WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first six episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms, streaming now on HBO Max.
Young Justice does a remarkable job of adapting the story of the comics while putting its own spin on familiar DC characters, and in its latest episode, it gives that exact treatment to Orphan. Known as Cassandra Cain, the Bat-family vigilante generally lingered in the background during previous episodes. As the current arc focuses more and more on the League of Shadows, however, Orphan's backstory becomes more important than ever.
In conveying that backstory, Young Justice makes it clear they are doing their own version of the character. One change, in particular, stands out as exceptional, and it ties Orphan more intimately than ever to the League of Shadow's top assassin: Lady Shiva.
Over four seasons and several years in-universe, Young Justice continues to build on an elaborate world of aliens, magic and assassins that grows ever deeper. The current arc focuses primarily on the latter aspect of its world, as Tigress gets ever-more involved with the order of killers known as the League of Shadows. One of her teammates, the mute Orphan, hails from that same shadowy underworld that well-prepared her to stalk the darkness alongside her allies in the rest of the Bat-family. Entirely silent and seldom featured as a main focus of the narrative, Young Justice's version of Orphan had little opportunity to stand out. But that changes in the latest story.
Previously, Tigress sought Orphan's advice in rooting out the truth from two alleged League of Shadows defectors, relying on her ability to read body language in the hopes that it would reveal the traitors' truth. The source of such a unique ability was revealed in the latest episode when the audience finally learned Orphan's backstory. Raised by the elite League of Shadows assassin Lady Shiva, her mother, Orphan's vocal cords were surgically severed at an early age and she was barred from using vocal means of communication. Instead, she learned to read body language as easily as others read a book, honing her into a living weapon.
The story is familiar to fans of the character from the comics, with one significant departure: while Lady Shiva is revealed to be Cassandra's mother in the comics, her cruel childhood and unique background are there the results of her father's upbringing more than Shiva's. Known as David Cain, Cassandra's father is the one who honed her into being one of the world's greatest martial artists, a title her mother Shiva is one of her chief rivals for. Young Justice cutting David out of the picture helps streamline those origins.
A cruel assassin father already serves as Tigress and Cheshire's background, prominently featured in the latest episode as flashbacks to the Crock family home show the emotional toll that took on the two daughters. Repeating the same story with David Cain would only feel redundant, and by emphasizing Lady Shiva in Orphan's backstory, the plot focuses more heavily on a character central to the League of Shadows conflict. The change in origin is not drastic but strikes a perfectly subtle note that fits distinctly well into the series.
Young Justice has been reserved when it comes to delving too far into the backgrounds of many of its Batman-related characters, but the latest plot dives deeper into that lore. The story structure of the new season focuses primarily on different members of the original team, so with Nightwing largely unseen thus far, there are likely more Bat-family-related tales to be told. As yet, there are similar stories involving Jason Todd, Spoiler and Tim Drake just waiting to unfold.
The fact that Orphan is getting her due is promising, and the series' patience in presenting it is promising to fans. Teasing characters who fans can rest-assured will get their focus later proves far more titillating than an endless parade of characters who never get fleshed out and only ever have thin cameos. Orphan's unique and engaging backstory weaving seamlessly into the main plot is a testament to the many surprises yet to come.
To find out more of Orphan's tragic backstory, tune in to Young Justice: Phantoms, now streaming on HBO Max with new episodes on Thursdays.