We open with members of the Justice League battling a group of criminals in a city, eventually managing to subdue them. As the police come to clean up, a man crosses the police line hoping to talk with Shayera Hol. He introduces himself as Carter Hall, an archaeologist who needs her help on a discovery he made — a Thanagarian blade, apparently on Earth since 6,000 BCE. He offers to talk to her over dinner, and she agrees. As the Justice League depart, Hall also leaves, but his shadow lingers...
At the Metro Tower, Shayera and Batman run tests on the blade, confirming that it is as old as Hall says and genuinely Thanagarian due to the presence of Nth metal. As John Stewart goes down an elevator, he spots Shayera in a very attractive dress, and Shayera offers to get one for Vixen. Just then, Batman shows up, saying that he's been researching Hall. His name was originally Joseph Gardener, but he legally changed it six months ago. His reputation declined five years ago after claiming that he discovered alien artifacts in Egypt. Additionally, he's been near Shayera before, and was present at several of her public battles. Batman concludes that he's a stalker, and John urges her to take someone with her as backup. Grabbing the Thanagarian blade, she tells them that she can take care of herself. John is upset, not only at her choice, but also that their journey into the future shows that he and Shayera are destined to be together. Batman informs him that if he really believed that, he wouldn't be with Vixen.
The next day, Hall and Shayera are at the tomb where Hall discovered the blade. He warns that there are traps all over the tomb, but knows how to disarm them. Unknown to either of them, Batman is following them. When they reach a chamber with Thanagarian runes, Hall changes into a costume and introduces himself at Katar Hal, alias Hawkman. He claims that he and Shayera are Katar Hol and Chay-Ara Hol, the reincarnated souls of Thanagarian lovers who were stranded in Egypt millennia ago, and were worshiped as gods by the people. But jealous forces overthrew them, destroying the grand society the Thanagarians had set up for the people. Hawkman tells her that he learned all this through an Asbsorbacron, a device that stores ship logs and memories. As he tells her all this, Batman is confronted by a shadowy figure who subdues him. Shayera assumes that the Asbsorbacron malfunctioned and implanted the memories of Hal into Carter, but Hawkman insists on showing her the device. Taking her to another chamber, he shows her the ship that carried the Hols to Earth. Before he can show her the device, they are attacked by a pair of shadowy figures. After they are subdued, the figures merge into a single being.
Waking up, Hawkman finds himself and Shayera captured by Shadow Thief, who has been following Carter for some time. He wants access to the treasure buried with the two Thanagarians, but he can't open it without Hawkman's help. When Shadow Thief threatens to kill Shayera, Hawkman submits, opening the tomb's final chamber. Inside are the Sarcophagus and the treasures. Before he can open the door, Batman attacks, causing Shadow Thief to hit the door and open it without disarming the traps. Robotic statues come to life, and Hawkman and Batman fight them off. During the battle, Shayera manages to free herself and goes after Shadow Thief. He is able to make himself intangible at will, meaning they can't touch him. However, Shayera activates her mace, while Hawkman grabs the torch and Batman activates a flare. Surrounded by light, Shadow Thief flees into the ground, causing it to collapse. Once he and Shayera get Batman out, Hawkman goes back for the Asbsorbacron, but Shayera subdues him.
Outside, Hawkman laments the loss of the Asbsorbacron, but Shayera still insists that he's confused. Batman says that J'onn J'onzz could help him sort through the memories, but Hawkman insists that he and Shayera are the reincarnations of Katar and Chay-Ara Hol. Shayera says that they don't even know each other, and Hawkman replies that her favorite color is teal, she loves oysters even though they give her heartburn, and that she wakes up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise — all of which are true, much to Shayera's shock. However, Hawkman says he's willing to wait for her, and flies off. When he's gone, Shayera reveals that she knew Batman was following her, pulling the tracer he planted on her mace. Batman insists that it was Hall he didn't trust, and that all he heard was reincarnation and destiny, both of which he dismisses as nonsense. Shayera, however, is not so sure.
Unknown to all others, the Sarcophagus survived the cave in, opening to reveal its twin mummified occupants — still holding hands...
Tropes:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Shayera parodies this when Batman states that Carter's reputation went down the drain when he started claiming that aliens landed in Ancient Egypt.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Batman asked why is John still dating Vixen if he believes he and Shayera are supposed to be together and give birth to a son. John can only respond in silence.
- Badass Boast:Batman: I've never been afraid of shadows.
Shadow Thief: Now's an excellent time to start. - Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Carter comes across as a massive nutcase after claiming he and Shayera are in a Reincarnation Romance, yet is more than capable of handling himself in a fight as Hawkman.
- Deadpan Snarker:Shayera: How stupid do you think I am?
Batman: Scale of 1 to 10? - The End... Or Is It?: As Shayera ponders all this talk of resurrection and destiny, viewers see an open sarcophagus and two mummies holding hands.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Shayera learns that majority of the world has still not forgiven her for the events of "Starcrossed". Batman determines there are 57 webrings, while the unaffiliated bulletin boards measure in the hundreds. She's not happy about it, while Carter has been regularly banned from sites for aggressively defending her.
- Male Gaze: Carter (and the viewer) are treated to a lingering shot of Shayera's ass at one point before the camera pans up.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Shayera and Batman are adamant that Carter merely had his brain scrambled by the Asbsorbacron and that she and Carter aren't reincarnations of ancient Thanagarian lovers. However, Carter lists several facts about Shayera it'd be impossible for him to know, and the last scene in the episode lingers on the shared Sarcophagus of Katar Hol and Chay-Ara Hol, showing their mummified bodies holding hands, hinting that Carter may not be wrong after all.
- Mythology Gag: The story Hawkman tells is a melding of the DC comics Golden Age and Silver Age origins of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. In the Golden Age, they are the souls of two lovers from Ancient Egypt who were murdered by the priest Hath-Set with an Nth metal blade and are repeatedly reincarnated as champions of justice. The Silver Age Hawks were Thanagarian law enforcement officers who were stranded on Earth.
- Power of Trust: Shayera's not pleased that Batman bugged her mace, though he insists it was Carter that he didn't trust.
- Reincarnation Romance: Carter firmly believes that he and Shayera are in one, having been the Thanagarian lovers Katar Hol and Chay-Ara Hol in a past life. Shayera doesn't buy it.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Shayera in a dress. Green Lantern’s response to the sight was, "Judas Priest!"
- Shout-Out: Carter's birth name, Joseph Gardner, is likely a reference to both Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert. Fox is the writer who co-created the Golden Age character, and later he and Kubert (as artist) co-created the Silver Age reinvention. Kubert also drew many of Hawkman's Silver Age adventures and is closely associated with the character.
