Part 1
The forces of Apokolips, led by General Steppenwolf, are attacked by the forces of New Genesis as they were breaking the treaty between the two worlds. General Steppenwolf's fleet is destroyed and sent back to Apokolips in flames. Highfather warns Darkseid that he and Apokolips will be destroyed if he tries breaking the treaty again.
J'onn J'onzz asks Hawkgirl about missing her home world. She is reluctant but she opens up and shares some of the details of how she came to Earth. She was accidentally transported from Thanagar to Earth by way of a particle beam. She has no idea where Thanagar is relative to Earth. Her home world is so remote that they have never ever heard of the Green Lantern Corps.
Apokolips starts to rebuild. Desaad questions Darkseid's ambitions and is permanently silenced by Darkseid's eye beams. Kalibak cowers in fear when a giant spaceship appears in the sky over Apokolips. Darkseid knows that it means trouble. He turns to the Justice League for help.
Darkseid arrives on the Watchtower via boom tube. Superman attacks him as soon as he sees him. Wonder Woman and J'onn J'onzz have to restrain him. Darkseid explains that Apokolips is under attack by Brainiac. Apokolips will be assimilated and destroyed if the Justice League doesn't lend a hand. The League talks it over after Darkseid leaves.
Superman suspects that Darkseid is up to something. Superman reluctantly agrees to help fight Brainiac even though he has not forgotten what Darkseid did to him, the last time they met. Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onzz travel to Apokolips to join the fight against Brainiac.
Batman and Wonder Woman travel to New Genesis. They are there to get Orion to lend them a hand. Their first encounter with the natives of New Genesis is nearly a fatal one. They are rescued from a giant monster by a humanoid named Forager. He tells them where they can find Orion.
Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onnz aren't making much progress in the fight against Brainiac but Darkseid has a plan. Superman creates a diversion which gives Darkseid a chance to get a devastating hit in on Brainiac. Superman hits Brainiac next. He has him on the ropes but Brainiac quickly departs.
Batman and Wonder Woman meet Lightray, who greets them by slapping Wonder Woman on the ass. They chase him. Lightray is fast but they split up and use teamwork to catch him. Orion shows up just as they are getting ready to question Lightray.
Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn chase Brainiac. He leads them into an asteroid field. They've almost caught up to him when his ship suddenly disappears. They quickly discover that he hasn't disappeared as the Javelin is pulled down into a cavern in a giant asteroid by a tractor beam. The other side of the asteroid is carved in the shape of Brainiac's head.
Thoughts
I forgot how much there was to this installment of Twilight. There are hints of things past and things to come. There is mention given of Superman's previous encounters with Brainiac and Darkseid in Superman: The Animated Series. Superman's most recent encounter with Brainiac was in S:TAS 3.02. His most recent encounter with Darkseid was in S:TAS 4.02 and 4.03.
There are also hints of things to come in Hawkgirl's conversation with J'onn. She longs for her home world and before the season is over an army of Thanagarians will arrive on Earth.
This segment is far from perfect but I like the way it is plotted. I like the wistful moment that J'onn and Hawkgirl share early in the episode. I like the humiliation and anger that Superman feels when Darkseid appears. They do not show Lightray's hand slapping Wonder Woman but its pretty clear that it happens. I don't recall this being one of my favorite episodes of this series but I did enjoy watching it and writing about it.
Part 2
The Javelin descends a ways into the asteroid. Superman, J'onn, and Hawkgirl no longer have control of their ship. It stops and they are taken by a floating platform into Brainiac's throne room. He asks Superman to join him in his quest. Superman declines the offer. Brainiac sicks his flying weapons on them. They deal with the weapons and Brainiac but it turns out that he is more powerful than he once was. He now has multiple bodies.
Orion brings Batman and Wonder Woman to Highfather. Orion suggests that they should attack Apokolips. Highfather disagrees. There is a truce between New Genesis and Apokolips. Highfather is not ready to break the truce. Orion is disgruntled but he accepts Highfather's decision.
Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn fight numerous Brainiac bodies. They seem to be gaining the upper hand but in the middle of the fight Darkseid shows up. He isn't there to help the heroes. He blasts Hawkgirl and J'onn into a hole in the ground. He turns on Superman. Brainiac and Darkseid combnie their forces and blast Superman into unconsciousness.
Brainiac and Darkseid made a deal. Darkseid helped Brainiac capture Superman and in return Brainiac agreed to spare Apokolips. Brainiac gets to work on Superman while Darkseid watches. Brainiac explains that he has reached the limits of his programming. In order to develop further he needs the living DNA of a Kryptonian. He hooks Superman up to a device and starts to work on him. Darkseid doesn't waste any time and while Brainiac is focused on Superman he attaches a box to one of Brainiac's control panels and takes over his ship. Darkseid explains to Brainiac that he intends to use the power that he just acquired to destroy the universe and recreate it in his own form.
Hawkgirl drags J'onn out of the deep hole in the ground. They go looking for Superman after J'onn is unable to locate him with his telepathic powers. They find him just as Darkseid's plan is beginning to have the effect he desired. Destructive energy is being released in all directions from the satellite. It reaches far and wide. New Genesis in being torn apart. Highfather orders everyone to the escape pods.
Hawkgirl and J'onn attack Darkseid. He uses one of Brainiac's bodies to help him in the fight. Things don't look good for the the two heroes but then they are joined by Orion, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Orion takes on Darkseid. Batman frees Superman from the device that Brainiac hooked him up to. Warning bells start to sound once Superman is free. Brainaic's machinery is starting to overload and will explode soon. The five Leaguers head for the exit but Superman turns back to look for Darkseid. He finds him just as Darkseid knocks out Orion.
Superman and Darkseid fight. The others don't notice that Superman is missing until they get to the Javelin. Batman orders the others to leave as he goes back for Superman. Batman catches up to him just as Superman knocks Darkseid down, hard. Batman tries to convince Superman that they need to go but Superman insists that he's staying to finish things. Batman jumps on Superman's back and activates a boom tube that sucks both of them plus Orion through. Darkseid is left behind. The asteroid explodes.
Batman thinks that Darkseid must have been destroyed but Superman doesn't agree. The story ends with J'onn and Hawkgirl sharing another moment as he wonders if she will ever find Thanagar.
Thoughts
This story feels overloaded. There is just too much going on. First Brainiac is attacking Apokolips and then he is teaming up with Darkseid and then Darkseid turns on him and then Brainiac drops out of the story and it is just a Darkseid story. There wasn't much in the way of character moments. Batman had one good line but this is a cosmic story and I don't think of Batman as a cosmic character. Wonder Woman gets very little in the way of screen time. Flash and Green Lantern do not make an appearance.
One that struck me is about Hawkgirl's first conversation with J'onn is that one of them says something about a bunch of them (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, J'onn, Hawkgirl) being orphans or separated from their people. I'm not sure how much Hawkgirl knows about the others at this point but I didn't think that she knew Batman and Superman's secret identities. I could be wrong about that.
It is also worth pointing out that Hawkgirl lies to J'onn about how she wound up on Earth. All will be revealed by the end of the season.
If you are truly dedicated to this show then watch it but otherwise I feel as if it isn't worth the rime spent watching it. There are much better episodes in this series and in this season.
Commentary Track
Bruce Timm, James Tucker, Dwayne McDuffie, and Butch Lukic talk about how they tried to take the show in a different direction starting with this episode. Rich Vogel came up with the idea and wrote the first draft. Bruce Timm wrote the second draft. They were a bit concerned about using two of the heaviest hitters (Brainiac, Darkseid) in one story. One thing that they wanted to do, and it certainly shows in this story, is to make Superman a darker character.
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