As Kid Flash helps Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy reach New Genesis, Metron gathers everyone on the planet to put a stop to Lor-Zod's plan to free his people.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Just because a person is neurodivergent doesn't mean they're not a person like anyone else, and their differences are who they are rather than a burden. Rocket finally buries the hatchet with Orion, wishes him well in his endeavors and returns to her home with renewed faith in raising her autistic son.
- Anticlimax: Nabu refuses for months to help locate Conner's spirit until Zatanna finally wears him down. Then they assemble a powerful coalition of virtually all the known magic-related characters on the side of good. Zatanna (as Doctor Fate), Khalid, Traci, Jason Blood, Blue Devil, Isis, Zatara, Garth, Mera, Madame Xanadu and even the Phantom Stranger himself all hold hands and mystically ring the Tower of Fate's bell, the first time we've seen the bell actually used. It still produces zip. This finally confirms what Zatanna had already suspected: they can't locate Conner's spirit because he's not actually dead.
- Badass Creed: Purple Forager says a variation of the Green Lantern Corps Creed when she obtains Tomar-Re's ring (she replaces pronouns with her Third-Person Person speech):In brightest day, in blackest night!
No evil shall escape Forager's sight!
Let sentients who worship evil's might!
Beware Forager's power, Green Lantern's light! - Bittersweet Ending: Lor-Zod loses the last Phantom Zone Projector and his chance to free his father, but he and Ma'alefa'ak escape by holding Kid Flash, Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy hostage. Tomar-Re saves New Genesis but loses his life in the process. Purple Forager inherits Tomar-Re's ring and becomes a new member of the Green Lantern Corps, but it may result in her not being able to spend as much time with Red Forager as they would like. Rocket gains a better understanding of mental challenges of her peers and loved ones thanks to Orion. Meanwhile, Zatanna and Nabu are unable to seek out Conner's spirit, but the former now believes he is not dead after all.
- Breath Weapon: When the Promethean is woken by Lor-Zod charging the Phantom Zone Projector with its energy, it breathes a column of destructive energy into the sky, which begins to spread through the atmosphere and threatens to ignite it.
- The Cameo: Khalid, Traci, Jason Blood, Blue Devil, Isis, Garth, Annax Mera and the Phantom Stranger all make non-speaking appearances in this episode as part of the group using the bell of the Tower of Fate to search for Conner's spirit. For Isis, this is her second appearance and so far she has only appeared as a Cameo.
- Dramatic Irony: The Phantom Zone prisoners are waiting for Superboy to recover his memories so that he can fill them in on the current state of Krypton, not knowing that the planet's sun has exploded or that Conner wasn't sent to the Zone from there. Or indeed, that he's not fully Kryptonian.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ursa and Dru-Zod are quite distraught at the prospect of being separated when the latter is being retrieved by the Phantom Zone Projector, and as he floats upwards, he vows to find a way to get her and the rest of the prisoners out.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: When Ma'alefa'ak traps both Rocket and Orion in their minds, Ma'alefa'ak tries feeding into Rocket's insecurities by voicing through a projection that Orion doesn't deserve to be free due to his "mental" issues and being the son of Darkseid, calling back to the previous episode where he scoffed at Rocket's supposed desire of trying to understand and getting along better with Orion. What he failed to comprehend is Rocket actually learning to empathize with Orion, comparing him to her own son and that just because he's different and has anger issues, doesn't mean he deserves to be cast aside. The revelation helps Rocket and Orion break free.
- Evil Is Petty: Lor-Zod kills Tomar-Re while he's busy saving New Genesis because he's angry at his plans being foiled.
- Go Out with a Smile: Tomar-Re gives a small smile as one of his last acts, satisfied at atoning for his failure to save Krypton.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To atone for his failure to protect Krypton, Tomar-Re uses all of his power to funnel a waking Promethean's energy into space to prevent it from destroying the atmosphere of New Genesis, even though he can't do that and protect himself from Lor-Zod at the time. Lor-Zod spitefully fires his heat vision through Tomar's back as his plans fall apart, the last bits of Tomar's will maintaining the funnel until its purpose is served.
- Heroic Willpower: Purple Forager is able to partially break through the Kaizer-Thrall's Agony Beam upon seeing Red Forager in danger. This act of will draws Tomar-Re's ring to her.
- Hostage Situation: Lor-Zod threatens to snap Saturn Girl's neck to force the cooperation of Chameleon Boy and Kid Flash.
- I Warned You: Mantis reminds Red Forager that he warned him not to come back to New Genesis last season, intending to wipe the forest floor with him. Red Forager retorts by displaying his training with Nightwing during his time as an Outsider.
- Internal Reveal:
- When Conner isn't repelled by the Phantom Zone Projector, Dru-Zod realizes Conner wasn't sent there as a prisoner by Krypton like the rest of them, and entered through means other than the Projector.
- Saturn Girl realizes that Conner and Phantom Girl are still alive in the Phantom Zone.
- In the Back: Lor-Zod blasts Tomar-Re in the back with his heat vision when the Phantom Zone Projector is destroyed. Tomar-Re initially shields himself from the attack, but with his ring unable to maintain both the energy funnel and his defense, he's forced to allow the attack to pierce him so he can focus all his will on saving New Genesis.
- Jerkass God: Despite being on the side of the heroes and preventing the rogue Kryptonian prisoners from escaping the Phantom Zone, Metron is more angry at the fact that he lost his Phantom Zone Projector and only got a "broken" Time Sphere as a consolation prize to now observe, rather than mourn Tomar-Re's death and the near destruction of New Genesis.
- Mythology Gag: Kilowog's carrying Tomar-Re's lifeless body while crying mirrors the cover
iconography of Crisis on Infinite Earths. - Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Chameleon Boy fires on the Phantom Zone Projector as soon as he has a clear shot. Meanwhile, Saturn Girl realizes too late that Conner and Phantom Girl are on the other side, still alive and about to be cut off from their only means of escape. All she can do is use telepathy to wake Phantom Girl before the portal collapses. In their defense, the alternative was letting a whole bunch of super-powered cultists and their megalomaniac leader — each with the powers of Superman — free to conquer the galaxy, and they had no way of knowing the pair survived the events of Mars.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Ma'alefa'ak's attempt to manipulate Rocket into turning on Orion only bolsters their teamwork. It also had the unintended side effect of making Rocket accept her own son's autism and promise to do better by him. Lor-Zod's callous murder of Tomar-Re now has the entire Green Lantern Corps on the lookout for him, whereas before he was trying everything in his power to work from the shadows and the Corps would have left him alone since they had to police an entire galaxy.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Rocket takes advantage of Orion's anger and claustrophobia by trapping him and Lor-Zod together in a bubble. The result is Orion beating the absolute crap out of Lor-Zod, the tiny space not letting the young villain much room to maneuver despite his powers.
- Offscreen Afterlife: Nabu reiterates that no amount of magical power, even his, can contact a spirit that has moved to their final rest. He thinks this is what happened to Conner, but Zatanna rules it out because she was able to see him, which wouldn't be possible if he were in the afterlife, and because he was clearly not at rest when she did.
- Oh, Crap!: Rocket voices this sentiment out loud and calls out Metron about not informing them sooner of the fact that if Lor-Zod succeeds in opening the Phantom Zone with the Projector, it would let loose a whole bunch of criminals into the galaxy, each with the powers of Superman.
- Our Primordials Are Different: Lor-Zod charges the Phantom Zone Projector using an apparent natural lake of Source energy on New Genesis. In actuality, this is the mouth of a Promethean Giant, a mountainous earthen entity, which awoke from Lor's tampering and rises to breathe forth an eruption of energy into the sky that threatens to ignite the atmosphere.
- It's Personal: Kilowog and the Green Lantern Corps do NOT appreciate the killing of one of their own and will now focus their resources in earnest to bringing Ma'alefa'ak and Lor-Zod to justice, now that they can't hop around the time stream anymore and are stuck in the present.
- Pet the Dog: Dru-Zod, for what it’s worth, reaches out for Ursa as soon as he starts being pulled towards freedom, trying to bring her with him. When that fails, he swears to find a way to free her too, along with all of the rest.
- Portal Slam: The Phantom Zone Projector locks onto the DNA of a requested inmate and bars all others it has sent there from using the portal, causing Non to bounce off when he tries and blasting Ursa when she grabs Dru's hand. However, because Phantom Girl is the one who brought Conner into the Zone, the Phantom Zone Projector doesn't have him on file and thus would have allowed him to pass.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The combined efforts of the heroes on New Genesis and the Legion of Superheroes prevent Lor-Zod from freeing his father Dru-Zod. Unfortunately, Lor-Zod and Ma'alefa'ak capture and hold Kid Flash, Chameleon Boy and Saturn Girl hostage to escape, and Tomar-Re of the Green Lantern Corps sacrifices himself to prevent a planetary catastrophe.
- The Power of Love: Purple Forager's love for Red Forager gives her the will to fight back against the Kaizer-Thrall's tortuous power, and proves her worthy to wield Tomar-Re's Green Lantern ring after his death.
- Servile Snarker: When Lor-Zod complains that they're now stuck in the present, Ma'alefa'ak says, "Yes, like the rest of the universe."
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Red Forager shuts up Mantis's attempts to intimidate him by revealing he's not the same Bug he was a season ago, putting his training from Nightwing and the Outsiders to good use, despite Mantis being a great deal bigger than Red Forager.
- Sour Supporter: Dr. Fate initially refuses to join Zatanna's effort to locate Conner's spirit. When it's her turn to wear the helmet, however, he agrees to participate because she threatened to never let him have a moment's peace otherwise. When the ritual doesn't work, he's quick to suggest Conner has simply passed on to the afterlife rather than put any further effort in.
- Spanner in the Works:
- The Zone-afflicted Conner tries to pull back Dru-Zod from the portal made by the Phantom Zone Projector, desperate to "save" him. Dru-Zod, not having anticipated rescue would come at all, never bothered explaining to Conner that escaping the Phantom Zone is what he and the other Kryptonians want. This oversight bites him in the ass because Conner's intervention provides a slight but crucial delay, allowing Jay Garrick to use a Tornado Move to prevent anyone from actually using the portal.
- Ma'alefa'ak's Mind Rape actually allows Rocket to better understand what Orion is going through as Darkseid's son adopted by the Highfather. They fight closer together and she uses his rage to their advantage.
- Torment by Annoyance: Zatanna uses this threat to force Dr. Fate's compliance in the ritual. He already doesn't like her, so being badgered constantly is enough to get him to play along.
- Tornado Move: Jay Garrick creates a wind funnel to block anyone on either side of the portal from making use of it.
- Trapped in the Past: Mantis accidentally fries the time sphere when he fails to compensate for the dimensional shift while escaping the Mobius Dimension, stranding Lor-Zod in the present. He hijacks the retrofitted Bio-Ship as a replacement.
- Villainous Breakdown: From both Zods, to varying degrees. Lor-Zod loses more and more of his temper as his plans falls apart, ending with him heartlessly murdering Tomar-Re in revenge for the Projector being destroyed. Dru-Zod has less of one, but he does end up losing his cool and yelling in anger at Superboy (who misunderstands Zod being pulled away as a bad thing) to let him go through the portal, as the latter's weight ends up holding him down.
- Wham Line:
- Zatanna is frustrated that she and her friends/allies can't track Conner's spirit. Nabu believes the simple explanation is that he was at peace when he died, and so his spirit has passed on. Zatanna, however, has another possibility: He was never dead to begin with.
- Saturn Girl senses Phantom Girl as the portal closes and calls out to her. Though she was considered in a perpetual coma by Ursa-Zod, it is no longer the case.Saturn Girl: PHANTOM GIRL, WAKE UP!
