Redwall Abbey

I feel Halo didn't need to die as often as she did (or as often as they probably will make her do). The first time with Plasmid or whatever his name was, yeah, I get it, it made Black Lightning snap out of his funk a bit. But when her neck got snapped, that seemed unnecessary.
Plasmid getting shot, while sad and dark, seemed like the thing a scared farmer would probably do.

Yeah Halo's deaths are a little too numerous. I also felt like Failsafe Omega was quite gratuitous. It would be better if the protagonists could actually save the kids for once. This much child death makes me uncomfortable. It feels like a child has died in every single episode so far.

For the rest of the things I want to talk about, I'm going to work my way up to the most important.

Cool thing I wanted to note: The assassin in episode one. He smirks when he sees the guards, we think because he knows he can beat them. But I think he was actually smirking because he saw Bedlam with them and presumed he could get away. Adding another layer to his suprised look when Bedlam shoots him.

Is Halo a new god? Is that why she has a special relationship with Sphere, and why Sphere can heal her? She was human before she died, but I don't think she is anymore.

Then there's Ra's al Ghul. No longer head of the League of Shadows. That's surprising enough. But no longer a member of the Light? Then who's replaced him in those positions? I get the feeling the answer to both of those is Deathstroke. Hopefully without his weird ponytail from season two.

Then there's that woman with the baby on the island. Was that Talia al Ghul and Damian Wayne? Because I think that was Talia al Ghul and Damian Wayne. Was that why Ra's left the Shadows? To help Talia raise Damian? And of course, to look after his other young pupil.

Then there's the big one. You know throughout the whole fight I was focused on the third assassin there. No name, or explanation about who he was, but I loved his awesome look and wanted to know more about him. Then "Grayson." AND HE WAS WEARING A RED HOOD THE ENTIRE TIME! How did I not realise that was Jason Todd? Hope we get a flashback episode about him, since we skipped straight from Dick being Robin in season one to Jason dead and Tim Robin in season two. Also I'm disappointed he didn't have that white streak in his hair, since that's his iconic look. But maybe he gets that later , I don't know much about his comics (though I would expect that, like his green eyes, he got it from his resurrection in the Lazarus Pit). I hope he keeps his current costume for at least a little while, because while I like his classic look, I prefer this one.

You're probably right about the kid deaths. But I guess that's what DC is going for nowadays: Being dark. Still, we'll see where it goes. It's an interesting plot point having meta humans being weaponized/enslaved. It's like a way Marvel never thought of to use their mutants.

I got that it was Jason as soon as he said Grayson. I'm curious if and how they're going to tie this into the movies.

It won't tie into the movies. YJ is it's own separate thing.

Also I just noticed something. In episode four, when Dick recruits the Harpers to take on a trafficking ring, Jim Harper is in his Guardian costume. But in season two, Jim quit being Guardian to figure himself out, and while he was away, Mal Duncan took up the role. So what happened to Mal and why is Jim Guardian again?

They killed off Starro in a single episode. Even though Starro was on Earth and a huge part of season one. I guess there are multiple Starros? They didn't even include the Faceless Hunter, Starro's servant. They barely even established Starro as an actual threat, since you never believed Vandal would lose to it. And now I hate Vandal Savage as a person. Joy.

The protagonists' section was fun and cute though.

I really didn't expect for all the team leaders to be working together. That completely blindsided me. It was cool to see Tim's team in action but I am very intrigued to see who Orphan is. I love Spoiler and Tim individually, but haven't seen enough about Arrowette to make a judgement.

I'm not fond of what seems to be a developing romance between Halo and Brion. They lack any real chemistry, and things are progressing way too fast. But romance has never been a strong suit for this series. The only one that actually worked, imo, was Wally and Artemis.

On a minor note, I hate Sportsmaster's new design and everything about Barry Allen except his Flash costume.

It was great to see the Outsiders in action for a proper-length sequence, and they managed to drive off Lobo, which I understand is no mean feat. Also I don't like Lobo in this series, and if this is reflective of his comic personality, I don't know why anyone does.

I'm interested to see why Granny Goodness and Glorious Gordon Godfrey are pretending to be at odds when they're both Apokaliptan agents, I suppose they have a plot going forward.

But my main takeaway from this episode is yes, I was right that Deathstroke took Ra's place on the Light, but Lady Shiva runs the League of Shadows. Interestingly, the Brain has been replaced by Ultra-Humanite, for a reason that probably won't be explained. And now Ocean Master is dead, proving we will never know why he was kicked off the Light in between seasons one and two, which is the only thing I legitimately hate about this series.

So she said the anti-Light were coordinating six different teams.
What teams are those?
The Justice League
The Team
The Outsiders
and Batman Incorporated are the only ones I can think of.

It could be
The Justice League (EARTH)
The Justice League (SPACE)
The Team
The Outsiders
Batman Inc.
and Tim Drake's team, I guess.

Also who's on which teams at this point?
JL (E) - Aquaman, Steel, Black Canary, Flash, Shazam/Captain Marvel, Rocket, Icon (?), Red Tornado, Doctor Fate, Zatanna, and that's all I can think of.
JL (S) - Wonder Woman, Superman Martian Manhunter, Ice, Fire (?), Icon (?), Adam Strange and Alanna. Doesn't seem like enough.
The Team - M'gann, Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Wondergirl, Thirteen, Static, anyone else?
The Outsiders - Nightwing, Superboy, Black Lightning, Tigress, Halo, Geo-Force, Forager. That's easy enough.
Batman Inc. - Batman, Green Arrow, Batwoman, Katana, Hardware and Plastic Man.
Tim's team - Robin, Spoiler, Arrowette, and Orphan.

Am I missing anyone?

But it has brought to my attention a problem with the show that I hoped would go away which seems like it's here to stay. Expositional dialogue that doesn't need to be there. Steel explains to Silas Stone that he's been instructed with examining a Fatherbox. Yes, Steel, he knows that. And then Deathstroke and Katana talk about their positions unnecessarily just so Batman can hear it. It's not the first time this has happened, but I've given it a pass previously. This was just a particularly annoying instance.

Nothing much happened on the Outsiders side of things, except some more chemistryless romance between Violet and Brion. Good to see Forager's steadily growing back his shell.

It was nice to see the set-up for Cyborg's arc. I didn't know much about him so it was nice to see something of his backstory and a different side of his personality. In other things I've seen, Victor has been something of a snarkster, whereas in this he's rather straight-faced and stoic. And I had no idea about his strained family situation.

On the Batman Inc. side, it was nice to see Bane again. I like Deathstroke's new design, but I don't think his voice particularly suits him. It was good to see a little of Lady Shiva since I don't know much about her. The action scenes were awesome. I'm a little disappointed that they just dropped Metamorpho on us with no explanation, since he's supposed to be an Outsider later on. I really didn't like that Bane attacked Batman in a rage. Bane's smarter than that. And I don't like that his mask doesn't cover the back of his head. The rest of his design is cool though.

The Roy and Jade stuff was good. Jade's one of my favourite characters in the show, and it's good to see more of her. It's sad to see her push her loved ones away because she thinks she doesn't deserve them (and I mean, she's kind of right. She is a murderer) and I hope that her arc pays off by the end of this season.

Also I find it really difficult to feel sympathy for Silas considering the way he handled that argument. Sure he obviously loves his son, and he was actually going to try towards the end, but we never got to see what he was going to say, which takes away from that. And yes I think Victor is being a little too harsh, considering he just almost died and both of them need consoling, but I find his anger to be totally justified and understandable.

And the Halo is a Motherbox theory is basically confirmed now.

I wonder about Harper Roe. Is she anyone important? She looks like Livewire, but I don't think she is. I'm not going to look it up, I'm just asking rhetorical questions I guess.

The Brion and Nightwing stuff was cool. I don't think Brion should be saying he's okay yet though. The kid literally just lost his parents and was exiled from his country. Nightwing of all people should understand that grief doesn't get better that quickly. When Nightwing asked if he was okay I was expecting him to say no, which would be a more satisfying arc of being honest about his feelings rather than externalising them. Instead it was some meaningless platitude about focusing on the future instead of the past. Yes, that's a good message. But not like a few days after his parents were violently assassinated and he was exiled from his home country and cut off from his last remaining blood relative, who is also his twin brother. I guess what I'm saying is the arc was well-handled, I just think they got what the arc should have been wrong.

Though I would like to know how you read the whole "two moms" thing. Because I know for a fact that Marie Logan was a lesbian (hence why Queen Bee was able to make her kill herself (and yes, WoG says that she was gay, not bi or anything else)) and that means that Rita was likely some kind of romantic partner. However, I don't know how that reads to someone who hasn't got that outside knowledge. I can't get mad at the episode for plausible deniability on the whole "Marie was gay" front (they never outright state it) because I don't know how deniable that is. So I want to know how that reads to someone who didn't know. I'm not interested in getting into a debate about whether it's appropriate or not, just whether you read the relationship between Marie and Rita as romantic.

Though if you already knew Marie was gay, this question is rendered completely moot.

I love how Connor and Cameron are still on friendly terms even though they're enemies. I've always been disappointed that Junior didn't get a redemption arc, but at least the development he did get wasn't thrown away.

Also I totally knew that Terra was going to be an actual bad guy, not just a slave.

Yeah, the expositional dialogue is a problem. It's like seeing the "don't tell, show" which can be fixed using dialogue, and then going to the extreme. :P
I was also going to mention the romance. I think the only romance I'm really okay with is Megan and Connor. I was thinking about this today, and I feel like Brion would be too upset for a romance like that. It would also be good writing, I think, going along with him being like Connor with his anger, that he might be a bit like him in the way that Connor acted toward Megan (a bit oblivious) in season one, at least for a while.

I actually liked episode eleven more than twelve. I didn't really like going that deep into a character who really wasn't a huge part in the previous seasons and I had no invested interest in him. (Give me Beetle back, or at least Impulse.)
Victor was like that in Justice League: War. There is another iteration of how he became Cyborg there, and it's pretty good. All the DC animated movies are good, if you get a chance to watch them.

I don't really have much to say beyond: VILLAIN VOICE ACTORS NEED TO STOP MAKING THEIR CHARACTERS SOUND EVIL WHEN THEY'RE TRYING TO PRETEND THEY'RE NOT.

I guess the machine was supposed to be a nod to the anti-life equation?

Who was the Female Fury in gold? I recognised Big Barda and Lasha, but I don't know who the gold swordswoman was. She wasn't Mad Harriet or Stompa, and she probably wasn't Grail. Idk.

Oh also Guy Gardner's childish humour totally didn't mesh well with the overall tone of the show.

We're really doing Suicide Squad as well? Don't we have enough plot threads to keep track of already?

Windfall's accent was absolutely terrible. Also didn't like that they were trying to set up another chemistryless romance between her and Ed. Just... can't these characters be single and not involved in pointless romantic arcs?

I can't believe Doctor Jace is actually a villain! They spent the whole first half of the season convincing us she wasn't!

Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm....

Good episode.

Jaime and Thirteen are together, and once again have no chemistry or reason to be a couple.

Static's comment about seventh wheeling is really annoying me. Are Ed and Bart a couple (and if so, why?) and if they are, what's with the dancing around it and not confirming it either way - they act like a couple, Static's comment implies they're a couple, and yet they call each other "friend" and "amigo." And Ed's being set up as maybe liking Windfall? This just feels like more queerbait trash I expected the show to rise above, given that it's no longer bound by Cartoon Network restrictions.

Greg Weismann said there would be LGBT+ characters in the series. Thus far we have Violet apparently being non-binary, which is great don't get me wrong, but that's it. Marie Logan is a lesbian, but she's dead so she doesn't matter. Harper Row is bi in the comics, Batwoman is a lesbian, and Kaldur is gay, but they aren't shown as being so on the show. If that's what Weismann means by having LGBT+ characters, then... argh! If all you have is implication (as with Bart/Ed and possibly also Livewire/Mist), or comic evidence (which people can say doesn't matter, because YJ is its own separate continuity), then it doesn't count as representation, especially if you're deliberately keeping it vague for no reason, and that makes Weismann a liar who deliberately misled his fans. Do I believe he wants to represent people? Absolutely, he's said it about every series he's made that he's pushed for it and I believe that. So what's the deal? Executive meddling? But if there was meddling, then he should never have said that there would be representation. To say you have representation when you don't is not on. 

And I realise no one here cares about this except me, but I needed to rant.

As for myself, it just felt confusing. :P I think the relationship I'm most interested in is Psimon and Devastation. Seriously, it's hilarious and I want more of it. XD Everyone else can just fade into the background with their awkward and unnecessary romances.
There are a few things I'm not quite pleased with this season, the forced relationships being one of them. So far we have Artemis and Will Harper, Prince Anger-Management-Issues-Brion and Violet, Superboy and Megan, Garfield and Perdita, Robin and the girl from Thamiscara (spelling? Though, this once is just implied, but not gone into),  Black Lightning and Jace, and apparently no sign of new pairings stopping. Ugh. Look, everyone: Aqualad/man is fine by himself, and none the worse for it plot-wise  Let's be like Aquaman.
The other thing is that it feels like they're trying to to make every character have an equal amount of screentime, instead of having one focusing character with supporting characters and side stories; not necessarily to focus completely on one character only, but to have a central point from which all other things can branch out, and watch those characters develop while the others are not as important, and whatever happens with them can be written off as something seen offscreen.

Yeah I agree with pretty much all of that. Except I don't really care about Psimon and Devastation's relationship either.

Artemis/Will feels borderline incestuous to me, and just makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

It was nice to see more planning from the Anti-Light.

So Doctor Jace... isn't evil? That studying Violet's hair thing was just set-up for the "Violet is dying" plotline?

While I'm not a fan of the whole sneaky, promiscuous, cheating bi person angle they're going for with Violet and Harper (seriously tired trope), I'm really into the "Violet's self-destructive spiral" story they're going for. At least they're finally doing something interesting with her character.

Also didn't expect Harper Row's story to be an important part of the series. I thought she was just a fun comic cameo, but apparently not.

The amalgam monster was disturbing, but Zatanna beat Klarion way too easily.

Based on the direction of the scene and focus on facial expressions: Ed getting jealous of the long hug between Bart and Virgil was super cute? And it seems like that's why he announced that he was joining the team. Like I don't doubt what he said the reason was, but I do think he was debating whether he should or not, and that pushed him over the edge. Or at least that's what motivated his decision to announce his intentions right then. Anyway I'm looking forward to him joining the team - he's a cool character, and maybe this means their relationship will actually be confirmed and not danced around.

This is the first time I've actually been excited for the series since the mid-season finale, so that's a good thing.

You'd think one of the protagonists would've noticed that the BIF member was Lady Shiva, given her distinctive sword.

Love Ed's new costume.

Not happy about them continuing to tease Ed and Bart being in a relationship but not outright confirming it. I guess it's more acceptable to show gay couples when it's two girls/female-presenting characters cheating on their boyfriends than a healthy relationship between two boys.

Wonder Woman was right. The anti-Light fabricating problems is morally reprehensible, and it's going to come back to bite them big time. If Lex could prove it, he could completely discredit the Outsiders.

Liked seeing more of the Silas and Vic dynamic.

Halo telling Gabrielle's family about her death was a nice touch.

Nice that Cullen Row's existence was confirmed. They kind of rushed through the abuse narrative, but it's cool that they tried to tackle the subject anyway.

Glad to see it looks like they're going to do something other than the Judas Contract with Terra this time around. I hope she crushes Slade with a rock tbh. He's got a healing factor, so he'll recover, it'd just be satisfying to see her take her revenge on him.

Nice to see Kaldur has a boyfriend. Weird that he didn't acknowledge his existence when they were both with Orin earlier. And disappointed that their being together was relegated to a montage, so we don't actually get to see what their dynamic is like, but baby steps.

Dolphin is a pretty cool character so far.

Kaldur and Wyynde were kinda cute together, but I still need to see more of them.

Karen and Mal's story felt tacked on, unnecessary, and unrelated to the entire rest of the story. How is this relevant? And if it is relevant, why is it only just now being introduced? And what did Karen even do?

I don't agree with painting Vic as in the wrong for avoiding Silas.

There was some good comedy.

The story/Halo stuff was pretty cool.

Helga's predictable face-heel-turn finally happened. Her mentor is Ultra-Humanite? How did that even happen? And now she's planning to kidnap Halo and the Markovs? Or maybe the Light plan to attack the Outsiders, and she wants to get them out before that happens, because she has a sense of twisted affection for them?

I'm interested to see where Dick's storyline is going. He seems pretty effected by Granny's "punishment," moreso than Jefferson. I feel like they're trying to set up that it's triggered some PTSD in him, but I can't think of anything from his general backstory that relates to mind control. Or torture. Maybe he watched Jason die in this continuity? Whatever the case, I'm intrigued.

These last four episodes have finally instilled confidence in this series back in me. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.