The DC Animated Chronicles: Justice League Unlimited Season 3

by Earl Rufus ·

In preparation for the release of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, we are celebrating the rich history of DC Comics by detailing their characters’ history and legacy through animation. In something we’re calling, The DC Animated Chronicles.

Summary:

The League has a new challenge as Grodd recruits some of their top foes in a new Secret Society that works in the shadows to protect their own.

Thoughts:

Since the next batch of episode all dealt with episode from Justice League Unlimited season 3, I just made a run of the entire season and wanted to share some thoughts.

Unlike previous seasons, this one starts with a focus on the central conflict of the season which would be the Justice League vs a revamped Secret Society. What, I found most surprising about this season though was that while the season was building to this big war between the League vs The Society, it isn’t actually what we get. Instead in the penultimate episode of the series, Alive, we see the Secret Society comes to blows as forces led by Gorilla Grodd vs a secondary force led by Lex Luthor.

The final confrontation in Destroyer sees the return of Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips against the combined might of the League and the remaining members of the Secret Society. It makes for an action-packed conclusion, but it did seem an odd climax for the conflict they were building throughout the season.

The rest of the season was a mixed bag. It was somewhat clear that there wasn’t as cohesive a plan going into this season. There were a few episodes dedicated to wrapping up some previous plots like the General Eiling thread, Blackhawks/World War2, Meta-Brawl and of course Darkseid. While great for long-term fans, seem to do little in the way of developing the core narrative of the season.

The season features a ton of great episodes, but feels like a lesser season due to really not having a compelling central focus. While the League vs Society is the building block of the story, it never becomes more than that. The League only really discovers the identity of the Secret Society near the end, and that never pays off beyond the revelations.

It feels a bit disjointed (the writing and the season) and it’s somewhat understandable since season 3 was confirmed a little after the end of season 2 so they had blew their best guns with the Cadmus arc, and pretty much returned for a very fan-servicey season. It doesn’t have the highest highs nor many lows. A fun end to a fantastic run.

Best Moments:

The final moments of the show. Just a great little moment for all.

The Flash’s unmasking.

Green Arrow hums his own theme song.