Kaldur'ahm returns to Atlantis for a conference of the kingdom's city states to find mounting tensions.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Violet visits Gabrielle's mother and cousin's apartment, having helped them emigrate to the States. Violet wants to learn more about Islam from the mom and comes out as non-binary. Later with Harper, Violet decides on they/them pronouns.
- Back from the Dead: Orm appears to have been resurrected in some form or fashion, considering last we saw him, he was decapitated by Lady Shiva.
- Brutal Honesty: When asked to volunteer his opinion, Calvin bluntly says that the significant economic disparity between Poseidonis and the rest of Atlantis is what's causing problems.
- Butt-Monkey: Bishop Beluga is a very low-ranking official sent to the conference as an insult, and nobody, even Orin, lets him finish a sentence.
- Continuity Nod: Kaldur references that he, Lori, and Nanaue were all schoolmates together once, something revealed in issue 14 of the tie-in comic.
- Everyone Went to School Together: Except Calvin Durham and King Orim himself, the city-state representatives are all former classmates of Kaldur and Garth under Queen Mera at the Conservatory of Sorcery.
- Fantastic Drug: Since alcohol wouldn't work underwater, the Atlanteans have special forms of algae they use to get drunk. Kaldur and Wyynde take Delphis out to an algae bar and they narrowly avoid a Bar Brawl.
- Fantastic Legal Weirdness:
- Prophecy is a key part of Atlantean law.
- With the existence of Atlantis being a recent revelation, the Atlanteans are still establishing legal boundaries of how surface dwellers use the ocean. Overfishing and pollution have started to collapse the food chain in Nanaue's city-state, leading to his raids on others.
- Fantastic Religious Weirdness: Violet is a Motherbox (created by the New Gods and occasionally considered divine in their own right) possessing the dead body of a Muslim girl. They seek out Mrs. Daou for help in untangling the religious implications of this, and out of an interest in what Islam means to them.
- Giver of Lame Names: Conner references his own tendency for this when trying to come up with a name for Phantom Girl. He comes up with "Ghosty", because the alternative is "Coma Girl".
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: Coral is pregnant, so La'gaan and Rodunn worry about the baby's health during and after Ocean-Master's attack.
- Inherent in the System: When Kaldur mentions the tensions brewing in Atlantis over the economic troubles and growing gap between the rich and poor, Delphis notes that it's not too different from what she was escaping in Mumbai. Calvin later makes a similar remark comparing it to the conditions in his hometown of San Diego.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Nanaue's raiding of local city-states is inexcusable, especially when he says that they deserved it for being weak, but he has a very good point about how surface dwellers polluting and over-fishing the ocean is having severe consequences on Atlantis and could be considered an attack on their sovereignty.
- Magic Pants: It seems the lava did in fact claim Conner's pants, but his underwear thankfully held up until Phantom Girl got to him.
- Mentor Archetype: Ms. Daou offers to teach Violet about Islam, answering their questions on the hijab, Islam's central tenets, and the nature of divinity.
- Mysterious Stranger: A hooded stranger shows up in the fight against Ocean Master, demonstrates enough power to match the Trident, then swims away.
- Not Quite Dead: Conner and Phantom Girl are stuck in a weird realm, seemingly permanently out of phase with normal reality. Conner's powers still work, but he has to concentrate to keep from passing right through Phantom Girl.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: The other delegates bring up Wyynde's past as a Purist and Calvin's past as a henchman of Black Manta.
- Physical God: Discussed. When discussing Islam with Ms. Daou, Violet thinks of their past experiences with Granny Goodness, who considered herself a god and was cruel and abusive. Ms. Daou, being a devout Muslim, firmly believes that Granny was just an imposter claiming godhood and that the true God is compassionate and merciful.
- Polyamory: La'gaan is now in a three-way marriage with Coral and Rodunn.
- Simultaneous Arcs: This episode takes place shortly after Conner's death but before Child's rampage across Earth.
- The Stoic: In the beginning, Dick worries that Kaldur tends to throw himself into his work rather than grieve, and Kaldur thanks him but says he has work to do. When Wyynde asks him the same thing at the end, Kaldur deflects it in the same way.
- United Nations Is a Superpower: Subverted. Garth has to explain to the rest of the Atlantean delegates that his position as their UN ambassador doesn't give him the power to stop other nations from overfishing and polluting.
- Worthless Foreign Degree: Referenced. Ms. Daou was an eye surgeon in Qurac and is still waiting for her degree to go through, but until then she's stuck in a minimum wage job.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: When he realizes he's phasing right through Phantom Girl, Conner questions why he isn't falling through the ground, then wonders if it's a matter of how he perceives things. He tries again while focusing on her being solid, and sure enough, he's able to pick her up.
