WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Young Justice: Phantoms Episodes 14-16, now streaming on HBO Max.
Young Justice has definitely been one of the more progressive cartoons in recent times. It's explored queer relationships with Kaldur and Wyynde, and Halo and Harper Row, for example. Not to mention, the show also detailed Halo's interest in Islam, painting a more cosmopolitan, inclusive animated series.
That diversity is one of the main reasons fans are responding to the show. They simply love how there's a sense of identity and equality for viewers from various walks of life. Interestingly, with the second half of Phantoms now underway, Young Justice's newest LGBTQ arc has an intriguing remix on HBO's Big Love, not shying away from polyamorous marriages.
Big Love dealt with Bill Paxton's Bill, a religious man and aspiring politician, who had multiple wives. In the five seasons on HBO, their bonds brought a lot of drama to the table, with Bill's life becoming unhealthy due to all these different personalities clashing -- most of the time, for selfish reasons.
It's the total opposite in Phantoms, though, when Lagoon Boy (aka La'gaan) was revealed to be part of a throuple. When Coral left her council meeting with Aquaman and all the other nobles, she rushed over to Lagoon Boy, hugging and kissing him. This produced a very sentimental moment because he warned her not to overexert herself in Atlantis' politics as it'd harm their unborn baby.
Seeing him caring for his pregnant wife brought his journey full-circle, proving how he matured since things ended with Miss Martian. He hated the now-deceased Superboy for a while afterwards, but this confirmed he matured. The bigger surprise came after a terrorist attack on the underwater capital When the rubble fell after Orm made moves to flex his power, another royal, Rodunn, was damaged. Shockingly, Coral rushed over to tend to him, reaffirming this was her other husband.
Later, La'gaan would meet them at their home, kissing both and letting them know to take care of the baby. He was going off with Kaldur to investigate the arrival of Arion and Orm's possible scheme to take the throne once more like he always attempted, so he wanted that sense of reassurance by bidding them goodbye. This was quite a glorious moment because Young Justice once more confirmed it was all about representation.
It's most welcome, especially after shows like Voltron: Legendary Defender relegated Shiro's kiss and overall queer arc to just a couple brief scenes, while Netflix's Sheera and Catra only kissed when the series ended. These felt like diversity boxes were being ticked, but HBO Max and Warner Bros. are showing another culture where genuine, endearing poly-love is helping to render a story about true acceptance, which hopefully will see more screen time as the show progresses, whether in comics or TV.
See how La'gaan's family life continues to unfold, with new episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms debuting Thursdays on HBO Max.