GUIDES – EPISODE REVIEWS – “FORBIDDEN SECRETS OF CIVILIZATIONS PAST!”
#92 Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!
Original Airdate – April 28, 2022
Rocket learns that nothing stays buried forever.
Written by Greg Weisman
Directed by Vinton Heuck
Review by Yojimbo
Media by Warner Bros. Animation
Please be advised our regular reviewer, “GregX,” is currently on sabbatical.
Review:
Written by Yojimbo, edited by James Harvey
The recurring theme of accepting the truth in things and seeking makes some big strides with episode 20. I think the three words the whole Young Justice fandom has been waiting for finally gets uttered by Garfield, “I need help.” Yes. Thank you, Dinah, you are a saint!
However, on the more horrifying flip side is Conner accepting help from Dru-Zod. Lor-Zod invokes the Kaizer-Thrall to help him get to his objective, the Phantom Zone Projector, but it turns out the one he discounted, Mantis, was the real trump card. Metron, of all people, urgently seeks help from everyone at the summit to stop Lor-Zod before it’s too late for the galaxy.
Aside from Garfield’s admission, another “Finally!” moment is seeing Lor-Zod get some of what’s coming to him, attacked by the Sun Eater then tricked by Metron and exposed to Kryptonite. Lor-Zod’s impulsive choice to try and free his people 1000 years early in the 21st century is underscored this episode by the harsh truths: there’s plenty of Kryptonite around and many other weaknesses of his people and a whole ton of experienced, powerful, and organized adult and teenage heroes willing to stand up to eight evil Kryptonians.
As much as keeping track of all these timestamps has become a double edged sword for Greg Weisman, hat tip to him for taking it to another level in this episode with the use of the Time Sphere. With time travel in play, a lot of storylines in the past three episodes are woven even tighter. Not to mention using it as a way to answer some lingering questions like why it seemed like Ma’alefa’ak was both in the Mountain Hive and on Apokolips at the same time or reveal the name of the place Metron took Cyborg, Halo, and Lian in last season’s “Overwhelmed” – the Mobius Dimension.
And of course, there is the crazy amount of references and callbacks bringing a lot of things to a head. Just alone in the session with Dinah, whew. M’gaan’s failed intervention in “Emergency Dive,” quitting Space Trek in “Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc!”, breaking up with Perdita in “Kaerb Ym Traeh!”, starting sleeping pills in “Odnu!”, creating the Outsiders in “First Impression,” Brion’s turn in “Nevermore,” Wally’s death in “Endgame,” the death of Rita Farr, and Queen Bee murdering Marie Logan in “Players”. Another interesting test of fan knowledge is the flashes Conner is getting: Invasion era Cave with Beast Boy, the family gathering in Smallville, the group photo in “Usual Supects,” and Conner proposing to M’gaan in “Princes All.”
That’s not all, either. Then there was Vykin and Orion bringing up the developments from last season with Cyborg and Halo and reiterating their importance in the ongoing conflict with Darkseid and his search for the solution to the Anti-Life Equation. Hmm, can’t be good if that’s being brought up. And sure, why not, another reference to Hal Jordan. Half-expecting him to randomly show up soon. The most direct nod to the comics was Tomar-Re admitting it was his greatest regret that he couldn’t save Krypton on to be followed by Bear and Flash reflecting on their loves Dreamer and Joan Garrick respectively.
The big juicy Legion of Super-Heroes references were the Sun Eater and Lor-Zod finding, of all things, the Emerald Eye of Ekron, fabled Green Lantern artifact and weapon of Legion big bad, Emerald Empress. And we saw them last episode, but in dialogue and end credits, we learn who makes up Dru-Zod’s motley crew of Kryptonian baddies: Ursa, Faora, Vor-Kil, Jax-Ur, Non, Kru-El. Ursa and Non, of course, staple allies of Zod and best known as the trio in Superman II. Jax-Ur, an evil scientist in the comics and for the animation fans, one of the Kryptonian bad guys in Superman: The Animated Series. Vor-Kil is a bit of a deep dive into late 60s Superman comics. Basically an evil martial artist from Krypton. Kru-El is also a deep dive into 60s Action Comics. Basically Superman’s evil cousin but also another evil scientist.
Oh, a nice little piece of trivia was Dinah still having her flower shop, the Sherwood Florist, straight out of the comics though there it was in Seattle. Last but not least, with a Greg Weisman-penned script, it’s no surprise he included a reciting of Romeo and Juliet as he is a fan of Shakespeare. In this case, it’s during the end credits with Forager reciting his own take of Act II, Scene II in Capulet’s orchard.
“Forbidden Secrets of Civilizations Past!” also has the honor of containing this season’s weird song. Last season, it was the Doom Patrol theme song. In Invasion, it was the Reach commercial. The Hello, Megan! theme song in season one. But this season, it’s a creepy as hell chant sang by Dru-Zod’s followers. And to boot, we finally learn what Denise Boutte sings as she once hinted in an interview prior to this episode. As the voice of Faora, she leads the Zod chant. Count on it being a total earwig and getting stuck in our heads for a good week.
You can just feel Young Justice: Phantoms is rounding the corner towards what is looking to be a shocking season finale. The history and phantoms of the series rears itself are front and center here with Garfield and Conner for different reasons, and as this season ramps up for another finale, it’s clear that everyone’s paths are going to converge in an explosive stand off.
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