Recap / Young Justice S3 E22: Antisocial Pathologies

Date: January 22.

Locations: Western Mongolia, Hollywood, Apokolips.

Secrets are revealed to the team as the Light and Apokolips make their move.

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Tropes in this episode:

• Adaptation Inspiration: The flashback with Terra and Deathstroke is near-identical to a scene from the Teen Titans comics, with Deathstroke enraging Terra while training her in physical combat to the point that she suddenly lets loose on him with her powers. The only real difference between the two is scale; Terra's display of power in the comics was much larger than in the show.
• A Father to His Men: Slade shows shades of this with Terra, as he supplies her with the nullifier device that keeps Helga's control chip from affecting her, and in a flashback, talks to Terra very much like a parent would to a child, and Terra embracing him, see Arson, Murder, and Admiration below for more details.
• Afraid of Needles: When Halo sees Jace filling a syringe in front of a morphine bag, she immediately goes on defense, since this is how Jace killed Gabrielle.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • It's not made clear in this or the previous episode why the X-Pit had a far more extreme and lasting effect on Dick than it did Jefferson. Jefferson seems to have fully recovered by the start of this episode while Dick needs Alfred to all-but carry him to get out of bed near the very end, despite both being exposed to the effects of the X-Pit for an identical length of time. It seems the torture inflicted on victims of the pit is both physical and psychological, and Dick has likely experienced more trauma throughout his shorter life (dead parents, dead surrogate brother, dead best friend, crippled childhood friend/girlfriend) than Jefferson has, which may make him more vulnerable to the X-Pit's psychological torture, so that could be a factor; others have postulated that it may be the result of Dick's willingness to deceive and manipulate others that made him more vulnerable. A simpler explanation (though arguably not as persuasive) would be that Jefferson is a meta-human, and Dick isn't, and that somehow differs the effect, though why that would be the case isn't clear, as Jefferson's powers don't involve greater endurance and Dick is also in peak physical condition. The heroes themselves don't say or even speculate, presumably because none of them know the slightest thing about the X-Pit. Chances are only Gretchen could give a concrete answer. Turns out it was because Jefferson is a metahuman and Dick isn't. Non-metahumans are simply less resistant to the X-Pit, according to Granny.
  • Deathstroke mentions that Brion was off partying when Tara was kidnapped. Brion has never mentioned this, but it would help explain why he was so determined to rescue Tara, though that is just as easily explained without that reasoning. Tara doesn't comment, so whether or not it's true, and if she holds her brother partly responsible for her abduction, is up in the air.
• And I Must Scream: Though Tara and Brion are under the effects of control disks and can't act without Jace's orders, their reactions to her confession show enough awareness to become visibly angry at her crimes against them. Tara is faking being controlled, but Brion's reactions still qualify. Jace herself becomes slaved to Gretchen Goode and truthfully admits she hates her, but is now incapable of defying her commands.
• Animation Bump: Tara and Brion attacking Gretchen and Ultra-Humanite, and the latter two escaping via Boom Tubes, is noticeably better animated than the rest of the episode.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Barbara concludes her talk with Bruce asking if what they're doing is worth it for continuing their collective mission or if they're just following his mission.
• Arson, Murder, and Admiration: In a flashback, Tara loses her temper during a training match with Slade and uses her powers on him, only to recoil in fear when he angrily complains that their match was limited to staves. However, Slade then congratulates her for realizing that playing by the rules is for chumps.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Barbara talks to both Garfield and Bruce about the situation of the Anti-Light. To Garfield, she reminds him that the Outsiders aren't as independent as they present themselves and that they share common goals. To Bruce, she points out that the inner circle is largely comprised of people he mentored and would thus be less likely to disagree with him while the only person who isn't—Wonder Woman—is in deep space, whose involvement is essentially out of courtesy, and informed of things she had no way of getting involved in any way, after the fact.
• Broken Masquerade: The Anti-Light's cooperation is exposed when Jefferson puts the pieces together, blowing it wide open in front of Alfred, Conner, Violet, Vic, Fred, Brion, Gar, Jace, and Tara, with the latter revealing the deception to Slade and thus the Light. It likely won't be very long before the rest of the Justice League, Batman Inc, the Team and the Outsiders find out as a result.
• Brother–Sister Team: Tara and Brion work in tandem with their powers very well, even without being able to communicate any plan ahead of time.
• Didn't See That Coming: The Anti-Life Equation, for everyone involved. Halo's existence wasn't the result of any kind of plan to create a workaround, and Gretchen discovers her by sheer chance. Obtaining the Equation wasn't the result of the Light's or Darkseid's schemes throughout the season—or the show—finally coming together, just happenstance and Gretchen swiftly seizing the opportunity. Barring Savage, none of the members of the Light seem aware of its importance, and Savage's reaction makes clear this was not in any way part of his plan.
• Downer Ending: Jace's true nature is revealed, Granny has captured Halo and plans to use her to complete the Anti-Life Equation, Jefferson is heartbroken and feels betrayed by everyone so he severs ties with Bruce, Dick and the others, and Tara has fallen victim to Deathstroke's lies and plans to betray The League, the Team and the Outsiders.
• Early-Bird Cameo: After being referenced in "Unknown Factors", members of Infinity Inc. are shown speaking to reporters on TV. Notably, they don't look like the traditional team members from the comics, though given the show's extensive history of very loose adherence to team rosters, that may or may not mean anything.
• Evil All Along: While Jace acted as a kind and loving scientist, this episode reveals that she's a deranged Mad Scientist that believes that anyone she turns into a metahuman is her child, thus explaining her attitude towards Tara and Brion. She seduced Jefferson to get his help and lied to Violet that she was dying to separate her from Brion when Jace learned that Violet wasn't a metahuman, because as she describes it, Violet is just "a machine living in a corpse".
• Failsafe Failure: Granny surmises that the filter Metron hardwired into Mother and Father Boxes to prevent full access to The Source is bypassed by the essence of the former being housed in Violet's organic body. This allows her to use Halo to access the Anti-Life Equation.
• Fantastic Racism: Helga really hates Violet for daring to be a Mother Box rather than a metahuman. She specifically hates that she's dating her "son", which is why she plotted her fate.
• First-Name Basis: Tara refers to Deathstroke by his first name, Slade, rather than his codename.
• Honor Among Thieves: The Light are revealed to have a tradition that is a sort of gentlemen's agreement between them, that stipulates that operations conducted by specific members and said member's operatives earns that member uncontested rights to the spoils that endeavor yields, which cannot be poached by the other six members unless they decide to share. This has to be explained to Gretchen when she tries to lay claim to Halo, when she by rights of the agreement should go to Ultra-Humanite, who has already placed Jace in a position to capture her for him. Gretchen gets around this by calling Darkseid to force Vandal to grant her rights to Halo, which naturally makes Ultra-Humanite very unhappy. However, Gretchen still allows him to supervise her capture and even explains her motives to him.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Jefferson puts together the existence of Batman's covert group from Oracle's intervention in the previous episode, forcing them to admit to it in front of all of the inhabitants of the Premier Building ^note  Gar, Vic, Brion, Tara, Fred, Violet and Helga, plus Conner and Alfred. It likely won't be long before the rest of the League, Batman Inc, the Team and Outsiders catch wind as well.
    • More specifically, Jefferson deduces that Bruce, Dick, Tim, M'Gann, Kaldur and Barbara are all coordinating, and that they orchestrated the rescue from Goode's estate, the joint raids on the Goode meta trafficking network, Dick's recruitment of him for the Markovia op, Batman and the other's exit from the League and Team, and the set-up to help the Outsiders in Brooklyn.
    • Barbara meanwhile confesses to Gar that Diana is also part of the deception, confirms that they 'tee'd up' Brooklyn for the Outsiders, and that they set up the entire scenario in Dublin, with Bruce being the father and M'Gann being the daughter.
  • Likewise, the Light makes a similar deduction, and Tara will likely inform them of the particulars if she hasn't already.
  • Tara and Brion learn that Jace was working with the Ultra-Humanite, which they share with the team after escaping.
• Jerkass Has a Point: The Anti-Light. Yes, they have basically been manipulating their friends and allies, and, yes, some of them serve as good examples of The Unapologetic. But, as they point out, at the end of the day what they've done works and, in the case of Garfield, they are taking issue with methods that aren't far removed from how they themselves operate. Barbara, however, is the only one that really makes that argument, and she and Tim are the only ones with any visible expression of regret at all. The others are only shown stonewalling any criticism they get and act as though it's a case of They Just Dont Get It.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: To test the Anti-Life Equation, Gretchen forces Jace to reveal all her machinations to Brion and Tara, knowing it would alienate her from them forever.
• Knight Templar: The members of the Anti-Light really come across as this, especially Batman. Excluding Barbara and Tim, the characters are all unflinching in the face of attempts by Jefferson and Garfield to get them to acknowledge wrongdoing and remain certain that everything they did was necessary.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Jace has been covertly manipulating Brion, Tara, and Violet, who she treated as experiments she wanted under her control. Switching to overt control by slapping control disks on the former in this episode, she ends up a test subject of Gretchen Goode for the Anti-Life Equation, by way of a mind-controlled Halo. There, she confesses everything she's done to them, making them hate her, and is implied to still be slaved to obey Granny's orders.
  • Vandal Savage has been outwitting and making fools of the heroes for nearly three seasons. He gets a taste of his own medicine by possibly the only villain who has been doing this for longer than he has, and in this case, his being outwitted this one time will likely have far greater repercussions than any of the times he has managed to outwit the heroes, with possibly all the plans he's made going up in smoke. Granted, the whole universe is threatened because of this, so calling it a Pyrrhic Victory is putting it mildly.
  • The Anti-Light has been deceiving and manipulating the other heroes since the season started. Their own sloppiness and miscalculation lead to both Jefferson and the Light catching wind of their existence and essentially neuters their effectiveness from here on, and could result in them losing what power they had before their conspiracy started, while also crippling the trust they have with the Justice League, the Team, the Outsiders and the other members of Batman Inc at a time when they really cannot afford to be a house divided.
• Mirroring Factions: During Beast Boy's own What the Hell, Hero? towards Oracle, she points out that the Outsiders was formed to buck the Justice League and fight Luthor and Granny on the outside, which is somewhat similar to what the Anti-Light was doing. Beast Boy's reaction is obviously a "touche" moment.
• Motive Rant: Dr. Jace gives a long one while being under Gretchen's control.
• Mythology Gag: Gar sarcastically calls the Anti-Light a 'Secret Society of Super Heroes,' a clear reference to the Secret Society of Super Villains.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Following from the previous episode, the rescue of Nightwing and Jefferson not only clued Granny into a means to solve the Anti-Life Equation, but alerted the Light to the previously hidden cooperation between the various hero groups. It also gives Jefferson the final pieces needed to piece the puzzle together and call them out on the whole deception, causing him to storm out and will likely cause immense friction between the Anti-Light members and the rest of the Justice League, the Team, the Outsiders and the other members of Batman Inc, at a time when they really can't afford to be distracted, distrustful and divided.
  • Tara was genuinely conflicted about continuing to help Deathstroke due to her growing fondness for the heroes. The reveal of the Anti-Light, and how those involved act in response, all but confirms Deathstroke's claims to Tara about the heroes being no better than anyone else.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Goode, for some reason, gloats about the nature of the Anti-Life Equation and her plans for Halo in front of both Ultra-Humanite as well as the controlled but still conscious Brion and the seemingly-controlled but actually quite free-willed Tara. This allows the former to inform Vandal Savage and the rest of the Light, while the latter will presumably to pass the information on to the League, Batman Inc, the Team and the Outsiders. Tara and Brion focus on Jace's betrayal at the end of the episode, likely not aware of the threat Darkseid represents. Savage, on the other hand, knows exactly how bad it is that Darkseid's been handed such a weapon.
• Not Helping Your Case: When Bruce bemoans how no one outside of the Anti-Light seems able to look past their hurt feelings to grasp the bigger picture, Barbara points out that almost everyone involved in it have pretty much had it ingrained to them to defer to him on some level. When he brings up Wonder Woman's inclusion, she disarms him by pointing Diana is in space where she can't do much and is only informed after the fact, with the implication that she's only informed at all out of necessity.
• Oh, Crap!: Vandal Savage visibly freaks out when he discovers that he's just handed the key to Darkseid's goal over to the ruler of Apokolips.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Savage is normally the epitome of composure and normally doesn't twinge in the slightest at even large setbacks; that he visibly shows an Oh, Crap! reaction over Darkseid gaining the key to the Anti-Life Equation shows just how bad things are going to get.
  • Bruce and Tim come out of costume to the Outsider's tower to see Dick, who is still in terrible condition after the events of the previous episode. That Bruce didn't bother to conceal his identity before coming shows how concerned he must have been about Dick, as he's usually extremely protective of his secret identity. This results in Brion recognizing him and asking if that's Bruce Wayne visiting.
• Out-Gambitted: Darkseid gets the Light to give up Halo without revealing her importance, and it's only because Gretchen gushes about the Anti-Life Equation in front of Ultra-Humanite that Savage even realizes he's been played.
• Pass the Popcorn: At one point Victor and Forager, both completely disconnected from the turmoil and confrontations that result with Jefferson's reveal, sit out and watch the arguments unfold. Forager literally brings a bowl of popcorn.
• The Reveal:
  • Jace is knowingly working with the Ultra-Humanite and is far more malicious than she's previously appeared.
  • Metron wasn't kidding when he said that Granny Goodness and Gretchen Goode both are and aren't the same person. This episode shows that the two are distinct entities, though how Granny accomplished this isn't explained.
  • Deathstroke and Terra's relationship is somewhat more wholesome than it originally seemed.
• Saying Too Much: Gretchen helpfully explains the nature of the Anti-Life Equation to Ultra-Humanite and Halo's importance in solving it, even though Darkseid obviously misled Savage as to the reason he wanted Halo, if he gave one at all. Ultra-Humanite even lampshades that she's overplayed her hand, though Tara acts before Ultra-Humanite can do anything about it. When Ultra-Humanite relays this information to Savage, Savage clearly understands that he's handed Darkseid a huge advantage in their coming war. Had Gretchen simply left with Halo and tested her theory at her leisure, the Light would still be in the dark as to their motives. She also says all this in front of Brion and Tara, leaving them in a position to similarly inform the League, Batman Inc, the Team and the Outsiders of her plans, but this doesn't occur onscreen (in this episode, at least).
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Learning about Jace's betrayal is the last straw for Jefferson, who leaves the team and warns them not to follow.
• Secretly Selfish: Barbara brings up the point that Bruce may be using the Anti-Light to further the aims of his personal mission rather than the League's overall one. She points that nearly everyone involved in it has pretty much been raised and taught to defer to him and the one member who is not like that isn't in any position to actually intervene and can only be kept up to date in terms of involvement.
• Summon Bigger Fish: When Gretchen tries to lay claim to Halo, Ultra-Humanite insists that she is his to deal with because his operative is the one orchestrating her capture, which the rest of the Light agrees with. Right after the meeting, Darkseid opens a boom tube straight to Savage, Gretchen obviously having called him to force the issue.
• The Unapologetic: As Jefferson lampshades, none of those involved in the deception show the slightest regret for what they've done, nor do any of them actually apologize for it.
  Jefferson: You're not even sorry!
  Kaldur: We are sorry we have made you feel this way —
  Jefferson: That's not an apology!
  Bruce: I am not going to apologize for putting the mission first.
  • Barbara, however, does have some doubts she privately voices to Bruce, and Tim, while not saying anything, does look fairly ashamed when Gar points out this will likely destroy his relationship with Cassie that they just recently started repairing offscreen.
• Unexplained Recovery: Last we saw of Klarion, he was stuck in the Tower of Fate, unable to portal out because its Teleport Interdiction kept bouncing his portals back inside the structure. In this episode, he's communicating with the other members of the Light with no indication that he's still troubled by his previous predicament.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Slade gives Tara an unspecified item, not mentioning what it's for. It's later shown to be a counter-chip to negate the effects of the mind-control chips used to control meta-humans.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When Tara breaks herself and Brion free of the control disks, Ultra-Humanite boom tubes back to the Light with Jace while Gretchen boom tubes to Granny Goodness with Halo.
• Villains Never Lie: Subverted to Hell and back:
  • Deathstroke tells Tara that he has always been straight with her. That he can keep a straight face while saying that speaks to his skill as a liar.
  • Whatever reason Darkseid gave Vandal Savage for wanting Violet, it was not the truth, assuming he even gave Savage the courtesy of a reason.
  • Ultra-Humanite promised Jace that if she delivered Violet, she could take Brion and Tara away with her. Ultra-Humanite later assures Deathstroke and the other Light leaders he never had any intention of keeping that promise.
• The Voiceless: Very apparent in this episode. Between Violet, Jace, Brion, Tara, Jefferson and Kaldur, Dick, Bruce, Gretchen, Barbara, Garfield, and Deathstroke^note  Ultra-Humanite is voiced by Weisman, who probably doesn't get paid for voice acting, the voice acting budget must have been stretched to the limit already. Any character they didn't need to speak, didn't speak. Hence, despite appearing and having roles in the episode that would normally require that they have spoken dialogue, Savage, M'gann, Conner, and Tim don't speak one word between the four of them in the whole episode. M'gann and Conner get around this by holding a private conversation through telepathy, even though they're arguing in the open. In the case of Savage, this works pretty well to demonstrate just how shocked he is. Victor and Forager, meanwhile, aren't really invested in the conflict and thus just watch the fireworks.
• Wham Episode: The length of this page in contrast to previous ones is a good indicator of this. The Benevolent Conspiracy is discovered and revealed, Jace is shown to be Evil All Along, and Darkseid obtains Violet, and with her, access to the Anti-Life Equation. Also, Jefferson leaves, Gretchen Goode and Granny Goodness are revealed to (somehow) be two separate individuals, and Savage's centuries-long alliance with Darkseid may very well have collapsed
• Wham Shot: Granny and Gretchen standing face to face, proving Metron's word that they are both the same and different person.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Jefferson and Garfield each attempt this. Neither manages to make the conspirators doubt what they've done and by the end, it's pretty clear the conspirators 'won' the first round of arguments, with Garfield and Conner seemingly accepting what they've done without significant backlash. Of course, they're likely just the first of many, and that victory comes at a heavy cost.
  • Jefferson tries to do this with Nightwing, Batman, Kaldur and the rest of those involved in the covert group, but fails. None of them show the slightest regret or doubt about what they've been doing. Doesn't help that Garfield and Conner, who also weren't aware and learn about it, seem to rather quickly accept what they did after Barbara and M'gann speak to them respectively.
    • Jefferson specifically calls Batman out that after he declined to join Batman Inc, Nightwing immediately approached to get him onto his team instead. Basically tricking him to remaining a hero and doing Batman's will after he'd told him no. He quits again and says that nobody had better follow him and try talking him into anything else.
  • Garfield also attempts this... but is swiftly disarmed by Barbara, who reminds him that for all his claims about the Outsiders being a public, open team, he's also been secretly coordinating with the Justice League and The Team while behaving as though he was operating completely independently, and that his targets are the same as theirs. He also telepathically calls M'Gann out specifically for her role in the bogus Dublin op.
  • Even within the group, Barbara calls Bruce out on limiting it to people who are used to deferring to him and the one person who isn't is in space where she really can't do anything.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Jace gave Gabrielle a morphine overdose after she tested negative for the meta-gene. She's about to do the same in the present, but Halo remembers the first time and knows something is wrong before Jace can even get close to her.

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