WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first nine episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms, streaming now on HBO Max.
In Young Justice, we've encountered many destructive villains, especially from the magical realm. Klarion the Witch Boy stands out most as the ageless Lord of Chaos who caused major havoc with the Light, but as the latest episode reveals, the series' new mystical threat might be its deadliest yet.
"Odnu!" dives into how the Lords of Chaos have affected Earth via a couple intersecting timelines. In the past, Klarion brokered a deal, sparing Vandal Savage so the immortal could hand Earth to the boy in the centuries to come, while the present confirms another Lord of Chaos is visiting. And make no mistake, this villain has a bloodier, gorier style!
It's revealed when it takes on the form of a girl, sending out a magical pulse throughout the planet to alert people something dire is occurring. She then hits a jewelry store to steal an ancient Atlantean relic, which is connected to the metahuman capital Vandal formed for his kids eons ago, before Klarion slaughtered them. It's unknown what exactly this crystal can do but the girl turns it into her familiar, calling it Flaw, enabling it to make faces to add some humanity to the mindless crystal monster.
A cop intervenes and calls her "child," thinking she's a victim but she then proceeds to let Flaw attack the guy. Child decides to learn more about human anatomy as she's fascinated with them, and when Klarion and Zatanna's team arrive, we see the cop skinned with his organs suspended mid-air.
It paints an ominous picture indeed because the girl's mission isn't fully known. However, as Klarion senses, her power is way more than his, which could see him ally with Zatanna down the line if Child wants him dead. Doctor Fate will have to join from his tower as well as he's worried over this girl's presence, so we could see even more magical heroes and villains allying if things get wild.
Child's the total opposite to Klarion: cute yet deadly, and Child has been changed from a boy to a girl for this arc. In the comics, he went after Amethyst to secure the magic of Gemworld, and while that could be an option here as Child seeks other power sources, the villain may just want to punish Klarion and Fate (a Lord of Order). Either way, seeing as no one knows the next move, Child's a dangerous, unpredictable monster that has everyone worried.
If she is indeed breaking ranks, yet none of her peers are coming after her, that says a lot, so only time will tell who her target is and reveal her true plan. But from the fear Klarion's exhibiting, he's got no interest in a war of attrition as he can tell Child is something much more apocalyptic than he could ever dream to be.
See how Child and Flaw make their impact felt as new episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms air Thursdays on HBO Max.