no intention of crediting Savage for fixing a mess of his own making, the Stranger told him that it was not an act by Savage who had instigated the crisis, but an act of love when Zatanna had thought of a way to free her father from being Doctor Fate's permanent host.[6]
He was among those considered as a possible Justice League reservist.[7]
The Stranger gathered with a number of other powerful magic users around the bell of the Tower of Fate. They attempted a ritual to find Superboy's spirit, but failed.[8]
Teleportation: The Stranger can teleport himself and others with a swirl of his cape.[3] He is capable of reaching exotic places such as the inside of the Helmet of Fate, and a place where he could talk with the Lords of Order and Chaos.[6]
Mystic sensitivity: The Stranger is highly sensitive to mystic energy and shows a great deal of awareness of events for which he is not present.[3][6] His abilities appear to have some limits however, as he seemed unable to locate Child while she was spreading chaos across the world.[5]
The Phantom Stranger is a wandering mystic who deals with occult and mystic threats to the DC Universe, but mostly stays on the sidelines.
This is his third animated appearance. He first appeared in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and had an animated DC Showcase short film titled DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger.
