‘Young Justice: Phantoms’ Episode 21 SPOILER Review/Recap ‘Odyssey of Death’

This review contains SPOILERS for Young Justice: Phantoms, for last week’s review click here.

When you die, the soul goes on a journey to the other side. A side where spirits roam. Mediums, psychics, witches, warlocks, whatever you want to call them, are able to cross to that other realm and communicate. No matter where the soul they are looking for is located, they are able to communicate. Whether it is Paradise (Heaven, Valhalla, Olympus, Nirvana), Hades, Purgatory, or Earth, they are able to speak with them. What happens if they cannot reach the soul? This is the question answered in today’s Young Justice: Phantoms.

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Zatanna, Zatara, and Dr. Fate are all looking for Connor’s soul. They don’t know he’s in the Phantom Zone; nobody does except for him and the others with him. Rocket, Jay Garrick, and Forager are still on New Genesis with Orion, Forager, Tomar-Re, and Metron. Metron takes them all back to the Morbius Dimension, and finds the Phantom Zone projector gone. Mantis, Ma’ala’falek, and Lor-Zod escape with the Phantom Projector but are still on New Genesis. A giant battle ensues, costing a life in the process.

Ma’ala’falek uses his psychic energy to trap Rocket, Orion, and Lightray. Rocket traps Orion in an energy ball, and he goes crazy. Remember, he’s claustrophobic and it triggers him. Lightray tries to convince Rocket to keep him captive, but she lets him go. She knows he’s Darkseid’s son, and that he’s a loose cannon at times. However, she makes the decision and somehow gets through to him. Releasing them from the psychic prison, she sees and understands Orion, and that is used as a lesson for how she learns to deal with her child.

Lor-Zod uses the Phantom Projector to open the Phantom Zone and tries to free his father. Connor has no idea what’s happening and tries to stop Drew-Zod from being freed. Tomar-Re fights Lor-Zod, who ends up waking up a Promethean. Tomar-Re, who has lost a planet before, tries to save New Genesis from destruction. Consequently, he’s killed in combat by Lor-Zod. His ring goes to Purple Forager, and she accepts. Thus, becoming the Forager Green Lantern.

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Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy, and Impulse all arrive on New Genesis as the fighting continues. They destroy the portal to the Phantom Zone, and Lor-Zod basically kidnaps them and the Bio-Ship. As the episode ends, Orion thanks Rocket for her help. She’s shown him that he can contain his rage. We see Forager tell Green Lantern Forager to join the Corps and get proper training. Meanwhile, the heroes of the Mystic Arts are all still searching for Connor’s soul and can’t find it. This convinces Zatanna to believe he’s still alive.

The Green Lantern Corps, New Gods, and Justice League agree to work together to find Lor-Zod, Ma’ala,falek, and Mantis. Zatanna basically says she’s going to get Batman to help her find Connor. Rocket finally understands that she can help her son, and that Amistad should be her main focus. The ending of the arcs and beginning of new ones come together rather perfectly.

Christina Sotta lays her fingerprint on this episode. She continuously handles the crossing of arcs and different worlds when she touches Young Justice. Aaron Sparrow’s teleplay handles these different arcs well. Rocket’s arc was clearly the main arc, but there was a lot going on. Sparrow and Sotta handled it all perfectly. They covered a lot of material and set up the final chapters of this season.

This episode was really entertaining. The action sequences were incredible. Tomar-Re and Lor-Zod’s fight was probably the best thing about this episode. The Promethean erupting was also extremely well done. The entire art and animation department did a great job. The amount of action and storytelling was great. Rocket getting a close to her arc through Orion was a really cool thing to see. I definitely am looking forward to seeing how this season of Young Justice: Phantoms ends. – Rascal F. Kennedy

Rating – 8.5/10

New episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms premiere Thursdays on HBO Max!