Recap / With This Ring Episode 39

Episode 39: Black Reign

Takes place 7-17 March 2011.

Short version

Canis Minor arrives on Earth, and acting on his information, the Justice League rescues the Forever Children from captivity on Apokolips, while Paul and Superboy protect Metropolis in their absence.

Longer version

While crime-fighting in Caracas, Paul and Superboy are alerted to the opening of a boom tube in Paris, and they investigate, driving off Kanto the New God of Assassination, and capturing his target, Canis Minor the New God of Art. When debriefed by Mister Miracle and Big Barda, Canis informs the League about the capture of the Forever Children by Desaad, and they assemble a successful rescue mission to Apokolips. Paul is invited to participate, but declines, since his oath does not permit him to leave the solar system.

While the League is away, the city of Shiruta, in Kahndaq, is attacked by an unidentified force making extensive use of Apokoliptian weaponry. Paul intervenes and kills the attackers, but not before the city has taken heavy casualties. Teth Adom is incensed by the attack and immediately travels to Cairo, summarily executing the vestiges of the former (corrupt) government and formally taking control of the country.

It then cuts to Paul being interviewed by Cat Grant about Teth Adom and how Adom's meeting with Queen Bee went.

The Renegade is convicted of Klarion's murder, but immediately pardoned by the state governor. He then stages a dramatic exit from the Team in order to convincingly join the Light. When Wonder Woman tries to order him to stay under surveillance, he reveals that he has already returned Alan's lantern and is free from his oath, with Sinestro's ring and lantern taking its place.

The title may refer to Teth Adom's takeover of Kahndaq, since he is in the body of the villain formerly known as Black Adam.

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• Acquired Poison Immunity: The Arakno-Mekkanoid tries empathic fear attack on Paul. Fortunately for Paul, he had already achieved enlightenment and experienced an even worse fear effect from fighting the Terror Thing. As such, he barely even feels it.
• Alternate History: Earth 16 never had a War on Terror.
• Atop a Mountain of Corpses: Adom is doing this when Paul and Captain Marvel seek him out after the attack on Shiruta is over.
• Backstory: Paul gives a summary of Kanto's when the two meet, to demonstrate the he does indeed know who he's dealing with.
• Big "NO!": The Renegade give one just to mess with the members of the Team and Justice League present when Wonder Woman orders him to not quit the Team.
• Call-Back: Paul's oath is brought up as the reason for why he won't accompany the group in raiding Apokolips.
• Captain Oblivious: Canis Minor is convinced that Darkseid frequently sends assassins after him as a mark of respect, to keep his skills sharp (which is not how Darkseid works; he sends assassins when he wants someone dead). He also can't comprehend that the Justice League are not actually worshipped as gods, and no matter what mortal peril he may face, he's always thinking about whether it has artistic value.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Dana Dearden's interview is brought up, and it's revealed that she also ended up interviewing Superboy, earning nationwide acclaim.
    After the attack on the LexCorp headquarters various reporters have been asking the League who the chap in plate armour was and eventually Diana, Kon and Catherine Cobert decided between them that it would be better to explain the situation rather than allow the speculation frenzy to continue. Fortunately, I knew someone who would be happy to write a piece and -frankly- wasn't inclined to interview in an aggressive way that would wind Kon up. The public desire to know resulted in Dana Dearden's interview actually getting published, along with follow up pieces about the rest of us. Nationwide, as I understand it. I understand that Superman's been fielding some slightly uncomfortable questions but Kon was clear that he's happy with the situation.
  • Abra Kadabra is still acting as a teacher in Belle Reve for the inmates who want to better themselves, and has even more students than before.
    Kadabra's classes have expanded a bit. Even people who probably don't have any interest in going straight have started attending, if only because the alternative is a few more hours in their cells. Abra himself seems to like having an audience, and his experience with showmanship means that he knows how to deal with hecklers. I also think he rather enjoys the fact that whatever prison rules say they don't actually have any way to prevent inmates using magic.
• Comically Serious: Paul's ring AI wasn't programmed with much of a personality, but it still comes up with lines like, "Canine of unusual size is armed with teeth, claws and a bad attitude."
• Didn't Think This Through: Canis Major didn't think that having his son raised by a Mother Box would make him something that Apokolips wouldn't like. Justified, as he is a low level warrior that was promoted due to achievements, and lacked the education a born higher class would have.
• Double Take: When the Prankster holds Lois Lane captive on top of a building, Paul handles things a little differently from other heroes, causing Lois to react this way.
  Lois Lane: Hey, where'd Oswald go?
  Paul: I threw him over the side. You alright?
  Lois: This isn't my first rode-. You threw him over the side?
  Paul: Eh, ironic punishments. He's fine.
• Flashback: This episode opens with an extra scene from after Teth Adom was freed from Theodore Adam's control.
• Foreign-Language Tirade: Superboy speaks fluent Spanish, but when he and Paul arrest a robber in Caracas, they hear a bunch of curse words that weren't included in his telepathic programming. Paul understands them, but declines to translate.
• Framing Device: The last part of the episode has Paul being interviewed on GBS and giving his viewpoint on Adom, the attack on Shiruta, and the meeting between Adom and Queen Bee.
• Friendship Moment: The usually formal Adom asks that Paul refer to him by name instead of Mighty One during informal settings, as a show of how he sees Paul as a close and trusted friend.
• The Gloves Come Off:
  • When Paul learns that there has been a massive attack on the city of Shiruta, he immediately teleports there and starts mowing down the attackers with railguns and destruction beams. Note that he's normally not a big fan of destruction, preferring to use his ring to build things, but when sufficiently provoked...
  • Teth Adom's reaction is even stronger. He has been very patiently putting pressure on the government to surrender, trying to achieve the best outcome for the people of Kahndaq, but when the city named after his wife is attacked and devastated without provocation, he finally snaps and uses his Flying Brick powers to execute the entire government.
    He didn't fight them. He didn't slow down. Slowing down to fight them would have been inefficient. We did actually.. plan this… The reason that we didn't implement it was that just about everyone in the target area would be killed. Not just the people in control of the government, but their aides, staff and other civil servants. When he's going that fast… Ring, scan…
    Yes. The minimum number of civilian casualties that could be achieved in an attack by him alone, as long as you exclude anyone remotely involved in government or military function from your assessment of 'civilian'. Fewer people than died in Shiruta…
• Half the Woman She Used to Be: Adom kills Queen Bee this way after she unsuccessfully tries to control him.
• Honor Before Reason: This is basically why Paul is abiding by the spirit of his oath. If Superman had instead said that Paul's participation was essential, he would have broken his oath.
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • When the Renegade enters the Cave, Kid Flash is in the middle of saying that there was no way the Renegade would return.
    "…gunna… Walk in here." I float down onto the ground inside the mountain's kitchen and nod at my team mates sitting at the table. "Like nothing happened." Wallace slumps slightly as my presence contradicts him. "Hey Grayven."
  • When Kanto tries to say that Paul has no idea who he's facing, Paul proves him wrong by giving a short summary of Kanto's life, and then following up by saying Kanto's current reason for being on Earth.
    Kanto: (about successfully hitting him) Surprisingly effective, for a mortal. But you meddle in affairs-.
    Paul: You're Kanto -formerly Iluthin- of Apokolips. You're Darkseid's court assassin. You grew up in Granny Goodness' orphanage and were briefly exiled to Earth after growing too confident -rightly confident- in your abilities for her tastes. You worked for Cesare Borgia and were briefly married to his sister before your predecessor -Kanto Thirteen- attacked and killed her in revenge for you showing him up. You then returned to Apokolips and duelled him, winning by poisoning the water he drank before the fight started. You have a beard now because Darkseid instructed you to grow one when he confirmed your position, because he was concerned that you looked too young for it. How did I do?
    Kanto: [tilts his head] (outloud) Sur-prisingly well. But you don't know why I'm here now. (in Godspeech) Interesting.
    Paul: Darkseid instructed you to kill Canis shortly after he was revealed to have killed his father, Canis Major. Not an art lover, I assume.
• Internal Reveal: Billy reveals his identity to Adom in order to convince him to not immediately go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Intrepid Reporter:
  • Superboy and Paul save one who was being held prisoner by criminals for two days.
  • Lois is called this word for word by Prankster.
• Irony: Paul lampshades how an Apokoliptian has found a productive, non-destructive use for Super-Strength when he himself thought that it was the superpower with the most difficulty doing such.
  He isn't using a hammer as his strength is more than enough to cause the chisel to penetrate the dense stone. Similarly, he isn't bothering with any sort of smoothing or polishing tool; he just rubs his hand over the surface. It's a revelation for me; I'd always regarded super strength as the power hardest to put to a non-destructive use, and here's an Apokoliptian making a.. really quite beautiful sculpture.
• Jerkass Has a Point: The Renegade has some valid points about the hypocrisy in how he is treated just for killing Klarion and in how murder was all over the place in the Old Testament.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Oswald Loomis throws Lois Lane off a building in order to get Superman's attention, so that he can expose him to kryptonite and then shoot him with a bowel disruptor. While Superboy catches Lois, Paul appears behind Oswald and tosses him off the building, then takes the disruptor and shoots his accomplices.
• Mistaken for Object of Affection: When Superboy catches Lois, she assumes at first that he's Superman. It's not clear exactly what she did, but she was quite apologetic.
• Mistaken Nationality: Paul is annoyed when a reporter says that she thought he was American.
  "I'm English."
• Mood Whiplash: The story quickly goes from Superboy and OL taking down the Prankster to OL stopping a genocidal attack in Kahndaq.
• Mundane Utility: Canis Minor uses Super-Strength to make a sculpture with just his hands and a chisel.
• Mythology Gag: Adom's way of killing Queen Bee is a reference to his infamous kill of D-Lister Terra-Man in 52.
• No-Sell: "Uncle Oswald's" apprentices throw kryptonite at Superboy. Thanks to Paul's influence, he routinely wears a radiation shield, rendering the kryptonite harmless.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: This episode reveals that the Team was able to apprehend General Eiling when clearing Captain Atom's name. As a result, Nathaniel Adams received a promotion to major.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Discussed. Zatanna writes a report on the Cake Incident for her class.
• The Pardon: The Renegade receives one literally right after he is sentenced to life in prison for murdering Klarion.
• Potty Failure: Prankster's whole plot was to use a diarrhea inducing gun on Superman after he is hit with a bit of kryptonite. Unfortunately for his mooks, Paul and Kon are the ones to stop him, and in a form of ironic punishment, Paul uses the gun on the henchmen.
• Propaganda Piece: In-Universe, Teth Adom mentions that the Kahndaqi government has made one of him, depicting him as a demon in the form of a man, similar to Sabbac.
• Rage Breaking Point: Adom reaches his and was ready to tear Bialya apart on his own. Luckily, Paul and Captain Marvel are able to convince him to step back for a moment and think before making a decision.
• Rules Lawyer: Mr Zoat says that trying to do this with the gods is a bad move, which is why Paul isn't joining the raid of Apokolips.
• Shout-Out:
  • Paul's ring's description of the hound from Apokolips is taken from Warhammer 40,000.
  • The bowel disruptor used by Prankster's goons is taken from Transmetropolitan.
• Spexico: Discussed when Paul gets annoyed about being mistaken as American by a Venezuelan reporter.
  (to the reporter) "J-? Do I call you Mexican?"
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Averted. Due to the fact that the League semi-regularly meets up at Happy Harbor, it has a low crime rate. As such, in this episode, the Team splits up to fight crime in locations around the world that are more affected by mundane criminals for training.
  There's actually a small plaque in Happy Harbour dedicated to 'the most unlucky burglar in America' after a petty thief somehow managed to run straight into nearly the entire League line up.
• Word of God: Belle Reve is doing better in the Paragon timeline than in the Renegade timeline.
  • The Renegade is slightly more respectful of gods than Paul.
  • The warden of Iron Heights approves of the Renegade's actions.
  • The Renegade knows the Source exists, but hasn't researched much on the matter of angels.
  • The Spectre won't be appearing in this story.
  • Mr Zoat explains how the Renegade sees miracles, gods, and the afterlife.
  • The version of Maxwell Lord on Earth 16 is based on the version of Maxwell Lord from Justice League International.
  • Alan Scott looks older and is more frail in the Renegade timeline.
  • The Renegade revealing the beginning of a ritual to become a Lord of Order isn't a problem.
  • Paul assumes that Queen Bee knows that her pheromones won't work on Adom.
  • Adom wouldn't like infiltrating the Light as he finds it too duplicitous.
  • The Bana-Mighdall don't exist in this fic.
  • As Mr Zoat hasn't watched it, the fic won't show anything from Lucifer (2016).
  • Kahndaq is trying to determine what Adom's role will be.
  • Mageslayers are basically projectile Spell Eaters.
  • The Team's existence is still a secret from the public.
  • Darkseid hasn't met Superman yet.
  • Paul doesn't know much about hush tubes.
  • The differences between boom tubes and hush tubes are explained.
  • Paul heard the name of one of the Forever People as Bear because that's what his ring translated it as.
  • If Sobek ever shows up, Paul will handle him.
  • Both versions of the SI would see through Godfrey's disguise, though Canis Minor wouldn't.
  • Mr Zoat didn't think Robin revealing his identity to the Team would be a big deal in the Paragon timeline.
  • Similar to what he did with Jade, Paul kept Talia's murders out of the evidence he provided.
  • Darkseid would notice the Ophidian if Paul showed up on Apokolips.
  • One reason for why Paul uses zeta tube constructs is that unlike with transitioning, someone blocking zeta tubes doesn't kill you. Also, transitioning at night leaves an orange line following his flightpath.
  • Universe Prime has no gods, magic, and DC style physics warping is much more difficult.
  • The author confirms that the Sword of the Fallen can kill a lot of powerful beings.
  • Adom saw his own child in Billy.
  • If Adom had tried to go after Queen Bee instead of going back to Shiruta, it would have taken him a while to find her.
  • Thanks to Adom's influence, there will be a revival of Kahndaqi pantheism.
  • Mr Zoat explain how Lucifer, Satanus, and the First of the Fallen are related.
  • DeSaad has the remnants of Infinity Man.
  • Savage is currently dead at this point. It has something to do with hyenas.
  • Highfather and Scott Free didn't part on good terms.
  • The Renegade's assessment of Queen Bee and her sister is accurate.
• Wrong Assumption:
  • Hal thought that Sinestro himself was talking to him through the Renegade's yellow power ring.
  • Apokoliptians on Earth assumed the things Paulphidian did were done by another Apokoliptian.

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