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"Legion of Super Heroes" Animated Series
Episode Guide
This guide does not list airdates for repeat showings.
Episodes
- "Man of Tomorrow" - Summary
- "Timber Wolf" - Summary
- "Legacy" - Summary
- "Phantoms" - Summary
- "Champions" - Summary
- "Fear Factory" - Summary
- "Brain Drain" - Summary
- "Lightning Storm" - Summary
- "The Substitutes" - Summary
- "Child's Play" - Summary
- "Chain of Command" - Summary
- "Sundown, Pt. 1" - Summary
- "Sundown, Pt. 2" - Summary
Summaries
"MAN OF TOMORROW"
Writer: Amy WolframDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad)
Guest Starring: David Lodge (Tharok/Carnival Barker), Jennifer Hale (Emerald Empress/Ma Kent)
Aired in the U.S.A.: September 23, 2006
The show opens with members of the Legion getting their butts handed to them by an unseen force. Lightning Lad, after getting beaten to the ground, quips, "Where's Superman when you need him?" and that, indeed, is the very premise of the entire episode.
We cut to a young adult Clark Kent on his last night living in Smallville before heading to Metropolis to be a "copy boy" at the Daily Planet. He's still testing out his powers and learning what he can do (like trying to focus his heat vision enough to burn a hole in a newspaper). He heads to a fair for some fun on his last night in town, where Martha's words about him "not being like other people" lead to him feeling isolated and also garner him some ridicule from a guy who looks suspiciously like Pete Ross (and who's with a girl who looks suspiciously like Lana Lang).
A ferris wheel at the fair malfunctions and Clark races to the rescue, and this is when a time bubble from the 31st century appears and Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy emerge. They've come to recruit Superman because they need his help in the future, although they apparently didn't intend to go quite as far back in time as they did as they seem a bit surprised that Clark is unsure of himself and that he's not in costume and that, in fact, Superman does not yet exist.
Eventually they convince Clark to at least check out the future with them, and he's greeted with ridicule and disappointment from the other Legion members upon his arrival. They were expecting the world's greatest hero, and Clark hasn't ever even considered being a superhero yet and is incredibly unsure of himself.
A little exploration leads to a museum of sorts, dedicated to the man Clark will become. There is a giant Superman statue, artwork of his famous deeds adorning the walls and even one of his costumes on display. Clark is understandably overwhelmed, especially when Saturn Girl tells him he can fly, which he had no idea about. He's just generally lost and confused and not knowing what his role in the world is.
And that's when Validius, Tharok, Persuader, and Mano show up, lead by the Emerald Empress. Together they make up the Fatal Five, who combined are more than the Legion can handle. Just as battle begins Clark runs off, leaving the Legion to wonder if he was worth bringing to the future at all. The fight commences and turns out to be the one from the opening of the episode, and Lightning Lad again gets beaten down and wonders where Superman is when they need him.
Clark, meanwhile, has broken his old costume out of the museum and put it on, remembering something Jonathan told him about always helping friends in need. He tries to fly and wobbles around in the air, crashing into everything and eventually arrives back at the fight, making a grand entrance by not knowing how to land and crashing into the ground.
However, with his help (and Clark's discovery of freeze breath, thanks to Lightning Lad), the battle is won... even if the Fatal Five teleport away at the last moment and escape capture. The Legion members offer to take Clark back to his own time, but he decides to stay for a while and see the sights while he tries to figure out his powers.
They officially welcome Clark into the Legion with a Legion-logo belt buckle and ring, and say that "Clark" isn't a very good superhero name and he's going to need a new handle. A confident look on his face, Clark says they can call him Superman and he joins them in a wobbly flight over the city.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"TIMBER WOLF"
Writer: Matt WayneDirector: Lauren Montgomery
Starring: Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman)
Guest Starring: Harry J. Lennix (Dr. Londo)
Aired in the U.S.A.: September 30, 2006
The show opens with a monster of sorts tearing apart a group of robots in a jungle. It then cuts to the Legion (specifically Superman and Lightning Lad) battling a monster in space. Lightning Lad tries to show Superman how to handle things like this, but proves entirely ineffective as the Legion gets a distress call from a scientist on a remote planet. Superman handily disposes of the monster all on his own and the Legion flies off to answer the call.
Due to an argument between Bouncing Boy and Brainiac 5 (with regards to doing things "by the book" or otherwise) their ship crash lands on the planet, where Saturn Girl seems to notice some sort of feral growling that no one else does. They soon find the scientist, who shows them a picture of his son and tells them a beast has been terrorizing his lab and he wants the Legion to stop it and bring it to him. Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Superman set off to find him as Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy work on repairing their ship inside the lab's hangar.
Bouncing Boy is trying to improvise with the repairs, which Brainiac 5 chastises him for. This angers Bouncing Boy, who tells Brainiac 5 to do it himself and sets off to explore the lab. Meanwhile, Superman, LightningLad and Saturn Girl have been attacked by a group of robots and in the course of fighting them, Saturn Girl uses a power that leaves her drained. Just as more robots are about to attack her, the monster from the opening appears and saves her. Misunderstanding the monster's intentions, Lightning Lad and Superman attack him but are quickly defeated and the monster runs off and takes Saturn Girl with him.
Back at the lab, Bouncing Boy has encountered a large squadron of robots who refuse to let him continue exploring the lab. Worried that he's been gone so long, Brainiac 5 goes to look for him and finds Bouncing Boy tied up and prisoner of the robots. Brainy disables them with a nod to Bouncing Boy's preferred method of "improvisation".
In a cave with a roaring fire, Saturn Girl awakens to find the monster is anything but and that it's trying to communicate with her. She tries to read its mind and gets a little bit of information, learning that it's really not evil. Before she can continue Superman and Lightning Lad show up for round two and end up knocking the monster unconscious (and the same fate befalls Saturn Girl as well).
They take the two of them back to the lab, where Saturn Girl reawakens and finishes reading the monster's mind. It turns out he was experimented on against his will, and the scientist who sent the distress call appears and says that the monster is, in fact, his son, Brin Londo. The scientist has arrived with a large contingent of robots and other beastly monsters and orders them all to attack the Legion.
Teaming together with Brin, the Legion eventually defeats their attackers and the scientist reveals that he was trying to create the ultimate weapon by turning Brin into the monster he's become. With Saturn Girl's urging, Brin discovers he has some level of control over the monster within him and can turn back into something that resembles a furry, wolf-like human.
He destroys his father's lab so that he cannot experiment on anyone else in the future and then leaves with the Legion on their ship, and as the ship rises from the planet Brainy wonders how the ship can be flying with the atmospheric thrusters still broken. Bouncing Boy once again touts the joys of improvisation, and we see Superman flying below the ship, carrying it out into space.
Brin then joins the Legion as Timber Wolf, being given an official logo belt and ring by Superman as visions of many other as yet unseen members of the Legion look on from video screens behind him (Shrinking Violet, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy and Tyroc among them).
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"LEGACY"
Writer: Ben JonesDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman)
Guest Starring: Tara Strong (Alexis), John DiMaggio (Woodhouse)
Aired in the U.S.A.: October 7, 2006
The show opens with a type of robotic battle suit, which is jumping and flying across the city. The suit suddenly starts to fall from the sky and the ejector is broken. Just before it hits the ground Superman saves it and a red-headed woman with green eyes jumps out and thanks Superman before disappearing into the city.
Brainiac 5 tries to explain the danger of some new villains called the Scavengers to the Legion, but they're all far more interested in Superman's meeting with Alexia, who is one of the richest people in the galaxy and who owns her own planet. Superman gets an invitation to a party as Alexia's date, but he was supposed to go on patrol with Brainy. Lightning Lad agrees to cover for him and Superman goes to the party where rich, snobby people make fun of him for his costume. Alexia stands up for him and they leave shortly thereafter, Alexia saying she was only invited so they could get a check from her.
She then steals a flying motorcycle from Lobo (!) which her robot butler promptly pays for. Superman chases after her and together they break into her own building, which she's apparently not allowed into unsupervised any longer, after accidentally destroying the top ten floors of the building. Superman gets a call from Brainy who lets him know that there's nothing new to report, which annoys Superman.
They hang out and play games for a while, as the Legion tries to stop the Scavengers from acquiring new technology which would make them even more dangerous. They call for Superman's help, but due to Brainy's previous call Superman turns his communicator off. Brainy loses an arm in the battle as a result, but is able to regenerate a new one when Superman eventually returns to Legion HQ.
Superman apologizes and vows to always be there for them in the future. He gets an offer for another date from Alexis, and he begins to refuse but Brainy tells him to go ahead and go, as long as he leaves his communicator on this time.
Superman goes to meet her and tells her he's only got an hour, but ends up spending too long with her and eventually leaves amidst much protesting from Alexis who wants him all to herself. She vows to see to it that if Superman is torn between herself and the Legion that she'll help make the decision easier for him.
Arriving back at Legion HQ, Superman discovers he's missed another patrol and apologizes again. Brainy's been trying to find the Scavengers but hasn't been able to locate them.
In the Scavengers' base, they're discussing how they can't leave their current location to acquire new tech because the dampening field they've got is the only thing keeping them hidden from the Legion's scanners and Saturn Girl's mind probes. Just then Alexia breaks in with her robot butler and piles of technology and says that she thinks she can be of help.
Back at Legion HQ a distress call comes in from a sector of space high in radiation, and Superman's the only one who can survive in those conditions. He immediately takes off, and as soon as he's gone the Scavengers, upgraded with new tech from Alexia, break into Legion HQ. Alexia joins them, in a new and upgraded robotic suit. The Legion holds their own against the Scavengers but Alexia is eventually able to turn the tide and disable them.
Out in space, Superman arrives at the location of the distress call only to find a lone satellite with the logo of Alexia's company on it. He immediately heads back to Earth and rescues the rest of the Legion. He tries to stop Alexia, but she's having more fun than she has in a long time and won't give up.
She fires a beam from her suit at Superman who tells her to stop because she can't hurt him. He advances toward her and the beam feeds back into the suit, causing it to explode. Superman saves her from the explosion, but not before all her hair has fallen out.
We cut to some time later with Alexia in prison, where she reactivates her robot butler and says she's grateful to the Legion because now she finally knows what she wants to do with her life, as she drives a screwdriver through the Legion logo, cracking it.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"PHANTOMS"
Writer: Rob HoegeeDirector: Tim Maltby
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf)
Guest Starring: Greg Ellis (Drax)
Aired in the U.S.A.: November 4, 2006
The show opens with Clark looking through the Superman museum at the man he will become. Turns out Brainaic 5 is watching him, and Saturn Girl laments that he's gone back to the museum again (during which Brainy says there's only myths and legends there, and all information on Superman's origins was lost during "the great crisis"). As Clark is leaving the museum he notices a device he'd never seen before and accidentally activates.
Turns out it's a Phantom Zone projector and a man in a costume and a cape with a "Z" on his chest jumps through with a couple of beasts, happy to be free. He says his name is Drax and he begins destroying the museum displaying several powers identical to Superman's, as he declares that he's Superman's worst nightmare. He escapes with his flying monster pets and Superman flies after him, only to discover that Drax is nowhere to be found.
The Legion investigates the museum, and Brainy finds and explains the functionality of the Phantom Zone projector. Meanwhile, Drax explores the city and before long the Science Police show up due to the destruction he's causing. Drax and his pets quickly dispose of several waves of Science Police officers as the Legion arrives to confront him. As Superman and Drax battle it out, the rest of the Legion members try to deal with Drax's super-powered flying pets. As Superman and Drax battle, a bridge suffers collateral damage and Superman flies off to help. Phantom Girl and Lightning Lad try to keep Drax occupied, and succeed just long enough for Superman to repair the bridge.
As it seems Superman is finally gaining the upper hand, Drax hears a voice in his head telling him to remember who he is, and that he's evil and always has been and always will be. Before he can react his pets come and fly off with him.
Back at Legion HQ, Brainy has run scans of Drax and finds that he's almost Superman's "genetic equal". Elsewhere, Drax is telling his pets that soon the city will be theirs, when the voice in his head begins talking again, telling him to not forget why he exists and what he was trained for. Drax vows to put an end to Superman, and says that before the day is over the owner of the voice will also be free.
The Legion has picked up on Drax's pets and are chasing them through the city, much to the chagrin of the Science Police. Just as the Legion seems about to defeat the pets, the Science Police catch up to them and attack the Legion, believing them to be at fault for everything. While battling both the pets and the Science Police, Superman heads back to Legion HQ where Drax is attacking Brainy, demanding to know where the Phantom Zone projector is.
Brainy tries to subdue Drax with kryptonite, but Drax says that his parents made sure that kryptonite wouldn't work on him. Superman arrives and he and Drax battle again, with Brainy calling the rest of the Legion back for help as Drax seems to be getting the upper hand. The Legion members arrive to help Superman with Drax and toss him the Phantom Zone projector.
Drax pleads to not be sent back there, and then attacks when Superman is off-guard. The projector activates and sends the rest of the Legion members into the Phantom Zone, and then Drax destroys the projector.
They battle further and Superman asks what he's ever done to make Drax hate him so much, and Drax says it's not about what he's done, it's about what he will do. They battle throughout the Legion HQ and arrive in a weapons room, where Superman arms himself to the teeth with various manners of futuristic weapons and blasters.
In the Phantom Zone, the Legion is surrounded by ghostly, menacing apparitions, who close in and attack, and which seem to be immune to attacks. Brainy temporarily puts a shield around all the Legion members, but it won't last long.
Drax and Superman continue their battle, and Drax reveals that Brainy has something Superman should ask him about... and then says that he was born in the Phantom Zone! And that is what made him just like Superman.
Brainy has come up with a plan to get them out of the Phantom Zone, but he needs extra power from Lightning Lad and it involves Phantom Girl turning everyone phantom at once, which might result in her being stuck in "phantom mode" forever.
Just as Drax is about to use the kryptonite on Superman, the Legion arrives back from the Phantom Zone and Superman kicks him (and the kryptonite in its case) through the portal back into the zone. After a brief scare with Phantom Girl, she reappears and seems to be fine other than a little sickness.
As Brainy repairs the Legion HQ, Superman apologizes for the damage to his lab and mentions that Drax took a black sphere from it (the kryptonite container). Brainy says he was glad to be rid of but, but stops short of telling Superman what it was. Superman then says at first he wanted answers from Drax, but now he's glad he's gone and says that he's done going to the museum, too, because although he has questions, life is more fun with a little mystery.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"CHAMPIONS"
Writer: Matt WayneDirector: Lauren Montgomery
Starring: Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl)
Guest Starring: April Winchell (Winema Wazzo), David Lodge (Announcer #2/Tharok), Walter Lang (Announcer #1), Jennifer Hale (Emerald Empress), James Arnold Taylor (Mekt Ranzz/Jo Nah)
Aired in the U.S.A.: November 11, 2006
We begin at "The 343rd Intergalactic Games" competition where various aliens are competing in different events and breaking records. LightningLad is competing in the dodecathalon, a competition with twelve different events and a building containing dignitaries from the United Planets floats overhead so that they can watch the proceedings. The announcers begin talking about the favorite in the competition who's from the planet Winath, and Lightning Lad gets a confident look on his face... until the announcers mention the name Mekt Ranzz, Lightning Lad's brother.
LightningLad confronts Mekt about why he's participating in the dodecathalon and always trying to upstage him, to which Mekt replies that he's tired of everyone thinking Lightning Lad is the "best in the galaxy" and he wants to set the record straight. Lightning Lad and Mekt head off to the start of the event, and Superman and Phantom Girl head to the stands. Phantom Girl pulled a lot of strings to get them seats, but they have to sit with her mother, the President of the United Planets (which she is less than thrilled with).
Phantom Girl introduces Superman to her mother, and he stumbles all over himself, in awe because he's never met a president before. Phantom Girl makes fun of Superman for his "aw shucks" attitude and they head off to watch the first event in the dodecathalon, the filament jump.
This event is a race in something like rocket-powered hovercrafts (think the pod race from "The Phantom Menace"). Mekt tries to disable Lightning Lad's ship during the race, and the officials literally look the other way. Despite this, Lightning Lad wins the event to cheers from the crowd, who chant his name.
Back with Superman and Phantom Girl, the President remarks that they make a cute couple, and they both immediately try to correct her on the issue and say they're just friends before running out for snacks to get away from her. Superman tells Phantom Girl that her mom means well, but she remains unconvinced. Superman suddenly sees something with his x-ray vision... something that looks like a bomb under the skybox where all the United Planets dignitaries are sitting.
Superman finds it and flies out above the planet and flings it off into space just before it detonates. The explosion creates some sort of black hole and Superman barely escapes and makes it back to the planet. Phantom Girl explains the bomb contained one tiny speck of dark matter that can swallow half a planet, and she's worried someone is targeting her mother.
Superman discovers one of the souvenir vendors isn't what he appears to be and he and Phantom Girl set off in pursuit. Superman corners him and tells him to drop the disguise... and calls him by name... and it's Tharok of the Fatal Five! Sterok manages to escape and Superman realizes that Emerald Empress must be cloaking him.
Superman wants to call the Science Police, but Phantom Girl thinks if they show up it will only incite mass hysteria. Lightning Lad wants to stop the Fatal Five themselves.
Superman sets off to look for the Fatal Five while Phantom Girl keeps an eye on her mother, and Lightning Lad competes in the next event in the dodecathalon, Flare Surfing. LightningLad does a maneuver no one has ever pulled off before, but Mekt shoves another competitor into the way as Lightning Lad lands, causing points to be deducted from LightningLad's score.
Meanwhile, Superman's discovered Mano who has rigged a flying vehicle to crash into the presidential skybox. Mano escapes, but Superman is able to stop the vehicle in time just as Phantom Girl spots and intercepts Persuader. She stops him, but Validus sees her and is about to attack when Superman gets in the way. They crash to the ground and Validus escapes before Superman can recover.
Up next in the dodecathalon is the final event, a 500-meter dash across lava canyons dodging robotic obstacles that try to attack them. As several of the other competitors are eliminated, Lightning Lad dives to save Mekt from being shot by a laser obstacle, but Mekt only uses this to his advantage to gain position in the race. LightningLad takes off in pursuit but Mekt sets off an explosive device, destroying part of the course. LightningLad makes it through, but one of the other competitors is in danger of falling into the lava.
Lightning Lad returns to save him, at the expense of winning the race. Mekt tells Lightning Lad that there's nothing wrong with winning silver and that he should be used to second place by now. At the medal ceremony, Mekt pulls out a device and says he needs to repay a favor. He seems to have no idea what it's going to do, but activates it anyway and it destroys the force field over the arena.
The Fatal Five fly in and reveal their true selves, and the judge who looked the other way during Mekt's cheating is, in fact, the Emerald Empress. They're apparently having a contest, and the first one of them to grab the President wins. They all go after her and Superman, Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl try to stop them.
The Fatal Five seem to be getting the upper hand as Mekt escapes, but a hitherto unseen character (in one of the Intergalactic Games uniforms) runs up and begins using a variety of different powers, one at a time, to turn the tide of the battle (this is who, I surmise, will soon be known as Ultra Boy). The Legion and the new guy (and a couple other competitors from the dodecathalon) defeat the Fatal Five and send them off to prison.
Lightning Lad confronts Mekt who admits to making a deal with a judge to win the event, but had no idea who the judge really was. LightningLad tells him to keep his medal as a reminder of what a jerk he is, but Mekt seems unfazed.
The President gives Superman a medal for saving her life, much to Phantom Girl's chagrin, and Lightning Lad gets his own gold medal.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"FEAR FACTORY"
Writer: John EspositoDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad)
Guest Starring: Jennifer Hale (Space Warrior/Ma Kent), Dan Castellaneta (The Butler/Captain Howdy), Richard McGonagle (Space Warrior/Ma Kent)
Aired in the U.S.A.: November 18, 2006
Superman and the Legion are in their ship, caught in some sort of space storm. They find an ancient space station located in the eye of the storm, which has no life signs but Saturn Girl is hearing a lot of voices from it, prompting them to think it's some sort of haunted station. They dock their ship and go in to investigate, where they're welcomed by a six-eyed alien named Boris who says "the master" has been expecting them.
They follow him into a secret passage beneath a staircase and see bizarre paintings of many different aliens, all of whom seem to be screaming. They're lead into a banquet hall and served a meal, when Boris suddenly whispers to Bouncing Boy to "get out while he can". The voice of "the master" dismisses Boris, and suddenly there's a person sitting at the head of the table who introduces himself as Professor Vaneris.
The professor is well aware of who the Legion are and says the station is an intergalactic rest stop (called Quavermass 12) for people weary from traveling through all the nearby storms. The Legion members begin eating their meals, which all look the same but apparently taste like whatever their favorite foods are... except for bouncing boy, who finds a soup filled with eyeballs.
The professor then tells them that the docking bridge has been damaged and can't be repaired until morning, so they'll have to stay the night. They each get their own rooms, and Bouncing Boy's is isolated and alone at the end of the corridor. In his room, an old rotary phone rings only to reveal beastly growls on the other end.
The door to his room suddenly opens and a cat names Whiskers jumps through, but takes off and gets lost when the lights go out. Using his Legion ring as a flashlight, Bouncing Boy goes in search of the cat and ends up in a dingy sewer that he recognizes as a set from one of the old horror movies he's seen. Everywhere he turns he meets with another scene from a horror movie he's seen. He eventually finds Whiskers, just as a huge beastly alien sneaks up behind him.
In her room, Saturn Girl snaps awake as her powers let her know Bouncing Boy's in trouble. Superman and the Legion go looking for him, and find him just in time to save him from the alien. Superman uses his heat vision, but the alien just evaporates. A portal then opens up and sucks Bouncing Boy through before Superman can grab him, and the room suddenly changes and walls drop down all around the Legion and a hole opens in the floor with steps leading down.
They go down the stairs and see a new painting of a terrified Bouncing Boy mounted on the wall. Suddenly they end up in Lightning Lad's bedroom, and Brainy deduces that there's a holographic simulator at work. Superman uses his x-ray vision and spots their ship outside and uses his heat vision to blast a hole in the wall. But before they can go through the hole, the station has repaired itself.
Suddenly shadowy arms reach out from the darkness and begin attacking. A creepy floating clown named Captain Howdy floats out of the shadows. Lightning Lad says it used to hide under his bed but his parents never believed him because it only came out during storms. He tells it to stay away, and it's head explodes and a hairy beast with tusks emerges and growls at him. As he screams in terror another portal opens up and sucks him through.
Brainy figures out that the station is adapting to show the Legion members their greatest fears and Superman promises to keep them safe. Saturn Girl has suddenly disappeared and is on some sort of crazy rocket-powered space roller coaster. She screams and a portal opens up to take her. Superman saves her, but she evaporates from his arms and is pulled into the portal anyway.
Brainy and Superman fly on, and see new paintings for Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, trapped in their terrified screams. Brainy gives Superman a little disc in case anything happens to him, and Superman says nothing will happen to him but Brainy corrects him and says that he has to face his fears on his own and that Superman can't save everyone.
Brainy is up next and is greeted by his people, the Coluans. They demand that Brainy return to them because he isn't human and never will be. Brainy is unphased and they attack him before morphing into one giant being that ties Superman up and drops him into some Kryptonite. Brainy goes into "battle mode" and fights the construct, finally finding the real Quavermas2 12 computer (which looks a bit like Hal from "2001") and is able to take it over.
There's an explosion and a ghostly Brainy appears to Superman, who's holding Brainy's lifeless body in his arms. Apparently Quavermass 12 uses fear as an energy source and uses the portraits to keep its victims in a suspended state of terror. Brainy tells him the only way to free the others is to shut the system down, but Superman worries that will destroy him. Brainy says there's not time and the professor reappears and tells Superman to save his friend and to join them instead.
Superman says "heroes make choices" and flies into the computer, and as he's about to disable it Martha shows up and tells him to step away. Superman tells her she's not real and proceeds to destroy the computer. Superman shuts the computer down with an apology to Brainy, and this dissipates the very storm outside that caused them to need to stop in the first place. Everyone's freed from their portraits and Saturn Girl senses great pain from Superman.
They find him with Brainy's lifeless body, Superman going on about how he wanted to save him, but he had to choose. Bouncing Boy asks who has the backup disc, and Superman realizes that's what Brainy gave him.
Back on their ship, they revive Brainy and mention that transports are coming to Quavermass 12 to take all the other victims home. On the ship, Brainy goes to visit Superman who asks why Brainy didn't tell him that the small device was a backup disc, and Brainy says it was because if he had, then Superman wouldn't have ever faced his own fear. Superman says he thought he wasn't afraid of anything, but he was wrong... he's afraid of losing the people he cares for. And he sets a photo of Jonathan and Martha cradling him in a "S" blanket when he was a baby on a shelf.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"BRAIN DRAIN"
Writer: Rob HummelDirector: Tim Maltby
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad)
Guest Starring: Billy West (Dispatcher/Tour Guide)
Aired in the U.S.A.: February 3, 2007
Superman, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Timberwolf stand outside a chamber worrying about Brainiac 5, who is apparently inside the room and has been for days. The chamber suddenly opens, Brainy comes out, rips a panel off the wall and returns to the chamber amid sounds of construction.
Superman overrides the computer lock and they enter to find a gigantic device that Brainy says is a containment chamber... for himself. Turns out every once in a while Coluans go through an "Alignment" where their intellect is uploaded to the hive mind and shared with every other Coluan. This is Brainy's first Alignment, and since he's separated from the hive mind he's not sure how he'll react, so the chamber is for his, and the Legion's, protection.
Over the next ten hours Brainy experiences dementia, and unfortunately it stays with him after the Alignment has ended. Only radiation from Zoonium can reverse the process, and it's located on the most inhospitable planet in the galaxy, Zoon (which is where Timberwolf grew up). The only way there that's fast enough to save Brainy is through cargo portals not meant for people to travel through.
Timberwolf takes a portal to the planet and arrives safely, but only Brainy's head arrives and Superman arrives powerless for reasons he can't discern. Timberwolf is concerned, but Superman says that powers or no, Brainy is his friend and he's going to help him.
Meanwhile Brainy's body has been sent to a planet with giant crystal spires, which the slightest touch can cause to crumble down. Brainy's body is chasing around after a robotic tour guide as Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl try to capture it and bring it back. Eventually Saturn Girl forms some sort of hologram of the tour guide and gets Brainy's body to chase it right back through the portal before all of the spires collapse.
Timberwolf and Superman are attacked by miners who have been mutated by the toxic air on Zoon. Using his Legion flight ring for the first time, Superman takes Brainy to the elevator that will lead them down into the mine while Timberwolf holds off the miners and rejoins with them shortly. Once inside the mine they're attacked by waves of the spider-like robots that work there. Superman takes refuge behind a door, and finds a large exo-suit which he climbs inside and uses to fight off the robots. He takes Brainy's head down further into the mine, where the radiation burns through Superman's protective suit but he keeps going anyway, finally getting Brainy close enough to the Zoonium to cure him.
With Timberwolf's help Superman makes it back through the portal with Brainy's head, where Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl wait with Brainy's body. Later, at Legion HQ, Superman asks Brainy if he knows why he lost his powers and finds out that it's because his powers only work under a yellow sun. When asked why he wasn't told about this sooner, Brainy says there are some things Superman has to learn on his own, back in his own time... which leads Superman to wonder what else Brainy knows that he hasn't said anything about.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"LIGHTNING STORM"
Writer: Stan BerkowitzDirector: Lauren Montgomery
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad),ÊShawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl)
Guest Starring: James Arnold Taylor (Mekt Ranzz/Porcupine Pete), Tara Strong (Esper), Khary Payton (Tyr/The Hunter), Adam Wylie (Colossal Boy), Shawn Harrison (Ron-Karr)
Aired in the U.S.A.: February 10, 2007
Somewhere in space, a giant octopus-like alien creature is attacking several ships as they pass by. The Legion, including Superman, Bouncing Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, and the first appearance of Colossal Boy, arrive and take on the monster but seem to be ineffective. As things look hopeless, a ship arrives and five strangers jump out to save the day.
They quickly disable the monster and free the trapped ships from its clutches. Superman goes to thank them, and their leader says they should make themselves useful and clean up the mess. On the way back home, Lightning Lad seems impressed with how "together" the mysterious strangers were, even though Triplicate Girl thinks they were rather "stuck up". The Legion runs into them again at a floating diner out in space, and Lightning Lad goes to talk to them, and they introduce themselves as "The Light Speed Vanguard". Embarrassed by his fellow Legion members who are having a good time back at their table, Lightning Lad takes one of their business cards as they tell him to drop by sometime.
Back at Legion HQ, the place is packed with kids with powers who are taking Bouncing Boy's seminars in preparation for the Legion new member auditions, which are coming up soon, much to Lightning Lad's chagrin. He goes to the roof for a moment alone and unknowingly activates a portal to the Light Speed Vanguard's base, where he meets another member of the group... his brother Mekt.
After some badgering about how he "hangs out with kids", Lightning Lad decides to stay and give the LSV a try. He places a call to the Legion to let them know his intentions, much to their bafflement. After the call ends Saturn Girl confesses that she tried to read the LSV's members' minds back at the diner but their telepath, Esper, was shielding their minds and she doesn't know what they're up to... which is when Timberwolf suggests a stakeout.
Back with the LSV, Lightning Lad is remembering something from his past where he and his sister Ayla (the as yet unseen Light Lass) were being attacked by a lightning beast (the one that gave him his powers) and Mekt saved them. When Lightning Lad learns of this, he's none to pleased, but Esper tells him that "everyone has a past". Just outside the LSV ship, Superman and Timberwolf hide in a cloaked ship, following right on their tail.
Marooned on a planet, the members of a transport ship try to hold off their robotic attackers known as Sand Raiders. After they fight them off, a much larger and more imposing robot arrives and the LSV tells Lightning Lad he has to handle it himself. He tries and nearly gets defeated as Superman and Timberwolf rush in to save him. Lightning Lad gets mad at them for making it look like he couldn't handle it himself, and Superman is surprised to see Mekt "helping people". Lightning Lad tells them he's staying with the LSV, and then finds out that they're charging the people they helped, even though the transport was carrying decontamination units (what amounts to medical supplies) and there are people who need them desperately. Unfazed, the LSV gives him the bill anyway and Lightning Lad seems more than a little concerned.
He notices several emergencies where the LSV could be of help, but they're not interested because there's no money in it. Just then they get a transmission from the captain of the transport they saved saying he's not going to pay, and they decide they're going to go back and make sure they collect their fee from him.
Back at Legion HQ, Bouncing Boy is talking to some of the new member hopefuls when Superman receives a distress call... from the captain of the transport ship, saying his ship's been hijacked!
As the Legion arrives, the LSV is stealing all the decontamination units as their "payment". Lightning Lad tries to stop them and ends up sailing through space for his trouble. Superman saves him, and Lightning Lad and Mekt confront each other as the Legion takes on the rest of the LSV.
After a hard fight the Legion gets the upper hand, but Mekt has defeated Lightning Lad and leaves him trapped, telling him to stay out of his way in the future because he has "big plans".
Lightning Lad asks if the Legion will let him back in, and Superman tells him that as far as he's concerned, Lightning Lad never left.
Read our review of this episode in the "Legion of Super Heroes: Episode Reviews".
"THE SUBSTITUTES"
Writer: Scott SonnebornDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5)
Guest Starring: James Arnold Taylor (Porcupine Peter/Color Kid), Taylor Negron (Starfinger), Yuri Lowenthal (Stone Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Infectious Lass), Alexander Polinsky (Chlorophyll Kid, Matter-Eater Lad)
Aired in the U.S.A.: February 17, 2007
We open in Legion headquarters where auditions for new Legion members are being held. Chlorophyll Kid is first up and throws some seeds which quickly turn into a giant plant monster that starts eating the wall of the headquarters. Unfortunately, all CK can do is make plants grow fast, not control them. And Lightning Lad laments audition time.
Bouncing Boy gets the plant's attention and is quickly eaten, and then turns into a ball and bursts out from the inside, finally stopping the plant. Next up is Stone Boy who, you might have surmised, can turn himself into stone. Unfortunately, that's the extent of his ability as it seems to make him little more than a statue. He's followed by Color Kid, who turns Superman greenÉ and then blue, and then red, etc.
Next is Porcupine Pete, which Lightning Lad protests about after his appearing in episode 8 which led to quills bouncing all around the room and one sticking in Lightning Lad's behind. Bouncing Boy says things are different now because Porcupine Pete passed his prep course with flying colors. A hovering robot enters the room and Pete sends a bunch of quills flying at it, which simply bounce off and destroy much of the remaining audition chamber.
Then we finally meet actual DC Comics characters. First is Matter-Eater Lad, who consumes pieces of metallic junk and even a bomb as if they were snacks, with no ill effects. And then Star Boy, who can alter the gravity of objects.
Infectious Lass is next, who comes complete with an asthma inhaler. She uses her power andÉ gives Bouncing Boy a cold.
Shocking no one who's familiar with DC Comics but perhaps delighting kids everywhere, Matter-Eater Lad and Star Boy are announced as the newest Legion members.
Porcupine Pete, Chlorophyll Kid, Infectious Las, Color Kid are lamenting not making the Legion at the base of Stone Boy's statue form. Bouncing Boy comes out and tells them not to give up, and gets a message from Brainiac 5 summoning him to the launch bay. The Legion ship launches into space, and the Legion audition also-rans decide to show the Legion what they can do.
Above the earth, an alien monster is feeding off of the planet's ionosphere, which out with cosmic rays will incinerate the earth. They leave the ship to confront the monster, and Superman decides this is a good time to see what the new members can do. Star Boy increases the gravity on the monster and it begins to fall toward earthÉ and then Matter-Eater Lad eats it, as many more of the monsters arrive.
Back on earth, Stone Boy is finally back to normal again. Porcupine Pete's mom is driving them around New Metropolis, and they hit the streets to try to prove themselves in various ways, proving either ineffective or detrimental to the people they're trying to help. Then a villain named Starfinger shows up in a giant suit, and each of his fingers shoots out a different power, like ice beams, sonic booms, and shooting little furry critters out who go and rob people for him, but sometimes just randomly float away. They try to stop him, but fail miserably and Starfinger escapes. They decide to follow the trail of furry critters to try and stop him again.
Out in space, the Legion is fighting the monsters but more and more of them keep coming, and there seems to be an unlimited supply. On earth, the also-rans find Starfinger's hideout and call Brainy about it, but he doesn't have time to worry about a "third-rate nuisance", as he calls in reinforcements.
So Porcupine Pete and friends break into Starfinger's hideout to confront him. Through ingenious uses of their powers they're able toÉ aggravate him for a short period of time. Stone Boy ends up covered in the small fluffy critters and floats out through a hole in the ceiling.
Back in space, Brainy's made a canon to polarize the ionosphere, effectively turning it into a giant bug zapper, although it's not without its risks and could cause severe damage. Just then Stone Boy lazily floats past, and the fuzzy critters turn into the monsters that are devouring the ionosphere.
We then get brief glimpses of Element Lad, Sun Boy, Tyroc, and Blok, who are assisting with fighting the monsters, as Stone Boy turns back to stone as he falls to earth. Starfinger has cornered Porcupine Pete and friends and just as he's about to give them the "ten finger salute", Stone Boy crashes into him and knocks him out of the fight.
Just as Brainy is about to use his canon, Porcupine Pete and friends arrive, courtesy of his mom and her floating station wagon. Brainy examines Starfinger's glove and attaches it to his cannon and fires, and it sends the monsters back to their original dimension (or destroys them, one can't be too sure).
Back in New Metropolis, the Legion members apologize for underestimating the new folks, who are named the Legion of Substitute Heroes who vow to help out the next time the Legion needs them.
"CHILD'S PLAY"
Writer: Marty IsenbergDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5)
Guest Starring: April Winchell (Winema Wazzo), Richard McGonagle (High Elder, Evil Wizard), Lauren Tom (Zix)
Aired in the U.S.A.: February 25, 2007
Superman is marveling at 31st century technology when suddenly some muffins hop out of their containers and run away. A building is smiling and it begins literally raining cats and dogs. Brainy surmises that whatever is causing these things to happen must be a being of immense power. And we then see that it's actually a kid in a funny helmet with a strikingly familiar yellow and purple outfit.
Superman goes to investigate and notices a train is about to hit the kid, who simply gives the train wings and watches as it flies away. Supes uses his freeze breath on the wings to stop the train and the kid seems impressed and wants to know what kind of magic he's using. Brainiac-5 says there's no such thing as magic, and then the kid turns Brainy into a jack-in-the-box to prove his point. The kid introduces himself as Zix, and Superman asks him if he could change everything back to the way it was. Zix reluctantly agrees and with a snap of his fingers everything returns to normal.
Superman and Brainy decide to take him back to Legion HQ to find out where he's from, and in the background Zix is creating objects to amuse himself (one of which is a green lantern and one of which looks an awful lot like Dr. Fate's helmet).
At Legion HQ, Zix is having fun and causing all sorts of mayhem. Saturn Girl is trying to do a mind probe on him to find out where he's from, and Zix wonders why she'd want to know about that place because it's nothing but "rules, rules, rules".
Brainy's scans are inconclusive and he seems unwilling to believe Zix's powers are magic, until Zix makes a chicken materialize over Brainy's head and Brainy literally ends up with egg on his face. Phantom Girl says her mother once mentioned a planet of sorcerers and contacts her to see if she has any information.
Phantom Girl's mother, the President of the United Planets, says the planet of sorcerers, Zarok, is "backward and dangerous" and cut all ties to the United Planets centuries ago and contacting them would be of little help, and is afraid the Legion will be stuck with Zix unless he chooses to move on of his own accord.
Meanwhile, Lighting Lad and the other Legion members are looking at video of Comet and Cupid, the superpowered flying pets of Drax from episode 4. They have apparently escaped from the New Metropolis Zoo (due to a malfunction in their cages) and the Legion takes off to round them up. Zix wants to help, but Lightning Lad tells him to just stay out of trouble and to let the Legion handle it.
As Superman, Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy round up the first of the two pets, Superman contacts Brainy to see if he was able to repair the cages, and Brainy tells him that the cages are fine and didn't malfunction at all. Zix shows up and confesses that he let Comet and Cupid out, and Lightning Lad tells him that he has to put them back. So Zix turns himself into "SuperZix" and goes for a ride on one of the monsters for a bit before it gets returned to its enclosure.
Lightning Lad yells at Zix for putting people in danger and says that if he can't follow the rules, it's time for him to go home. Zix refuses and turns Lightning Lad into a rat. He then yells about hating rules and turns himself into a cat and goes chasing after Lightning Rat. He eats him, but a burst of lightning sets Lightning Lad free again. Bouncing Boy tries to interfere and Zix shoots him into a wall where he splats all over.
Brainy says transforming matter has serious consequences and tries to stop him, but gets two giant snakes for arms for his trouble. Superman tells Zix this isn't how superheroes behave, and Zix declares he'd much rather be a supervillain. He shoots a bunch of roses at Superman, the thorns from which cut him and shred his uniform. Superman is shocked as Zix brings one of the roses to life, which promptly tries to eat Superman and gives him a run for his money.
Not knowing what to do and being worried about Superman's apparent vulnerability to magic, Phantom Girl decides to go to Zarok to try to get some help. As she heads for the Legion cruiser, Zix tries to stop them but apparently misses. Except that onboard the cruiser, it's apparent he didn't miss entirely as Triplicate Girl starts splitting into hundreds of copies of herself.
As they arrive where Zarok is supposed to be, they find nothing but empty space. Another call from the President reveals that her first task when she began her career in public service was to re-open talks with Zarok, but failed. Phantom Girl is determined to help her friends, but her mother says she'll have to find another way because diplomacy just won't work with them. Just then a sort of magical police officer appears and gives Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl a ticket for "Unauthorized use of a triplicating spell outside the magical barrier". Phantom Girl says she doesn't even know where his planet is, and his little star wand glows and Zarok suddenly becomes visible.
Back in New Metropolis, Zix has made himself a giant and is smashing things, but all of his other changes seem to be undoing themselves.
On Zarok, Phantom Girl has been filling out piles of paperwork and getting nowhere, and is told to get in a line that winds its way all the way up a mountain. She says it's an emergency and gets sent to customs, who sends her to a boxing ring to fight a giant rabbit. Bandaged up, she returns and finally gets her form approved... and ends up in the line winding itself all the way up a mountain. As she begins to understand why Zix hates rules so much, a man appears and tells her that without rules nothing would stop them from running rampant with their powers. But she's very determined, so "the council" will hear her plea.
Back in New Metropolis again, Superman tries to stop Zix, who just removes all of his powers before trying to squish him. Saturn Girl saves him and Brainy finally admits magic exists, much to Zix's delight. Bouncing Boy says it's not much of a fair fight if Zix takes their powers away, so Zix returns Superman's powers and throws him into a nearby arena. They begin a battle where Superman tries to buy Phantom Girl as much time as possible.
On Zarok, the council has approved Phantom Girl's request that they send an emissary to New Metropolis to retrieve Zix. But unfortunately her unauthorized presence on Zarok means the United Planets and Zarok are now at war. Phantom Girl pleads with the council to bend their rules and not go to war, as hundreds of their ships prepare for battle.
In New Metropolis, Phantom Girl notices that battling Superman is taxing Zix's power to the limit, so the Legion members all attack at once and try to push him over the edge.
Phantom Girl tells the council Zix must have broken tons of rules, and they agree and say he'll be dealt with after the war, because that's the rule. So on behalf of the United Planets, she surrenders, thus ending the war before it even begins.
The Legion finally overcomes Zix, who collapses from overexertion just as one of the council members from Zarok arrives and undoes all of the damage Zix caused. He then tells the President that her daughter's quick thinking and selfless actions have made him believe the time is right to open talks with the United Planets once again.
"CHAIN OF COMMAND"
Writer: Amy WolframDirector: Lauren Montgomery
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5)
Guest Starring: Adam Wylie (Colossal Boy), Wil Wheaton (Cosmic Boy), Dave Wittenberg (Ferro Lad)
Aired in the U.S.A.: March 3, 2007
The Legion is flying through space in their cruiser, when the image on their viewscreen becomes filled with static and cuts in and out. The people on the screen say United Planets ships are on their way but won't make it in time and they need help immediately, and then the screen cuts out for good. Lightning Lad orders the ship to full speed, and it begins shaking violently. Bouncing Boy says the turbulence could tear the ship apart, but Lightning Lad presses them onward because they're not going to save just any planet... they're going to save his home.
During their trip, Lightning Lad educates his teammates on his homeworld, Winath. It's the breadbasket of the galaxy and provides most of the food for the entire quadrant. Comsic storms cause all kinds of destructive weather, until they build a diffuser station that turns the storms' energy into usable power. But the current storm is far more than the diffusing station can handle, and so the Legion's first priority is to make sure the station doesn't overload. Saturn Girl scans the planet and finds everyone has evacuated to the central storm shelter and is unharmed.
The storm is too much for the Legion cruiser to be able to land, so Lightning Lad orders Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl to stay on board and everyone else to head down to Winath with him in the battle pod. The storm tosses them about, but the battle pod comes to a safe, if rocky, landing near the diffusing station.
They head inside where they're met by long-absent Legion leader, Cosmic Boy. Everyone seems happy to see him except Lightning Lad. Cosmic Boy said he was on his way back to Earth when he heard the distress call and stopped, and introduces a new member of the team that he picked up, Ferro Lad, who wears a mask and can turn himself to iron.
Lightning Lad tries to form a plan, but Cosmic Boy takes over and the Legion members defer to his judgment. Superman, Colossal Boy, Ferro Lad and Lighting Lad are sent to stabilize the building while Brainiac-5, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy head to the core. Brainy can't make repairs until the core is stabilized, which Cosmic Boy tries to do but it puts a heavy strain on him.
Outside, Ferro Boy repairs a generator but causes it to overload and it shuts down. Just then lightning strikes and hits the core, causing Cosmic Boy's attempt to contain the core to fail. Brainy says there's enough radiation in the core to take out half the planet and tries to call Superman, but his Legion ring is malfunctioning. Saturn Girl contacts Superman telepathically and he grabs the core and flies it out into space (to music reminiscent of the theme to "Superman: The Animated Series"), where it explodes, sending Superman flying.
Unconscious, he falls back through the atmosphere where Bouncing Boy, aboard the Legion cruiser, spots him and is able to rescue him with a little reassurance from Triplicate Girl. Back on Winath the storm is growing out of control, because without the core there's nothing to control the weather. Cosmic Boy wants to try to get the station back online, but Lightning Lad doesn't see the point and wants to try to save whatever they can. Brainy and Saturn Girl stay with Cosmic Boy as Ferro Lad and Colossal Boy choose to go with Lightning Lad and try to stop a shower of meteorites from destroying everything. Lightning Lad says it's hard to trust someone when he can't see their face, and Ferro Lad says no one wants to see what's under his mask.
On the Legion cruiser, Bouncing Boy notices a pattern in the weather and thinks there's a way to predict where the next storm will hit, allowing them to fortify the area before it's hit. Unfortunately, Lightning Lad doesn't want to listen and tells Bouncing Boy to just make sure nothing happens to the cruiser. Recovered, Superman takes off and heads back toward the planet despite Bouncing Boy's protests that the storms are even worse than before.
Brainy and Cosmic Boy are working on repairing the core, and Saturn Girl wants to help, but Cosmic Boy tells her to stay back because he doesn't want her getting hurt.
Lightning Lad and his team are having trouble, and Colossal Boy tells him that they can't save everything. Lightning Lad tries anyway, fighting against a storm of hail stones that threaten a farm. Luckily Superman arrives to help out, but the ground cracks and the farm takes heavy damage despite their best efforts. It turns out the farm was the Lightning Lad's home, and all he's able to save from it is one family photo. He laments the loss of his home as a call from Saturn Girl comes in, saying the power system has been repaired.
In the diffusing station, Saturn Girl is going to leave to try to help the citizens of Winath, who are afraid, holed up in their bunker. Cosmic Boy tries to get her to stay, and she says she's handled far worse while he was away and he should stop treating her like a child.
On the cruiser Bouncing Boy predicts where the next storm will hit, and it's going to destroy a dam, the water from which will cause a sinkhole right at the location of the underground shelter. He calls Cosmic Boy, who says they've got it covered as the core is almost back online. Bouncing Boy pleads his case, and Lightning Lad says he and Superman can try to help evacuate, but there's not time, so Bouncing Boy takes charge of the situation.
He deploys Legion members to various locations. He sends Colossal Boy to the dam and has him undo a hole he recently repaired, causing water to spill out in a direction away from the shelter. In a forest, Bouncing Boy has Lightning Lad start a fire, the heat from which will divert the water from the dam. He sends Superman into an approaching tornado to move it slightly, so that it cuts a path through the ground and diverts the water out to sea. Just then Brainy gets the core back online and the station resumes working, and the storms end.
Saturn Girl leads the people out of the shelter, where Lightning Lad is reunited with his parents.
On board the cruiser on the way home, Lightning Lad confronts Cosmic Boy about why he thinks he can leave the team for months and still be the leader. Cos says he's been trying to bring the team legitimacy as a lot of people still don't trust them. Lightning Lad says maybe he should be team diplomat instead of leader, and Cos offers to put it to a vote. Per Legion rules, anytime there's a challenge to the leadership a vote can be held, so Lightning Lad challenges and Cosmic Boy agrees.
After polling all Legion members (including some we've never seen, like Shrinking Violet and Dream Girl), Bouncing Boy is elected the new leader! Bouncing Boy seems excited but nervous, and Lightning Lad tells him that with all their worst enemies locked up tight, his term in office should be a breeze.
Just then a portal opens up and a ship emerges, with an ominous looking unidentified person on board.
"SUNDOWN, PT. 1"
Writer: David SlackDirector: Tim Maltby
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5)
Guest Starring: Wil Wheaton (Cosmic Boy), Dave Wittenberg (Ferro Lad)
Aired in the U.S.A.: April 28, 2007
The episode opens in space with the Legion in the midst of a heated battle with the Fatal Five. Not faring well, the Legion members contact Bouncing Boy aboard their ship for a new battle plan, but his decisions lead to the dismantling of the team and every one of the other members being terminated in turn, even Superman. Just as Bouncing Boy is about to be defeated, the training simulation ends. Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad discuss how they each took a multitude of times to beat the training simulation, but Bouncing Boy is already gone.
Outside, he's worrying that he's not cut out to be Legion leader and confides in Triplicate Girl. Before he can head back inside to try the simulation again, the Legion gets a distress call and sets off to help.
They're headed to a moon previously thought deserted, which hides an arms depot full of weapons left over from "the great crisis". And the moon just so happens to orbit a red sun, rendering Superman powerless. Brainy is prepared, of course, and has a special suit for Superman to shield him from the red sun's rays. It also just happens to have laser cannons installed.
At the door to the depot, guard robots prevent the Legion from entering, but Brainy converting into his impressive battle-mode quickly changes their minds. Once inside, Brainy informs the team that one of the devices stored in the depot has been reactivated and is on the move, disabling security robots wherever it goes.
The team splits up and begins searching for the device, but it begins burning through barriers and levels of the depot and seems unstoppable. It arrives at the top level of the depot where the Legion confront it as it grows in size. Brainy seems to instantly recognize it and warns them that it must not escape. The Legion try to stop it, but it defeats them in a matter of seconds and escapes into the void of space.
Brainy informs the team that was the most destructive weapon ever seen... a Sun Eater. Out in space, the core surrounds itself with a lethal gas cloud and takes off directly for the red sun, which Brainy says it will entirely consume, leaving any orbiting planets to "drift off to an icy doom".
The Sun Eater was created back during The Great Crisis by an inter-dimensional species known as The Controllers, in the hopes it would scare people enough to stop the fighting. It was only used twice, and then deemed too dangerous to even be destroyed or dismantled, so there was nothing they could do but lock it up.
Brainy says the Sun Eater is running on reserve power, so they have some hope, but if it reaches the red sun and devours it, it will reach full power and be unstoppable. The Legion try to get in shots at the core, but the Sun Eater quickly disables all of their ships, with the main ship's engines failing for unknown reasons.
Superman finds the core and flies in, and Brainy tries to stop him before he's exposed to the gas cloud. As Superman files in, his suit is torn to shreds and he's left exposed to the cloud, floating helpless in space, but Brainy rescues him.
Back on their ship, the Legion work on a plan to bring the Sun Eater down as Superman and others try to repair the engine. Just as Superman gets the drive repaired, an invisible robot sneaks around the engine room and begins damaging the ship. Superman finds it and attacks, but doesn't fare well in his weakened state. Brainy arrives and destroys the robot, and Bouncing Boy says on Superman's earlier suggestion he ran a scan on the ship and found the cloaked robot.
With the ship repaired and back on an intercept course with the Sun Eater, the Legion discuss their saboteur. Brainy believes the robot is one of The Controllers, whose motivations are a mystery. As the Legion ship maneuvers between the red sun and the Sun Eater, dozens more Controllers appear in space and attack the ship. With Superman at the controls, the ship weaves and dodges its way through the fray. Saturn Girl and Brainy combine their powers in an attempt to make the Sun Eater think the red sun has disappeared. Out in space, Sun Boy unleashes his power and the Sun Eater reverses course to head for the new target.
Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Sun Boy and Timberwolf disable the remaining robots, and Phantom Girl phases out and flies straight through the poison cloud and lands on the Sun Eater itself. She activates a locator beacon, telling the team that if they aim for her they'll hit the core.
On the outer hull of the ship, Cosmic stabilizes Ferro Boy's magnetic field, and Lightning Lad hits him with electricity as Ferro Boy tries to channel both of their powers into one single blast at the Sun Eater. Ferro Boy locks on to the locator beacon and just before he loses control, fires the blast. Phantom Girl dodges the incoming shot, which misses the Sun Eater. The Sun Eater expels them all from the cloud and the red sun reappears.
The Legion is left helpless to watch as the Sun Eater consumes the red sun, and sends out a shockwave that damages the Legion ship. As power comes back Bouncing Boy orders all members back to the ship to go after the Sun Eater, which is now 6 light years away and has a new heading... right for earth.
Part one of a two-part episode
"SUNDOWN, PT. 2"
Writer: Rob HoegeeDirector: Ben Jones
Starring: Yuri Lowenthal (Superman), Shawn Harrison (Timber Wolf), Michael Cornaccia (Bouncing Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl/Triplicate Girl), Heather Hogan (Phantom Girl), Andy Milder (Lightning Lad), Adam Wylie (Brainiac 5)
Guest Starring: Wil Wheaton (Cosmic Boy), Dave Wittenberg (Ferro Lad), Jennifer Hale (Emerald Empress/Ma Kent), Kari Wahlgren (Shrinking Violet), David Lodge (Tharok, The Controller)
Aired in the U.S.A.: May 5, 2007
The Legion is aboard their ship, making repairs, when they realize they're going to need a lot of help to stop the Sun Eater. On the prison planet of Takron-Galtos, Superman, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl break in... to break out the Fatal Five!
Shrinking Violet makes her first real appearance in shutting down the prison cameras, and as they delve ever deeper into the prison Superman stops as they pass Alexis Luthor's cell only for her to stick her tongue out at him.
They free the Fatal Five, who agree to help the Legion because "a deal's a deal", but seem to be looking forward to what they can do once the Sun Eater is stopped. The Legion plan is to deploy a solar transducer, which is hopefully going to confuse the Sun Eater enough so that it devours itself, only it would take months to gather enough "quantum particles" for the transducer to work, and this is where Bouncing Boy comes in with assignments for everyone.
The Legion and Fatal Filve split up into teams, gathering components from across the galaxy, one of which Phantom Girl picks up from Ultra Boy, who makes his first real appearance as well.
The solar transducer is going to turn the Sun Eater into a red sun, which means Superman won't be able to go near it. So Bouncing Boy sends him off to try to find the Controller behind it all, and Controllers are elusive and "immune" to United Planets laws. He can stop them, but he can't arrest them.
Superman takes off through a system decimated by the Sun Eater in a Legion fighter, which Brainy has modified with dimensional displacement sensors that, if they find a rift, will lead Superman right to the Controller. Brainy then tells Superman that he left a device on the ship for him... which will activate a time bubble to take Superman home should the Legion fail.
Bouncing Boy asks Brainy if he really thinks Superman will find the Controller, and Brainy says that Superman will be safe out there, and that's what's important.
Thinking he'd do better if he got out of the ship and looked on his own, Superman flies out into space and checks the infrared spectrum and spots the Controller's ship flying nearby and takes off after it.
On the Controller's ship, alarms go off as the ship picks up Superman rapidly approaching. The Controller says Superman's kind has always been trouble, but he'll learn soon enough what happens to those that get in their way.
Back on the Legion ship, construction on Brainy's solar transducer missile is completed just as the Sun Eater enters Earth's solar system.
Superman arrives at the Controller ship and wonders how to get in, as a door suddenly opens for him and lets him inside. Superman confronts him and asks why he's doing this, and the Controller says his people believe that perfection lies in order, but he believes it lives in chaos and the United Planets "does not suit him". So he'll destroy the sun and earth, and in the aftermath will find perfection.
Superman tries to attack him, but is repelled by a strong force field. The Controller finds Superman's choice of combat primitive, but since he's a guest on the ship will indulge him, and a large robotic suit forms around him, and proceeds to lay Superman flat a number of times. He then notices the Legion readying to make their last stand, and the Controller promises to keep Superman alive long enough to see them fail.
Star Boy slows down the speeding Sun Eater core and Empress opens the poison cloud. Suddenly dozens of the Controller robots appear and attack the Legion, and battle ensues as Persuader, Matter Eater Lad and Tharok disable the core shield.
On the Controller ship, Superman realizes he won't be able to stop the Controller and so turns his attention to the ship itself, and begins cutting it apart with his heat vision.
Back in the battle, the Empress is weakening and takes a hit, and the poison cloud around the Sun Eater closes back up. Tharok gets the Sun Eater shield disabled, but the cloud has closed and they think they're trapped, but Timberwolf arrives in a small ship to get them out just as Brainy launches the transducer.
Bouncing Boy tells Saturn Girl to keep track of everyone so they don't lose people when the Sun Eater explodes, and she notices everyone is being held in some sort of glowing green field. The Empress and the rest of the Fatal Five step in and say now that the transducer is launched, they'll be leaving and the Legion will be caught in the explosion.
Just then the Empress's floating eye explodes, thanks to Shrinking Violet, and Bouncing Boy gets a force field around the Fatal Five to keep them from getting away.
The transducer hits the Sun Eater... and nothing happens. The transducer malfunctioned and Brainy says the primary conductor coil was destroyed on impact, and replacing it should cause the transducer to detonate. Ferro Lad takes off for the core, all on his own.
Lightning Lad contacts him, and Ferro Lad says that they need a conductor and he's it, and he won't fail this time. He fends off Controller robots and finds the transducer and sets it off, causing the Sun Eater to be destroyed in a fiery explosion.
The Controller congratulates Superman, but says that he only lost a weapon and Superman lost a friend, and there will always be more Sun Eaters. Superman, enraged, lets out a huge burst of heat vision that sends the Controller crashing through the ship and then rips his armored suit apart. The Controller gets a portal open and tries to run through, but Superman catches him and tells him that if he ever returns, he'll finish what they started.
At Legion HQ, a statue is erected to Ferro Lad at a memorial service for him, and we see him crashed into a piece of debris floating in space.
Later, Superman prepares to head home, and says he can return at the moment he leaves at any time. Brainy wishes him luck with his new job, and Superman says it's "Metropolis or bust". He returns home to his bedroom, just in time for dinner.