Synopsis
Dick Grayson, Artemis Crock, Conner Kent and Jefferson Pierce go undercover in Markovia to stop the Bedlam Syndicate’s meta-human trafficking cartel – before it claims another victim.
Review
Following on from the excellent “Princes All” (reviewed here) Young Justice: Outsiders returning with a mythology widening second episode. Centered around the teams mission to Markovia it gives us a much better insight in to this seasons overall storyline.
Where the previous episode very much set the scene for this season, this episode is far more business as usual.
The Justice League announces the resignation of several key members via the U.N. The situation triggers Baron DeLamb to ban heroes from entering Markovia. Unbeknownst to him Dick and his undercover team enter the country at the same time.
There’s an excellent sequence with Dick and Artemis (must get in the habit of calling her Tigress) going undercover at the pre-coronation party. As they attempt to mingle, with a little help from Oracle, Superboy and Black Lightning going underground in search of the metahuman traffickers base of operations.
There’s some great action in this episode both visually and emotionally in the episode. When it is revealed that Count Vertigo is working with the traffickers and has his own Plasmus in tow things go south for the team. The fight sequence is impressive and ends with Black Lightning washing up on the beach and Superboy being held captive.
There are some excellent political undertones to the episode. There’s obviously going to be a power struggle to take over Markovia. I for one do not trust Baron DeLamb. All will become apparent in the next episode I’m sure.
With the eipisode focussing on Markovia many of the main cast are absent from this episode. It shows a narrative focus which the newly reborn series could easily have abandoned to instead focus on large-scale spectacle.
The show is definitely riding a wave of nostalgia. It may have only been half a decade since the show last aired but the joy the production team has at being back is palpable.
But make no mistake Young Justice is not resting on its laurels. This episode continues all of the positive steps the show took in its previous episode to show exactly what it can do given the freedom of being on an in-house streaming platform.
Verdict
“Royal We” moves the story of Young Justice: Outsiders forward in new and interesting ways. It ramps up the action whilst setting the stakes for the remainder of this batch of episodes.
It also ends on the kind of cliffhanger which will make you glad the next episode is immediately available!
7.5/10
Young Justice stars Jesse McCartney, Nolan North, Stephanie Lemelin, Khary Payton, Zehra Fazal, Troy Baker and Jason Spisak. The series is directed by Christopher Berkeley and Mel Zwyer and producers by Sam Register, Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti.
The series premieres new episodes weekly via the DC Universe streaming service.
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