This is a full recap, so if you don’t like spoilers, please watch the show and come back and read this afterward.

“Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice”  (Super Friends reference… anyone?) in Washington DC, on a cold December day, the entire Justice League has called a press conference to introduce their five newest members, Zatara Dr. Fate, Plastic Man, Icon, The Atom and Red Arrow.  Captain Marvel stands alongside his fellow team members, but fidgets nervously, since he was nearly kicked out for secretly being a ten year-old.  Watching from inside the Young Justice team (referred to in the show’s context as simply The Team) has been joined by Rocket, the teen partner of Icon, whom Wonder Woman had hoped to add to the actual Justice League.  Wally says he’s glad they let “Billy” stay and says, “I love the fact that there’s a ten year-old on the League!”  Rocket cries, “There is?!”  “Way to keep a secret, genius!” Robin snaps.  Kid Flash defends himself by pointing out that she is now on the team.

Back at the press conference, Superman hands out the new member’s ID cards, The Atom’s being larger than he is!  When he hands Dr. Fate his, Zatanna lowers her head in sadness.  Robin places his hand on her shoulder.  Rocket angrily declares that she convinced Icon to become a super hero in the first place and says she should be outside with him, not tucked away inside.  “Welcome to our world,” Aqualad says.  She smiles friskily, “Wellllll, I suppose there’s an upside too.”  The kids are especially proud of Roy, Red Arrow, the first of the sidekicks to make it to the big League.  Rocket says, “Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing?  You sidekicks were my inspiration.”   The press conference breaks up  and Black Canary and Batman take their new members (Notice Zatara/Dr. Fate is absent) to visit the Watchtower.  Canary says The Team will want to say congratulations, but Icon says “You don’t know Raquelle… that is Rocket.  After making her wait inside, congratulations may not be the first things on her mind.”  When they go to find the kids, they’re gone.  “Thought she would at least stick around.”

Turns out, Robin has located Cheshire and the team is zipping through the Rocky Mountains in their ship to track her down.  Artemis is nervous, uunderstandably!  Robin, not knowing Artemis is Cheshire’s sister naively says, “You’ve seen her without her mask.  Is it her?”  Artemis concurs.  She also identifies the case she is carrying as the one she got away with in New Orleans.  The Team explains to the audience and Rocket the importance of the case and its connection to the Injustice League.  Kid Flash bitingly states, “We had the chance to grab one in New Orlease but SOMEONE screwed up.” He still hasn’t forgiven Artemis for deceiving them on that case.  Miss Martian says they are approaching Cheshire’s jet, only to find the remains of a crash.   “Looks like there were no survivors.”

Robin says he was tracking the jet with League technology.  Rocket asks why the League wasn’t investigating and Zatanna replies that Robin hacked their system so that the Team would get it first.  Aqualad elaborates that this is their unfinished business.  Superboy sifts through the wreckage.  “Where are the bodies?”  “Here’s one.  And it is stunning!” Cheshire coos from a cliff above them.  The Riddler and an army of troops surrounds them.  “I am flora, not fauna.  I am foliage not trees… I am shrubbery not grass.  What am I?” He asks.  Robin grimly replies, “Ambush.”  The villains whip up a green force field to capture them.

Aqualad orders the group to attack.  The soldiers descend along with some of the Injustice League’s super thugs.  Zatanna strikes first whipping up a snow storm.  While the others fight, Aqualad sends Superboy after the force field generating pylons.  Superboy slaps on his last patch from Lex Luthor, that negates his human DNA and grants him full Kryptonian powers.

Artemis takes on Cheshire, who purrs, “Just like old times!  Dad pitting us against each other.”  She comes in close, so Artemis is forced to swing her bow to fend off Cheshire’s blades.   The Team fares well against the foot soldiers, but Rocket is the first to go down after she is zapped by a shock disc.  Aqualad frees he but is himself captured, then freed by Miss Martian.

Shimmer, Riddler and Mammoth

Superboy is melting the pylons, but gets interupted by Mammoth.  The pair battle and Superboy grabs Mammoth and flies upward.  Robin sees this and telepathically exclaims, “SB!  You’re flying!”  Superboy flings Mammoth into the top of the force field, then when he crashes to the ground, unleashes his heat vision.  Not satisfied, he pummels Mammoth so hard and fast that he causes a rock slide!

A boulder is about to crush Artemis, but shockingly, Cheshire tackles her and saves her.  “Okay fine, we’re sisters.  I don’t actually want you dead,” she admits.  She pulls a ninja vanishing act, but it appears she forgot her coveted briefcase.

Robin takes out Shimmer, while Zatanna wraps up Riddler.  “I am not the straightjacket type!” he panics, “I am strictly Belle Reve, not Arkham!”  He falls down and Zatanna gags him.  Victorious, Zatanna disperses the snow storm and the Team returns to Mount Justice.

The Team’s mentors confront them.  Batman says, “Tell me if this sounds familiar.  You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, endangered your lives.  And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped prisons, proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve Prison as a cover for criminal activity.”  The kids fidget nervously.  “Well done.”  The are relieved.  In the recovered briefcase, they find “biotechnology integrated with nano-circuitry.”  Icon examines it and says the bio component is not from Earth.  The mentors begin to depart, but Rocket runs over to congratulate Icon.  “It seems we have both found teams that suit us,” he replies.

Aqualad and Robin know that they were set up.  Artemis cries, “Not the mole thing again!” They briefly summarize that situation for Rocket, with Superboy angrily stating that the suspects are himself, Artemis and M’gann.  Aqualad points out that Superboy’s recent behaviour worries him and points out that his battle with Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed.  Suddenly, Lex Luthor contacts Superboy on an ultra-sonic frequency that only he can hear and offers him more shield patches.  “There’s something I need to do,” he tells the team.

Superboy flies to Santa Prisca and meets with Luthor, who introduces him to his villainous allies.  Superboy realizes that the Injustice League was just a front and that Luthor and his allies have been behind everything from the start.  Luthor then says, “We have many friends.”  Suddenly a helicopter arrives with Cheshire and Artemis on board.  “The hero thing wasn’t working out… no trust.  This is where I belong,” she states.  The Queen Bee says, “It’s a fast-growing club” as Miss Martian’s ship arrives and she joins them.  M’gann asks why her friends are there and the Queen Bee says, “I’ve kept your secret and my promise.  Now you keep yours.”  Superboy tells Luthor that if he gives him more shields, he’ll join too, but Luthor knows hes lying and says the phrase “Red Sun” which shuts Superboy’s mind down.

(Commercial break, including one of those awful Claymation shorts with the kids’ voices.  I HATE those!)

Sportsmaster tells Artemis and Miss Martian to follow him.  Queen Bee says Superboy “requires a few adjustments.”

The scene flashes back to Superboy, earlier saying “There’s something I need to do”… he then tells the team about when he went back to Cadmus and learned his origin, that he was clones from half Superman’s Kryptonian DNA and his human half… came from Lex Luthor.  He also tells them about the shield patches he’s been using, “but I also get angry… well, angrier.”

Back in the present, on Santa Prisca, Blockbuster goes to take Superboy, but Artemis leaps into action to save him.

Flashing back once more to Mount Justice, Artemis comes clean about her family, that her mother is the retired villain Huntress, Sportsmaster is her father and Cheshire is her sister.  She says that her father is sending Cheshire to pick her up in a helicopter to take her to Santa Prisca.  She reveals that she was desperate to hide her family connections, which is why she acted as she did in New Orleans.  Robin reveals that he knew all along, but it didn’t matter to him.

Back on Santa Prisca, Artemis’ arrows encase Blockbuster in foam.  She tells Sportsmaster she wanted to play him like he tried to play her.  Queen Bee commands Miss Martian to take Artemis down.  telekinetically, she seizes her and lifts her up.

Finally, once more flashing back, Kid Flash has forgiven Artemis and quips, “Sooo… who’s next?”  M’gann sadly mutters, “I am.”  “I swear I was kidding,” Kid Flash exclaims.  M’gann tells them that Queen Bee has been blackmailing her and also wants her in Santa Prisca.  “She knows my true Martian form.”  Robin puzzled, says, “Bald M’gann?!  Who cares?”  M’Gann morphs into her true self, a white Martian.  The kids gasp in shock.  She revealed that on Mars, she faced constant rejection and couldn’t take the chance with The Team.  Superboy then reveals that he learned the truth since they mind-melded in Bialia.  “That was before we even became couple,” she realizes.  Superboys says he knew she’d tell him when the time was right.

Back on the island, Miss Martian telekinetically takes out Queen Bee, while Artemis aims for her family.  Miss Martian telepathically tells Superboy that he’s safe from Queen Bee’s control.  He snaps out of his stupor and confronts Lex, who surmises that Miss Martial cleaned “Red Sun” from his mind, and Superboy informs him that he also made sure there weren’t any other mental implants Luthor could access.  Blockbuster smashes free of Artemis’ foam prison and lunges for Superboy.

A Rocket Trading Card.

Bane’s troops open fire and the Wonder Cycle springs to life and begins firing back.  Sportsmaster and Cheshire go after Artemis who calls for reinforcements, cuing the rest of Young Justice to enter the fray.  Bane roids up and attacks Robin and Zatanna.  Aqualad and Rocket are unable to stop Luthor and Mercy from escaping with Queen Bee.  Zatanna and Robin combine their abilities to take out Bane.  Aqualad and Rocket, using futuristic tech, turn the ground into quicksand and trap Blockbuster and Sportsmaster.  Cheshire refuses to save him and escapes.  Artemis kicks off his mask, which Kid Flash picks up.  “Souvenir,” she says.  Robin does that annoying thing he does when he says, “Hey, disaster averted.  Feeling the aster.”

At the Watchtower, Batman is struggling to analyze the Starro er, bio-tech doo-dads they retrieved from Cheshire’s case.  Red Arrow enters and asks him if he’s ever going to join the party before planting one of the devices on Batman’s neck, mesmerizing him!  Red Arrow leads Batman into the main chamber where the entire Justice League has been mind-controlled.  Batman overrides the teleporter and allows entry to one Vandal Savage!  The League members kneel.  Suddenly Roy seems to snap out of a daze.  “I… I was the mole?!”  Vandal looks out the window on the Earth… which he looks likely to now be able to conquer.

So of course, the big news this episode is that the YJ Team gets a new sassy black female member!  No kidding, but more on Rocket in a bit but first…

This was probably the biggest episode so far!  It’s all been leading toward this!  The “mole” story line has been there from almost the very beginning with the audience never really being sure who to believe.  As recently as last week’s episode, we weren’t sure about the “usual suspects” Artemis, Miss Martian and Superboy.  (Oh PS, I TOTALLY had Red Arrow pegged, didn’t I?!)  As I watched it, I kept looking at the time, because I couldn’t believe all of this was packed into 30 minutes.  After The Team’s battle with the villains in the mountains, I thought that was enough action and development for one episode.  But no!  It kept going!

I was taken completely off-guard with the flashbacks!  They edited it just perfectly, with Superboy saying “There’s something I need to do,” then cutting to him flying toward Santa Prisca.  All of the flashbacks were handled excellently!

It was great seeing the entire team together again as well!  They’ve been splitting up into sub-groups in the past few episodes, so it was awesome to see them all together again, especially Aqualad, their leader who has been noticeably absent in recent episodes.

Then we have Rocket!  I love Rocket!  She’s sassy!  She’s tough!  She’s like no one else on this team and brings a new dynamic.  Zatanna is cute, but kind of mopey because of what happened to her dad.  Artemis is tough and defensive.  Miss Martian is bubbly and adorable.  Rocket is opinionated and… did I mention sassy?  Time will tell how she further develops, but her obvious interest in Aqualad kind of officially makes this the Teen Team of Super Couples.  Heck, they’re teens, they have hormones gushing out their ears.  Let ’em have their fun.

AND THEN, on top of ALL that– just as we have come to realize there is no mole… there’s a mole and it’s Red Arrow!  AND Vandal Savage has successfully taken over the minds of the Justice League!  (Wait a sec… how does this work on Red Tornado?!  Ooooh!  Or is that an upcoming plot twist?  Hmmm.)

Things look dire!  Can our team, now eight members strong stand against their mentors, the mightiest heroes on Earth?  Heeeeeeelllll no!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this means they’ll have to rally every teen hero there is to stand against them.  (Wonder Girl is already confirmed as appearing.)

Is there is one episode of this series you could NOT miss, it’s this one!  What did you think?  Were you as excited by this as I am?