History TearJerker / YoungJustice

!!''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' the Animated Series
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yj_tearjerker_4901.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Where's Wally?]]

'''As per the rules, all spoilers will be unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:General]]
* Halfway between [[Fridge/YoungJustice Fridge Horror]] and TearJerker: Zatanna has grown to womanhood and joined the Justice League. Dr. Fate, who does not seem to have relinquished his hold on her father, is still on the team. For all intents and purposes, her father died when she was 14 and now she's on a team with the "man" who killed him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 1]]
[[AC:Fireworks]]
* Superboy's utter distress when he tries and fails to fly - Superman ''can'', so why can't he?
* Blink and you miss it, Robin briefly looks panicked when Superboy and Kaldur start falling. Taking his backstory in account, he was reliving the moment his life shifted.

[[AC:Welcome to Happy Harbor]]
* M'gann tried real hard to fit in with her new teammates, but to no avail till the end. Superboy kept acting coldly against her and after (wrongly) assuming the enemy they were facing was Red Tornado, the others pretty much rejected her. Her sadness is more than contagious.

[[AC:Denial]]
* Kent Nelson dies and then sacrifices his ascension to save Kid Flash.

[[AC:Bereft]]
* According to this [[http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=13552 Ask Gregpost, Aqualad's unconscious mumbling translates to "Tula, please... I love you... Tula... we can still be together in Atlantis...".]] Note, this the episode right after Aqualad's [[ADayInTheLimelight Day in the Limelight]], where he learned that Tula and Garth were together ''yet assured them he was truly happy for the both of them''. And thanks to THIS episode's events, he didn't remember that.

[[AC:Homefront]]
* Artemis' break down when she realizes that despite everything, the rest of the team is going to be killed, and she's going to lose the family she's made for herself. She curls into the fetal position and starts crying - it's painful to watch.

[[AC:Humanity]]
* Red Tornado's two 'siblings,' Red Torpedo and Red Inferno, who in their debut had come very close to outright killing the entire team, having a change of heart upon remembering that even if they "were never human, they ''were'' heroes" by their brother, Red Tornado and joining him in stopping their new heavily upgraded 'brother' Red Volcano from all but destroying the world. For his part, Red Volcano was devastated that he was being betrayed by his own family. Torpedo, Inferno and Tornado dragged him into the lava, the former two being melted themselves in the process, knowing they had no other choice in stopping his planned genocide, even if they had to kill their own brother and themselves. Before Volcano died, his last words weren't swearing revenge against humanity, or condemning them for betraying him, but remorse that he had failed and they had chosen to fight against him.
-->'''Red Volcano''': "Father would be... so disappointed..."
** Red Tornado's line itself is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

[[AC:Failsafe]]
* The end of with Miss Martian crying and the whole team traumatized.
* This episode is basically a [[AnyoneCanDie beginning]]-[[HeroicSacrifice to]]-[[YourMindMakesItReal end]] [[TraumaCongaLine for both the characters and the viewers.]]

[[AC:Disordered]]
* The Team talk with Black Canary in individual therapy sessions. While some of them, like Wally, who is in denial about his trauma, and Artemis, who's "too tough" to need to talk about it, others, like M'gann and Dick are more open about how they felt about the mission.
** Dick is the most affected by the mission. We've gotten so used to his childish immaturity and that mischievous grin that never leaves his face, and now, seeing him so uncharacteristically quiet and depressed, it's just heartbreaking. It's even more heartbreaking when you remember that, while Dick is the most experienced member of Young Justice, he's also only 13 years old, and he's gone through enough trauma when his parents were murdered.
-->'''Dick:''' Hurting? Try traumatized. I finally become leader and wind up sending all my friends to their ''deaths''. I-I know I did what I had to do, but I ''hated'' it. When we first started this team, I was ''desperate'' to be in charge. Not anymore. And-and that's not even the worst of it... Y-You can't tell Batman.
-->'''Black Canary:''' Nothing leaves this room.
-->'''Dick:''' I always wanted - ''expected'' - to-to grow up and-and become him. A-And the hero bit, I'm still all in! But that ''thing'' inside of him, the thing that-that-that ''drives'' him to sacrifice ''everything'' for the sake of his mission, that's not me. I don't want to be ''the'' Batman... anymore.
** Made all the more heartbreaking when he takes up the Chains of Commanding again in Season 2 and becomes exactly what he feared. He masterminded a plot that emotionally devastated everyone around him and never once wavered in his conviction to the mission.
* The fact that Superboy, once his anger fades, reveals that he was happy, for a day he was Superman or the closest thing to him. And he KNOWS that everyone else is traumatized by it while he was happy that he got to be Superman for a day. And he's ''terrified'' because of that. Black Canary's reaction combines confusion with pure sympathy.

[[AC:Secrets]]
* This episode was very ''very'' dark. We find out that a guy calling himself Harm murdered his own sister to gain magical powers. In the end, it's discovered that Greta could only say the word "Secret", because "Secret" was the very last word she ever saw before she died.

[[AC:Misplaced]]
* Zatanna's father sacrifices himself to be the new Dr. Fate so Nabu will release his daughter -- especially poignant given she was complaining earlier how overprotective Zatara is and how much she was wishing for a little space from him.

[[AC:Coldhearted]]
* When Kid Flash, who was disappointed he had to race a heart on ice to a little girl awaiting it for a transplant instead of being part of the first Justice League/Young Justice team up mission, makes it with 20 minutes to spare, but is told the girl died 12 minutes before he got there. Wally spent 15 minutes fighting with Vandal Savage. Those fifteen minutes could've made all the difference, and he was wracked with guilt over having wasted that time.
** And then ''again'' when it turns out the "she died 12 minutes ago" was a ploy by the villains. The heart does get to the right girl, and she died on the operating table, which turns out to have been a ploy by Kid Flash himself to get Count Vertigo to do the EvilGloating thing and causes sad-to-happy MoodWhiplash.*

[[AC:Image]]
* Psimon showing M'gann her worst fears if her true form as a White Martian was revealed. All her friends rejecting her, J'onn banishing her from Earth to be alone on Mars and her very worst fear: Superboy walking away from her repulsed and saying he could never love her.
** One of the biggest gut-wrench factors for that scene has to be the voice acting and how well the lines are delivered. Poor M'gann just sounds so heart broken and emotionally shattered as all of her fears are pulled out of her mind and dissected.

[[AC:Performances]]
* Robin's reaction when he sees the "Flying Graysons" poster.

[[AC:Auld Acquaintances]]
* You can't help but feel sorry for Red Arrow when he finds out that he's actually a clone of the real Roy Harper and that he was programmed to infiltrate and betray the Justice League.
* There's the scene where he, paranoid, aims an arrow at Aqualad as he enters his room. After a brief Q&A to ascertain if he's the real deal, there's this line from Kaldur:
-->''"The girl in Atlantis who broke my heart was named Tula, who is now with my best friend Garth. Meanwhile, my best friend on the surface now aims an arrow at my chest."''
* After Zatanna manages to successfully knock out Doctor Fate with the mind control cure (with the current helmet bearer being her father), she tries to take advantage of this and free her father, only to be electrocuted and blasted prone onto her back. Way to yank at her chain...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 2 ''(Invasion)'']]
[[AC:Happy New Year]]
* Nightwing telling Robin to "not die" looks like a joke from the CoolBigBro to his wimpier sibling. Until the reveal that Jason Todd existed in this universe, and is now a mere hologram in the memorial hall. Dick actually asked Tim to not leave him too...

[[AC:Earthlings]]
* While engaged in a happy jaunt through the thick jungles of Rann with his adopted big sister, [[CoolBigSis M'gann]], Beast Boy suddenly comes to an abrupt stop, freezing stock still and gazing ahead [[HeroicBSOD blankly]]. Miss Martian tries to figure out what's going on by linking with him telepathically, and then realizes he's staring at a small lake in front of a waterfall, just as he breaks down and starts to cry. It's then we learn Queen Bee killed his mother at a similar place on Earth, and Gar was the one that found her body. For such a young kid to have his mom taken away from him so violently like that... you can't help but feel for him.
** Made even worse when you remember that M'gann looked up to Marie Logan as her role model back on Mars, and thus she also lost someone very important to her. Someone please give these two a hug.
** Not only that, but M'gann probably feels largely responsible for Marie's death, given that Queen Bee probably killed her in retaliation for M'gann pulling a fast one on her near the end of Season 1.
** Also, upon seeing the scene Gar reflexively changes from his monkey-like ShapeshifterDefaultForm to... himself as a boy. And you realize that he keeps himself that way because it's just easier for him to be Beast Boy than it is to be Gar Logan.

[[AC:Alienated]]
* Kaldur has defected and joined his father, Black Manta, as his apprentice, due in part to feeling betrayed by the fact that ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} withheld that information from him. However, the primary reason for this shift in alliance? Tula died on a mission as Aquagirl sometime during the five year TimeSkip...
* Superman trying desperately to save the Kroloteans who are about to be blown up. They refuse to listen and even shoot at him. In the end, the island is destroyed and they all die, and even though Supes comes out of it pretty much unharmed, Conner understands that he still feels devastated for being unable to save the Kroloteans.

[[AC:Salvage]]
* The first major tearjerker comes from Red Arrow, who has spent the timeskip searching desperately for the real Roy Harper, only for everyone who was helping him to give up because they believe the original Roy to be dead. His physical condition, while still miles ahead of an average person, is much, ''much'' worse than it was five years ago. He's been reduced to fleecing money off of robbery victims to get funds, and he can barely keep himself clean. When his friends try to get him to clean up his act, he brushes them off and runs to his run down safe house. Fortunately, the last scene in the episode is happier, with his wife Cheshire introducing him to their daughter Lian Harper. So I guess that makes it three tearjerkers, at least one brings out happy tears.
** When Black Canary tells him that he "used to treat [his] body like a temple," his response (referring to his body as a "cheap knock-off") tells us a lot about his state of mind and why he's let himself get so run down.
* How about before Cheshire introduced Lian to Roy? Jade and Roy give a subtle, but an emotional talk over Jade leaving Roy; Roy's obsession with finding Speedy lead his wife to leave him for months. Picture it: two people who were at first enemies fall in love, and one (Jade) gives up her "evil" career to be with the hero (Roy), but one of them (Roy in this case) is so hellbent on a certain task he completely shuts out his friends and the woman he fell for.
* Second major tearjerker, (and admittedly, not as bad as the first one) is Blue Beetle's reaction to the Golem's destruction. Once he realized that he could talk to it, he tries to get it to stop attacking a nuclear plant, and for just a moment, it looks like he's succeeding. Then an unseen villain who was watching blasts it to oblivion, destroying it. He just sits there for a moment, stunned by what happened and filled with grief.
** And before that, Superboy saying "I can relate" when he hears the Golem's death wish. He's been where the Golem is, thinking of himself as an unnatural existence.

[[AC:Bloodlines]]
* In TheStinger with Bart's annoyed "Well, better get in character."
** To go into more detail: The personality Bart's shown the entire episode is a facade used to hide the fact that he's come back in time to stop a BadFuture. He knows that it's a one-way trip, and he doesn't care. And finally, saving the Flash's life wasn't enough to change the future, and all he did was cure his friend - the episode's villain - forty years ahead of schedule.
** Pretty much, you'll laugh your ass off at all of Bart's antics. Then, you watch it again and the dread slowly starts creeping up on you.

[[AC:Depths]]
* Viewers learn why Connor and M'gann broke up. Alone in the bioship, they discuss that it was because Conner was alarmed of M'gann telepathically interrogating villains, leaving them vegetables. She shows absolutely no remorse and claims that the ends justified the means. Connor thinks she's become no better than Psimon. Offended by that statement, M'gann bitterly asked why didn't he just tell Nightwing or Martian Manhunter about it. Connor had hoped he'd matter enough for her to stop. The final straw was her telepathically wiping his memories so he wouldn't be upset at her. He did find out and felt betrayed. Conner: "After all we've been through how could you think I wouldn't recognize your touch inside my mind? Didn't you know what that touch meant to me? And to have you pervert it like that..." Conner's voice when he says that and M'gann's eyes filling with tears is heartbreaking.
** M'gann then says she's sorry. But Conner asked if she's "[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone sorry for doing it?]]" or "[[OhCrap sorry [she] got caught?]]". M'gann is silent.
* Then there's Nightwing looking at the picture he took of himself and Artemis on her first day of school, right before he tells Wally about her "death". If the line "We'll laugh about this some day." doesn't make you tear up, nothing will.
** And before that there's Artemis getting "killed" by Kaldur'ahm and Nightwing using CPR and trying to revive her. And Superboy coming up and saying he can't hear her heartbeat. And then the scene switches to The Team all crying in mourning. With M'gann the most hit and Superboy wanting to comfort her but can't[[note]]Her boyfriend was also captured[[/note]].
** It turned out Artemis didn't die and Aqualad didn't betray the team. But one can't help but feel once the ruse is discovered, it would destroy the team's trust...

[[AC:Satisfaction]]
* '''Artemis Lian Crock'''. As revealed on her tombstone...
* When Artemis' mother is at her grave and tells Wally how hard it was and she needed him to get through it, he couldn't even look at her out of guilt for lying. Even her father and sister were there, swearing revenge on Aqualad and Black Manta for one reason or another.
* There is a memorial hall to fallen heroes: Ted Kord, Tula, Artemis... and Jason Todd as Robin.
** After going down with several others to visit Artemis' memorial, Tim can be seen in the background lingering at Jason's. He never knew the last Robin personally, but he still pays his respects.
* Practically ''EVERYONE'' is now hunting Aqualad down, while we know his loyalties lie, it is heartbreaking to see the results of his actions.
* Original Roy's RageAgainstTheMentor at being left for dead and Green Arrow's MyGreatestFailure between this and Artemis' death.
* Only two people remembered Superboy's birthday and only one of them was a member of The Team. It's even worse; out of the two, the one who wishes Conner a happy birthday isn't even aware that he's Superboy.
* Green Arrow absolutely hating himself, thinking he's the worst mentor ever, having led the original Roy to be kidnapped and captured for nine years, letting the clone Roy rebel, eventually neglecting his health and wallowing in self-pity, and having Artemis killed (her death was faked, but he doesn't know that). Your heart goes out to him, knowing he can't really be blamed for any of that. ''Especially'' the last one.

[[AC:Darkest]]
* Beast Boy is watching episodes of "Hello Megan," so he can see his dead mother again.
* Before Aqualad blows up Mount Justice, the viewer sees Artemis not as the evil Tigress but as the original, blonde Artemis, as she asks him, in a sad voice "are you sure you want to do this?" Quite poignant.
* After the explosion, Wally storms into the Hall of Justice to confront Nightwing, as he questions whether Aqualad is really "acting" to keep up his cover or is actually a triple agent. These two friends, who had each other's back through thick and thin, who knew each others' secrets - they're now at each other's throats.
** Worse, according to this http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=16858 Ask Gregpost, the only reason why Wally knows about the plan in the first place is because Artemis insisted that he was let in on it or she wouldn't participate. Meaning that Nightwing was willing to let his best friend believe that his girlfriend was killed. The ramifications between them after the reveal would've been worse than the one above.
** Seeing Nightwing making so many sacrifices for what he believes to be the greater good... just like Batman, which is what Bruce was trying to avoid in the first place. One wrong step, and all his effort will have been for nothing.
** Consider the likeliness that not even the League knows about this plan (Green Arrow sure doesn't, as he thinks Artemis is really dead). What do you think would happen when or if Bruce gets back from that trial and finds out about the plan, with all of the extremes Dick has to go to just to try and find out who the partner of the Light is?
** Making this even sadder is his therapy session back in season one, explicitly stating "that's not me" about such mentality. Either the original statement was a complete (yet convincing) ruse, it's a case of AesopAmnesia, or he's full of self-loathing and inner conflict because of this charade that he perpetuates on a daily basis.
* Bart Allen seeing Mount Justice blow up. He's been stuck in the past with his solace being that he made something better, and then he sees things happen the way they were before and knows he hasn't been able to stop it. Made worse by the fact that he brought the tech into the cave]], so this could be considered his fault.

[[AC:Before the Dawn]]
* M'gann's HeroicBSOD when she discovers Aqualad was GoodAllAlong...[[MistakenlyAttackedMole only]] ''[[MistakenlyAttackedMole after]]'' [[MistakenlyAttackedMole she Mind Raped him into catatonia]]. Not to mention the way that Conner was looking at her at the end, knowing full well what she must've done. He had warned her about doing that so many times and in the end, he was right:
-->'''Artemis''': M'gann, what have you done?
** And to make it worse, we see all of his memories, including one where he's standing where Tula's marker in the memorial stands -- making the very pact with Nightwing that led to this.
** Actually the worst part is he was resisting, so she doubled down. Then, while he was ''on his knees'' she finished him off. Given that it took Psimon ''five years'' to recover and he was a vegetable when Artemis got to him. At best, he'll need Psimon or J'onn to help onto his feet, and if the former does it, there goes the whole thing to the bad guys.
** Something that makes it even worse is Beast Boy's ObliviousGuiltSlinging by congratulating her for taking out Aqualad, still not knowing the truth about Kaldur, and completely unaware that he's praising his cousin for something that wasn't a good thing.
* Watching Black Beetle smash Cassie into the wall savagely and repeatedly while flashing to each team member he had beaten unconscious was very draining, emotionally. He may be the most powerful and terrifying thing the team has faced at this point.
* Being experimented on for so long and unable to escape, Jaime starts having erratic dreams. One of his dreams was of him and his childhood friend, Tye, skateboarding together and having innocent fun. Although this is a heartwarming scene at first (that ends with a harsh wake up call), this is much more saddening in hindsight. This is what Jaime's life probably was like before he was thrown into this chaotic world of super heroes and having a piece of alien tech fused to his spine. It gets even worse for Jaime as he's told he was the cause of a BadFuture and honestly, his life starts to go downhill from this point on. He can't just catch a break.
** Why was Impulse hanging out with Blue Beetle in the previous episodes? Because as he puts it, Blue Beetle becomes the "biggest baddest BigBad of all time". He wants to prevent Jaime from ever becoming that monster.

[[AC:Cornered]]
* Virgil tells Black Canary about how the Reach [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured him and a bunch of other kids]], [[KilledOffForReal some of which he never saw again]], and [[AdultFear his family has no idea where he is]]. He also requests that he can go home so he can let his family know that he's alright.
* The entirety of Jaime dealing with the fact that he was going to be the cause of pain of suffering in the future. The entire episode, he was shown being incredibly uneasy about the idea and the shock on his face when Impulse jokes about telling the Justice League about his eventual FaceHeelTurn is heartbreaking. Unable to live with the idea of becoming evil and causing others pain, he decides to tell the Justice League anyway and requests them to remove the Scarab off his back no matter what, even though he was fully aware that it ''would kill him''.
** Another note to add to the last bit, unlike most other members of the team, Jaime has a loving family back home. The fact that he was willing to die meant that he come had probably come to terms that he'd have to leave his family with the grief, which a heartbreaking and difficult decision to make.

[[AC:True Colors]]
* Jaime's fear and paranoia of his impending onslaught of the human race is gut-wrenching.
** Watching Jaime in excruciating pain as Atom and Bumblebee ''cut into his spine'' is a very difficult scene the watch. It doesn't help to realize that he was conscious during the whole operation.
** When Atom and Bumblebee can't remove the Scarab, the look on Jaime's face is one of sadness.
** Jaime not wanting to go on the mission from fear of the scarab taking over and bringing on the apocalypse.
-->'''Robin:''' Blue, what gives? Last time you threw down with this guy you were hardcore!
-->'''Blue Beetle:''' That wasn't me; Scarab was in control.
-->'''Arsenal and Scarab:''' So give it/me control again.
-->'''Blue Beetle:''' Trust me, I'd like nothing better, but I can't risk that, not with Impulse's prophecy hanging over my head.
** And to make matters worse it became a SelfFulfillingProphecy because he was so desperate to get rid of it and trusted Green Beetle, who he only met a day or two ago. Now he's [[AndIMustScream trapped in his own body and under the Scarab's control]].

[[AC:The Fix]]
* Aqualad's mindscape is Atlantis in complete ruin and him mumbling and whispering to himself both in Atlantean and English about what is left of him and his loneliness after M'gann's MindRape, going to the point that he has no face. He didn't deserve that at all.
** What makes it worse is that he's not the one attacking Artemis and M'gann--it's Tula, the girl Aqualad loves and who died during the TimeSkip, protecting what's left of him.
** And later, As Aqualad's mind is slowly being repaired, in the real world, Black Manta comes to check up on the process and we hear Aqualad speak his first word in a long time: "Father." Manta immediately rests by his son's bedside to reassure that he's truly there. For that one moment, you forget that he's an evil villain working for The Light and realize that he's still a father.
* Poor La'gaan, his girlfriend has been avoiding him recently and not returning his calls, plus she did go talk to her ex what was going on, but not him, her boyfriend. It's obvious La'gaan is very insecure and all of this is happening right after all that time being stuck as one of the Reach's prisoners. Even those who said they don't like La'gaan, did genuinely start to feel pity for the fish boy. The broken expression on his face as he's pleading her to tell him what's going on, and his voice even cracks when he says "please." Then to top it off, Deathstroke and Tigress attack, kidnapping his girlfriend, with La'gaan being knocked out and having his leg broken. As such, he throws a fit when he wakes up, feeling like he failed to protect his girlfriend. Furthermore, immediately afterwards, he learns that his rage against Aqualad and his mourning of Artemis were all misplaced and the result of his leader's deception. Poor guy just can't catch a break.

[[AC:The Runaways]]
* Oh goodness, oh goodness, ''poor Jaime''. The entirety of Season 2, we see Jaime's life fall into the deepest end and he's done ''nothing to deserve it''. To think that he's only been on the team for a little under a year and probably had your average teenage life beforehand, it's absolutely heartbreaking to see the sheer contrast of the unwarranted pain and suffering he had to deal with in Season 2 as the Blue Beetle and his simple life before. From having a piece of alien tech stab and fuse to his spine to having someone ''cut into his spine''. A little before that, Jaime had been captured and specially experimented on by The Reach. Soon after, he was told that he was the main guy responsible for a BadFuture that lead to Jaime had coming to a decision that he was willing to ''die'' if it was for the greater good, which meant leaving his family behind. Additionally, his childhood friend ran away and Jaime had no idea where he went and if he was safe. To top the cherry on the cake, Jaime was [[AndIMustScream trapped in his mind for over ''two months'' after being switched "On Mode", having to watch his own body betray and attempt to ''murder his friends'' before someone ''finally'' noticed and was freed]]. What did [[NiceGuy Jaime]] ever do [[TheWoobie to deserve all this?]]
* Tye, after being kidnapped, tortured and experimented on, gets to see his best friend not acting like himself, having been put on mode and turned into an agent of the Reach. Oh, and apparently being willing to sacrifice Tye and his three friends for victory. Tye's face when he realizes that Jaime's not the same is heartbreaking. He later swears revenge for the person responsible for turning his friend into a puppet.

[[AC:War]]
* There's something very tragic about Arsenal panicking and spacing and when that doesn't work abandoning his teammates after Blue Beetle turns on them in "War". Remember that this is the guy whose had his arm chopped off and has been kept in ice for ''eight years''. What he says right before opening the airlock really shows how traumatized he still is by that incident...
* In that same fight, Superboy questioning Blue Beetle's betrayal and the look on his face before being knocked out is heart-breaking.

[[AC:Complications]]
* There is a belief that parents, by some combination of love and having known them their entire lives, are nearly always capable of recognizing their children. When Miss Martian brings Sportsmaster and Cheshire into Artemis' mind to prove that she's alive, Cheshire believes because she loves her sister and recognizes her presence. Sportsmaster isn't convinced until Artemis uses a fighting move that he taught her. Sportsmaster is such a terrible parent that he can only relate to the daughter he raised in the context of fighting. He neither knows her nor cares about her beyond that. Artemis is painfully aware of the fact.
-->'''Artemis:''' "''Yeah.'' So glad it turned out you're not dead, baby girl."
* Blue Beetle's apology to Nightwing about the loss of the team is so heartfelt and genuine, Jaime actually sounds he's about to cry out of remorse. It's hard to think that '''he''' was the one who incapacitated his entire team
** Even more depressing, the real Jaime, whose consciousness is trapped in his own mind and unable to control his own body, probably was aware of his eventual betrayal, and couldn't do a thing about it as he watched his own body utterly defeat his friends.
* Nightwing holed up in HQ as the last member of the team. Especially since he's holding Robin's birdarang, and probably flashing back to the last Robin he failed to protect.
* It's hard watching Black Manta showing such care and devotion for his son when you know sooner or later, he'll find out where Kaldur's true loyalties lie. Making it worse is the way that (from Manta's point of view) Kaldur was finally able to recover from his partial catatonia was by seeing his father in mortal danger. Manta believes this ''completely''.

[[AC:The Hunt]]
* As of this episode, literally everything about the "runaways" is heartbreaking. First the Reach kidnap them from the streets and in Virgil's case, from home, then from their point of view they are betrayed by Blue Beetle, and just when they think they found someone they can trust in Luthor, they find out that he lied to them too. These are kids that are probably going to be chased down by everyone in the series from the League all the way to the Reach and they have been betrayed and lied to by so many people they likely won't be able to trust anyone at all, so when someone tries to sincerely help them they probably wont trust them either out of fear of being lied to. These kids literally have no one to turn to and they are all on their own.
* Arsenal getting kicked off the team also counts. The guy just can't catch a break, can he?

[[AC:Intervention]]
* The breakup of Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy. From the moment you hear M'gann say "We need to talk", you know things are about to go down, and since both of them had received [[TheWoobie Woobie points recently]], it doesn't make what happens any easier.
** Then later when M'gann wants to talk to Conner, she finds out that he's going out with Wendy Harris and is hurt.
* Jaime begging for his teammates' lives. The fact that it was his body that was going to do it, and the panic in his voice was just gut-wrenching.

[[AC:Summit]]
* Black Manta learns of his son's betrayal, and is honestly crushed. He goes [[VillainousBreakdown nuts]] when Aqualad attacks him, saying he will teach him the ruthlessness he needs to survive if he has to beat it into Kaldur's skull. At the end, the rest of the Team is congratulating Kaldur on a gambit well played and he just looks back at his father's unconscious body.
** The episode takes place on June 19, 2016. ''Father's Day.''

[[AC:Endgame]]
* Wally West DIES.
** Barry realizing that Wally is taking the brunt of the excess energy, and calls out for Bart to slow down so they can siphon off some. He reaches out to grab Wally, and his hand goes right through him. That's when Barry, Bart, and the audience realize it's hopeless...
** Barry tries to comfort Artemis by telling her that Wally loved her. She just bursts into tears and collapses onto the ground. M'gann immediately rushes in to embrace her while everyone else just stands silently.
** The wordless scene where Artemis goes to Wally's parents' house with tears in her eyes and they hug.
** And afterwards, Bart and Artemis' new looks. Bart's obviously not happy about taking up the name Kid Flash under those circumstances, and Artemis is sticking with her Tigress identity since she says Artemis was Wally's partner.
--> '''Artemis/Tigress''': "You look good."
--> '''Impulse/Kid Flash''': "Really? Cause I feel like a fraud..."
** Nightwing quits the team because of his depression over losing his best friend.
* It's pretty minor, but after Black Beetle confirms that Green's Scarab was on their side, he destroys it, and you can hear it scream.
* This probably is as much a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} as it is a TearJerker: Wally, with his scientific genius, knew going to help Bart and Barry siphon off the energy would be suicide with his slower speed. So he zetas right to Earth, no quips, no "Eureka!" moment, not even a good-bye or a last kiss to Artemis. That's the sad part. The heartwarming aspect? He did so so that Artemis' last vivid memory of him would be Wally kissing her in Paris underneath the Eiffel Tower.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 3 ''(Outsiders)'']]

[[AC:Princes All]]
* A fourteen year old girl named Ana with a heart condition is kidnapped and her metagene is forcefully activated, turning her a [[WasOnceAMan monster that no one can recognize as being a former human]]. When she comes to, she finds herself among an army of parademons on Rann. She's forced into battle against the Justice League, with a [[ShockCollar bolt on the back of her neck causing her pain if she doesn't comply]]. To the Justice League, it's just another battle against a bunch of {{mook}}s, but it's clear that Ana is ''terrified'' to be mistaken as an enemy by some of Earth's greatest heroes all alone on an alien world.
** And then Black Lightning tries to knock her out with a non-fatal shock per [[ThouShaltNotKill standard protocol]], only for her weak heart to give out and she dies. In her last moments, she clutches at her heart and reaches out to Black Lightning before falling lifelessly to the ground, which causes everyone to realize that something is wrong. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone His reaction when he learns that he accidentally killed a teenage girl]] is heartbreaking.
** Made even worse when you realize he has two daughters of his own (and Anissa is about Ana's age), and it's quite possible that Anissa and Jennifer have inherited his powers. What happened to Ana could happen to ''them''.
** The doctor telling Otto that his sister passed away because they couldn't find a transplant... then the doctor turns out to be a BitchInSheepsClothing who conducts the experiment that turns Ana into Plasmus, all while she screams for Otto to help her.
* The League discusses how they've been pretty much defanged in handling the metahuman traffickers because Luthor as the Secretary General keeps putting sanctions and limits on their ability to act. Batman announces that if the League can't do its job, then perhaps the League shouldn't exist at all. Kaldur and Wonder Woman plead with him about the good the League can still do but all Batman does is announce his resignation, as do several other members. When Batman leaves he also brings a few of the Team with him, further fracturing the League. The World's Finest heroes are divided and Batman may have done more damage to the Justice League in a few minutes than the Light did in years.
** Notably what led to this growing divide: it isn't just being kept from going after trafficking. They are even being prevented from giving aid after natural disasters. Green Arrow in particular was clearly frustrated by that long before he followed Batman out.
** Just how cold Batman is about the whole thing. Unlike most versions, this Batman is a genuinely warm soul who does his best to watch over the young heroes of the Team and ensure his proteges ''never'' turn out like him. But in the end, the darkness that Dick utterly loathes makes its way through because "nothing matters but the mission" in his eyes.
** Canary angrily points out that this stunt was planned out in advance ''and'' that she wasn't approached about it because they knew she'd never undercut Kaldur, who is the leader of the League on Earth. When Arrow tries to convince her to join them she just angrily tells him to leave.
** Kaldur notes they'll have to give a statement, which Wonder Woman bitterly identifies as having to disown their now former members.
** When Batman walks out of the conference room Tim holds Wonder Girl's hand but when Batman tells him "it's time" he gives a look that screams how painful this is going to be for him and walks away while Wonder Girl calls for him.
* Black Lightning. The guy over three episodes just doesn’t catch a break.
*** Mitigated slightly by the revelation that this was a planned move in order to blindside the heroes' enemies, with Wonder Woman, Batman, Kaldur/Aquaman, Tim/Robin, Nightwing, Oracle and M'gann being aware of the deception. However, the rest of the Leaguers in space and on Earth, Batman's splinter group, M'gann and Robin's teams and even the Outsiders are still locked out of the loop.
* Princess Tara has been missing for two years. Even a royal family isn't safe from human trafficking...
** Anyone that's familiar with her story may have an idea of how this will end, but let's hope we're wrong.
* Brion and Gregor discovering the murder of their parents. As Brion lets out a LittleNo, the camera cuts to the blood splattered painting of the Markov family as it pans down to the king and queen's dead bodies. What makes it worse is that [[TogetherInDeath they're holding hands]], and [[FridgeHorror even worse]], the framing of the bodies indicates that the queen died first and in his last moments, the king reached out for his wife and held her hand before dying.
* Brucely sleeping with a doll of Kid Flash in the end credits.

[[AC:Eminent Threat]]
* It turns out that Plasmus (who suspiciously resembled Plasma from "Princes All") was really Ana's older brother Otto, who was forced to go through the same experiment that she did, and is turned into a similar monster enslaved by Count Vertigo. And just when Black Lightning finally frees him from the villains' mind control, Otto is shot and killed by a farmer who assumed that he was just a dangerous monster.
* With Bedlam exposed, you'd think it would be a happy ending right? No actually it's not. Gregor has to basically banish Brion just because he's a metahuman like their EvilUncle, and it breaks his heart that this is even politically necessary. All he can do is mournfully ask Superboy to watch over his brother and take care of him.

[[AC:Private Security]]
* Even after all these years, Zatara's body is still controlled by Nabu who only allows Zatanna to speak to her father a single hour once a year. When it's over, Zatanna tearfully points out to her father that ''it's never enough time'' and while Zatara agrees, he still puts the helmet back on telling her that if they break the rule they'll never get these chances again. When he leaves, Zatanna breaks down crying while Artemis comforts her.
** If anything, this scene demonstrates the coldness of Nabu as he has the ''gall'' to tell Zatanna she should be grateful for the hour of time he gives her to be with her father.
** There's also something about how ''old'' Zatara looks. Chronologically he's 47 during this season, but his once black hair has now turned completely white, and his overall visage looks tired. He looks [[YoungerThanTheyLook a decade older than he actually is]] ''at the least'', giving the implication that simply wearing the helmet is deteriorating his physical body.
* Dick remarking that he doesn't do teams anymore and Will basically implying that it was Wally who always helped him think about others and focus on things beside the mission. It's obvious that it wasn't just Artemis scarred by KF's death.
** The {{Freudian Slip}} where Dick refer to Will as “Wall” is a clear indicator of that implication.
* A frustrated Brion asks if "that beast" (Wolf) does anything but sleep. Conner says that's mostly it these days, as seen in both earlier and later episodes this season. Anyone who has own pets that lived to an old age knows all too well the subtle sadness of seeing their beloved pets get more lethargic and weaker the longer they live.

[[AC:Away Mission]]
* Like Brion, Forager is exiled from his home, unable to return because his own people would attack him. It is clear leaving breaks his heart, but he has no choice.

[[AC:Rescue Op]]
* The look of horror on Brion's face when the Sensei apparently kills Halo. Later Brion tearfully blames himself for what happened as he holds her in his arms. Becomes a happy tearjerker when Halo comes back to life soon after.
* After the Outsiders took the fight to Ra's al Ghul's lair, the immortal confesses he's no longer head of the League of Shadows, meaning he has no idea of Tara Markov's whereabouts. Brion looks so ''devastated'' to learn they followed a dead end.
* The red-hooded ninja. The one with a familiar haircut and apparently a past with "Grayson". Yes, Jason Todd ''is'' alive... and Dick left him behind, because he has no way to know his baby brother was ''right in front of him''.

[[AC: Evolution]]
* At first, Olympia excitedly asking Cassandra if she read about Vandal's encounter with a bear was hilarious. The second and third time she asks becomes strange and then tragic when Cassandra reveals that she was suffering from mental deterioration... after Vandal had already snapped her neck to prevent her from accidentally revealing his plans.
* Vandal expresses frustration over Olympia's book, reminding her he ''told'' her he didn't want for his story to be written, ''several times''. Olympia just looks confused -- her mind deteriorated so far that she cannot remember that, and her father's upset expression makes it clear he's aware of that. You can almost see him take his decision regarding her fate...
** Right after snapping her neck, Vandal keeps holding Olympia in his arms for a little moment. Hugging his daughter for the last time.
* Cassandra's hurried justification for her father's murder of her sister. She's just finished praising her father as Earth's first, last, and greatest hero. She's just finished reading Olympia's assessment of him as someone who hates to kill, because killing wastes the potential future use of the killed... and then she watches her father kill her sister. Killing her sister is ''fine'', and not wasteful, because Olympia can serve no further use to Vandal. Whatever love he has for her pales in the face of his plans. She's expendable, because she can serve him no further use, even though she's utterly loyal and loves him so much. Cassandra just saw her own potential future, and she's desperate to spin it however she can, because accepting that your father would kill you without missing a beat if you ever threaten his plans even ''accidentally'' is just too much.

[[AC: Triptych]]
* Artemis tells Cheshire to see Lian. Cheshire's response is that Lian is better off without her. Her tone is one of resignation- she loves her daughter, but she's a criminal through and through and, much like her leaving Artemis the first time, she doesn't want to drag her into a life of crime.

[[AC: Exceptional Human Beings]]
* When Will catches Jade outside his house he invites her in, even suggesting she stay with him and Lian. Sadly Jade insists that she is cutting herself out of their lives, and that it's for the best.

[[AC:Another Freak]]
* Silas's neglect of Victor is hard to watch. He refuses to come to his game despite his promise to do so and dismisses his love of the sport or how well he's doing at school, having spent entire weeks in his lab working on the Father Box and not even interacting with his son or even acknowledging that he has a right to be angry with him.
* Victor's anger and resentment towards his father is so great that, after his transformation, he would rather leave with Halo/Violet, someone he had just met, than stay with Silas. Victor makes it clear that while it was the Father Box that nearly caused him to commit patricide, all the anger was real and coming from him.
* When Silas is trying to convince Victor to say, Victor immediately assumes that he will simply be Silas' new lab experiment. He even says that he has been treated to a FateWorseThanDeath because of how his life has been ruined due to this Father Box. The looks from the other scientists and security guards indicate they sort of agree with what Victor is saying.

[[AC: Nightmare Monkeys]]
* In true fashion of the comics, The Doom Patrol died on a mission with Mento and Beast Boy as the only survivors.
** It doesn't just stop at the Doom Patrol, either. The whole episode emphasises, in [[BlackComedy semi-mocking fashion]], just how much Gar's suffered since his mother passed away.

[[AC: True Heroes]]
* Two words: [[TheMole "I'm in"]]. We've got another version of ''ComicBook/TheJudasContract'' coming soon and this time Geo-Force will be front and center.
* Poor Violet having an outright panic attack at the thought of something terrible happening to Brion.

[[AC: Influence]]
* As the Outsiders' trainers relate how they don't need to keep being heroes, Artemis briefly describes how she and Wally left the hero life. Yep, here come the waterworks.

[[AC: Leverage]]
* Windfall's [[PowerIncontinence inability]] to get her [[BlowYouAway powers]] in check. During a training exercise with Eduardo, [[HeelFaceTurn Mist, and Livewire]], she loses control and accidentally starts suffocating everyone, with Eduardo barely getting her out... which causes the poor girl to have a breakdown about her [[IAmAMonster powers]] and accept wearing a restraining collar, while also now being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer ostracized from her peers]]. ''Ouch''.
* Kaldur and Black Manta's brief interaction as the latter is returned to Belle Reve, reinforcing the tragedy of their relationship from Season 2, and how it can never really be anything other than what it is. There's no snark in Kaldur's voice when he replies to his father's remark, just stoic disappointment.
-->'''Black Manta''': Kaldur'ahm. Seeing you in [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} those colors]] turns my stomach.\\
'''Kaldur''': Then it is fortunate you cannot see them from your prison cell, Father.

[[AC: Illusion of Control]]
* Gar's musings on the current state of the world, while not overly sad, still paint a very dour situation: Despite everything they've done, the deck is still stacked against the Team and the Justice League by the "[[ManipulativeBastard Lex Luthors]]" of the world (i.e. [[LegionOfDoom The Light and their associates]]), and the ideals that they stand for are being compromised by their need for covert operations.
* When Paula berates Artemis for choosing to return to the superhero life, it's pretty clearly implied that Artemis did not take Wally's death well.
** It's also clear she doesn't approve of it because she fears she'll either die, like Wally or end up crippled like Paula herself or Barbara, both of whom are wheelchair bound. Not only for Artemis's own sake but because she's the closest thing Lian has to a mother with Jade refusing to be in their lives.

[[AC: First Impression]]
* Joan Garrick is being hospitalized because she's dying of old age.
* Artemis being sad that Violet and Tara will be moving into Beast Boy's new base, reflecting that she will miss the Harper house being so crowded.

[[AC: Early Warning]]
* Violet learns from Dr. Jace that her special state of being means she doesn't have long to live. It takes less than a day for her to start indulging in self-destructive behavior.
* Beast Boy explains that the reason for Jaime and Bart not being on the mission is because they are attending Joan Garrick's funeral.

[[AC: Quiet Conversations]]
* M'gann managing to pry Harper Row into admitting her father abuses her and her brother.

[[AC: Antisocial Pathologies]]
* Bruce wishes Jefferson could understand he was trying to protect everyone by keeping them out of the loop. When you take into account what happened to Jason Todd and Barbara's paralyzation, you can see where Bruce is coming from. Unfortunately, Barbara is also right: the truth is, he can't protect everyone no matter how many lines he crosses, and trying to will make him into just another threat.

[[AC: Overwhelmed]]
* Artemis seeing Wally again through Zatanna's spell. She's so happy in their illusion of a home that she tries refusing to go back, content to stay in limbo with him, but Wally holds her and tells her that she has to move forward and start letting people into her life again. He even gives her his blessing to find love again, telling her she deserves to have someone love her and kissing her one last time before she leaves.
---> '''Wally''': It's time for my little spitfire to go home, and live.

[[AC: Nevermore]]
* Hey, remember the idea of Terra turning evil mentioned up in "True Heroes"? It's worse -- it's not Terra who turns evil, but ''Geo-Force'', who murders Bedlam and overthrows his brother, much to Terra and Halo's shock. Halo takes the worst of it as, even as Forager reveals his identity to his classmates, she's still heartbroken by it all.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Season 4 ''(Phantoms)'']]
[[AC: Needful]]
* We learn that M'comm resents his sister Megan because she left him behind on Mars when things got so bad that she couldn't deal with it anymore. She didn't mean to abandon him, all she could say was because "[[InnocentlyInsensitive she was a child too]]"
* In the first two episodes, Beast Boy seems to have [[TookALevelInJerkass taken a level in jerkass]]. The credits show why as Beast Boy is listening to Perdita's message on his phone. It seems they're growing distant because both their work is taking a toll in their relationship. Especially Perdita, who has to deal with "all these people fleeing Markovia flooding into Vlatava.". The message ends with her, nearly breaking into tears, wishing her father was alive to handle the situation better, and that Beast Boy was with her. What's more poignant is Beast Boy's tired expression, implying that he listened to before leaving for Mars, and may have played it multiple times when he's alone.

[[AC: Needful]]
* Bioship is retiring and planning on spending her final years on Mars while her offspring, Baby, is set to take her place.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Young Justice: Legacy]]
* Aqualad's shock when Aquaman finally tells him the truth about his father.
--> '''Aquaman''': I only sought to protect you, Kaldur'ahm.
--> '''Aqualad''': You would protect me with a lie?!
* Aquagirl [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing her life]] to save the world from the reawakened Tiamat.
--> '''Aquagirl''': Goodbye, my friends. I love you, Garth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meta]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6_B7UZxIxk]] Jason Spisak reads the ending monologue of A Midsummer Night's Dream as Wally, then adds, "Thanks for everything. [[ItHasBeenAnHonor It was an honor and a pleasure to be your superhero]]."
[[/folder]]