Plot summary: Reinforcements arrive to help try and overthrow Despero, while John must look inward to try and restore his powers.
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Notes and Trivia
Episode: 36 (S2.E10)
Original Air Date: October 25th, 2003
Directed: Butch Lukic (18)
Written: Keith Damron (4)
Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD (32)
Music: Lolita Ritmanis (18)
Katma Tui verbally acknowledges Kyle Rayner, the first Green Lantern to appear in the DCAU (well, I guess Abin-Sur but ya know.) Kyle is allegedly off doing further training, hence John being the official GL for earth’s sector.
Lot of Star Wars stuff at play in both parts, with John ‘using the force’ to summon his ring, Katma Tui wearing a ‘brass’ bikini in ‘Part I’, and the direct reference to Yoda.
This is the first time none of ‘The Trinity’ (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) appear in any part of an episode.
Recap
The Resistance brainstorm how to stop Despero’s conquest but are set upon by cultists. Unfortunately John finds his ring non-functional following his battle against Despero.
Katma Tui is forced to blow her cover and defend everyone, but even she can only hold them off for so long. Luckily Kilowog, Flash, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter arrive to even the odds.
Katma tries to help John regain his powers, and Kilowog proposes using a carbon bomb to snuff out the Flame of Py’tar, but a member of the Resistance betrays them and more cultists attack.
John, Katma and Hawkgirl are imprisoned and Despero begins brainwashing them, but John is able to regain control of his Power Ring to save Shayera.
J’onn, Flash and Kilowog fight through cultists to the flame chamber, where J’onn’s telepathy reveals the flame is alive. He is able to act as a conduit, convincing the populace to reject Despero.
Despero and his most devout followers perish and lush greenery returns to Kalanor. John says goodbye to Katma and then has a moment with Hawkgirl as our heroes return home.
Best Performance
Keith David and Dennis Haysbert remain really solid in their respective roles as Despero and Kilowog, but I’m actually going to go with Maria Canals-Barrera, who puts in one of her best performances to date. She demonstrates excellent emotional range, having helped to gradually transform Hawkgirl into one of the League’s most three-dimensional characters. She flirts with John, but also gives him a good kick in the ass. She shows him compassion, and also subtly scolds Katma. She also provides the harmonised track with Carl Lumbly when they speak together as the Flame of Py’tar, which was cute.
Episode Ranking
Most of this episode is about John losing his mojo, and while it’s an interesting story to tell, the execution is a mixed bag. He demonstrates arrogance, impatience and insubordination in the wake of Katma Tui putting him back through bootcamp, unwilling to humble himself due to his experience as a Green Lantern. John has frequently come across as a bit of a dick in the show, and that’s not necessarily a criticism, as there’s zero requirement for your entire cast to be likeable, as long as they’re interesting. I can’t say I find John interesting on his own, but he is our ticket to the Lantern Corps in general, which I enjoy a great deal. Seeing Katma Tui and Kilowog in action, and particularly Katma’s difference in technique and philosophy shines a light on how John operates. He is simultaneously depicted as one of their strongest Lanterns, but also inferior to Katma. They’re clearly driving at a ‘let’s see what kind of man he is without his powers’ thing, which they’ve done once before in ‘The Savage Time‘, and both times I’ve felt they haven’t been as successful as they hoped. Sure, he showed he was willing to go down with the ship last time, and we get the on the nose line about his worth here, but I could have gone for some outside the box thinking or demonstration of his military prowess instead of platitudes.
Hawkgirl is the aspect of the episode that works the best. She’s able to bridge the gap between Katma and John, agreeing with both in some ways, while also giving them a deserved earful. She threatens John with violence if he doesn’t take his training seriously, but also treats him with compassion when he overcompensates for his impotence with too many guns. Men, right? And naturally John is able to regain his self-belief in order to save Hawkgirl after failing to do so for Katma, furthering their obvious romance (as if all the jealous looks by Shayera weren’t enough.) I liked the touch that John used some of Kat’s advice to beat Despero, with an emphasis on multi-tasking.
Great showing for Kilowog, who basically acted as comic relief last time, eating everything in sight and whatnot, but also demonstrating the ability to build a complex sci-fi bomb. I’m used to a hard-edged, hyper capable Kilowog, so it was fun to see both sides to him here.
I’m a little unclear what exactly they were going for with the Py’tar reveal. Despero did legitimately draw strength from the flame, but lost it when his followers rejected his teachings. Shouldn’t that just break his hold over them, but leave him individually powerful? I thiiiink J’onn was able to establish some kind of link between the people and the flame, and it returning to tree form signified it had fed on their hopeful worship to regain power so that it could fight Despero off? Maybe? It feels like J’onn’s spiritual connection to Py’tar wasn’t fully done baking, with the little hints with the hieroglyphs not fully coming together with the reveal at the end.
I do think this second part was weaker, but there’s juuuust enough interesting stuff being clumsily fumbled around at to maintain the overall story’s position on the rankings. This is apparently a controversial opinion and a lot of people hate this one, but Despero rules, I enjoy spending more time in the Green Lantern corner of the DCAU, and I think it was a real triumph of an episode for Hawkgirl. A soft hold on the fifth spot it is. How pissed are ‘Tabula Rasa‘ fans???
- The Savage Time
- Legends
- Only a Dream
- Twilight
- Hearts and Minds (-)
- Injustice for All
- Paradise Lost
- In Blackest Night
- Tabula Rasa
- The Enemy Below
- Secret Origins
- A Knight of Shadows
- Fury
- Maid of Honor
- War World
- Metamorphosis
- The Bold and the Brave
Rogues Roundup
Despero (Keith David) (second appearance)
There’s an element of waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to the authenticity of Despero’s faith. The DCAU to date trained me to expect him to be revealed as a fraud, pulling the wool over the eyes of his followers and spinning tall tales about how he gained his power, but that’s only partially true, as he appears sincerely devout even when there’s nobody around to trick. He even embraces his ostensible death as the tree roots drag him down into the core of the planet in a christ-like pose. So it seems he did experience a sincere religious connection to the flame, but the evil within him made him interpret it all incorrectly, and when his ‘eyes are opened’ at the end, he goes willingly into the night. Fascinating, IMO.
He also continues to look like a badass in combat, fighting GL to another standstill, and demonstrating cunning by putting Hawkgirl in danger to distract John. Not necessarily in a cowardly way, as he also straight up tosses John around without his powers, and even when he gets cut off from The Flame, it’s not like John’s the one to defeat him.
I think I found Dr. Destiny’s juxtaposed ‘just a little guy’ gimmick just a tiny bit more interesting, but I didn’t expect Despero to hold his position over Joker and he absolutely has in my opinion.
- Lex Luthor
- Darkseid
- Dr. Destiny
- Despero (–)
- The Joker
- The Injustice Guild (and Brainwave!)
- Amazo
- Vandal Savage
- The Injustice Gang
- The Imperium
- Brainiac
- Hades
- Draaga
- Aresia
- Deadshot
- Orm
- Simon Stagg (and Java!)
- Colonel Vox
- Felix Faust
- Morgaine le Fey
- The Manhunters
- Kanjar-Ro
- Mongul
- Gorilla Grodd
The Matt Signal 
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