The episode opens on April 2 on the planet Rimbor where the Justice League (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter) are on trial. They insist that Vandal Savage is the one responsible for their actions. He brainwashed them and forced them to do evil things. What they don't know is that Vandal Savage is in the audience.
News arrives in the court room that the Reach are on Earth. Vandal Savage whispers in the ear of the person seated next to him, Mongul, who quickly departs. He makes his way to Earth. The League spots him on May 23 as War World, his moon-like spaceship, passes Saturn. It gets close to Earth, close enough to cause tidal waves on May 26. The Reach tries to reason with him but he ignores their claims to the Earth and continues to approach. Green Beetle tells the League all about Mongul and War World. The League tries to negotiate with Mongul but he isn't interested in negotiating with them. He is there to destroy the Earth.
Doctor Fate knocks out War World's planet-killing gun. Captain Atom, Green Beetle, and Captain Marvel assault War World which gives others a chance to sneak in. Robin and Batgirl, piloting the bioship, drop a group of heroes inside War World. The group quickly breaks up, each with their own mission.
A-Team (Superboy, Wondergirl, Arsenal, Wolf ) head for the bridge to take on Mongul directly. B-Team (Blue Beetle, Impulse, Beast Boy) head for a different part of the ship in search of the crystal key, without which Mongul will no longer be able to control War World. C-Team (Guardian, Bumblebee, Super Cycle) head for the power plant to try and deactivate War World's power source. D-Team (Robin, Batgirl) in the bioship join the others fighting War World from the outside.
Mongul deals with A-Team without breaking a sweat. He launches all of War World's weapons at Earth. The heroes fighting on the outside are only able to intercept 64% of the weapons. Earth's defenses take out another 13% of the weapons. The Reach, fearing that Earth will be destroyed or suffer major damage, launch their fleet. Two-thirds of the fleet is destroyed but thanks to the C-Team the day is saved. Bumblebee goes inside the ship's power plant and causes it to fry Mongul.
B-Team retrieves the key and then everyone gets ready to depart War World. Blue Beetle goes rogue and starts attacking the others. Arsenal opens an airlock. Super Cycle gets sucked out into outer space but Blue Beetle closes the air lock before anyone else suffers the same fate. He continues his attack on the others. He gets all of them except Arsenal who gets away into War World. The Reach ambassador isn't happy about losing two-thirds of the fleet but he believes that the key to War World is just compensation for the lost ships.
Thoughts
I like this one but it lacks in character moments. The only thing that passes for character moments are the back and forth between Guardian and Bumblebee throughout the episode. Their squabbling felt forced to me. It felt like they were reading lines. I don't understand what they see in one another. They go from one extreme to the other. It just doesn't work for me.
I am intrigued by the fact that Vandal Savage is trying to cause problems for the Reach. This is the first real indication that the Light isn't completely on board with everything that the Reach have planned.
I like the way the fight between the team and Mongul is presented. I like how they break the team down into groups and each group has its assignment. I like how the focus jumps from one thing to another. It is very well plotted out. Not my favorite episode but I thought it was very strong with the exception of the moments that Mal and Karen share.
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