Episode 96: Repetition
Takes place 2 April 2012.
This is the first episode that incorporates both the Paragon and Renegade timelines, although it is primarily Paragon.
Short version
The Time Trapper visits Paul and recruits him to help collect alternate Pauls and stop Krona from destroying the multiverse, but Krona spots their activity and disrupts their efforts.
Longer version
The mysterious force that is "acquiring" copies of Paul and Jade from different alternate universes comes for the Renegade, but he fights it off and injures the entity responsible.
The Time Trapper then visits the Paragon, separating him from his timeline and telling him that Krona is abducting his alternate versions in an attempt to break reality, and that Paul is needed to help stop him. Paul is suspicious of him, but agrees to visit different parallel universes, along with Overgirl (who invited herself along), and retrieve the local versions of himself and Jade, using portals created by the Red Queen.
His first two visits are successful, retrieving Red Lantern Paul (from the Teen Titans universe) and Black Lantern Paul (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but Overgirl's actions draw Krona's attention to them. He sends Manhunter robots to attack the Time Trapper's hideout, forcing them to flee and leave Black Lantern Paul behind. Time Trapper uses his last available portal to send Red Lantern Paul out to retrieve Indigo Lantern Paul as a substitute, but they return to find Time Trapper and Paragon missing and the the local Gold Lantern Corps present at the site.
The title may refer to the many variations on Paul.
- All Girls Like Ponies: The Renegade's adopted daughter Beth is quite excited to find that her Daddy is a pony, and then she learns that Starswirl's mirror can potentially turn her into a pony. Even teenage Lynne isn't entirely immune.
- Alternate Universe: Paul has to visit them to retrieve his alternate selves.
- The Teen Titans universe, where Red Lantern Paul is willing to come so long as he can bring his fiancee Komand'r, and Jade comes because she's being paid well.
- The Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, where Black Lantern Paul has been killing the local vampires for ring charge, but hasn't been motivated enough to do much more than that.
- The Boys, where Indigo Lantern Paul is the only superhero who retains the public's respect, but is attempting to reform Vought American to make the next generation of superheroes better. It's an uphill battle.
- Bad Powers, Good People:
- Senior Lantern Abysmus may be angry and violent, because that's how his power ring works, but the local Paul notes that as a former child soldier himself, Abysmus is actually sympathetic to the Teen Titans, whom he distracts without harming them, and to his target, whom he eventually leaves alive.
- Black Lantern Paul has to "harvest" hearts from people feeling strong emotion, or else he'll run out of charge and die. But he can still have ethics; he harvests a vampire, leaving her intended prey unharmed, and even gives the homeless man the contents of her purse.
- Beat Still, My Heart: This is how Black Lanterns recharge, and is also useful in general for putting down hard-to-kill opponents.
- Black Lantern Paul's target vampire is quite surprised by his attack, for about a second before turning to dust.
- Glorificus is easily taken out the same way.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Indigo Lantern Paul is implementing reforms to get proper training for superheroes, such as practical firefighting experience. Notably, he actually starts with his team of Super Zeroes, whom he has helped to rise above their humble beginnings and become decent and productive members of society (albeit still not with top-tier powers). Klanker has gained enough control of his shapeshifting to become a ladder, and Shadow is now able to phase through walls to rescue people with a much less
unfortunate trigger. - Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
- As has happened to many of the alternate Pauls, a portal opens over Grayven, glowing with red light, and a giant blue hand reaches down to seize him. However, he is faster to react than any previously observed Pauls; he stabs the hand with the Sword of the Fallen while his Mother Box collapses the portal.
- Glorificus is a goddess from another dimension who was forced into a human body. Canonically, she had to be killed with a god-slaying sword inside a magical field specifically intended to suppress her power. Black Lantern Paul, however, is able to harvest her heart just like anyone else's.
- Emotion Eater: Black Lantern Paul doesn't feel much of anything by default. Harvesting an emotion-filled heart lets him feel a little more alive, for a few hours.
- For Science!: This appears to be Krona's motivation for trying to unravel the threads of the universe.
- Heel Realization: Overgirl sneaks away when Paul is busy and meets one of her Alternate Universe counterparts, finding her married with children and content, in a Germany that lost World War Two but is peaceful and prosperous. All of what Paul has been telling her comes together and she acknowledges that the philosophy she was raised with was wrong.Overgirl: My adoptive father… He loathes it. The things he is expected to believe, expected to do. What he did for the Empire when he was too young to question it. He has tried to raise his concerns in public on a few occasions, but no one is listening. I thought-. I always thought that… Yes, that period of our history was violent, but it paved the way to something better. But I look around… It was all lies. It was all lies. We could have lost the Second Great War and everything would have been fine anyway. We could have just not.. fought it at all.
- Internal Reveal:
- Orange Lantern Paul lets his alternate versions know about his Ambush Bug visions, where he saw snippets of alternate universes including Red Lantern Paul. It's the first time that the Red and Black Lanterns have met any alternate version of themselves.
- He also informs them about the mental compulsion not to refer to their original rings as "my ring". Red Lantern Paul is, of course, angry about the restriction.
- Killed Off for Real: Mayor Wilkins, Spike and Glory are killed off by Red and Black Lanterns.
- Killer Robot: When Paul arrives on Earth 32, he finds several Manhunter robots targeting his counterpart. However, Blackfire and Overgirl are more than up to the task of disassembling them, and the robots' data storage provides useful intelligence once decrypted. Unfortunately, Krona has access to basically infinite replacements.
- Move in the Frozen Time: The Time Trapper pulls Paul out of his normal timeline. From Paragon's point of view, the universe seems to be stuttering, recent events repeating over and over, but he and Time Trapper can interact normally. As it turns out, due to her Torquasm-Rao training, Overgirl can do that too.
- No-Gear Level: The Time Trapper contacted Paragon while he was trying out Ghia'ta's violet ring just to see if he could use it. And the answer is yes, he can use it, but not on anything like the same level as his mastery of orange rings. And of course it's too dangerous to go back and get an orange one. Plus he kept most of his equipment in his ring's subspace pocket.
- No-Sell: Overgirl has learned to draw power from alternative sources to yellow sunlight, so gold kryptonite doesn't stop her.
- Only in It for the Money: Paul recruits Jade from Earth 32 by simply describing the situation and handing her a substantial amount of cash.note
- Profane Last Words: Spike's last spiteful words to Red Lantern Paul: "Fucking red wanker!"
- Squick: In-Universe. Beast Boy is upset by a senior Red Lantern turning up to kill evildoers, so Red Lantern Paul makes an offer: if Beast Boy can watch all the way through a video of the evildoers' "biological experiments" without throwing up, then Paul will ask the other Lantern to tone it down. He doesn't last ten seconds.
- Switching P.O.V.: This episode features the POVs of different Pauls, and even a few from Overgirl.
- Unstoppable Rage:
- Overgirl attacks the Time Trapper, believing he is at fault for her being stranded in universe 16. The Paragon has to trap her in violet crystal as she refuses to listen to reason.
- The Teen Titans try to stop Lantern Abysmus from killing evildoers, so he gives Raven "Infectious Rage", making her feel a portion of the anger that he does. She immediately goes berserk and tries to incinerate Starfire. Notably, Abysmus himself maintains quite good self control.
- Vampire Hunter: Black Lantern Paul recharges his ring by provoking strong emotions in vampires and then "harvesting" their hearts. He doesn't seem to particularly hate them, he just considers them acceptable targets.
