While on the search for allies to fight Child, Zatanna's students are put to the test by Dr. Fate.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Klarion arrives at Nabu's doorstep for help, but is cornered and finally beaten by Child.
- All-Powerful Bystander: The Lords of Order are pretty indirect when fighting the Lords of Chaos, preferring instead to empower a human to work on their behalf. Two incidents, invoked by the alliance of Vandal Savage and Klarion, convinced them to take a new approach: creating a Lord of Order on Earth via Dr. Fate, fusing Nabu's sprit into his helmet and allowing him to fight through a worthy host.
- Arc Words:
- "You're not ready for this fight."
- "I am ready!"
- As You Know: Nabu gives Zatara a Flashback of his ascension to Lord of Order status but also the various moments throughout Season 1 when people wore the Helmet of Fate. Zatara responds the exact same way Vandal did to Phantom Stranger and Nabu to Vandal.
- Be Careful What You Wish For:
- While ruling Babylonia with his son Nabu, Savage/Marduk was frustrated at his generals' independence. Klarion arrived and offered a way to control them by summoning Starro. Against his son's wishes, Marduk took the offer, but learned too late that it was never promised that Starro would listen to either of them.
- Nabu insists on staying back while Klarion and Child try to kill each other, reasoning that the victor will be weakened by the battle and be easy pickings. By the time he is supposedly convinced to help after all, the far more powerful Child banishes Klarion by killing his anchor, Teekl, without expending any meaningful effort to do so.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Child's battle with Klarion has been this since last episode, and it comes to an end after she has her more powerful familiar Flaw kill his familiar Teekl, breaking his hold on the mortal realm.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The way Billy talks about how Mary was constantly in her Sergeant form, it sounds like an addiction, and that she required a intervention to stop living her life through a "false" form instead of as herself.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a petty, sadistic spreader of chaos and destruction, Klarion appears genuinely horrified and heartbroken when he sees his familiar, Teekl, ruthlessly killed, even beyond the fact this means his bond to the mortal plane is broken.
- Jerkass Genie: Mary's Shazam persona seems to demand full control of her host in exchange for the power, to the point of subsuming the host's life. This is revealed to be the reason why Mary kept her powers in check.
- Literal Metaphor: Nabu puts Zatanna's students to the test in order to determine if they are truly ready to face Child. They deal with the manifestation of their weaknesses:
- Khalid is faced with his past, talked down by not only his Muslim parents but by himself as well. Khalid wants to balance his Muslim heritage (which disapproves of magic) with his desire to master his powers and also balance being a normal doctor with being a sorceror hero, but is literally drowning in doubt. He conquers his doubt by embracing his heritage and vowing to keep this balance.
- Traci deals with puppet forms of Blue Beetle, Beast Boy and Zatanna, as well as her own voice. As the puppets give her words of encouragement, her voice talks down at her and saying she doesn't belong in her team. In a way, she is literally being controlled by her insecurities. She is able to counter this by accepting her insecurities and admitting that she needs help.
- Mary is faced with rescuing a younger version of herself, but is berated for not "doing it right" with how she currently uses her powers. Her other self transforms into her Sergeant form and attacks her. In this way, Mary is literally beating herself up for taking half-measures, instead of embracing her full power thanks to a promise to hold back. Remembering why she gave up her power in the first place, she vows to embrace it without surrendering her identity.
- Mage Species: Khalid's father believes Khalid's power is a natural ability as a Homo Magi, and trusts Khalid's personal integrity to use his magic only to benefit others.
- Magic Is Evil: Defied. Neither Khalid nor Zatara consider their practice of magic as contradictory to their faith, although Khalid's mother has concerns about the magic's source.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Zatanna, her students, and even Nabu himself are shocked at Klarion's demise.
- Mythology Gag: The glimpse of the "immortal elders" that make up Shazam is a reference to the 1970s Shazam! (1974) live-action series.
- More subtly, the rising notes of the background music are somewhat like the opening narration music of the TV theme.
- Neck Snap: Flaw does this to Teekl, even as the cat is in her monstrous form.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: The story that Olympia told to Cassandra Savage last season left out the pertinent detail that the Starro invasion Vandal repulsed back in Mesopotamia was invited by him in the first place, and that he was seeking to control the minds of the population.
- Origins Episode: The flashbacks in this episode reveal how Dr. Fate was formed and why he needs a mortal host in order to fight on Earth.
- The Reveal:
- In the past, Mary was too Drunk with Power as Sergeant, and Billy and the rest of the Shazam family helped her to rely on herself without depending too much on it. Remembering this allows her to pass her test.
- We also find out why Nabu doesn’t like his father Vandal Savage/Marduk. Vandal/Marduk didn’t listen when Nabu argued against his plan to use Starro to attack their own people. As a result, Starro killed him and nearly destroyed the empire.
- Rewatch Bonus: If you listen closely during Zatara's prayer, you can hear an echo of him reciting it in Italian.
- Secret Test of Character: Not convinced that Zatanna's students are ready to take on two agents of Chaos, let alone one, Dr Fate sends them to separate pocket dimensions to test each one's resolve.
- The Stinger: The recurring school bus is shown traveling through dimensional planes, its passengers constantly screaming to the point of repeatedly gasping for air. It seems to be on course to land on a green planet.
- Wham Line: While speaking to Nabu, Zatara reveals the reason why he's still around while being his host for the past decade.Zatara: Look at these three children whom you've tested this day, finding strength through mentors... their family... their faith. Honestly... do you think I would have survived these ten years being your host, and prisoner, without my faith?
- Wham Shot: Coinciding with the Wham Line above, Zatara draws a large Holy Cross to coincide with Nabu's Ankh.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Garfield's fellow Outsiders finally call him out for shirking his hero responsibilities. He has had trouble sleeping and been depending on sleep aids to contend with his insomnia. Now, he is seen sleeping all day.
- You Are Too Late: Zatara seems to have talked Nabu into helping, only for Klarion to be unceremoniously defeated when Flaw kills Teekl and breaks his anchor to the mortal realm.
