WARNING: The next comprises spoilers for Young Justice: Phantoms Episodes 14-16, now streaming on HBO Max.
Young Justice followers had been confused when previews for the second half of Phantoms confirmed the obvious return of a serious villain. Orm, also referred to as Ocean Grasp, was proven plotting towards Atlantis; nevertheless, Girl Shiva had beheaded him again in Season 3, after a dispute with the Mild. So how precisely might this intimidating tyrant return in Season 4?
Now that Half 2 of Phantoms has premiered, the present has confirmed he is not a shape-shifter and that wasn’t a flashback. Orm’s again within the flesh — thirsty for blood and hungry for struggle below the Seven Seas. Nonetheless, his return was made attainable by a very darkish plot twist that would additionally contain the Mild and their weaving an much more tangled net.
Orm appeared within the first three episodes — “Nautical Twilight,” “Ebb Tide,” and “Emergency Dive” — orchestrating a terrorist assault. When King Orin held council to unite his kingdoms, Orm decimated the assembly with Neptune’s Trident. Kaldur, as the brand new Aquaman trying to set up his legacy (and perhaps a brand new path for the present), started plotting reprisal however was distracted by a second assault. This time, the perpetrator was the Baby from earlier in Season 4. Orm surprisingly confirmed as much as assist out… as a result of he wanted the place entire so he might have one thing to rule.
Young Justice briefly confirmed flashes of the outdated Orm, however he ended up getting arrested when a returning Arion thwarted Orm’s makes an attempt to betray the Atlanteans as soon as the risk was quelled. Arion reclaimed Neptune’s Trident and gave it to Orin, however whereas the royals had been arguing over the primary ruler of Atlantis returning, suspicious arose over Orm’s authenticity. Orin realized that Orm received his information incorrect relating to previous interrogations, which led him to hunt out one in every of Orm’s outdated colleagues. Dannuth additionally felt this wasn’t the true Orm, so Orin had his scientists run genetic assessments — and the “returned” Orm was truly a clone!
How did this occur? Lex Luthor’s CADMUS challenge had beforehand created clones of Roy Harper and Conner Kent, so it is attainable that the Mild could also be making an attempt to destabilize or declare Atlantis by way of use of the Orm clone. That risk might ship members of Atlantis as much as the floor to get additional solutions. It additionally means different heroes and villains is likely to be changed with clones sooner or later — an attention-grabbing prospect for future episodes.
Orin, as a lot as he dislikes his brother, will not need their legacy sullied like this. Worse but, if he finds out Shiva killed Orm, Atlantis would possibly lower ties with the League and set out for revenge. Kaldur has a troublesome highway forward to make sure peace is saved and justice is served, however not less than he is on the identical web page as his colleagues. And other than the staff, he would possibly find yourself having an ally in Orm 2.0. The clone will not like getting used as a pawn, so Young Justice might redeem Ocean Grasp by having him defend his former residence. But when he is simply the primary of many clones, he may very well be the harbinger of one thing horrible.
See how Orm’s clone saga unfolds with new episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms debuting Thursdays on HBO Max.