Plot summary: Batman is reunited with Etrigan the Demon to try and prevent the devious Morgaine le Fey from getting her hands on The Philosopher’s Stone.

For background on the creation of Justice League and info about how I’ll be covering it, check out the Series Primer.

1. Notes and Trivia
2. Recap
3. Best Performance
4. Episode Ranking
5. Rogues Roundup

Notes and Trivia

Episode: 20 (S1.E20)

Original Air Date: September 20^th, 2002

Directed: Butch Lukic (10)

Written: Keith Damron (1)

Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD (20)

Music: Michael McCuistion (6)

Batman of course met Jason Blood/Etrigan in ‘The Demon Within‘. Just like in that episode he does not speak in rhyme. Cowards.

Morgaine le Fey being a character from Arthurian myth means she’s fair game for both Marvel and DC, albeit spelled differently. Marvel first used her in 1955, while Kirby brought her into DC in 1972 as the main rival of his creation, Etrigan. The Marvel version is far more prominent.

Harv Hickman is an obvious parody of Hugh Heffnar. Among his party guests are various DC characters (many created by Jack Kirby), as well as Don Rickles.

Recap

Back in Ye Olden Days, Morgaine le Fey sieged Camelot, aided by her lover, the traitor Jason Blood… who she immediately turns on and leaves for dead.

Ever the opportunist, the wizard Merlin bonded Blood’s dying mortal form with Etrigan the Demon, cursing him with immortality until he atones for his crimes…

In the present Jason Blood tells Batman that Morgaine le Fey is seeking The Philosopher’s Stone so she can restore Camelot and place her son, Mordred, on the throne.

Blood takes Batman to an English castle, thought to house the stone, but le Fey has left them a trap, bringing suits of armour to life to try and kill them. Bruce has no luck, forcing Blood to summon Etrigan.

The friendly-ish demon explains the events of the prologue to Batman… and Wonder Woman, Flash and Martian Manhunter, fresh off a jet. Etrigan adds that le Fey eludes him thanks to a magical amulet.

J’onn offers to locate her via telepathy, but she turns his powers back on him, causing him to hallucinate being reunited with his wife and children on Mars, emotionally shaking him.

The team split-up to protect the only two surviving archeologists who excavated the castle after World War II, with Flash and Diana heading inside the mansion of Hugh Heffner Harv Hickman.

le Fey heads to the other location, seeing straight through J’onn’s shapeshifting and beating the snot out of Batman before leaving. Etrigan accuses J’onn of working with le Fey after he hallucinates again…

To Be Continued…

Best Performance

William Morgan Sheppard does a really good job with Merlin’s condemnation of Jason Blood in the opening, perfectly suiting the tone they’re going for throughout. It’s obviously a limited role so he’s out of true contention, but he was an excellent casting.

I think it’s a pretty solid ensemble, with Carl Lumbly’s pain coming through in spades, Michael Rosenbaum managing to be upbeat without dipping into annoying territory (I really do like him as an actor and more blame the writing btw!), and Michael T. Weiss honestly outdoing Billy Zane who absolutely does not return to reprise his disappointing outing as Etrigan/Jason Blood. Olivia d’Abo can play coldhearted villains in her sleep at this point.

But I’m going to go with Kevin Conroy, who gets gets to talk much more than usual and takes full advantage. I particularly liked his empathy for J’onn, insisting Etrigan leave him alone and in that way appealing to a… well, friend feels like a strong word, but a person he knows for sure! He’s also fun as the sceptical foil to all the mystical mumbo jumbo at the start.

Martian Manhunter bagging Pam Grier as a wife feels earned. Dude’s a stud. She’s perfectly fine here. Absolutely caked in vocal effects (she is playing an alien, after all), but not notably checked out or anything.

Soren Fulton does not manage to overcome the reputation of child actors being broadly terrible.

Episode Ranking

This show has taken us to the deepest reaches of space, below the ocean, dipped a toe into Greek Mythology and paid meta tribute to DC’s campy past, all to great success. So it makes sense that trying their hand at Sword & Sorcery would work as well. I really enjoyed the prologue, with the dialogue adjusted suitably enough to the style they’re shooting for without alienating (mostly) American children. The animation of Merlin cursing Jason Blood is wonderful. It would be wrong to call it a moment frozen in time as the battle rages on around them, but the world is dipped in red, while these two are washed in white as they have their magical conversation. Trying to rationalise it is unnecessary, it’s just dope.

I also enjoyed the idea of legitimate denizens of Athurian Avalon visiting a castle that is now a tourist attraction and wreaking havoc. Plus they got a surprisingly compelling fight scene out of Batman crossing swords (and axes) with empty suits of armour. It’s maaaybe the most Bruce has cut loose since the opener? Speaking of which, Batman investigating crime scenes is a train that is never late, no matter how short the scene. He just looks right swooping across the rooftops, letting himself in through a skylight and thumbing through ransacked books.

This is one of my favourite episodes so far in terms of visuals, particularly le Fey reversing J’onn’s telepathy on him, with the ‘camera’ rushing across the sea and zooming right up to him. It’s clever. Plus fake Mars looks gorgeous, adding more of a sense of architecture compared to the opener. Giving J’onn a wife, children and a home with interior decorating gives him so much more texture, and makes an already tragically lonely character all the more heartbreaking. He drops his superhero form and everything! He truly believes he’s home… and then Etrigan barges in and mocks him for falling for it, dragging him back to reality. Literally. It’s a pretty compelling hero vs hero battle, regardless of length, with J’onn’s euphoric illusion melting in front of his eyes, bringing us back to me praising the visuals once more.

What could just be a little interlude taps into the core meat of the show: those juicy team dynamics. J’onn is too polite to say anything, but on some level must surely resent Etrigan for tearing him out of paradise. In turn, Etrigan is distrustful of J’onn, suspicious of an ongoing link with le Fey. Batman defends J’onn and trades insightful barbs with Etrigan, capitalising on their history together. Diana comforts J’onn in the wake of his experience, while Flash finds Etrigan generally off-putting. That’s a lot of information conveyed very quickly but it’s all organic, and gives them plenty of tension to weave a compelling tapestry with as this group has to function together against a powerful adversary.

Overall I can’t really fault this after one part, but I am cautious of how well they’ll be able to land this plane. I can’t say I love the Hugh Heffner parody, even if I got a kick out of the various Jack Kirby tributes at his party, and I fear where that’s all going in terms of him sleazing all over Diana. But maybe they’ll thread that needle and take advantage of their abundantly fertile team-bickering set-up. Or it may be somewhere between gross and mediocre. I’ll cautiously place it high for now off the back of much-improved animation compared to the earliest episodes, along with a fun, varied setting and premise.

1. Legends
2. Injustice for All
3. A Knight of Shadows (NEW ENTRY)
4. Paradise Lost
5. In Blackest Night
6. The Enemy Below
7. Secret Origins
8. Fury
9. War World
10. The Bold and the Brave

Rogues Roundup

Morgaine le Fey (Olivia d’Abo) (first appearance)

Obviously her irritating kid is part of her deal here. Not that he impacts anything.

She’s not terribly layered or anything, but le Fey proves to be extremely powerful and they’re making a big thing of her having to steal the life force of others to stay youthful, but still remaining masked at all times.

I think what she does to J’onn earns her a lot of evil points as it’s such bespoke cruelty, torturing him with his own personal heaven. Depending on how Part II shakes out, she’s either going to develop more nuance and rise… or tumble a spot or two. Who knows?

1. Lex Luthor
2. The Joker
3. The Injustice Guild (and Brainwave!)
4. The Imperium
5. Hades
6. Draaga
7. Morgaine le Fey (NEW ENTRY)
8. Aresia
9. Deadshot
10. Orm
11. The Injustice Gang
12. Felix Faust
13. The Manhunters
14. Kanjar-Ro
15. Mongul
16. Gorilla Grodd