Episode 41: Date Night
Takes place 24-31 March 2011.
Short version
Paul goes on a string of unsuccessful dates.
Longer version
Paul visits Karon to talk about why he turned down her and Holly. She invites him to come to dinner with some friends, but arranges with Holly to ditch, thus setting him up with Selina (Catwoman). Paul doesn't really mind, and invites her to be his date for Batman's wedding, but Selina turns him down because he's too young for her.
More positively, Jade is released from prison. To get her started on a different path, Paul takes her to Vietnam and lets her borrow his second ring in order to heal victims of Agent Orange contamination and purge the toxin from the soil. She does well, but finds the rush of power to be overwhelming, and so decides not to pursue further training. Paul takes her to a family celebration of her release; she meets her father's family for the first time.
Paul attends the Dionysia, which has a long reputation for hookups, and Euanthe the dryad propositions him, but as she's recovering from her imprisonment and abuse, Paul decides that that would not be an ethical choice, and instead just spends some time with her growing plants. In response to her feelings of isolation, he invites her to move to the Mountain, where there is a grove centered on the fruit given to him by Swamp Thing.
Paul and Zatanna visit Teth Adom and confirm that he's willing to help them face Nabu when the time comes. Paul also works with Sephtian to develop a magic-conducting golem body for Michael Siskin, with the potential for a similar golem to permanently house Nabu.
Paul then goes on a double date with Lantern Gardner, who has taken Paulphidian's suggestion of meeting Tora Olafsdotter. Paul's own date, Beatriz da Costa, turns out to be mostly social climbing, and is initially not pleased to see him due to Paulphidian's construct eyes catching her in the shower, but she softens a little upon learning how well connected he is.
The Renegade, meanwhile, receives a medal from the White House for killing Klarion, including giving a speech about possible legal avenues for handling such situations better in the future. He is later assaulted by Empress Maxima of Almerac, who is looking for a physical equal to be her husband. The Renegade persuades her to instead choose a partner with complementary skills, and she decides to just marry her secretary. The Frees from universe 50 then visit him, bringing Lynne Wayland, who felt the need to be near him as a result of the soul transplant he gave her. She and the Renegade feel an immediate connection and he adopts her as his daughter.
The title refers to Paul's mostly unsuccessful love life.
- Addictive Magic: Jade gets somewhat overwhelmed when she tries out an orange ring. She handles it better than Robin did, though.
- Age-Gap Romance: Subverted. Catwoman turns Paul down because of the age gap, not knowing that he's actually close to her own age.
- Alternate History: The Afghanistan of Earth 16 is much more peaceful due to differences
with how it interacted with the Soviet Union.It was interesting to see how different the region's history is to back home. No war with the Soviet Union means that while there are Islamic fundamentalists around -though like back home the word 'fundamentalist' doesn't have the negative connotations in Arabic that it does in English so they just call them crazy- they don't have anything like the political or military power that I'm used to. Plenty of countries hate Israel, but in an almost agnostic pan-Arab nationalist way rather than a religious way. It's a political problem rather than Satan's holiday home.
And of course, no al-Qaeda means no attack on the World Trade Centre on the eleventh of September. - Artistic License – Chemistry: Mr Zoat acknowledges that he doesn't really know much about Agent Orange and just assumes deformities which can be found amongst the Vietnamese population are largely the result of Agent Orange.
- Bilingual Bonus: The Crocks have a framed piece of embroidery that says 'God Bless This House' along the top and 'Non Classiarius Fascis Heic' along the bottom. The latter translates to "No Marine Faggots Here".
- Brick Joke: After Jade and Paul help Vietnam, Jade muses that no one in America will probably learn of it soon, even if it's televised. She's proven wrong when the members of the Crock and Nguyen families end up watching a news report of it later that day when they're having a party to get to know one another and to celebrate Jade being released from prison.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mister Huang's improved mind is mentioned when Jade reveals she did it to herself and the victims of Agent Orange while in control of an orange ring.
- Paul brings up the time Jade used drugged lipstick on him.
- Paul tells Captain Cold about how he's using the Ice Fortress he captured to reglaciate the North Pole.
- Could Say It, But...: When Beatriz picks up that Tora is more likely to be recruited for the Justice League than she is, Paul informs her that he's carefully avoiding saying any such thing.
- Dark Secret: The Renegade reveals to Alan Scott that he's aware of the true circumstances of Rag Doll's death.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sinestro Ring, as usual. After Empress Maxima punches the Renegade across a carpark and into a car to test his worth as a potential mate:Sinestro Ring: Eight out of ten on the landing, Corpsman.
- Double Take: Jade does this upon hearing that her grandmother killed people before.Missus Nguyen: I was a soldier in the Vietnamese Army. I killed Japanese, then I killed the French and then I killed-
[door opens revealing Jade's American cousin]
Missus Nguyen: [nods] -Americans. - Edgy Backwards Chair-Sitting: Captain Cold does this when meeting with Paul.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Michael Siskin, after his fusion with the Terror Thing, gains yellow quotation marks that may be an indicator of Yellow Enlightenment. Unfortunately, he is later killed by Nabu without fully exploring what he can do.
- Foreshadowing: Paul's conversations with Teth Adom, Michael Sisken, and August Colonel in Iron all bring up topics that will be important when Paul confronts Nabu.
- Fun with Homophones: At least Paul can make jokes at his own expense.Paul: I can find outlets for your talents that are either legal or.. less illegal. But, I'm worried it won't be enough. So I've decided I'm going to have to whitemail you.
Jade: White mail.
Paul: Last time I checked! - The Gadfly: Paul purposefully says a misleading sentence to Jade, Holly, and Karon as a joke.(about the call he just received) "That was Green Lantern Guy Gardner asking me out on a date."
- Irony: When Fire recognizes Paul, he assumes it's because of the cake again and just decides to roll with it. However, it's actually because of the eye constructs, because she was in the middle of a shower when they made themselves visible.Fire: You're the guy who-.
Paul: Giant cake, yes, I kn-.
Fire: -put those eyes everywhere! - Killed Offscreen: Bane is killed by Ghost Fox Killer after he tracks down and attacks his father.
- Matchmaker Failure: Holly tries to set Paul and Selina up for a date, but it doesn't really go anywhere, especially because Paul is hiding his true age.
- Mistaken Identity:
- The Renegade initially mistakes Maxima for Knockout.
- He later initially mistakes the Scott Free and Big Barda of Earth 50 for the local versions.
- Noodle Incident:
- Paul and the Amazons mention the time Paul used the public male bath he cleaned for himself and Kon.Oh, the baths. The baths. I spent a half hour last month cleaning out Themyscira City's old male public baths for my and Kon's use. Only.. the locals took one look at the place and thought 'ah, someone's put the old baths back into service' and started using it themselves. A few weeks later I walked right in on… Well. I walked right back out again.
- Stormwatch has had some interesting adventures since being formed.Renegade: How are.. 'Stormwatch'.. getting on?
Barda: We beat up a jury-rigged Brimstone Servitor and got turned into children.
- Paul and the Amazons mention the time Paul used the public male bath he cleaned for himself and Kon.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Paul notes that Ice is good with dealing with bad tempered people, referring to both Guy and Fire.
- Only the Worthy May Pass: Paul doesn't just hand rings over; he makes the prospective Lantern focus their avarice to call the ring to them.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Paul absentmindedly brings up the time he checked out Paula while talking to Jade, Paula's daughter, before he realizes what he's done.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: "Awesome" may not be the exact term, but Paul fighting off an army armed with Apokoliptian weaponry was overshadowed by Adom killing Kahndaq's government.
- The Plan: Paul explains to Teth Adom his general plan for what to do with Nabu, though the specifics have yet to be determined.
- Right-Hand Cat: The Renegade references this when Scott and Barda 50 ask what he's doing now.
- Stalker with a Crush: Beatriz is worried that Lantern Gardner may be doing this, but Paul assures her that he knows better than that and is being genuine with Tora.
- Stronger Than They Look: Artemis' grandfather served in the army for decades, whereas she's just a teenage girl; surely he'll be able to do more push-ups than her, right? To his credit, he managed over 160 of them and he's in his eighties! It's just that Artemis has been enhanced with the Danner Formula.
- Super-Intelligence: Sort of. When Paul rebuilt a damaged brain several months ago, and made it better in the process, he didn't put a warning on the file. So when Jade puts on the ring, she does it to herself without consulting him first. She's not really super-intelligent, but has significantly improved her empathy and intuitive reasoning. And she did it to all the other people she was healing, too.
- Teach Him Anger: When Paul gets Jade talking about the bad effects of Agent Orange, she tries to respond academically and non-emotively, but he wants her to feel passionately about it. Paul deliberately talks about the details of how her uncle's brain development was retarded, shows her images of his deformed face and limbs and skin, until she starts getting properly upset.Jade: And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?
[Paul takes off his second power ring and holds it out]
Paul: I want you to want to fix it. I want you to see the same wrongness in this as I did when I heard that the government of Britain used the same stuff during the Malayan Emergency. And when you feel that, I want you to take this ring and fix it...The ring has all the data on Human physiology and soil chemistry it needs. It just needs someone who cares. Someone whom I trust to try. - The Teetotaler: The Renegade doesn't like alcohol anyway, but Super-Strength gives him an excuse to abstain that folks at the local pub can appreciate.Renegade: I can snap steel beams with one hand. Me getting tanked up is a very bad idea.
- What If?: Mr Zoat gives a detailed explanation of what would happen if Paul went back in time and gave a young Diana information about what the Nazis are like and will do. He then explains why Paul would never do it.
-
Word of God: Bleez is currently a Thanagarian pop icon.- The ice fortress' automated defenses dissuaded the Spetsnaz team from boarding.
- Mr Zoat explains how Paul was able to work up the avarice to clean up environmental disasters.
- If it was possible, the Guardians would put Alan in a lab to study how he was able to become part elemental.
- The Vietnamese government is happy with what Paul and Jade did with the victims of Agent Orange and the soil of their country.
- Mr Zoat expands upon healing a kid of ADHD and the possibility of healing the Joker.
- The Guardians are certain as to why they became Guardians, unlike in the comics.
- Mariners don't go deep enough to bother Atlanteans.
- The story probably won't take things from WildStorm.
- Mr Zoat explains how kill orders might work.
- The Renegade is helping the Genomorphs build a settlement.
- Mr Zoat explains why Paul's orange eyes didn't give his identity away to the Crocks.
- Captain Cold felt shock and confusion from his conversation with Paul. Also, Mr. Mxyzptlk isn't Paul's ROB.
- Waller is letting Paul talk to Snart because he's already had a degree of success.
- There is little chance of Harleen ending up with Poison Ivy.
- Phasing only works on matter.
- August General in Iron is set to be married, and the Renegade has an invitation.
- Sazu has her comic book appearance.
- Grayven could use his powers to make a ruling dynasty, but not the Renegade.
- Nabu can't just possess his own bones because his host needs to have its own arcane flows for him to be able to possess it.
- Cornwall Boy would be able to learn Green magic easier than Zatanna.
- Mr Zoat gives a brief explanation on how Guy started dating Tora.
- Ghost Fox Killer joined the Great Ten partially because it was less of a hassle.
- Paul doesn't currently know if Brainiac's real name is Vril Dox.
- Paul is going to Vega to check if Larfleeze is assimilating planetary populations in response to losing his rings.
- Paul's research on potential Justice League recruits only covers current abilities.
- Fire's fearing that Guy is constantly watching Ice isn't entirely unreasonable.
- Mr Zoat explains why Fire's interactions with Paul are different from Guy's interactions with Paul despite Fire and Guy having similar personalities.
- Paul wouldn't advocate monitoring someone full time.
- There is currently no Red Lantern Corps.
- It's possible for a Dannered human to survive a drop from low orbit.
- How Lynne affects the Renegade and vice versa is given.
- The leader of the soldiers who approached Paul's ice fortress is aware of the deal between Paul and their government.
- The ice fortress' automated defenses dissuaded the Spetsnaz team
