Cut off from Earth, Connor, M'gann and Garfield have to find out who is trying to sabotage relations between Earth and Mars.
Episode 2: Needful
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- When M'comm is ranting about the oppression the Green Martians have inflicted upon them and accuses his father of being a "grease mat" to them, M'comm's mother (who is Green) asks him if that is what he thinks of her. M'Comm only glares in response to her.
- When M'gann is confronting M'comm, he delivers one as well regarding how they were (and still are) treated by their Green siblings.M'comm: When only two of twenty-nine children are A'ashen, love is not enough. Our parents failed to teach tolerance and acceptance even in their own home.
M'gann: Maybe they... failed, but at least they tried.
M'comm: Which is worth what? How many of our Ga'ruun siblings plan to attend your wedding?
- Big Brother Bully: M'gann and M'comm were abused by their Green siblings growing up, which their parents either ignored or simply failed to stop. M'gann fled to Earth because she felt like she was dying in the household, and M'comm explodes at her for leaving him to face it alone.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Phantom Girl's reaction to the thing on her wrist beeping just before the ceiling explodes:Phantom Girl: Well that's not good.
- Culture Clash: When Conner asks for the intel on the murder case, Prince J'emm downloads all the intel into their brains. Garfield nearly attacks him before Superboy calms him down and explains to J'emm that on Earth, psychics are expected to ask first.
- Disney Death: Despite fear of the contrary, J'onn was able to safely transport through the Zeta Tube from Mars to the Justice League Watchtower near Earth before it blew up.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: M'comm plans to use a bomb in two days that is capable of killing non-A'ashenn Martians. The concept of wiping out an entire race is likened to a Final Solution.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. DeSaad finds the racism between the Martian castes to be rather petty and insignificant, telling M'comm to his face there literally is no genetic difference among the castes save for skin pigmentation (the Martian King used this scientific fact to try and mitigate the castes before his death). He's giving M'comm the means to enact a Final Solution on the Green and Red Martians mainly because he finds M'comm's misguided beliefs to be funny.
- Foil: M'gann's relationship with M'comm serves as one to Artemis's relationship with Jade.
- M'gann and Jade were both older siblings who sought to escape an unhappy home (Jade being subjected to abuse from her father, M'gann subjected to racial persecution from her other siblings and neighbors) and ended up leaving their weaker younger siblings behind. M'gann had a home with her uncle J'onn and became the superhero Miss Martian. Jade became the assassin Cheshire and joined the League of Shadows.
- M'comm and Artemis were both left behind by their older siblings, whom they relied on for protection. Artemis's living situation improved once her dad was largely out of the picture, and she became Green Arrow's new protégé. M'comm, on the other hand, only had his situation worsen until he renounced his family and became a racial supremacist terrorist with the intent of wiping out non-A'ashenn Martians (including most of his siblings and his own mother).
- Freudian Excuse: Beyond the obvious suffering from being an A'ashenn, M'comm reveals that the bigotry extended to their own household and he never felt safe as a child. M'gann was his only rock in the world, and when she fled Mars, he was left to suffer their abuse alone for eight years.
- From Bad to Worse: A mysterious entity blows up the Mars-Earth communication satellite early in the episode, cutting the planets off from one another, and this is after the Mars-Earth Zeta Tube was blown up last episode, which, in-universe, was mere minutes ago. The Justice League has no way to get to Mars and must wait to be picked up within the month. This also makes the racial tensions even worse.
- Get a Room!: Garfield does a version of this when Conner and M'gann get mushy around him.Garfield: Jeez, get a honeymoon suite.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The reason the Legionnaires are present in the 21st Century is because they're dealing with "the enemy," someone implied to be acting behind the scenes of all the other villains. This enemy attempts and succeeds at blowing Saturn Girl's cover by using the ceiling explosion to allow Miss Martian to sense Saturn Girl's presence.
- It Amused Me: As a reward for the attack on New Genesis, DeSaad of Apokolips delivers to M'comm a bomb capable of wiping out all Martians that aren't in the A'ashenn/White caste, though mixed blood is a mystery not even he considered without further experiments. DeSaad claims that the racial tensions on Mars are petty yet entertaining to him, which is enough reason to help see M'comm's plan through.
- Logical Weakness: Because Conner's powers come from the yellow sun, being further away from it on Mars has weakened him. M'gann and Gar are shocked that he is bleeding and believe it's nothing to shrug about.
- Love Floats: M'gann and Conner share a mid-air dance with her levitating them both.
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: M'gann's parents are an inter-caste couple and were married by a sorcerer-priest who was too old to worry about the repercussions. There's also a lot of bigotry being thrown at M'gann and Connor for being an interspecies couple, which is why only the progressive S'yraa S'mmitt would agree to be their officiant.
- Not Afraid to Die: M'comm's reaction to being told the bomb may very well kill mixed-race Martians (with a specific point out to his own mixed heritage) is not to be fearful of his own death, but to see the end result as more important.
- Not Me This Time: While M'Comm admits to being a terrorist, he claims to not be responsible for the Zeta Tube's destruction. He uses his capture as an alibi and, since he didn't exactly attack anyone yet, tells M'gann to have the guards release him if there is no other evidence against him.
- Oh, Crap!: The Legionnaires following M'gann's group have tried to remain hidden, but a sudden attack on the latter has left the former psychically exposed, if only for a moment. Imra/Saturn Girl, of the Legionnaires, says they have to stay further out of sight now that M'gann seems to have a read on them.
- Outside-Context Problem: Because everyone on Mars is psychic, murder is considered impossible to get away with since it would be quick to find the culprit. King S'turrn's murder proves difficult for the Manhunters to solve due to their lack of experience with such a case. This is why, despite R'ess's objections, the queen and Prince J'emm entrust the case to the Earth heroes, who have dealt with solving murder mysteries in real life and on TV.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Prince J'emm wishes to continue his father's progressive legacy and, while everyone else is blaming one caste or another for it, he refuses to accuse anyone without solid evidence.
- The Reveal: The Legion members are Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy, and they're here seeking an adversary who is trying to expose them to the modern-day heroes.
- The Stinger: The credits scene is Beast Boy listening to calls from Queen Perdita, who is having trouble back in her home country since people are fleeing Markovia and King Brion isn't responding to any of her diplomatic overtures. She misses both her late father and Beast Boy and hopes to have the latter's company soon.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Constant brain blasts since last episode (either from the racist Martians' attacks or Prince J'emm passing intel) have hit a serious nerve for Gar, leaving him slightly bitter. There is also a possibility that it's because he and Perdita have become distant lately before the Mars trip, revealed in The Stinger. M'gann and Conner take him outside the city to cool off while they discuss their upcoming wedding.
