The following contains spoilers for Young Justice: Phantoms Episode 24, "Zenith and Abyss," now streaming on HBO Max.
Young Justice: Phantoms has certainly thrown its various pockets of heroes into disarray with the arrival of Lor-Zod. While the Justice League had to contend with Darkseid and Vandal Savage over the years, Lor's been causing a new brand of chaos with the Legion of Super Heroes, enslaving Kid Flash and his Cosmic Treadmill, while also killing Tomar-Re of the Green Lanterns.
It cemented how ruthless and twisted he was. And in the latest episode, thanks to Lor's persistent scheming, he's finally achieved his main objective since jumping from the future. And in the process, he unleashed DC's most sadistic villain, giving the predator an easy batch of prey.
It's none other than the ever-hostile General Dru-Zod, who fans have eagerly anticipated from the very moment Superboy was revealed to be trapped in the Phantom Zone. There, Zod used his forked tongue to enslave Conner, making him a blindly loyal weapon. However, it wasn't certain if the villain's cult would be freed from this cosmic prison.
Well, that all changed when Rocket and the League worked with Orion, the Kaizer-Thrall box from Apokolips, and J'emm from Mars to open a portal to the Zone following Phantom Girl's admission that Conner was alive. They did so on Trombus, where a red sun covered the planet, so in case any Kryptonian escaped, they'd be depowered. Sadly, it all backfired because Lor used a Legionnaire's ring to hack into Phantom Girl's one gleaning insight into the mission.
He figured out the Trombus plan and attacked, with M'comm (Miss Martian's vile brother) locking onto the Kaizer-Thrall telepathically, using its energy to incapacitate everyone. As such, with the rift opening, Lor took control and beckoned Zod, his mom Ursa, a damaged Conner and their guard, Faora, out. It was a scary scene because Lor waited his entire life to free his family, and with the League -- Superman included -- all restrained, it's easy pickings for the general now.
The episode ended there, but while it foreshadowed doom and death, there could be immediate help on the horizon from within the Zone. Nightwing's team infiltrated using Klarion's bus earlier in hopes of saving Conner, so they could rush Team Zod through the portal. It sets up a Hail Mary play where Miss Martian can use her mental powers to get Conner to turn on the cult, should he physically be up to it.
Coincidentally, while he messed up by leaving Miss Martian out of his squad, Nightwing did take some Kryptonite with him, which means the heroes do have a potential trump card up their sleeves against the Kryptonian terrorists. Still, they'll have to act fast, because as seen with Zod's genocidal ways across many cartoons and movies, he will move quickly to kill Kal-El and anyone else who stands with the House of El.
New episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms debut every Thursday on HBO Max.
