Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Young Justice season 4.
Nightwing was recently affirmed as having an important role in the world of Young Justice, acting as a voice of reason and a bridge between a variety of unique heroes. Despite not having any superpowers of his own, the first Robin, Dick Grayson, is uniquely comfortable with all the weirdness that comes with dealing with magic and metahumans. He is also renowned for his kindness and for being as accessible as Superman, making him an ideal leader for his generation of heroes.
The story of Young Justice season 4 explored the lives of the Justice League’s teen sidekicks ten years after they first came together, starting with the impending marriage of Superboy and Miss Martian. It was presumed that the final story arc of Young Justice season 4 would focus upon Nightwing and his life as the defender of the city of Blüdhaven. Instead, Young Justice season 4, episode 22, “Rescue and Search,” used Nightwing as a way to draw the earlier story arcs together while showing the audience the sort of hero Nightwing had become over the past decade.
Young Justice’s season 4 episode, “Rescue and Search,” was able to highlight the importance of Nightwing as a leader who is on level footing with his peers, accessible, and a skilled detective in his own right. Young Justice’s “Rescue and Search” episode opened with Zatanna approaching Nightwing with her belief that Conner “Superboy” Kent was not really dead but somewhere beyond the ability of her magic to detect his presence. Nightwing was skeptical, but agreed to put his training as a detective to work in considering what evidence Zatanna had gathered that the seemingly dead Superboy was still alive. This led the two down a twisted trail which led them to Superman, the seemingly unrelated disappearance of Kid Flash, and the rest of their friends from the original team from Young Justice season 1.
The episode defied the audience’s expectations, placing as much focus on Nightwing and his unique role as a detective as it did on tying together the unconnected elements of Young Justice season 4’s story to date. This was noteworthy as Nightwing’s training as a detective is rarely spotlighted as frequently as his acrobatic talents. While this is to be expected given his mentor Batman is nicknamed “The World’s Greatest Detective,” it was still Dick Grayson who determined that Superboy had been taken into the Phantom Zone.
Beyond showcasing Nightwing’s talents as a detective, the episode also displayed his tactical genius and ability to organize a variety of allies in achieving their goals. This talent seems likely to come to play through the final story arc of Young Justice season 4, as a confrontation with General Zod looms over the horizon. It may be the biggest challenge the young heroes of Earth-16 have ever faced, but the odds don’t seem so dire with Nightwing leading the way.
New episodes of Young Justice release Thursdays on HBO Max.
