GUIDES – EPISODE REVIEWS – “KAERB YM TRAEH!”
Kaerb Ym Traeh!
Original Airdate – December 30, 2021
Zatanna and the Sentinels of Magic gain unlikely allies, but the new alliance may not be enough.
Written by Greg Weisman
Directed by Christopher Berkeley
Review by Yojimbo
Media by Warner Bros. Animation
Please note our regular reviewer, “GregX,” is currently on sabbatical.
Review:
Written by Yojimbo, edited by James Harvey
Right away, it was great that they cut to the chase right away with Zatanna quickly seeing the benefits of teaming up with Klarion to defeat Child and Dr. Fate acquiescing to her strategy. But still, it’s disappointing that Vandal Savage is now also seemingly colluding with the Lords of Order and Chaos. Must he be involved with everything? Still, his role helps shape an interesting take Darkseid’s search for the Anti-Life Equation, threatening the continued existence of chaos and without chaos, order will cease to be as well.
As “ugh” as Savage’s role was in saving the world after he hightailed it to Warworld, it was an even more welcome surprise that the finishing blow was delivered by Thirteen! Not Dr. Fate. Not Zatanna. Not Klarion. Thirteen and her bad luck magic. Yeah, that thing Zatanna suggested she not rely on so much. Loved that. In retrospect, how dumb it was they were stuck on ‘brute force’ and blasting Child with more power where all they had to do was use their brains? Props to Thirteen.
This episode also makes more time for Garfield Logan as things get worse. Not even a visit from Perdita can jilt Garfield out of his depression. And even worse, Garfield refuses her help after she discovers his stash of sleeping pills, and breaks up with her. What’s next at this point? Does he get kicked off the Outsiders? Loses his fortune? Looking at the entirety of it, Garfield’s arc last season had him on the highest of highs and he could do no wrong but this season totally flipped it and he’s experiencing the lowest of lows and everything that could go wrong is going wrong. Maybe Miss Martian’s return to Earth in the back half of the season will signal a positive shift, bringing Garfield out of the dark.
Mary Bromfield’s story seems to be heading in a direction akin to Beast Boy’s. She doesn’t take well to Zatanna’s decision to exclude her from being one of the hosts to Dr. Fate and refuses any more training. Then she refuses to listen to Zatanna’s assessment that she’s still too obsessed with power and doesn’t see anything wrong with leeching power off her teammates without their consent. So, what does she do? She bails and returns to Fawcett City where she’s goaded by the voice of flipping Granny Goodness to transform back into Sergeant. Yeah, this is … not good.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s actually a little bit of hope and light in all this. Child is off the board for one, and Klarion as his new anchor. Plus, Nabu agrees to a new system of hosts, a revolving set of hosts that take on the Helmet of Fate for one week at a time. Zatanna gets to a semblance of a life with Zatara again, while Khalid gets to uphold the legacy of his late uncle and hero Kent Nelson. These are all great little character moments and show really progression for the cast and series.
But the biggest ray of hope? Well, it turned out Superboy might not be dead…
This episode also had a cool callback with Perdita seemingly alluding to the death of her father, which we know was a plot point for the Young Justice-adjacent DC Showcase: Green Arrow animated short where Perdita first debuted.
“Kaerb Ym Traeh!” draws the battle with Child to a close, moves Dr. Fate and Klarion to a new status quo, reunites Zatanna and Zatara, and the bus crew get their lives back. All positives. However, the stakes are now higher than ever with Vandal Savage gaining the ears of the Lords of Chaos and Order, Beast Boy self-destructing, and Mary Bromfield being led astray. With danger still ever-present and the machinations of the Light and Apokolips continuing, we can only wait and see what phantoms await Kaldur’ahm, Dick Grayson, and Raquel Ervin…
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