Sprawled across the Multiverse, the teams are waging war on a number of fronts:
- In Gotham City, the Batman Who Laughs gets Barbatos to issue a war cry, which will apparently bring forth the Armies of Darkness. Something about the Batman Who Laughs’ narrative implies he’s manipulating Barbatos, but it’s unclear to what end.
- At the Forge, Superman has lost all hope, while Bruce remains convinced the Forge isn’t dead. As they drop further into the Forge, Superman continues to express doubt while Batman tries to goad the now-monstrous Hawkman into remembering who he is. They find a spark at the bottom, and Bruce is convinced they have to leap through it. (I have no idea why he comes to this conclusion, particularly since they're essentially leaping into magma. But, I have bigger fish to fry here.)
- Aquaman and Deathstroke arrive at the center of the Earth to discover some sort of orb made of Atlantean and "other" technology. Aquaman tells Deathstroke that legend holds King Arion saved Atlantis “through ancient magic spun at the center of the Earth.” Deathstroke senses Nth metal in the orb, and for reasons that aren’t clear to me decides they should activate it. (Just like in Bruce's case, I don't understand why they decide it's going to end well if they do.) Aquaman frets King Arion might’ve saved Atlantis through some sort of dark deal, but Deathstroke encourages him to focus on the matter at hand. The orb is apparently a centrifuge, and, now activated, it distills Nth metal. However, at this moment of victory, Black Manta unexpected shoots both of them with harpoons. (It’s a great moment.) He reveals himself as another villain who struck a deal with Barbatos (or, probably more accurately, the Batman Who Laughs), and he tells Aquaman he’ll rule a vast underwater ocean where Atlanteans are enslaved. Then, the Drowned, Murder Machine, and the Red Death arrive.
- On Thanagar Prime, Green Lantern and Mr. Terrific are stuck in prison, and Terrific explains to Hal that Plastic Man is important because he’s a super-conductor of cosmic energy. Before “Dark Nights” began, he was helping Terrific, but he eventually reverted to egg form when the nightmares of every living being that were suddenly running through him became too much. To everyone’s surprise, Martian Manhunter reveals he has been posing as a guard, searching for answers to the same questions as everyone else. He busts Hal and Terrific free, and they take on Starro off-panel. Synn relents, allowing them to take Plastic Man, and they make their way to the Phoenix Cannon. However, Terrific realizes the polarities have been reversed. Then, the Dawnbreaker, Devastator, and the Merciless arrive. (Notice a pattern?)
- Diana fights Black Adam, whose deal with Barbatos makes him believe he’ll rule Khandaq in a dark world where it thrives. (At one point, Black Adam tells Diana there are only reasons to comprise, and she punches him, telling him she’ll give him “five reasons not to.” She’s really on fire in this issue, the only one who seems to be feeling any emotions.) Adam tells Diana Hawkman's mace isn’t here, but, after blasting her through a wall, she (very conveniently) discovers it. She reminds him it stores and absorbs energy, like the kind he’s using, and then bashes him over the head with it. However, in her moment of triumph, the Batman Who Laughs shoots her in the head.
At this point, the stories converge. The Batman Who Laughs helpfully narrates the plan. The three remaining pieces of Nth metal were too “dangerous” for the Dark Batmen to approach by themselves (which I totally don’t get, but whatever), so the Justice League had to lead them to them. They activate the Phoenix Cannon thanks to Plastic Man's egg, and it darkens the Earth’s core, allowing Hawkman's mace to pull the Earth fully into the Dark Multiverse. (I’m really not entirely clear on how a mace is going to pull down the planet, but we seem to long ago have given up the attempt to explain the physics behind the dark metals. Also, was the Phoenix Cannon really necessary to darken the Earth’s core? Someone couldn't have figured out another way to to do so that didn’t involve a cannon on a distant planet?) Batman and Superman take a leap of faith through the spark, but the Batman Who Laughs says it’s too late, since the Earth is now low enough for the Armies of Darkness to hear Barbatos’ war cry. Superman begins to lose faith (yet again), but Bruce pushes him forward as Wonder Woman uses the Lasso to remind Kendra who she is. She and Kendra go through a portal and arrive on Earth, where the Armies of Dark Wonder Women have gathered. Diana falters for a minute, but then emits her own war cry, leading Kendra into battle.
I can’t say I’m really enjoying this series all that much. I’ll give Snyder credit: I’m not sure how the heroes are going to save the day in just two remaining issues. That said, that’s usually not a good sign. In fact, I’m not really sure what the goal is anymore. For most of this series, we seemed to be trying to prevent Barbatos from dragging the Earth into the Dark Multiverse. But, we failed at that, so now it seems to be more about defeating the Armies of Darkness. Even if the heroes do so, it’s not clear to me how we move the Earth back. Hope? Hugs? Bruce and Clark making sweet, sweet love? Given we know they’ll save the day, I liked the focus on Bruce and Diana’s steel wills here. But, we either need more of that or more focus on the mysteries at hand, like what all the metals mean. (That was a major focus of the first few issues, but now we seem to have put it aside, as more and more mysterious metals are added to the list.) Without the emotions or revelations, we’re just sort of spinning our wheels, listlessly hitting our marks and getting a paycheck.
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