Episode 7: Denial
Takes place on July 27 (Opening), August 19 - 20
Kent Nelson, once the mystic hero Doctor Fate, is captured by Abra Kadabra (a supervillain who pretends to be a sorcerer) for Klarion the Witch Boy (who is a real sorcerer), so they can find the former source of his powers, the Helmet of Fate.
Red Tornado sends The Team to investigate Nelson's disappearance. Wally (Kid Flash), who doesn't believe in magic, pretends to do so just to get on Miss Martian's good side. But this causes problems when they try to enter Fate's Tower and its mystical defenses detect the lie.
Later on, Wally helps Nelson reach the helmet, but Klarion kills the old man. Wally then puts on the Helmet of Fate and it takes over him, turning him into Doctor Fate, who defeats Klarion by striking at his familiar, a cat. Nelson's spirit then convinces Nabu (the spirit inside the helmet) to let Wally's body go free.
Wally takes the Helmet to Mount Justice for safekeeping, and doesn't tell the team the full story of his possession (and insists he still doesn't believe in magic.)
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: Robin is absent from this episode, supposedly out on a mission with Batman. This was expanded on in issue #11 of the tie-in comic.
- Clingy Macguffin: As Kent warns Wally, the Helm of Nabu tends to wear the people who put it on, and there's a very good chance he might never be able to take it off again.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Abra Kadabra and Klarion subject Kent to some so he'll cooperate.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Even after an encounter with magic, Wally still refuses to believe in magic. Aqualad suggests it's because he sees science as a means of controlling what he can't prevent, and accepting magic would relinquish that control.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Given he's a Lord of Chaos, Klarion's motivation could easily be "funsies". Per word of Greg, his actual motivation in this episode is eliminating Nabu.
- Mythology Gag: Madame Xanadu, the fake seer in the episode's opening, IS a real sorceress in DC Comics - Merlin's former lover Nimue, in fact. However, she eventually becomes a real one by Season 4, and the best one there is.
- Posthumous Character: Inza Nelson, Kent's wife. Kent was hoping Xan was a real psychic because he wanted to get in touch with her again.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When Doctor Fate realizes Klarion's familiar Teekl is his tether, Klarion flees.
