DC COMICS: Legion of Super-Heroes (s1 ep 13 Sundown pt 2)

DC COMICS: Legion of Super-Heroes

YOUTUBE:
N/A

PLOT:
Previously: The Legion fought the Fatal Five, but it took the whole group to put them in jail. The most devastating weapon the galaxy has ever seen - the Sun-Eater - has escaped. It was created by an interdimensional species called the Controllers during the Great Crisis. Ferro Lad, energized by Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, missed a shot at destroying the Sun-Eater before it got too powerful. The Sun-Eater has now set a course for Earth. In the aftermath of the battle, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad agree that their team is too small and they need help.

On the prison planet of Takron-Galtos, the team of Superman, Phantom Girl, and Saturn Girl talk to Brainiac 5, and lament how they never thought they'd need the help of the Fatal Five. Shrinking Violet appears from within a console in the control room and says that she's knocked out the cameras. Superman, Phantom Girl, and Saturn Girl race through the complex towards the vault holding the Fatal Five. Along the way, Superman passes the cell of Alexis Luthor, who sticks her tongue out at him. The Emerald Empress thinks the Legion must be pretty desperate to be busting the Fatal Five out of prison, but she agrees to the deal. They get the Emerald Eye and the Persuader's Atomic Axe, and when the Empress reminds the team of the deal, Tharok says that once they've taken care of the Sun-Eater, all bets are off. Phantom Girl phases her arm through is body and angrily tells him that when it's all over they'll end up back on Takron-Galtos.

Back on the Cruiser, the assembled team of Legionnaires stare down the Fatal Five, but Bouncing Boy tells them to calm down and listen to the plan. A solar transducer will turn the Sun-Eater's power against itself, where it will consume itself. Tharok will help Brainiac 5 speed up the process to get enough quantum particles to make it work; Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Validus will go to the third moon of Ra to get some Dalamite crystal; Persuader will go to the Tyro Cluster to mine some quantum ore; Timber Wolf and Colossal Boy will go to Vega 3, where a band of scavengers is hoarding some quantum; Star Boy and Mano will go to the Tiberian Nebula to get some anti-matter; Phantom Girl will go to Rimbor to get a stabilizer core, where she'll meet up with Jo Nah; and Superman will find the Controller and stop him. The Controllers are elusive and immune to the laws of the United Planets, so they can be stopped but not arrested.

Superman tours the Cheyenne system in his new fighter, outfitted by Brainiac 5 with dimensional displacement sensors, which if they find a rift, will lead him to the Controllers' ship. Since the Sun-Eater was activated in the Cheyenne system, that's where they'll start looking. Brainiac 5 has also provided Superman with a device that will activate a Time Bubble in case they fail - the Earth will be destroyed, and Superman can go back to his own time. He doesn't think he'll need it. Back on the Cruiser, Bouncing Boy thinks Brainy doesn't believe that they'll succeed, and Brainy says that at least Superman will be safe, away from the Sun-Eater. Superman is searching in vain with the sensors on the ship, and concludes that it would be easier if he got out and looked himself. He finds it with his infra-red vision.

On board the Controller ship, Superman has been spotted, and the Controller says that he'll soon find out what happens to those who get in their way. The Legionnaires and the Fatal Five have completed their acquisitions and are building the solar transducer. The Emerald Empress compliments Bouncing Boy for his guts at facing certain destruction. From the bridge, Saturn Girl announces that the Sun-Eater has just entered Earth's solar system, and Bouncing Boy tells them all to get ready for battle. Superman reaches the Controller's ship, and the hatch opens - he realizes he's expected.

He enters, and finds himself in the control center. The Controller reveals that few get to see the Controllers as they work, he has been given a great honor. He tells Superman that while most Controllers believe perfection lies in order, he believes that it lies in chaos - the United Planets does not suit him, and in the aftermath of the destruction of the UP, he will find that perfection. Superman tries a direct attack, but is repelled by a force field. The Controller tells him that his choice of attack is primitive, but as a guest on the ship he'll indulge Superman. He armors himself up and engages Superman. On screen, he watches as the Legion and the Fatal Five await the Sun-Eater, and promises Superman he'll keep him alive long enough to watch them fail. It's showtime!

The combined forces of the entire Legion, the Fatal Five, the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and Ultra Boy are ready. While Star Boy slows the core down, the Empress and the Eye open the cloud to expose the core and the robots that surround it. Those with ranging powers such as Sun Boy and Cosmic Boy attack the robots, while others like Validus and Colossal Boy protect the others. Persuader, Tharok, and Matter-Eater Lad go to disable the force shield around the core. The team fights on while Superman fights the Controller, who tells him that neither the Sun-Eater nor himself can be stopped - but Superman realizes that he can attack the ship itself. The number of attacking robots is overwhelming the team's countermeasures, and the Empress is weakening. An explosion takes her out, and they've lost protection from the Sun-Eater's cloud. The good news is that the core shield is down and he's activating the transducer. As the team falls back, Timber Wolf arrives in a fighter to rescue Persuader, Tharok, and Matter-Eater Lad.

Superman sees Brainy launch the transducer and thinks he's stalled the Controller long enough. As a timer counts down, Bouncing Boy tells Saturn Girl to keep tabs on everyone - he doesn't want anyone left behind when the transducer blows. She reaches out to find that all of the Legionnaires are screaming and are trapped in a green bubble of energy. The Emerald Empress appears with the rest of the Fatal Five, and tells them that they should have been keeping track of her. Tharok adds that when the Sun-Eater goes supernova, it will take out the entire Legion too. She begins to use the Eye to teleport away, but there's an explosion and then a force field comes down to contain the Fatal Five. Bouncing Boy had been expecting a double-cross all along, and Shrinking Violet had been hiding out in the Eye. The Legion team is freed, and they prepare to depart in the Cruiser as soon as the device explodes. The transducer impacts the Sun-Eater - but nothing happens. Brainy announces that the transducer has malfunctioned. Brainy runs some diagnostics, while Bouncing Boy admits that he doesn't have a backup plan.

Back on the Controller ship, Superman refuses to believe that chaos is inevitable as he's beaten down again. Brainy finds that the primary conductor coil was destroyed on impact, but replacing it with a similar mechanism should still trigger a detonation. Unseen by anyone, Ferro Lad armors up and heads for the Sun-Eater. He's close to the core before anyone spots him, and he tells the Legion that they need a conductor, and he's it. Don't worry, he won't mess up this time. He flies through the cloud as the Legion watches in shock and horror. He dodges some robots and makes the others destroy each other. He makes his way inside the transducer and as he grabs the wires to make a connection, he says "Long Live the Legion!". He was successful, and the Sun-Eater is destroyed.

The Controller tells Superman that he may have lost a friend, but he can always make another Sun-Eater. Enraged, Superman manages to destroy the Controller's armor, but he activates an escape portal. Just before he leaves, Superman tells him that if he ever sets foot here again, he'll finish what he started. Untouchable by the UP's laws, Superman is forced to let him go. The Controller's ship self-destructs as Superman leaves for Earth. Back at the Legion HQ, Superman gives a speech on heroism before the new statue erected in honor of Ferro Lad. Meanwhile, on an asteroid somewhere, a great gouge in the surface reveals the body of Ferro Lad - alive or dead? After the speech, Superman tells the Legionnaires that he's leaving in a Time Bubble. They say they're going to miss him, but Superman reminds them he can come back to just a second after he leaves. He's going back to his home time to work in Metropolis. He arrives at home and changes back to Clark Kent, taking off his Legion flight ring and putting it in his suitcase. He goes down for dinner.