Young Justice Outsiders: Unknown Factors Review

Season 3 Episode 21 of Young Justice investigates Granny Goode, sees Kaldur happy in his queer relationship, and finds a special secret with Violet.

The Outsiders Investigate Granny Goode

The episode begins with Cat Grant reporting for GBS live at the Babylonian theatre in Hollywood, where the new movie The Great Khan is premiering (Which if we remember, is actually the story of Randal Savage in this world). She interviews the head of Goode World studios: Gretchen Good, aka GRANNY.

At that same moment, Oracle coordinates an infiltration mission with Black Lightning and Nightwing, who openly flirts back with Oracle right in front of Black Lightning (It’s implied Dick and Barbara are dating, or at least, having “Playtime after the mission” together).

Using Dreamer’s motherbox, Nightwing and Black Lightning scout Granny’s house which detects apocalypse technology. They break in easily, much to Nightwing and Oracle’s suspicions, and a trap is sprung. Nightwing and Black Lightning fall into a flash of light off-screen.

In Shayeris (a city in Atlantis), Kaldur spends time with his lover Wyynde, and the two see that the gilled metahuman girl (who’s going by the name Dolphin) is enjoying her new life among the Atlanteans. Kaldur gets a message from Oracle asking for help in investigating Nightwing and Black Lightning’s disappearance. Reluctantly, he chooses to save his friends as nobody else is available. Wyynde joins him.

“I’ll never get used to sucking and blowing like this,” Wyynde

If it hasn’t been stated enough, Wyynde is absolutely gay for Kaldur, and his first reaction adjusting to surface world breathing non-subtly confirms it. The duo confront Granny at her home, who is honest about having taken Nightwing and Black Lightning — though at no fault of her own — as the two were trespassing.

“Obey your Granny. My command is Darkseid’s will.”

Granny takes Kaldur and Wyynde to the X-pit, where through Atlantean magic, they are able to resist the endless subliminal messaging. Granny lets the two men return to Earth with their friends though is hesitant to let the Motherbox free. Nightwing and Black Lightning attack their friends, now obviously controlled through the X-pit. Granny commands overlord to kill the motherbox but back at HQ, Violet and Victor feel the Motherbox’s pain. They boomtube the HQ team to Granny’s place and save the day.

Violet cures Nightwing and Black Lightning of mind control and then heals the Mother box. In the commotion, Oracle fires a flashbang at Granny through a drone and the team retreats back through the boomtube knowing that Granny is officially Granny Goode.

Back at HQ, Oracle sits by Nightwing’s bedside while he recovers. Wyynde doesn’t see the appeal of the surface world though reaffirms his love for Kaldur.

 

Malcolm and Karen have a baby

In their car, Malcolm and Karen confess that they both tested negative for the Meta-Gene. They discuss the potential future of their baby in a changing world of Metahuman issues. Karen’s water breaks.

Young Justice Outsiders Unknown Factors

At the hospital, Karen has the baby. It’s a beautiful moment that’s shortly interrupted as the doctor discovers something is wrong with it. The medical staff discover the newborn was born with a tiny hole in its heart. Despite having just given birth, Karen suits up to shrink inside her own baby and fix the hole. While inside her child, she decides to ‘do the right thing’ and begins augmenting her baby’s DNA.

 

The Mother and Father Box

Back at headquarters, Victor (Cyborg) says farewell to his father. They are greeted by an arriving Beast Boy and Prince Brion who are returning from battle with the condiment king.

Shortly after, Beast Boy tests Victor’s limits of his now in-control abilities. Meanwhile, Prince Brion speaks with Helga about his guilty feelings over violet. Helga finds it admirable he’s forgiven the sins of Gabrielle (Violet’s original person) and mentions the prince has become a popular figurehead for both the Outsiders and the people of Markovia.

When the group is finally assembled, both Victor and Violet lead a team to rescue Grandma Goode’s infiltration team. After the battle, Brion and Violet makeup in an embrace as Hegla looks on concerned. She wants to extract Brion and Terra from the team informing her superior, revealed to be Ultra-Humanite. Helga has been working for The Light since the beginning.

In the post-credits, Granny reveals to Darkseid that she’s located the anti-life equation (assumed to be Violet).

 

Final Thoughts

Kaldur and Wyynde are very gay this episode and it’s beautiful. There’s also a lot in terms of big-game revelations, such as Violet’s reveal. To be honest, a lot of storylines are forcibly coming to a close and I’m kind of happy as this season has been up-and-down for most people. Personally, I’ve loved the romances but have disliked the Beast Boy #WeAreAllOutsiders social media movement.

 

 

Christian Angeles
Christian Angeles
Christian Angeles is a screenwriter who likes sharing stories and getting to meet people. He also listens to words on the page via audible and tries to write in ways that make people feel things. All on a laptop. Sometimes from an app on his phone.

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