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"Zenith and Abyss" is the 24th episode of the fourth season of Young Justice, and the 97th of the overall series. It debuted on May 26, 2022 on HBO Max.
Logline[]
Team Trauma on Trombus!
Synopsis[]
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Tomar-Tu welcomes a visitor at the reception desk of the Galactic Science Prison. After finding the visitor had no known criminal record, Tomar-Tu helped him with his inquiry, telling him that the prisoner known as the Kaizer-Thrall had been released to Earth.
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Outside Fort Krypton, Nightwing, Rocket, Kaldur'ahm, Zatanna and Artemis keep a look out for Superboy. They soon spot him, and when he is alone, approach him. Superboy remembers Nightwing upon seeing him, but believes the squad are all Zone-Sickness hallucinations. Zatanna tells him they have come to take him home, but Dru-Zod and Ursa come up through the floor to ambush them, soon joined by the rest of their followers.
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Miss Martian arrives on the Watchtower, where Black Lightning introduces her to Green Lantern Forager, who in turn introduces her to the Kaizer-Thrall. Forager explains that the Thrall contains a living human brain. Lightning asks M'gann to establish psychic contact with him, which she does. She quickly learns that he is an eleven-year-old meta-human named Danny Chase who was kidnapped, meta-activated, and trafficked to Apokolips where Desaad extracted his brain and placed it inside the box. Danny has telekinesis and some multi-dimensional abilities which M'gann thinks are killing him. Danny asks to speak to them directly, so M'gann creates a psychic link for them all, where everyone can see Danny. Lightning promises they will do everything they can to help. They are interrupted by an incoming transmission for Miss Martian, which she accepts.
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The call is from Prince J'emm J'axx, who tells her he has reason to believe that Conner is still alive.
Back in the Phantom Zone, Superboy realizes that his friends are real, and remembers taking a photograph with them ten years before. Dru had been waiting for another attempt to take Superboy back, and demands that they all be released. Nightwing tries to play along, but Superboy tells Zod he is lying. Kaldur tries to convince Conner that he should side with his friends over the criminal Kryptonians, but Conner's memories are all fractured. Kaldur assures him that can be fixed, by M'gann, but Conner refuses to see her, afraid that he would hurt her. He still believes he killed Superman.
Superman arrives on the Watchtower, and Lightning moves the satellite above the Zeta-Shield, allowing J'emm and Phantom Girl to Zeta aboard from Mars. J'emm introduces Phantom Girl and admits that, while she had not fully opened her mind to him, believes what she says to be truthful. Phantom Girl explains that she attempted to rescue Conner on Mars, how they got stuck in the Phantom Zone, and that Superboy became influenced by the Zods and was unwilling to leave, forcing her to abandon him. She then went to J'emm for help, and believes it is up to Miss Martian to save Conner. M'gann wonders if it can be true. Superman uses his X-ray vision to see the Legion ring under Phantom Girl's bandage, and tells her he believes it is.
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On board the Bio-Ship, Lor worries about the activities of the missing third Legionnaire, and contemplates hacking the communicators in their rings to try to find her, but Ma'alefa'ak has a simpler plan; he takes a ring and becomes Chameleon Boy.
On the Watchtower, Superman is unable to reach Kid Flash, Nightwing or Zatanna, and asks Phantom Girl if she has been in contact with her friends; she hasn't, much to her concern. Lightning asks Superman what he knows, but he refuses to give up more information yet. M'gann is eager for Phantom Girl to take her to save Conner, but Phantom Girl is unsure she can; she only got to the Zone by accident in the first place. She hopes to use the Phantom Zone Projector on New Genesis, but Forager informs her it has been destroyed. With no other option, Phantom Girl tries to take M'gann there herself.
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The pair arrive on Bgtzl in the midst of a great storm. They try again, this time with M'gann psychically helping Phantom Girl focus on Conner and the Zone, but reappear on the Watchtower.
Back in the Zone, Nightwing and Zatanna tell Conner that he did not kill Superman, that he is still alive. Zod then asks for confirmation that what Superboy had told them about Krypton's destruction was true, and Kaldur affirms that it is. Dru fears his imprisonment will be eternal with Krypton gone, but Kaldur offers to set up a probationary court for all the prisoners. Zod wants to free everyone from the Zone first, but Kaldur and the others are reluctant. Zod sees that they fear his and followers' potential power under a yellow sun, and tells them if he cannot leave then they shall not either. He tells Superboy to secure Rocket, but he freezes up when Kaldur confronts him, reminding him of when he was freed from Cadmus. Zod orders his followers to secure the squad. The team tries to fight back, but their equipment and powers are largely useless in the Zone. Kaldur realizes they must only act directly upon their foes. Zod asks Superboy who he serves. When Conner replies that he serves the House of Zod, Zod tells him to prove it, and Conner attacks Kaldur. The Kryptonians are far more experienced in the Zone and easily overpower them.
On the Watchtower, Danny offers a solution to their problem. M'gann creates a psychic link again, and Danny explains that he caught the Zone's trans-dimensional frequency while it was open on New Genesis and could guide them there. Phantom Girl tells them her powers don't work with frequencies and that Danny's intel is no use to her, but Lightning suggests using a Motherbox, which Danny thinks could work. M'gann worries for Danny's safety, but he believes he can use his power one last time.
Orion boom tubes to the Watchtower with a Motherbox and a plan; since opening a boom tube in the Zone could allow out the Kryptonian criminals, he had Motherbox find Trombus, a planet orbiting a red sun. Opening the boom tube there would prevent the Kryptonians gaining superpowers. Orion requests Rocket join the mission, but M'gann has been unable to contact her, or any of the original Team. Leaving Aquaman to man the Watchtower, the rest of the group prepares to boom tube to Trombus, when "Chameleon Boy" contacts Phantom Girl on her ring. He and "Saturn Girl" tell her that they had been abducted by Lor-Zod but had just escaped. Superman asks if Kid Flash is with them, but is worried when "Bart" reports that Nightwing and Zatanna are not with them. Phantom Girl tells her "friends" that Superboy is alive and explains their plan to rescue him on Trombus. "Cham" promises to meet her there.
Back in the Zone, Nightwing pulls out a shard of Kryptonite. Zod takes it; it has no effect. With no more cards left to play, and Zatanna unable to take Conner out of the Zone against his will, Nightwing calls for her to cast a glamour, allowing the team to escape from Zod.
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The rescue party boom tubes to Trombus, and Superman can immediately feel his powers draining. Lightning is confident they have enough firepower to handle non-powered Kryptonians. Motherbox and Danny fuse together and, after some calibration, open a boom tube into the Phantom Zone. M'gann reaches out mentally for Conner.
In the Zone, Zod recognizes the New Genesian tech. Superboy tells him it could lead anywhere, but Zod is determined to get free. He takes Ursa, Faora Hu-Ul and Superboy to see if it is safe.
M'gann makes contact with Conner. He refuses to leave the Zone and risk being near her. M'gann decides that they will have to go in, but Ma'alefa'ak arrives, takes control of the Kaizer-Thrall and has it fractalize the rescue team before they can enter. Lor-Zod arrives, with an unconscious Kid Flash in tow.
In the Zone, Dru-Zod tells Superboy that he will stabilize him, and Conner agrees to go with him. From an overlooking rock, the team watches and determines that they have to prevent anyone else from going through the boom tube.
Dru, Ursa, Faora and Superboy emerge on Trombus. Conner is almost immediately overcome by his injuries and collapses on the ground, as Lor-Zod greets his parents in Kryptonian.
End credits scene: Teekl sleeps peacefully on the arm of the Warworld's vacant command chair.
Title[]
Zenith refers to a high point, and abyss indicates a low point. The "zenith" in this episode occurs when the heroes find out that Conner is still alive, and the "abyss" is when Lor-Zod sabotages their rescue attempt and instead frees his parents.
Cast and characters[]
2 | Character debut |
1 | Speaking debut |
0 | Episode debut |
Continuity[]
- Lor-Zod arrives at Oa to find the Kaizer-Thrall. He departed New Genesis in "Rescue and Search" to look for him.
- Lor-Zod's remark about Tomar-Tu's father is an underhanded reference to Lor killing him in "Odyssey of Death!".
- Conner has several flashbacks to previous memories:
- Nightwing complimenting his inspirational speech in "Terminus".
- The original Team taking a group picture (off-screen) before Red Arrow joined the Justice League in "Usual Suspects". This photo has been seen in Artemis and Will's house in "Tale of Two Sisters" and in Raquel's apartment in "Beyond the Grip of the Gods!".
- Miss Martian mind-melding with him in "Bereft".
- Conner and M'gann dancing in "Needful".
- Conner hallucinating in the Phantom Zone about M'gann in "Emergency Dive".
- Conner hallucinating Match snapping Superman's neck in "Emergency Dive".
- Aqualad trying to reason with him in "Independence Day".
- Conner assumes that the Team is another Zone-Sickness-induced hallucination, which he learned about from Dru-Zod in "Beyond the Grip of the Gods!".
- Green Lantern Forager brings the Kaizer-Thrall from Oa, after ascertaining in "Rescue and Search" that a living human brain resided within.
- Black Lightning's grumble about Apokoliptans' boxes likely refers to the malignant Fatherboxes and the Overlord, both of which played large roles in season three.
- Since she escaped the Phantom Zone and returned to Ma'aleca'andra in "Ego and Superego", Phantom Girl reached out to Prince J'emm J'axx and briefed him on Conner's predicament.
- Kaldur'ahm reassures Conner that his memories can be fixed, alluding to the time when his own mind was broken in "Before the Dawn" and completely repaired by "Complications".
- Conner is still convinced he killed Superman, which he hallucinated in "Emergency Dive".
- The Watchtower is moved above the Zeta-Shield placed in "Salvage" to prevent off-world incursions via Zeta-Beam.
- Phantom Girl recounts how she and Conner were trapped in the Phantom Zone, just before the gene-bomb explosion in "Involuntary". She also informs that they have encountered Kryptonian prisoners there and Conner has sworn loyalty to their leader in "Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!".
- Superman recognizes Phantom Girl's ring and concludes she is the fellow Legionnaire mentioned by Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy in "Ebb Tide".
- Green Lantern Forager tells Phantom Girl that the last Phantom Zone Projector was destroyed in "Odyssey of Death!".
- Zatanna says she saw Superman before coming to the Phantom Zone, which happened in "Rescue and Search".
- Danny Chase claims to have locked on to the Phantom Zone's trans-dimensional frequency when it opened on New Genesis in "Odyssey of Death!".
- Orion mentions the Earth-New Genesis-Green Lantern Corps treaty reached at the end of "Odyssey of Death!". He also mentions Rocket, with whom he bonded also in that episode.
- Prince J'emm J'axx declares an eternal debt to Conner for saving Mars from the gene-bomb in "Involuntary".
- Miss Martian is surprised to find out that Bio-Ship in still active, because she had stayed behind on Mars in "Involuntary" to live out her retirement.
- Dru-Zod recognizes a boom tube because the Kryptonian government interacted with New Genesians, as Phantom Girl told Conner in the previous episode.
- Upon exiting the Phantom Zone, Conner succumbs to the injuries endured via the lava in "Involuntary" and the Devourer in "Ebb Tide".
Trivia[]
- Number 52: Orion has the designation A-52.
Language translations[]
Language | Line | Translation |
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Kryptonian | Lor-Zod: Ookir. Jeju. Tiv Zhiutidh nim raopotiv! | Father. Mother. The Galaxy is yours! |
Backwards spells[]
Speaker | Spell | Translation |
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Zatanna | Sredluob, llaf no ym seof! | Boulders, fall on my foes! |
Leehwtrac yawa morf em! | Cartwheel away from me! | |
Erif-- | Fire-- | |
Ruomalg, edih eht Maet! | Glamour, hide the Team! |
Goofs[]
- In the flashback to the day the original team photo was taken, Conner is wearing his short sleeved shirt, but he was actually wearing a long sleeved shirt.
- The heroes set out off world to rescue a severely injured Conner. They summon Orion to provide a transportation by means of a Motherbox, without considering bringing in Halo as backup, a living Motherbox with healing powers.
- The Team donned space-belts right before entering the Phantom Zone in the previous episode, but they are not seen afterwards.
Cultural references[]
- When Trombus’s landscape is shown during the right-moving camera pan, one of the rock formations forms a T-shaped silhouette evocative of Titans Tower, the headquarters of the Teen Titans in many of their comic book iterations and the 2003 eponymous animated series.
Questions[]
Questions |
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Unanswered questions[]
Quotes[]
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References[]
◄ Previous "Ego and Superego" |
Season four "Zenith and Abyss" |
Next ► "Over and Out" |