The sixth episode of DC Universe’s Young Justice: Outsiders not solely ramped up the stakes and teased the lacking Princess Tara, it additionally revealed Barbara Gordon’s new function and confirmed the Young Justice franchise debuts of some a lot whispered-about characters.

Whereas the core of the motion nonetheless facilities round the principle characters from the primary season, the streaming sequence has all the time juggled a powerful roster of DC characters, each younger and outdated. The brand new characters primarily featured in Outsiders had been already overrated within the promotional materials, however the strong DC line-up permits for some surprises previous the advertising hype. Within the case of the sixth episode “Rescue Op,” the sneaky character debuts aren’t simply minor nods to comics continuity, however very hinted-at Batman reveals.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for episode 6 of Young Justice: Outsiders “Rescue Op”]

One of many first scenes in “Rescue Op” finds Barbara Gordon enjoying round with a brand new set of virtual-reality goggles. Barbara made a fast cameo in season 1 and took on the function of Batgirl in season 2, however all through Outsider’s first 5 episode, she has solely been current because the voice of Oracle.

Up to now in season 3, we’ve realized that Oracle is an lively participant in Nightwing’s secret ops missions, however that is the primary glimpse of her — and the primary affirmation that she and Dick are certainly courting. Very similar to different iterations of Oracle, Barbara is wheelchair-bound.

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We don’t know the specifics of the incident that landed Babs in a wheelchair, but it surely’s possible just like what occurred to Oracle’s different iterations: a showdown with the Joker left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Nightwing’s been protecting her existence a secret from the remainder of his buddies, which provides one other layer of thriller. Why the secrets and techniques? Are they simply protecting their romantic relationship a secret? Or is there one thing else occurring?

One other factor to maintain a watch out for — the VR goggles that Barbara makes use of at first of this scene maintain coming again. Very similar to the Attain drink in season 2, which appeared in some in-show commercials after which ended up being a key issue to an invasion by a species of aliens, the Goode Goggles are certain to be extra plot related,

VR headsets apart, “Rescue Op” has some greater Batman-related reveals. The second season of Young Justice noticed Dick Grayson promoted to Nightwing, with Tim Drake taking on the mantle of Robin. A quick scene set close to the League memorials revealed that Jason Todd held the function of Robin earlier than, however handed away someday throughout the 5 12 months time-skip between season 1 and season 2.

Besides Jason Todd could have simply made his residing Young Justice debut. On this episode, the crew journeys to Infinity Island to confront the League of Shadows. There, they encounter a red-hooded determine together with Ra’s al Ghul, who mentions the life-imbuing Lazarus Pit (plus new crew member Halo raises herself again from the useless — it’s a factor she will be able to do, apparently).

We don’t see the red-hooded determine’s face, however he sports activities the identical haircut that Jason Todd’s memorial hologram did within the present’s second season and in his one line, he manages to stutter out “Grayson.” To this, Ra’s al Ghul replies “Your reminiscence is lastly returning.” And naturally, there’s the pink hooded disguise, a detailed reproduction of the Red Hood persona Jason takes on after his resurrection.

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Jason isn’t the one Robin to debut on this episode. Proper earlier than the probably-Jason Todd utters “Grayson,” a mysterious girl emerges — not named, however there’s cause to consider it’s Talia al Ghul, as she resembles the Young Justice tie-in comics model of the character. She’s carrying a child, so if she is Talia, then the kid could be very, very possible Damian Wayne.

Warner Bros. Animation/DC Universe

Since he’s nonetheless an toddler, it’s unlikely that the Young Justice Damian Wayne goes to take up crime-fighting any time quickly and can possible observe in his mom’s footsteps all through the season. It’s additionally unlikely that anybody on the aspect of the nice guys will even find out about his existence. Nonetheless, Damian Wayne, confirmed. Young Justice Batman bought it on with Talia, confirmed.

Stephanie Brown’s Spoiler is already confirmed to be a part of Young Justice: Outsiders and, with the return of Barbara Gordon and Jason and Damian making their debuts, the Batman household roster is extra strong than ever.

The subsequent three episodes of Young Justice: Outsiders premiere on Jan. 18 on DC Universe.