Ancient History, Alive, and Destroyer Review

The Secret Origins Podcast, Episode 24. Welcome

to episode 24 of the Secret Origins podcast.

We have now been going unlimited for a while.

I am your host, DOJ Mike, and joining me is Lupus

Convoy. Hello, sir. Hello, sir. Today, sadly,

we will be reviewing the final three episodes

of Justice League Season 5. So, how are you,

sir? I'm not doing too bad. How are you doing?

I'm still here. I'm still alive. I guess. Oh,

God, I've got a song in my head now. I don't

even want to know. It's an end song from Portal,

dude. Well, I've never played Portal, dude. Sacrilege.

I don't have a next -gen system, so if it's not

on PS2, I wouldn't have played it. But have you

even heard the song? No, I don't think so. It's

still alive? No? I don't know. I might have.

Why didn't you say yes, otherwise I'm stealing

your game. I don't know. Okay, we'll fix that

on the break. Oh, God. Lovely. Lovely. All right.

Let's see. Yes, this will be the last episode

of reviews that we'll do, and then episode 25

will be the final show for Secret Origins Podcast.

Kind of sad that kind of nobody has left us feedback

on iTunes at all. It sucks. I'm heartbroken.

It's like I told you last time. We've kind of

done this for ourselves just to be able to talk

about Justice League and be able to watch the

stuff and talk about it afterwards. So, you know,

I don't know. So I think without any further

ado, we're going to get into some episodes. That

machine is thanagarian technology. It's a telepathic

database, more complex than anything on Earth,

and it's broken. She might be right. When I touched

it before, the feedback... Hush now. Watch and

learn. 8 ,000 years ago, two Thanagarian law

officers found themselves stranded on a primitive

planet. This planet. Ketar and Shaira Hall. used

their technology to make the desert bloom and

build the greatest city on Earth. The people

loved them, and despite their protests, worshipped

them as gods. For decades, their ever -growing

empire was a utopia. But nothing lasts forever.

At least, nothing good. Our armies are victorious,

my liege. They continue to bring the gifts of

Thanagar to the rest of the world. Hath said.

I wish to speak to my husband. Alone. As you

wish, my queen. First up, we've got Ancient History.

Green Lantern chases a gentleman ghost, but the

ghost gets the upper hand until Hawkman intervenes

by capturing ghosts with an nth metal reinforced

net, negating his ability to escape them. Lantern

grudgingly thanks Hawkman for help, and he departs

after making the request that he tell Shire that

he said hello. Shadow Thief witnesses this encounter

and begins his plan. At the Metro Tower, Shayura

and Vixen are working out in the rec room. The

two women toy with each other over Lantern. Shayura

half -jokes about not knowing the proper protocol

about getting John back. John enters as Mary

is leaving, and the two set up a date. But before

Mary leaves, Shayura throws her back her water

bottle. Knowing that Shayura joked about poisoning

your water, As she leaves, she throws the unempty

water bottle into the trash can outside the rec

room, not wanting to take the chance of drinking

poisoned water. I seriously doubt that Shaira,

in that two -minute window that the scene changed,

I seriously doubt. This is Shaira. Can't give

her enough credit. That's true. However, John

is preoccupied with something else as he asks

to speak to Shaira alone. Hawkman's reappearance

is commented on as an encounter with her stalker

boyfriend, but Shire seems unconcerned by Carter's

return. The next day, Mary is off to a photo

shoot. It's Mari. Sorry. It's all right. Bloody

English. Next day, Mari is off to a photo shoot,

though catches Shadow... Okay, so she's off to

a photo shoot, although she catches Shadow Thief

phasing through the wall into the apartment as

she's... about to leave that she shares with

John. She and John battle him, but it takes a

step up after Mari is knocked out. In the end,

John is beaten and taken hostage, and Shadow

Thief announces he's after Shaira next, and he

tells Mari to stay out of it. Shaira and Mari

head to the Midway City Museum to find Carter.

Shadow Thief thanks her for coming to him and

saving him the time that it would take to find

her. The two women battle... him unsuccessfully,

and as Mari tries to free John, gets thrown into

the next room and ends up buried underneath a

collapsing T -Rex display. He then manages to

throw Shaira into a wall, but she keeps falling

before finally stopping on the floor two levels

down. Hawkman arrives, but he's unable to beat

the Shadow Thief. Shadow Thief takes both down,

and he binds them up around the Absorbicron,

the same memory interface that gave Carter Hall

the memories of... Katar Hall. The memories led

to Carter Hall's claim that he is a reincarnation

of Katar and Shayura is the reincarnation of

Shayara, a pair of Thanagarians that were stranded

in ancient Egypt and became local deities as

authority figures. John, Shayara, and Carter

awaken to the Absorbicron and Shadow Thief, forcing

their free hands to touch it. A memory flashback

has begun where Katar and Shayara are shown being

welcomed as royal and religious figures in Egypt.

Ketur has bent on bringing the benefits of Thanagarian

advances to this land, whereas Shaira wants to

have a child. He insists that it will have to

wait, but it is then that Bashari returns, announcing

another success in the field. He also brings

horses as a paid tribute from this new land.

Shayara comments that the horses are unnecessary

for her, due to her wings. He offers to show

her, and they ride horses through the city, then

the aqueducts, and finally to the desert, before

stopping near a watering hole. He drinks from

the cistern, then she does, but she spills all

over her face. He wipes it off her face, but

she grabs his hand before he can let go. She

removes her headdress, and they kiss. Hath said,

and followed them, and after he alerts Katar

to it, This interlude, Keitar refuses to believe

his wife and his closest human friend would do

this to him. He observes their return, which

seems friendly at first, but when they kiss in

front of him, he smashes the section of the balcony

railing. He mutters about wishing that they were

dead and takes this as literal. The chamber attendant

runs away from... Shire's room later, screaming,

and Katar grabs her for a moment before going

into the room himself to find her and Bashari

dead. A poisoned wine had killed them. Heartbroken,

he seizes her limp body in his arms before a

haste that arrives, announcing that it was done

as he commanded so. Katar yells at him to leave,

and the priest looks mortified, now understanding

that Katar's jolly comment was in haste, not

truth. Katar drinks the wine, too, after the

priest leaves, and the last sound before the

flashback nears its end is the clattering of

the wine glass. It's then that the linked hands

of Katar and Shayara, which mirrors the sarcophagus

they were entombed in together. The same tomb

where Carter found the bodies and the Absorbicron

years before. Shadow Thief then reveals why he

is doing this. He is the incarnation of... Carter

hauls deepest, most unspeakable desires, the

perennial villain to the reborn hero. He captures

Shaira to reunite them and captures John in order

for Carter to regain her by killing John. Carter

instead frees John. John makes a splint with

the power ring and goes after Mari. However,

he does share the bittersweet momentary stare

with Shaira. They still feel for each other,

maybe even still love each other. John gets to

Vixen while Shaira and Carter battle the Shadow

Thief. Carter realizes the only way to beat the

Thief is to deny him battle, to reintegrate him.

And so he does, then prepares to bid Shaira farewell.

He holds her chin after he comes over to check

on him after the absorption. He admits that they

were not meant to be together, and she is left

to herself again. Back at the Metro Tower, Vixen

is recovering, and Shaira comes out to find...

John at the window. He finally tells her about

the time he and Batman went to the future. He

tells her about their son, Warhawk, but then

contends that if they're destined to be together,

it'll be on their terms, not fate's. And for

now, he's staying with Vixen. Later, Shira visits

Batman while he's working alone in the computer

lab. Sitting down besides him, she makes a simple

request. Tell me about my son. Your thought's

good, sir. Blackest Night beats Brightest Day.

Okay, speaking from a comic geek reference, yes,

I'm liking Blackest Night more than Brightest

Day so far. But just hearing, what was it, Gentleman

Goat? Who said that? No. It was Shadow Thief.

Shadow Thief had said that, yeah. Yeah, Shadow

Thief had said that. Last chance, Zoo Candy.

This is between me and the Green Lantern and

that Panagarian Harpy. Did you know any other

Thanagarian Harpies? Well, there always was Perrin

Dool, but anyway. I do have to bring up that

the whole scene with Bushari and Shayera, that

was actually lifted animation from Wild Cards.

It's actually the reverse of when Jon and Shayera

kissed in the Wild Cards episode. Is it? If you

watch it clearly enough, you can see. It's almost

the exact same thing where he lifts up her helmet

in Wild Cards and where he lifts up her headdress

in this. It's not exactly the same, but it's

close enough to where they kind of lifted a little

bit of the movements from it, which is very,

very interesting. That fly -in upside -down move

Shire did was, wow, that was just awesome. When

she flew in upside -down and smashed Shadow Thief,

Oh, man, that was great. This is a really good

episode. Yeah, it is a really, really good episode.

There's so much action in here that it's like,

wow. GL staying with Mari. Bruce Timm has said

that there would be no way of redeeming John

if he dumped Mari to be with Shire, and the way

that he sees it, they will be together at some

point down the line. And that's what was on the,

if you watch this final disc, it has the special

feature of, I think it's Justice League Chronicles

or something where they take a few episodes from

this last season and they talk about them. So

that's where I got that from. And then, like

you said, to close out the episode, tell me about

my son. So what did you have for this one? Oh,

let's see. Gentleman Ghost showing up. Awesome

character. I like him. Carter Hall, like talking

to John, was incredibly forced. Oh, they couldn't

stop us. Ha ha ha. We make a great team. Yeah.

Even John's like, uh, yeah. Okay. Um, anyway.

Uh, um, I love the spat between Vixen and Shayura.

That was just great. Yeah, that was hilarious.

And then what was the quote I had? Um, he's not.

Obsessed fanboy with wings and an axe. Yes! Yes!

Oh, God, that was perfect. So Vixen is essentially

thrown into the mouth of a T -Rex, passed through

it, and ends out through the pelvis. And then

eats her again. I thought that was just epically

awesome. I mean, I feel bad for Vixen, but...

Okay, so this is not comics. I understand this.

I do have to say, however, that... Because I

do like the comic origins. As convoluted as this

is of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. And the eternal love,

because I'm a sucker for that. I'm a little upset

that Hastet really wasn't, like, the comic Hastet.

Well, the thing about Hastet, if you listen,

and the thing about Katar in the flashback, they

were going for, oh, these are reincarnations

of Grohl and, uh, um, Krager. Oh, I didn't even...

Hector Elizondo voices Hastet. While, oh, what

the hell is his name? While Hero, I mean, while

Katar is still voiced by James Remar, but I mean,

he has the same type of feelings that Hero had

in Starcross for Shaira. And everybody thought.

Everybody thought that Hastet was the Shadow

Thief. Hastet is just a complete and utter outright

red herring in this. He has nothing to do with

the actual outcome of the story. But everybody

got fooled. And like I said back when we talked

about Shadow of the Hawk, I kind of knew after

seeing this a couple of times, obviously. Obviously,

it had been a while since I had seen these two

episodes that tie together Shadow of the Hawk

and ancient history. But when I watched Shadow

of the Hawk, I was like, oh, yeah, that's right.

Carter Hall is kind of like Peter Pan. His shadow

gets separated from him, and in this, his shadow

is all his evil personality traits. I just...

What? What the whole comic like. I like what

they're doing in the comics right now with...

They're breaking the curse of being... in love

with each other but never being able to be together

and has that his reincarnation is working with

shaira's mother oh yeah so it's i don't know

it's it's very convoluted but very cool i could

never get i mean as much as i love comics just

in general i could never actually fully get into

comics at this point because there's so much

history there's so much continuity and there's

so many continuity fuck -ups everywhere oh god

yeah Everyone's reinterpretations and retcons.

Yeah. What else do we got? They're very good

at being able to use different visual cues in

this to get away with, like what we said in the

earlier seasons and the first season with the

red blanket with Aquaman. And we've got the same

thing happening with the red wine. Yeah. Yeah,

that's not blood, kids. It's wine. It's alcohol.

But that's all I got for this one. Yeah, this

was just – because I was kind of wearing it out.

how they spaced the episodes. Like, they had

Shadow of the Hawk, then they had all the other

episodes in between it, and now they pay it off

here at Ancient History. I mean, technically,

Shadow of the Hawk is part one, and Ancient History

is part two of the story. I mean, that's technically

what it is. I mean, even... I see now why they

did that, though, is because it's been a few

months since Shadow of the Hawk happened within

the continuity of the cartoon, but... I mean,

I would love to just watch these, be able to

have an option on the DVD to watch these two

episodes back -to -back. I think that would have

been really cool if they had put that that way,

or if they had released even a single -disc DVD

with these two episodes on it. But just this

overall story was great. I absolutely love it.

And just hearing James Raymar in the DCAU is

just amazing. I wish we could have, like, a third

part to see what was going to happen. Well, we

know what's going to happen. I mean, they created

Warhawk. So, I mean, we know eventually. It's

just a one -night fling. No, there's no way.

Ari would be pissed. There's no way. There's

no way there would be a one -night stand. No

way. They could have gotten drunk. She could

have taken him back to that bar. Bar brawl. You

know, things happen. No, dude. Just no. No way.

Alright, so we're gonna move on. I'm about to

become a god. You don't know what a god is. Or

what you are unleashing. Tampering with forces

beyond my ken and so forth? Nice try. If you

want my power, make your move. Otherwise you

can get lost. You will regret your decision.

We all will. Twinkle, twinkle, brainiac, Tala's

gonna bring you back. Seems I have you to thank

for my resurrection. Though your world will suffer

slowly, I grant you a quick death. Next up we

have Alive! Oh god, I've always wanted to do

that. At the Legion of Doom's base, Lex Luthor

is attempting to reactivate the soul piece of

Brainiac, but it fails once again. Surprise.

Tala urges Luthor to simply give up, but he tells

her that this is science, and something that

she doesn't understand. Tala counters that transmutation

is exactly what they need, so Luthor allows Tala

to work her magic on the One Piece. It fails

to revive Brainiac, but it does allow Luthor

to see a vision of where Brainiac's asteroid

was destroyed. Using this knowledge, he orders

the Legion to begin modifying the base. Once

the modifications are complete, the Legion is

assembled in the meeting room. Toyman asks to

know what's going on. Luthor explains that they

will help him recover some pieces of Brainiac

from outer space. Goldface is quite hostile to

the prospect of Luthor becoming more powerful

than them, but Luthor says that they will be

rewarded by being his lieutenants in the New

Order. He also causes Goldface pain with a device

in his belt as a reminder that he is already

more powerful than they are. When Atomic Skull

asks what their plan is, Luthor reveals that

they have modified the Legion headquarters into

a spaceship, with the cloaking field being a

hyperspace field. In this cage, Grodd becomes

aware of movement as Tala enters. She wants to

release Grodd and kill Luthor. Assembling other

dissidents, Grodd demands that Luthor turn the

base around and surrender. Soon a massive fight

breaks out among the members of the Legion. The

Grodd loyalists are larger in number, but the

Luthor loyalists are more powerful. Grodd finds

out that Giganta escaped from prison and is very

mad that he tried to fry her brain. Ultimately,

the Luthor loyalists triumph. Luthor himself

engages Grodd in combat. Even with the enhanced

metal gloves, Luthor is no match for Grodd's

brute strength as he is nearly beaten to death.

But he taunts Grodd as a mindless brute, goading

Grodd into unleashing his telepathic powers,

which is what Luthor had been waiting for. With

the touch of his belt, he turns Grodd's mind

control powers back onto himself, making Grodd

an unwilling puppet. With no choice but to obey

Luthor's commands, Grodd kneels and calls Luthor

his better, and then loads himself into an airlock.

Luthor bids Grodd farewell, then releases him

out into space. Luthor releases his mind control

on Grodd after he puts him in the airlock. I

feel bad for Grodd, actually. Anyway, Luthor

prepares to execute the remaining mutineers.

Killer Frost earns a reprieve by stepping away

and doing it for him. The only other one left

alive is Tala, who begs for her life, pleading

insanity. Smiling, Luthor tells her not to worry

that she's still alive. has an important part

to play. Arriving at the coordinates, Luther

sets up the collectors to bring in the debris

which houses Brainiac's essence. Luther plans

to use Tala as a mystical conduit to bring Brainiac

back to life, a process which will kill her.

Once they are ready, he orders Toyman to throw

the switch. However, time is momentarily frozen

as the entity Metron appears, urging Luther not

to go through with what he's attempting, saying

that it will have consequences for the entire

universe. Luther dismisses him, saying that he's

on the verge of godhood and nothing will stop

him. Back in normal time, Toyman throws the switch,

and Tala crackles with energy, shrieking in agony.

As the figure appears within the smoke of the

containment device, a triumphant Luther exalts

to the Legion, Meet your new lord and master.

The smoke clears, and there stands Darkseid.

He thanks the horrified Luther and the Legion

for resurrecting him. saying that while Earth

will suffer, they'll be granted a small mercy,

a quick death. With that, Darkseid destroys the

Legion's base. On Apocalypse, the forces of Granny

Goodness and Virham Vunderbar are preparing for

a last battle for control of Apocalypse. As the

female Furies lead Granny's army, Vunderbar's

army charges under Canto and Mantis. Before they

can reach each other, a massive explosion occurs

in front of both armies. As the light fades and

the smoke clears, they see Darkseid, who teleported

to Apocalypse without the use of a boom tube.

Shocked at the sight of their dead master, and

fearful of his wrath, both factions quickly regain

enough of their wits to bow down and re -pledge

their loyalty. When Bernadeth asks for Darkseid's

commands, He tells them that he is temporarily

halting his search for the anti -life equation

to take vengeance on Superman by destroying Earth.

Kanto respectfully reminds Darkseid that to attack

Earth would break his pact with the Highfather

and invite retaliation from New Genesis. Darkseid,

however, is not concerned with reprisals. Once

he's finished with Earth, New Genesis is next.

The Legion informs the Justice League of their

little problem. Metro Tower, a staffer runs into

the control room, telling Superman he needs to

get out to the front door now. As Superman and

other members of the Justice League head outside,

they discover Lex Luthor and the remaining members

of the Legion of Doom. As Luthor announces, they

have a little problem. Your thoughts, sir? Me?

I'm going to be a god again. No ego there. Flying

Legion of Doom headquarters. Awesome. And nobody

saw that? Seriously? Are they sleeping on the

watchtower? I know, exactly. Why is my headquarters

moving? I demand to know what's going on. Oh,

which is awesome. Holy hell, mutiny on the bounty.

And then lots of action. Just a ton of action.

And the thing about this one is, Bruce Timm actually

pointed this out in that little special feature.

This is the only, I mean, Task Force X was a

complete view from the villain's point of view.

But this episode is just a complete supervillain

episode. It's nothing but villains fighting each

other for the most part. Once we get to that

point. where Grodd and Luthor's forces separate.

And it was just amazing. I mean, yeah, the heroes

come in at the end, but they don't really do

anything. I mean, it's just, it leaves it on

a cliffhanger. I actually thought the cliffhanger

was coming at the point when Darkseid blew up

Legion of Doom. I completely forgot that he had

gone back, that the episode continued and then

he had gone back to Apocalypse. I forgot all

about that. Now bow down to me. I kind of have

to wonder, how exactly did Mantis get from Earth

back there? Did he get sent back by BoomTube?

Yep. Okay. Yep. What was that episode? Wasn't

that... The Clash? Yeah, the Clash. They sent

him... Yeah, they did send him back through BoomTube.

So, yeah. Bruce Timmons said in the special features

on this disc that Tala maybe gave one less screw

you to Lex by bringing Darkseid back instead

of Brainiac. I'm not too sure of that because,

well, Tala, she's just a tool. I mean, let's

face it. She switches sides more than you flip

a pancake, for Christ's sake. Also, Darkseid

comes back with Brainiac infused within him.

This leads me to believe that when Brainiac and

Darkseid blew up in the Twilight episode, that

they were truly one, just as Lex and another

version of Brainiac were. So, if you remember

all the way back to Twilight when the Brainiac

had exploded, Darkseid was still there. Because

we have not seen Darkseid since Twilight. Darkseid

was laying in the rubble. in the Brainiac head.

That's true. Yeah. So that's why I'm betting

that it was a combination, that what we got here

in Alive, it's a combination of Darkseid, obviously,

but he's got Brainiac parts all over his body.

Which explains why his headset, why he was so

powerful. Yep. And then, of course, we have a

little problem. Oh, man. What about you? What

do you got for this one? Oh, let's see. Yay,

we get to see Goldface again, because, you know,

the enemy of my hero is always welcome to be

seen. I have a problem with that scene, though.

The fact that, oh, remember what happens to Goldface.

His face gets melted off, he's in pain, and then,

like, later on, he's back. Yeah! Like, I thought

he died, for Christ's sake. Yeah! Way to make

a... an example out of someone that apparently

didn't last. Let's see. Tala needs another boyfriend.

I put that at the beginning of the episode. She

just is treated like crap by Lex, the monkey.

She needs to get somebody. The one thing I wanted

to bring up about Tala is they mentioned in the

special feature on the disc that these episodes

are on in the complete series that Juliet Landau,

who voices Tala, just basically brought a Natasha

moose and squirrel voice to Tala. Which is awesome.

I know. I was actually hoping Tala would say,

he's like moose and squirrel. Oh, baby. I know.

Really? Did she just say that? Yeah, I know.

So crazy. What else do we got? I've got... Again,

nobody saw this giant spaceship going out using

the cloaking field instead as a warping field,

so obviously they weren't cloaked. No one saw

this? I know. Isn't it terrific totally sleeping

up there? Apparently so. What else? Maybe he's

playing with his T -balls. Oops, I mean T -spheres.

I'm not going to touch that with a 10 -foot pole.

Okay, maybe you could explain this, but why was

Killer Frost and Toy Man fighting? Like, is there

something between them that I don't know about?

Or is it just that Killer Frost... Toy Man was

on one side at the time, and Killer Frost was

on the other? Yeah, but... But what happened

was they were fighting because they were each

on a side. But by the time Luthor had killed

Brainiac and you had – Luthor killed Brainiac.

Luthor killed Grodd. You had all of Grodd's cohorts

and then all of Luthor's cohorts and Killer Frost

was in the middle. I agree with that, but she

was vindictively going after him. Well, not really.

I mean, she wasn't vindictively going after Toyman.

I don't think they have a... Creepy little man.

I don't think they have a past, but I mean, the

whole point of what happened was at first they

were on two different sides, and then Killer

Frost realized, oh, well, I need to be on the

winning side. Whoosh! You know? I have to agree

with her, though. He's a creepy little guy. Yeah,

Toy Man is a creep. Oh, God. Like, even the way

he talks is enough to make me go, yeah. Oh, we

got to see some badass monkey foo. Oh, yeah.

Okay. I was all depressed because, you know,

no more monkey. As much as I love Powers Booth

voicing Grodd, I'm so glad Grodd is gone because...

I'm going to turn everyone into monkeys. I know.

That's all Grodd's plan has been all the time

he's been in the Justice League. It's either

kill the Justice League or make everybody monkeys.

Oh, God. So we get to see the little gauntlets

that... Luther had? Mm -hmm. Couldn't help but

think, did he get that idea from, like, Diana?

The gauntlets. Oh, the gloves. Ah. No. Come on.

No. Diana has bracelets of steel. Those are gloves

of electromagnetic whatever. There's a big difference

there. There's a huge difference there. What

else have we got? Poor Tala. Like I said before,

when watching this episode, I was like, oh, I

hope something happens to her. I wish she straightens

up. I want something bad to happen to her. I

didn't want something that bad to happen. Poor

Tala. Yes. So, where was Metron before? Seriously,

he's got to combine with... with Brainiac and

become a god and destroy the whole universe.

Where was he then? Where was he in any of these

other times? But see, the thing is, if you're

looking at it within continuity -wise from Twilight

to here, like I was saying earlier about Darkseid

and Brainiac being one, that's more of a threat.

I mean, yes, I'm not discounting what happened

in Divided We Fall in Panic in the Sky. That

was obviously a great threat. Luthor and Brainiac

were going to remake the universe in their own

image. But Darkseid wants to destroy the universe.

I mean, he's looking for the anti -life equation,

for Christ's sake. He's looking to destroy all

hope, love, peace, everything. So that's an even

bigger problem. know i think being eaten by a

computer and made monotonous to not have any

emotions it's kind of similar i don't know it's

just randomly like this guy shows up i'm metron

hey are you the the watcher you're like the pervy

like alien guy that just sits there and watches

everything oh god you know it would have been

so much I mean, I don't discount Daniel Dae Kim

voicing Metron. That was a cool voice for that

character. It would have been so much better

if it was Alexis Denisoff or is it Anthony Stewart

Head? Anthony Head that was Giles in Buffy. Anthony

Stewart Head. Yeah. Be one of those guys as the

Watcher. Sorry, but if your name is The Watcher,

you're going to get all sorts of jokes made about

your name. Let's see. So the problem is, how

did Lex survive? Mind you, I didn't see the next

episode, but Lex, how did you survive? Wait,

you haven't seen the next episode yet? I did.

Okay, all right. But at the time when I wrote

this. Oh, okay, yeah. Then what else have I got?

I've got... Darkseid? Seriously? Oh, my God.

What a twist! Yeah, that was... Because I was

thinking that they were going to bring back Brainiac

again. I honestly thought when I first saw this

episode, I honestly thought they were going to

bring back Brainiac. And then it shows up as...

I'm like, oh, fuck. It was very much like the,

oh, my God, what's this? What? Yeah, exactly.

I mean, I think that's all I've got. Yes. So

we are going to move on. She's got a point. We'll

need all the bodies we can throw at this. Oh,

come on. It's Lex Flipp and Luthor. Why should

we trust him? Hey, it's on world two. Let's be

clear about this. We're not here to help you

save the world. You're here to help me get revenge

on Darkseid. When this is over, it's back to

business as usual. Wouldn't have it any other

way. You get all that? Yeah. You guys sure about

this? Trust but verify. Put the bad guys on teams

with regular leaguers. Search through the telemetry

on the attack groups. Find the best protected

mothership. That's where Darkseid will be. That's

where I want to go. I imagine so. It's in Metropolis,

hovering over the Dalek planet. Stand by. And

finally, to end the Secret Origins podcast, we

end with the super awesome episode, Destroyer.

Lex Luthor and the surviving members of the Legion

of Doom arrive at the Metro Tower. Warning them

of Darkseid's impending invasion, a small flashback

explains, when Darkseid destroyed their headquarters,

Sinestro managed to shield them with his ring.

They stole a mother box from a rescue party headed

by Light Ray. After delivering their message,

the League announced that they're locking up

the Legion as several prepare to fight back and

an emergency message arrives. Boom tubes open

all over the world and the Apocalyptian fleet

appears. Soon releases parademons and ground

troops. The Legion insists that they would be

allowed to fight alongside the League. They may

be criminals, but Earth is their world too. Batman

agrees, saying that the League needs all the

help they can get. Superman and Wonder Woman

are reluctant to go along, but Luthor announces

that he isn't saving the Earth as far as he's

concerned. Both Justice League and Legion of

Doom are little more than tools to help him achieve

his revenge on Darkseid for taking Brainiac away.

Superman reluctantly goes along, but Wonder Woman

orders that the villains fight in mixed teams.

Mr. Terrific, handling the Central Command from

the Watchtower, sends out an Omega -level alert

to the entire League. A series of cutscenes shows

various Leaguers preparing for battle and being

teleported away. Superman, Batman, and Luthor

confront Darkseid at his command ship hovering

over the Daily Planet. Building in Metropolis,

Darkseid tells Superman that he intends to make

Superman suffer. by watching its adopted world

die before killing him. Adding with a smirk that

Superman's last words to him before their last

standoff, Let's go. As the battle progresses,

the Apocalyptian forces set up huge drilling

machines designed to dig holes straight to the

Earth's core, creating fire pits that will make

Earth another apocalypse. Mr. Terrific orders

them taken out at all costs. The Leaguers destroy

several, though Cher is badly wounded. Over the

Great Wall of China, a middle -aged Asian man

tells his wife to find cover and reveals himself

to be Jean Jones, who joins Wonder Woman in battling

Darkseid's parademons. In Metropolis, the battle

royale between Superman and Darkseid has destroyed

much of the planet's building. While Luthor and

Batman hold off parademons, suddenly Metron appears

to Luthor, who demands a solution. Metron offers

him one, and they both disappear. Metron takes

him to the Source Wall, beyond which contains

the only thing that could stop Darkseid. Metron

warns that only a 12th level intellect could

survive the journey through the wall, but Luthor

only claims that I'm overqualified. Luthor flies

through the opening of the wall and seeing a

great light and screams. On Earth, Darkseid appears

to be winning when Batman staggers him with a

flying kick. Darkseid astonished that a mere

mortal would dare to strike him. He prepares

to kill Batman, but Superman, who now has his

second win, knocks Darkseid through the wall

for the first time in their acquaintance. Darkseid

is uncertain, maybe even afraid, as Superman

approaches and says, That man won't quit as long

as he can still draw breath. None of my teammates

will. Me, I've got a different problem. I feel

I live in a world made of cardboard, always taking

constant care not to break something to break

someone, never allowing myself to lose control

even for a moment or someone could die. But you

can take it, can't you, big man? What we have

here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose

and show you just how powerful I really am. Wow,

saying it like that almost brought me to tears.

Holy crap. And with that, Superman hurdles his

entire body forward and delivers a single earth

-shattering punch that sends Darkseid flying

into the air and through several skyscrapers.

With his speed, Superman is waiting for him on

the other end and knocks him to the ground. Darkseid

decides he's wasted enough time in hand -to -hand

combat and traps Superman in a torture field

called the Agony Matrix. Oh, boy. I'm betting

Galvatron wished he had that right about now.

Come on. You know you want to laugh. I'm trying

not to. While Superman lies helpless, Darkseid

draws a knife with a kryptonite blade intending

to cut Superman's heart out. Then Luthor appears,

having returned from the dimension Metron transported

him to. Luthor holds up the only thing in the

universe Darkseid wants, the anti -life equation.

Darkseid takes a hold of it, and both he and

Luthor disappear in a blaze of light. With Darkseid

apparently gone, and apocalyptic forces retreat

from Earth, but Batman says that one day they'll

probably see both Darkseid and Luthor again.

Wonder Woman announces that it's time for the

villains to go back to jail. Atomic Skull objects,

saying they helped the League save the world.

Batman agrees to give them a five -minute head

start. When the League makes it clear that the

concession is all they're offering, the Legion

turns and runs. Finally, the entire expanded

League sets off after the villains as the adventure

continues. Okay, out of all the emergency teleportations,

I love questions the best. He just keeps slowly

walking with the steam pump around him. And also,

question using his car as a weapon. That was

just awesome. I'm looking, not the car, not the

car! Oh, man. Why is it that the Daily Planet

Globe always gets destroyed in battles? Oh, man.

Why is it every time? That there in Metropolis,

the Daily Planet Globe is always the thing that

gets destroyed first. That's just how it is.

I have to go help. I know. What the fuck? And

then, of course, later. Yeah, I'll bring that

up later. So, okay, parademons just threw a spear

into Shire's wing. They are real. No harness

here, dammit. That's for you. Yes, I know. Yeah,

see? Told you they were real. Okay. Sure, how

would you know? Yeah, anyway. Shayera gets electrocuted.

Yow. Oh, poor Shayera. Superman. Batman dodging.

Darkseid's Omega Beam was just amazing, but Superman

taps Darkseid on the shoulder. Excuse me. Thwack.

Just punches him right in the face. That was

awesome. And then, get away from here. It's not

safe. Don't worry. I'm here to help. And then

all of a sudden you see this little Asian guy.

punching people with the strength of Superman,

for grace sake. And then, of course, it is revealed

that Jaune is back, and I love that. I really

had no clue who the little Asian dude was. Really?

You had no clue? I had no clue. Like, I didn't

know if they were going for this whole, like,

really obscure heroes around the world were coming

up out of nowhere to, you know, back up the Justice

League. Yeah, I'm not sure, because... When we

saw Jon leave, he was Detective Jon Jones. He

was in the form of Detective Jon Jones. So I'm

wondering... How did he get to China? Yeah, exactly.

As far as all the little spots, the one that

I noticed the most of all the heroes showing

up and fighting besides Question was Zatanna

turning a few parademons into doves. And putting

him in her hat. Yeah, I thought that was kind

of cool. Parademons go boom, and that was in

reference to Batman outmaneuvering Darkseid's

Omega Beams. I know. That was way cool. I did

not really expect that at all. And very ironic

considering he didn't outrun them in the comics.

Well, you know. As much as I like to see that,

you've got some business with me first. Sorry

it took me so long, but I had to go get my power

suit. And he's dressed in the business suit that

fits him so well. Well, what's so ironic about

this is since... I think it... I'm trying to

remember here. Since... We haven't seen the power

suit since Superman the Animated Series, I don't

think. Because I don't think he has ever worn

the black power suit in Justice League. So it

was a nice homage to see that again, to see Luthor

in his suit from Superman the Animated Series.

Five -minute head start. Five minutes. Four minutes,

50 seconds. That was awesome. Yeah, it was. What

do you expect out of Batman's girlfriend? You

know, this girl. And speaking of girlfriends,

yuck. Giganta is hot, but remember, she was originally

an ape. Then again, I guess we were all originally

apes. But still, she kisses Flash, and it's like,

all I can see is that picture that Grodd showed

us back in the episode that we first met him.

Head start, you're getting soft in your old age.

Don't you have a tall building to go leap? Yeah,

that was... Oh, damn, that was so hilarious.

And the adventure continues. And before you start

with your notes, I have to point out, you said

on Facebook, when we were chatting on Facebook,

you said that it was kind of a meh ending for

you. For me? Well, no, for me it wasn't, because...

The reason why it's not a matte ending for me

is if you take Epilogue, and I know that Epilogue

was at the end of the previous season or whatever,

but if you take Epilogue and you put it after

this, the adventure continues. So the league

is going on up until the point of Epilogue because

even in Epilogue you have that flashback scene

of Batman, Shia and Dr. Light. The adventure

continues. It was like the fight keeps going

on, so you'd never know what animated adventures

would happen between Destroyer and Epilogue.

True. So that's why I loved it. That's why I

love the ending of this episode. So what about

you? What do you got? Oh, really quick. Sorry,

I have one more note. I got this from the wiki.

Although it is not made clear in Destroyer what

happens to Luthor and Darkseid, Dwayne McDuffie

has stated that they were both absorbed into

the source wall. Now, why I can see this happening

is because Darkseid's face is all over the source

wall. Did you catch the other faces that were

on the source wall, though? Wasn't Luthor's face

on there? I didn't catch Luthor, but I did catch

something that was very interesting. So, if you

look really carefully, there is something that

looks exactly like Galactus from Marvel. And

next to it is a face that looks disturbingly

like MODOK from Marvel. Yeah, you're right. So

I'm like, is that intentional? Oh, yeah, I see

Galactus. Yeah, I see MODOK as well. But he flew

in through Darkseid's eye. Now I've been blinded.

Okay, so what else do we have? I have... Poor

Light Ray. Poor guy, like, tries to help them

out. Bitch slapped. Beaten down. Poor guy. Not

that he was that great of a character anyway,

but still. The reason why he was a great character

for me was because he was voiced by the great

and awesome Rob Paulson. But anyway. What else

we got? So, oh my god, the blue demon. I did

not see him popping that guy up at all. And then,

it's Lex Flippin' Luther! That was, to hear Supes

say that, it was like, oh. Okay. Huh. Someone's

a little upset. Then what else? The transformation

for ice. Yeah. Pretty cool. And then who's there?

Fire. Oh, look, it's Fire. And I have to say,

Fire in her non -flame -on mode actually looked

like her flame -on mode. It didn't look like

she was some female bodybuilder this time. Remember,

she's Brazilian. Yeah. Let's see, what else?

I've also got... They even bring in Hawkman.

Yep. Like, wait, he's a League member now? Well...

He's probably one of those associates. The ones

that, okay, we'll bring you in, maybe. When we

need you, yeah. Let's see who else. A Green Lantern

trebuchet. Yes. Yes, Rick, yes. Green Lantern

what? Trebuchet. That wasn't a catapult. Oh,

well, it looked like a catapult. But it's a trebuchet,

and it was so awesome. Plus, come on, it's like

a heavily built construction out of GL, which

is still awesome. As you said, the wings are

attached. What is up with the Nerf darts? Like,

what does he put in those to make them go boom?

The Nerf dart? Oh! Yeah. Hmm. Maybe they're grenades,

and when he fired them, firing them made the

pins leave the grenades? I don't know. Not only

Toy Man's toys, toy weapons make sense. It was

very, I don't know, disconcerting. Because I

have friends that use Nerf guns on me all the

time, so it's like, ugh. Let's see. Oh, way to

go, Metron. All you had to do was take out Lex.

That was it. Instead, look what you did. Let's

see. So just to bring out the literary geek in

me, when Superman is being tortured by the Agony

Matrix, I'm thinking, where the hell is Lashiel?

Where is Lashiel when we need her? And for those

that don't know who Lashiel was, she was one

of the fallen angels that was put inside of Harry

Dresden and was trying to corrupt him. And one

of the gifts that she gave Harry was the ability

to shut off pain. So the entire time I'm thinking,

where's Lash? Where's Lash when we need her?

I gotta say, though, the agony matrix, I would

not want to be in that thing. Holy crap. The

way he described it was just like, oh, wow. Not

even just the way he described it, just the way

that it showed. I mean... It lit Superman's skull

on fire that it was red. Oh, man, Superman was

a red skull. Oh, my God, there's another crossover.

I know, we've got plenty in this episode. So

his whole speech about, oh, I can finally let

loose. How many times have we heard that out

of Superman? Seriously, like every other episode.

This is supposed to be the penultimate thing

of him letting loose. Well, it would have been

more effective if they didn't say it every time

they come across poor Darkseid. You're sympathizing

with Darkseid? Dude, he's stuck with Lex Luthor

for eternity. Yes. Well, I don't know. I actually

had to look. I actually looked up on the wiki.

what the hell the goddamn anti -life equation

was. Because every time I've seen this episode,

and because it's a comic thing, I wouldn't know,

but every time I saw this episode, I'm like,

why is he constantly looking for this thing?

What is it? And it basically is what I said earlier.

The reason why Darkseid is a bigger threat than

Brainiac is because he is looking for this anti

-life equation. which is the opposite of the

Martian life equation, which was to bring people

more peace, love, happiness, all that good stuff.

And the anti -life equation, obviously, is going

to take all that shit away. Yep. Makes them basically

the mental slaves for Darkseid. Yes, exactly.

Exactly. So, did you catch the beheading? Yes.

Like, seriously, beheading. And then the careful

placement of the head to make it look like it's

just on the ground, like the guy's knocked out.

No, that went straight through the neck. Yeah,

that went straight through. Let's see. 12th level

intelligence. So does this mean that Lex is on

the same level as Brainiac? I would assume so,

since he bonded with Brainiac, for Christ's sake.

But I'm talking about, like, Brainiac Brainiac

from, like, Legion. Oh, you mean Brainiac 5?

Yeah. Well, Brainiac himself, the computer program,

obviously is a 12th level intellect. And you

know what I just realized? What? Oh, God, Superman

fans are going to kill me for this. Lex Luthor

is where Brainiac got his, his, um, what? Yeah.

So, oh my God. That means that a Luthor and a

super. are in a relationship together. Supergirl

and Brainiac 5 dating and eventually having kids.

Oh, my God. That goes against everything Superman.

Because if Brainiac got his... Oh, what the hell

did they call it? What is Brainiac 5? He's...

Damn it. What did they call it? Not nanotech.

He's living tissue. He's not a robot. Carbon

-based? Crap, I forget. I'm going to have to

look it up. Keep going with your notes. I'm going

to have to look this up. So the last three to

leave, which I thought was a nice touch, was

the Trinity. You've got Batman, Superman, and

Wonder Woman leaving last. Though we did have

a lot of characters that didn't show up in this.

Yeah, the Trinity thing was awesome. But where

was all the really obscure characters that we

had earlier? Where was Aztec? He was there. Was

he? Yeah, he was one of the ones on the teleporters.

But he wasn't in the... No, he wasn't. Yeah,

he was one of the ones on the emergency teleporters

in the Watchtower. I remember seeing him. Hmm.

He wasn't in the end scene of them coming down

the stairs, but he was in the episode. Trust

me. That's all I got. I'm trying to think. Brainiac,

let's see. It explains that he's one of the good

guys, though he is somehow... He's organically

descended from the original evil Brainiac of

Krypton. Yeah, so he's organic. Oh, wow. I just

found another way to piss off DC fans and Transformers

fans at the same time. Brainiac 5 has an organic

core. He's trans -organic. So he could get it

on with Sari. Oh, that's not cool, dude. When

she's older. Oh, my God, that's so wrong. But,

yeah, I mean, if you think about it, if Brainiac

got his DNA parts, his organic parts for future

copies of himself from Luthor when they merged,

and you think about Brainiac 5 and Supergirl

having kids, a Kryptonian and a Luthor. Having

children. They're going to hate themselves. Why

is it somehow I'm flashing to the argument that

Brody brought up in Mallrats about Lois Lane

not being able to carry Superman's baby because

her uterus isn't strong enough? It's true. I

know. I know. I'm just saying. No artificial

insemination. Oh, my God. What? Oh, God. It's

true. Like, turkey baster, that's all it's going

to take. Of course, the poor kid has, you know,

his superpowers kicking early, you know. I can

feel the baby kick. Oh, my God. He's going to

kick right through her stomach. Oh, God. But,

yeah, Destroyer was just awesome. It was a good

wrap -up to the season. that wasn't as epic as

the season before. Well, and like I said, obviously

if you look at it, as I said before, where Epilogue

obviously is the wrap -up of everything, and

unfortunately back then they didn't know they

were going to get picked up for an additional

13, so the way I view it is Epilogue should,

whenever you watch Epilogue, it should be right

after. this episode. It should be right after

Destroyer. So, but yeah. So, we're going to head

into the outro, and we'll be back after this.

And why does it always have to be about the guys

anyway? Honey, it's always about the guys. And

since I'll be away on that photo shoot for a

week, here we go. Well, I'm just surprised you

haven't made your move before now. Still trying

to figure out the proper Earth protocol for this

situation. It's not like I can just assassinate

you in your sleep or poison your water. I miss

Thanagar. I'm just saying. You think you got

a shot? Take it. I'm not worried. Mari, look.

This isn't... There you are. Hey, stranger. I

was thinking we could skip the concert tonight?

Just stay in and order takeout? What do you say?

That'd be fine, Mari. Whatever you want. Um,

I need to talk to Shayura for a sec. Oh, uh,

okay. See you tonight, then. Oh, Mari! Thanks.

Really, not worried. Can't you see that it's

hopeless? That man won't quit as long as he can

still draw a breath. None of my teammates will.

Me? I've got a different problem. I feel like

I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking

constant care not to break something. to break

someone, never allowing myself to lose control,

even for a moment or someone could die. But you

can take it, can't you, big man? What we have

here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose

and show you just how powerful I really am. So

that's it for the episode reviews. Now you get

to deal with us in our fan fiction. And we'll

keep doing it until somebody finally puts up

a review. I don't think so. Shh. We're trying

to scare them into leaving. We tried being nice.

Yeah. So thank you for listening to the Secret

Origins podcast. Get in league with us. Lovely.

Get in contact with us. We'll leave feedback

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join us next time when we will be recapping Justice

League Unlimited Season 5 and the series on a

whole. For now, I am TFG1 Mike with... Lupus

Convoy. Until next time. Be ready for them. Meanwhile,

it's past time that Luthor's partners in crime

were locked up. Wait a minute. We help you guys

save the world and we don't even get any consideration?

You're right. Five minute head start. Five minutes?

Are you kidding? Four minutes, fifty seconds.

I should be back in time for dinner. I love you,

too. These are the end times. A head start. You're

getting soft in your old age. Don't you have

a tall building to go leap? And the adventure

continues.