Justice League Unlimited Episode Review

"Ancient History"
Story by Dwayne McDuffie
Teleplay by Geoff Johns

This episode picks up where the previous "Shadow of the Hawk" episode, introducing Carter Hall, the golden-age Hawkman, to the DCAU & the Justice League, left us. The four-part finale of the third season, "Starcrossed", Shayera Hal is revealed to be a Thangarian spy when a Thangarian armada comes to earth to "help" prevent an alien invasion. Turns out the Thanagarians are the alien invasion. Basically, Hawkgirl is seen as a traitor on both ends, but helps save the day anyway. Her & John Stewart, the Green Lantern, who were at the time involved romantically separate as Hawkgirl flies off into a sunset, having quit the League. Hawkgirl returns to the League at some point, but her relationship w/ GL remains strained. GL starts dating Vixen, the only black super-heroine on the team. Where "Starcrossed" introduced us to Shayera's Thanagarian lover from five years ago, Ro Talek, as a Hawkman archetype bearing armor similar to that seen in the Hawkworld series, "Shadow of the Hawk" introduces Carter Hall as the reincarnation of an ancient Thangarian king, Katar Hol, who helped civilize ancient egypt w/ his wife, whom he believes to be reincarnated as Shayera. More on this episode later. Suffice to say that after a battle w/ the Shadow Thief, Hawkman leaves Hawkgirl & the audience w/ a string of unresolved questions.

"Ancient History" opens w/ Stewart chasing the elusive Gentleman Ghost only to be one-upped by Hall, who saves his life. Shayera & Vixen are shown to have developed a strange catty, competitive relationship based around their affection for Stewart. The next day Vixen leaves Stewart in their apartment for a photo-shoot in Milan when she catches of the Shadow Thief sneaking into the apartment. A battle between Shadow Thief, Vixen, & GL ensues w/ GL being kidnapped by the Thief. Vixen calls Shayera to enlist her help & to warn her that the Shadow Thief warned that Shayera was next. Shayera & Vixen show up at the Midway City Museum where Carter Hall works & are confronted by the Shadow Thief who has Stewart strung up on the ceiling. More battle ensues w/ Hawkman showing up to battle the Shadow Thief w/ the aid of Shayera. During the battle Hawkman makes a one-off comment about how Shayera has "always been good w/ [a Thanagarian weaponon in the museum]." However, this does not stop the Shadow Thief from defeating the duo in battle. Shayera awakens to find herself, Hawkman, & GL tied up in the museum surrounding the Absorbricron, a complex Thanagarian database, found by Carter Hall on an excavation in Egypt where he discovered his true identity by touching it. Shadow Thief forces all three to simultaneously make contact w/ the device, resulting in a flashback explaining the truth about Katar & Shayera Hol's time in Egypt.

Turns out Katar & Shayera were considered Gods in Ancient Egypt. Shayera wants to have a child, but Katar is preoccupied w/ conquering the surrounding territories & expanding their Thanagarian empire. At this moment a character identical to John Stewart appears w/ news from Kondak & a tribute from Teth-Adam (Captaim Marvel's arch-enemy/predecessor from the comic books; later known as Black Adam). Shayera asks what need she & Katar have for horses when they can fly. Next we see Shayera & the Stewart analogue racing across the desert. We then see the two of them "resting" by a lake & discussing that they both feel a duty to Katar but have feelings for each other before they slid off camera. Creepy McCreeperson AKA Hath-Set, Katar's consultant & an obvious analogue to Ro Talek's assistant during the Thanagarian invasion, stands in the shadows watching them w/ creepy, creepy eyes. We then see Hath-Set McCreeperson before Katar discussing rumors of his best-friend & wife's affair. Shortly afterwards Katar catches Shayera & the Stewart analogue making out in the garden, voicing his wish that they were dead. He then comes to find the two of them laying in a bed, dead from poison. The overanxious Hath-Set confesses to having executed the two as his king wished, at which point Katar takes a sip from the poison cup that killed his wife & his best-friend.

Fast-Forward to the present. Shayera, Stewart, & Hall wake up, at which point Shayera accuses Shadow Thief of being the reincarnation of Hath-Set. Wrong. Shadow Thief reveals himself, w/ a villainous monologue, to be the darkest desires of Katar Hol, unleashed when Carter touched the Absorbricon. He then releases Hawkman & godes him on to kill Stewart. In true all-ages superhero fashion, Carter raises a Thanagarian axe above Stewart, only to use to to release him. Another battle ensues, ending w/ Hawkman strangling Shadow Thief, forcing to merge w/in the body of Carter Hall. Shayera then rushes to Hawkman/Hall to stop him from strangling himself. Carter admits to Shayera that they were probably not meant to be together & that they "both know how the story ends".

Back at the Watchtower, GL & Shayera check up on Vixen. Stewart then confesses to Shayera that during a trip into the future w/ Batman, the two met a future Leaguer named Warhawk, the son of John Stewart & Shayera Hal. He then tells her that he will not be destiny's puppet, & inspite of being unable to say that he does not love Shayera, he intends to stay w/ Vixen.

This episode is both fun & satisfying for several reasons. It subtly plays w/ comic book continuity, w/out being a slave to it. It introduces new elements that are true to the mythology of the DCAU, once just an interpretation of the DCU, but having grown into something in its own right. It provides a resolution to several plot-points laid out over the course of the JL cartoon's run of five seasons, tying directly into an earlier episode that seemed like a one-shot excuse to use the Golden Age Hawkman, w/out gratuitously tying in to the over-arching story of the Legion of Doom. & best of all, it was penned by none other than DC it-boy, Geoff Johns. Johns is probably best known for his current run on Infinite Crisis right now, but he's kind of made a name for himself for revitalizing characters once-thought to be secondary. Among these were Hawkman & Green Lantern (albeit the original Silver-Age character of Hal Jordan). Overall, this episode provides a break from the darker elements shown during season four's "Cadmus Project" story-arc, making it more suitable in tone for a younger audience while still retaining a complex enough narrative for adult viewers to enjoy.