Zatanna rallies the Sentinels of Magic before Chaos consumes the Earth.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Sindella was blonde in the comics; here she had black hair.
- As You Know: Zatara provides the narration to Nabu about his early life, rise to becoming a superhero and sacrifice for his daughter. Nabu questions why he tells him what he doesn't need to know, Zatara says it's because he wants to record himself for his daughter in the likely event he dies.
- Avengers Assemble: All of the available heroes from the Justice League, the Team and the Outsiders, as well as every magical champion he could find, are rallied by the Phantom Stranger to contain the global crisis while Nabu and the others pursue Child. Even villains like The Wizard agree to fight against Child's actions.
- Badass Boast: The Child mockingly says Dr. Fate can't kill her, but she can kill everyone on Earth. With what she's demonstrated so far, it's not an idle boast.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Gar delivers his lines during the taping of his show very blandly (and sometimes just plain forgets them), so much so that he's temporarily written off the show so he can sort himself out.
- Black Comedy Burst: In an otherwise pretty grim episode, Klarion snatches a school bus and makes it travel through time and space, even yanking back the children once they exclaim that they're finally saved.
- Brick Joke: The school bus that has been appearing throughout the arc turns out to be the very same one in the series, all thanks to a formless Klarion possessing it.
- Breakout Character: In-Universe. Harvey's character, Lt. Der'Chow, has become a fan favorite in the Space Trek 3016 fandom. So much so that, in response to Gar's current mental health, they decided to write off Tork and give Der'chow the lead role for the time being.
- The Cameo: Several.
- Previous magical villains Wotan, Felix Faust and Blackbriar Thorn appear in Zatara's memories of his earlier history as a hero, as does Kent Nelson. Batman, Kaldur, Artemis, M'gann and Wally also briefly appear when he recalls taking on the mantle of Doctor Fate in his daughter's place.
- As we follow Klarion's attempts to locate Zatanna's group throughout time and space, we see those involved in the bus's previous appearances on the show, including Superman, Superboy, Icon, Rocket, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Guy Gardner, Red Arrow, Nightwing, Arsenal, Jim Harper, and Baby. He also briefly flies by Darkseid's tower on Apokolips, to the confusion of Big Barda, and nearly runs over Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy in the street outside Bibbo's during the League and Team's private party.
- Various characters have been recruited by the Phantom Stranger to counter the disasters Child is causing around the world, directed by Madame Xanadu.
- Red Tornado and Terra deal with a volcano in Sydney, Australia.
- Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl and Troia, with surprise assistance from the Wizard, rescue civilians from a vortex of reversed gravity in Manhattan, New York.
- Queen Mera is dealing with an erupting undersea volcanic rift outside Poseidonis.
- Blue Devil and Etrigan are battling demons pouring out of a fissure in Taipei, Taiwan.
- Agra and its populace have been entirely frozen over, and during The Stinger we see that Superman, Black Lightning, Nightwing and Garth were sent to deal with it.
- Gar's co-stars, Paul Sloane and Harvey, and his director, Schwartz, are stuck filming repeated takes with him into the early morning since he can't manage to break through his malaise to properly sell his acting anymore. The latter ends up stepping up to fill his role and play a larger part in the show as well, so that the program can continue while Gar takes a break to recover.
- Vandal Savage briefly shows up, grimly watching Child's pillars of fire erupt across the planet from orbit in the War World.
- Continuity Nod:
- Among the foes Zatara recalls facing in his early history as a superhero are Blackbriar Thorn, Felix Faust and Wotan, who were all part of Klarion's spell to separate the world into two separate ones containing only adults and only children, and the latter was also a member of the Injustice League. The fourth member of the group that cast the spell, Wizard, returns in this episode performing an Enemy Mine with the Justice League to help keep innocents safe from the chaos Child is causing.
- Similarly, Klarion's escapades with the possessed school bus revisit various scenes in past seasons featuring said bus.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Despite their combined efforts, Nabu, Zatanna and her Sentinels prove no match against Child.
- Curse Cut Short: Upon seeing the Hellgate in Taipei, Mary begins to say, "Holy mo-" before Zatanna tells her not to.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the comics, Sindella went out in a Heroic Sacrifice fighting the Hidden Ones; here she died of cancer.
- Enemy Mine: The Wizard, a magical villain that was part of the 'separate the world into adults and children' plot, is among the champions working to defend the Earth from the chaos wrought by Child, to Zatanna's surprise. In The Stinger, Superman believes they should set up a reserves system for the League in order to avoid having to rely on this trope in the future.
- Failure Montage: Klarion hops the bus through time and space trying to find Zatanna, but has trouble figuring out the when and where, both metaphorically and almost literally running into the wrong heroes. He finally gets it right by the end of the episode.
- The Gods Must Be Lazy: Zatanna suggests calling upon the Lords of Order to intervene against the Child, who is obviously a much greater threat than Klarion ever was. Nabu refuses, because the Lords of Order don't operate that way and wouldn't help even if he were willing to ask.
- Gravity Screw: One of the Child's disasters is reversing gravity in Manhattan.
- Green Aesop: The Child compliments humanity for doing a good job melting the polar ice cap, then boasts she can do better.
- Harmless Freezing: The people of Agra are frozen in ice, but end up thawed seemingly unharmed. Dr. Fate is also frozen, but both spirit and host remain aware in that state and don't treat being frozen in itself as a problem.
- Haunted Technology: Klarion possesses the Bus Full of Innocents as an impromptu familiar so he can find his way back to Zatanna.
- Heel–Face Turn: Harvey's character, Der'Chow, who was introduced last season in "Nightmare Monkeys", has gone from an antagonistic Klamulon, to a fan favorite Lieutenant on the Engager.
- Hellgate: The Child opens a portal to Hell in Taiwan, causing demons to spill out. Blue Devil and Etrigan are on hand to destroy them.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Zatara muses that he'll likely have to expend his remaining life force just to keep Dr. Fate alive, much less defeat the Child.
- Hypocritical Humor: One of Klarion's jaunts through time involve popping into the incident where he split the world into child/adult versions. He complains aloud about having to experience the same event twice and wonders who came up with the idea.
- If I Do Not Return: Zatara narrates his life story to Nabu with the intention that Nabu will relay it to Zatanna in the likely event he dies fighting the Child. Nabu refuses at first, but reluctantly consents after Zatara chews him out.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While several parts of the world are in crisis thanks to Child's antics, Nabu ignores them because she, as a Lord of Chaos and the source of said crisis, has to be stopped. Despite their interest to help rescue victims, Zatanna tells her students that he's right. At the very least, the world's heroes are already present to take care of it, but even when they're not, her continuing threat to the world as a whole takes priority over the individual lives her actions endanger.
- Mythology Gag: Zatara's initial inspiration to take up superheroing being Superman's public premiere could be a nod to both characters having originally premiered together (though in separate stories) in Action Comics #1.
- Neutral No Longer: Having his home blown up and getting decked by Flaw convinces Nabu to help, if he hadn't come to that conclusion already.
- No-Sell: The combined magical energies of Zatanna, her Sentinels, and Nabu channeled through the latter bounce off Flaw harmlessly.
- Ominous Crack: A surprise haymaker from Flaw cracks Dr. Fate's helmet, and his magic can't restore it.
- Person of Mass Destruction: With Klarion gone, Child quickly sets about starting a global apocalypse, creating pillars of fire all over the world and natural disasters to join them.
- Pet the Dog: After regaining consciousness, Nabu reassures Zatanna that her father is well enough.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Schwartz, the Space Trek 3016 director, becomes frustrated with Garfield constantly holding back an episode's production, but understands he is severely and negatively affected by Conner's death. Recognizing this as a form of depression, he offers Gar studio resources to help with his issues, and recommends some extended time off until he feels better, while a co-star fills in for him.
- The Reveal:
- The suspicious school bus with the exact same driver and kids that's been appearing throughout the entire series, has been Klarion bonding with it as a familiar and teleporting them throughout time and space looking for Zatanna.
- One in relation to Zatara's history in the League: after his wife, Sindella, succumbed to cancer, he joined at the behest/recommendation of Kent Nelson, at the same time as Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Captain Atom and John Stewart.
- Shout-Out:
- Klarion is literally a magic school bus.
- One of the children on the bus is Penny, a girl with blonde pigtails.
- The Stinger: Superman, Black Lightning, Tempest and Nightwing are taking care of the unfrozen people of Agra. Superman ponders to Black Lightning that they got lucky with Wizard's surprise assistance and can't rely on certain villains suddenly helping in the future. He suggests that they'll need to organize a true Justice League Reserves system in the event more crises like this happen.
- Wham Shot:
- The Child blows up the Tower of Fate.
- The Helmet of Fate is cracked when Flaw punches Nabu in the face, and Nabu can't repair the damage when he heals himself.
- Each part of Earth the heroes go to has a large pillar of fire, a "mark" of sorts from Child. Her rampage is so quick that within mere hours they're all over the globe and visible from space.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Traci and Khalid call out Mary for taking their energy while they are not a position to consent. She insists that she had to because she was the only one who was conscious and someone needed to act, which they grudgingly accept, but she is still reminded to ask next time.
- The Worf Barrage: Child is easily able to shrug off the combined magical energies of Zatanna, her Sentinels and Nabu channeled through the latter.
- The Worf Effect: Even Dr. Fate is powerless before the combined power of the Lords of Chaos wielded by the Child.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: The crack on the Helmet of Fate from Flaw's punch remains even after Dr. Fate recovers and uses magic to heal the rest of his injuries.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Back when the world was magically split between children and adults, the passengers of the school bus were finally rescued in both worlds. Unfortunately, just after one little girl expresses relief at finally being saved, they're all whisked away again.
- You Remind Me of X: Klarion responds this way when Charlie the bus driver corrects him after he calls the bus a "skateboard", much like how Teekl would always correct him.
