Nightwing's team venture into the Phantom Zone to retrieve Conner, but are intercepted by Dru-Zod and the other Kryptonians. Lor-Zod and Ma'alefa'ak search for a new way to the Phantom Zone. M'gann meets Phantom Girl and learns about her fiancé's fate.
Tropes:
- And That's Terrible: Atrocities on Apokolips are nothing new, and yet M'gann and Black Lightning are disgusted in learning that someone as young as the metahuman Danny Chase was trafficked and turned into a twisted experiment there. What's worse is that the Kaizer-Thrall machine's abilities given to him not only cause him great pain, but also slowly kill him with each use.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Danny knows that opening a Boom Tube to the Phantom Zone might kill him, but as far as he's concerned he's dying anyway and if he has to go it'll be helping the only people that have been kind to him.
- Beginner's Luck: Phantom Girl states that the only reason she and Conner got into the Phantom Zone was by pure accident when her phasing was interrupted. When she and M'gann work together to find it again, all she can do is phase to her own homeworld (in an area not yet populated in the 21st century) and back to the Watchtower. It takes the power of the Kaizer-Thrall (Danny) and a Motherbox to pinpoint the Phantom Zone's location.
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass: Ma'alefa'ak shapeshifts into Chameleon Boy to use his Legion ring and connect with Phantom Girl, while also changing his voice as necessary to impersonate Saturn Girl and Kid Flash.
- Brain in a Jar: The only thing left of Danny is his brain, linked to the Kaizer-Thrall to exploit his abilities.
- The Bus Came Back: Martian prince J'emm J'axx returns for the first time since "Involuntary".
- Cliffhanger: Lor-Zod and Ma'alefa'ak intercept M'gann's team on Planet Trombus, and use the Kaizer-Thrall to subdue them while finally bringing Lor's parents (along with Conner and Faora Hu-Ul), out of the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile, Nightwing's team prepare to close the Boom Tube to prevent any more Kryptonians from getting out, even if it means being trapped themselves.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Nightwing's team manage to gain the upper hand against the House of Zod after adapting to the Phantom Zone. Because the Kryptonians have spent several decades there, however, they are better adjusted and able to beat them back.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Megalomaniacal cult leaders or not, both Zods are genuinely concerned when Conner's wounds open up. Of course, at this point Conner is a loyal ally and General Zod appears to be A Father to His Men, so it's not that surprising.
- Fighting Your Friend: With Conner still suffering Zone-Sickness, and under Dru-Zod's thrall, he is instructed to fight his teammates.
- Identical Grandson: Tomar-Tu, Tomar-Re's son, is standing guard on Oa's science prison, and looks nearly identical to his father.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Subverted. Nightwing's team tries to pull this with Conner, but are overwhelmed. They quickly realize that they can't get through to him and fight him at the same time, and pull back.
- Internal Reveal:
- Thanks to Prince J'emm, Phantom Girl brings M'gann up to speed about her time in the Phantom Zone, and the knowledge that Conner is still alive.
- Overhearing Nightwing's team trying to talk some sense into Conner, the Zods learn that Kal-El/Superman, the son of Jor-El, is alive after all. Conner was suffering Zone Sickness and thought he had killed Superman.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Phantom Girl's phasing power is organic, not mechanical, so even learning from Danny what the dimensional frequency of the Phantom Zone is doesn't allow her to zero in on it, any more than knowing radio frequencies would let bats or whales adjust their sonar. Danny has to link up with a Motherbox and open a Boom Tube instead.
- Mythology Gag:
- Lor-Zod is confused for a Daxamite, a Kryptonian offshoot race who settled the world Daxam, by Tomar-Tu's Lantern Ring.
- Orion's suggestion of where to put the Zoners is Trombus. In the Silver Age comics, Trombus was home to the Hyper-Family, a knock-off of the Super-Family.
- No-Sell: Because they're in the Phantom Zone, Zod's acolytes are able to ignore the weapons used by the team, allowing them to pass through harmlessly. Kryptonite also falls flat. Only direct physical or magical combat has any effect.
- The Power of Love: The only vestige of his former personality Conner has managed to hold onto is that he loves M'gann. This isn't a good thing, as he's convinced he's a killer and wants to stay in the Phantom Zone to protect her.
- Properly Paranoid: Orion believes there is a good chance that Dru-Zod and the other Kryptonians may escape while rescuing Conner, so he suggests opening a Boom Tube to the Phantom Zone on Planet Trombus, whose system possesses a red sun to weaken them. Superman joins M'gann's team despite being aware that he will be weakened as well, though Black Lightning, Phantom Girl, Orion, Blue Forager, Prince J'emm and Miss Martian would more than make up for it. Near the end of the episode, Conner, the two Zods and Faora leave the Phantom Zone.
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: Prince J'emm when Phantom Girl is getting ready to tell M'gann et al the story of what happened to Conner.Phantom Girl: Thank you, Prince J'emm.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Overpowered by Dru-Zod's forces, and unable to drag Conner from the Phantom Zone due to being a dimensional anchor, Nightwing's team retreat to another part of the Zone for a new plan.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Downplayed. Lor-Zod (misidentified as a Daxamite) tells Tomar-Tu at a Green Lantern science prison about his late father Tomar-Re. He credits the late Lantern's willpower, but the son doesn't realize it was subtle sarcasm, as Lor killed Tomar-Re for interfering with the liberation of his parents.Lor-Zod: He was a Green Lantern of impressive skill and willpower. May you follow in his footsteps.
Tomar-Tu: Thank you! - Sympathy for the Devil: Despite the danger they pose, Aquaman offers Dru-Zod and the other Kryptonians a fair trial and parole if they choose to cooperate. Unfortunately, they feel they have been trapped in the Phantom Zone long enough.
- Victory Pose On Person:
- After Nightwing, Artemis, Zatanna, Rocket and Aqualad fought and were subsequently defeated by Zod's forces, an unnamed Kryptonian poses on the chest of the unconscious Nightwing.
- When Lor-Zod introduces himself to his parents after freeing them from the Phantom Zone, he poses on the chest of the defeated Kid Flash.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Danny Chase, the young metahuman boy subjected to becoming a Kaizer-Thrall, seemingly has his consciousness vaporised by Ma'alefa'ak.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: The wounds he sustained both prior to and within the Phantom Zone finally catch up to Conner, and he passes out from blood loss soon after leaving. To make it worse, there's no yellow sunlight to heal him.
