Ash writes...

So this is an analysis on gender as I gathered from the Marzz arc, there are some questions at the end though.

The first notable element of gender roles within Marzz society is how for the Orthodox Martian Wedding, it is the blessing of the man's parents rather than the woman's, as is standard custom on Earth. From this flipping of roles, the basic assumption would be a relatively Matriarchal Society.

This idea in human culture at least, stemmed from the idea of the woman being given to the man's family. Which ties in nicely with the next point. This may be coincidental, but the only instances we had where a Martian's given and surnames did not match were older males (Ress Edda, Rohh Karr, Karr Mangg, Sternn Jaxx) who would likely or definitively been married, or an instance where the woman's family had disowned her (Jann Morzz). This takes the original name for Emree into account, rather than her changed name. This pattern would appear to indicate that it is customary for males to take the woman's family name when marrying.

Then we have the Altar and Canopy building ceremony, and it shows that it wasn't a simple flipping of Gender Norms for a Matriarchal Society. The Male Ceremony, the Altar Building, requires Strength and Physicality, endurance to withstand the heat of the Lava and providing hard Structure to the Altar. It is the foundation for the marriage. While the Female Ceremony, with the Canopy, is a mental task, with the challenge coming from synchronicity with family, overcoming the baggage of previous relationships to move forward and the Canopy providing shelter. This association of Male=Structure/Strength, Female=Shelter/Emotion, is a fairly standard human perception of gender.

Or so it seems, but when one considers that M'arzz is a highly Mental based society, we would assume that the mental challenge is considered more significant, fitting for that initial assumption of a matriarchy.

Now, in saying that the elephant in the room to the Matriarchal Assumption is that Sternn was the ruler of Marzz prior to his death, at which point Jarlia took over. There are two solutions that I see here; the first is that much like Earth, while Marzz developed from a matriarchy, it now doesnt possess that clear delineation and permits male rulers. The second, ties into the ideas presented in the Altar ceremony. Structure, is perceived as a masculine trait by the religious orthodoxy, and structure is rather necessary for a society. So it stands to reason that the leader is seen as one who provides Structure; the male leader, while still having that perception of women as more responsible for other facets of Shelter within a society.

This leads to some more speculative interpretation of the Yellonn. Ceridyall, a Goddess, appears to be most significant - or at least most significant for the elements of Marzz society which we see. The most prominent Yellonn we see is a woman, while there are certainly Priests as well, it would make some sense if the "pope" of the Yellonn, as a key representative of Ceridyall, were a woman in turn. So this leads to the idea that the Matriarchy comes from the Theology.

With how the Yellonn perform that birthday inaugeration ceremony (which features Life in the form of animals, life being an aspect of Ceridyall), and how they present Jemm into a lineage of great rulers, it appears that the Yellonn are essentially recognised as giving authority to the crown - the Male Government is given its power by the Female Faith.

With that, I turn to questions.

1) You had recently (as of writing) said that the Yellonn were supposed to remain apolitical. This would seem to go against the interpretation that the Yellonn are the power that grants the Blahdenn authority; but given that the Yellonn are involved in the coronation for Jemm, this seemed to be a political matter, rather than apolitical involvement. So I'm curious towards how you resolve their apoliticalness with their involvement in seemingly poltical events.

2) "His, her or their", simple but effective in conveying that the Orthodoxy is at least partially supportive of a nonbinary view of gender. However, given the seeming gender segregated roles of the Altar and Canopy building, I was curious to how "they"s fit into the wedding schema. If there were a nonbinary facet akin to the Altar/Canopy which represents ideals that the Orthodoxy holds towards nonbinary individuals, a component which is left out of weddings not featuring a nonbinary individual (just as the component of the gendered individual is left out accordingly in the enby wedding presumably) or must they decide on a gendered role to perform?

3) Similarly, with the gendered Altar and Canopy, how would same-sex marriages (if they are permitted), function? Would a wedding have two Canopies or are there different traditions to accommodate (assuming they are accommodated at all)?

Quinn writes...

1. How old is Jane Nassour?
2. How old is Muhammed Nassour?
3. What field of medicine was Khalid pursuing?
4. How physically old was Arion when he died?
5. Was Arion the maternal or paternal grandson of Vandal Savage?

Anonymous writes...

Are Kent Nelson, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna and Zatara Homo Magi?

Anonymous writes...

If you were to guess, what is the minimum number of episodes or tie-in comic issues you would need to tell the story of the Earth-17 fiasco?

Anonymous writes...

after watching zee's arc im confused on what young justice is supposed to be about at this point? its no longer about the team its not about the teenage heroes and its not really about the original cast either, it kinda feels like its trying to cover the entire dc universe but its stretched too thin

Matheus Heibel Feitosa writes...

Hi Mr. Greg!
I am a huge fan of your work! And i wanted to ask you something. Well, i'm from Brazil, and in the 3rd season you mentioned Fire, she is a Brazilian hero, so my question is she will appear in the show?
And i have one more question... Can you release the Designation numbers from 27-36?

Thanks for your work creating the BEST super-hero/spy drama ever!
~Matheus Heibel

Spectacular Spider-Geek writes...

Hi Greg,

Hope you and your family are staying healthy. I’ve been introducing Spectacular to a lot of my friends and had a couple of questions since rewatching it.

1. What did Ock do to mitigate his powerpack from losing power after his debut episode?

2. In Final Curtain, why does “Chameleon-Norman” need to hire Gargan to find Menken? In the episode, “Chameleon-Norman” is told by the Oscorp employee that the only people that can remove Menken’s address from the Oscorp database would be Norman or Menken. I thought that the real Norman would know where Menken would be since Menken says that Oscorp rented the apartment for him? I’m just confused on why the real Norman wouldn’t know and tell “Chameleon-Norman” where Menken’s location would be in order to lure Spider-Man to Menken.

3. Who came up with the idea to frame Menken? Was it Chameleon or Norman?

My friends are enjoying the show and it’s been a joy to rewatch the show. It still holds up. I’ve been enjoying YJ: Phantoms as well. Finally, I wanted to send my condolences to you for the loss of Dave Schwartz. Hope you are well and stay safe.

Galvino writes...

In episode 9 of YJ Phantoms, when the new chaos lord (child) is coming to Earth, on screen there are 10 Lords of Chaos and 11 Lords of Order but then after this point, both Chaos and Order respectively only have 8 Lords shown on screen. Was the time the screen showed more than 8 Lords from each side an animation error or are there actually more than 8 Lords from each side?

Anonymous writes...

why don't we see more about the outsiders as a team and learn more about the members? it's a bit hard to connect to them..it's odd how they're made to be such a big deal in the show when we really only get beast boy's perspective

Kiba writes...

Why did you make the decision that Garfield and Queen Perdita breakup despite most young justice fans like Garfield and Perdita as a couple together?

Troy writes...

What did people of Queen Perdita's country think of Peridia dating a meta human Garfield before the breakup?

YJ Love Nut writes...

Dear Greg, my friend seems to think Vandal is "white" while I'm under the impression that his race is ambiguous or the application of race is beyond such a primordial being. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Anonymous writes...

Were Ishtar and Nabu meta-human?
What year did the Starro invasion take place in Babylon?

Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

How exactly does the chain of command works for the Outsiders? For example, if and when Beast Boy is unable to lead the Outsiders, who is usually the one to step up as the leader of the Outsiders during that time until Beast Boy resumes his leadership duties?

Anonymous writes...

Can anyone practice magic or they have to be a Homo Magi?

Anonymous writes...

Is Atlantis the largest nation on the planet?

silversam writes...

Hi Greg, appreciate all the work you’ve done for the show, I’m loving this season. Something I’ve always been obsessed with is the designations. I know you won’t reveal them, but I’d like to ask:
1. Will all of the designations for justice league members who have joined since 3 began (Batwoman, blue devil, hardware, etc) be revealed at some point?
2. Do characters who have joined the outsiders (stargirl, livewire, looker, etc) join the team and/or get B-Designstions before getting D designations?
Thanks again for making this show! Looking forward to the next 13 episodes and hopefully a fifth season.

Anonymous writes...

Does Atlantis cover two-thirds of the planet?

Ash writes...

Hi Greg, Excellent finish to the Zatanna arc. I appreciate it a lot as someone who understands the magic principles that I feel shaped the arc ("A Magician performs the real trick while their Assistants occupy the minds of the audience").

There was a few minor things that I was hoping you could provide some clarity on, not necessarily giving spoilers - more a curiousity if some seeming inconsistencies are thought out and intentional.

1) I enjoyed that the sinking of Atlantis lined up to ~9000 BC, as stated by Plato when he first described Atlantis. But, Plato also alleged Atlantis to be at war with Athens (despite us knowing historically that Athens as it was wouldn't have existed then, nor Minoan or Mycenaean Greece). I was curious if some Proto-Minoan state which would eventually become Greece may have existed in that era to survive with the stories of Atlantis?

2) On that train of thought; was curious if this potential society, may have contributed to the Atlantean Language origins?, since Modern Atlantean is based off of Ancient Greek, but Atlantis' sinking and presumably its linguistic drift would have occured long before Ancient Greece became a language.

3) So obviously the 12 000 Years aren't necessarily precise, but taking them as being such, we get the Babylon Events (or rather Vandal's Babylon's rise) as being 7586 years post Atlantis. Assuming it was 9000 BC exactly; that gives us a date of 1414 BC.

You've previously given Ishtar's birth as 1816 BC, indicating a rather long lifespan - presumably immortality. But, Ishtar was first known by history as of around 2400 BC - to be syncretised with Inanna in the Akkadian Empire.

1414 BC is also within the Kassite era of Babylon, far from the most prominent or first Babylon - With Hammurambi's Code (which seems like a good thing for the Lords of Order to lay witness to) being in around 1700s BC.

Question is basically if you had considered these dates and elements, and if you had a reason for the inconsistencies (would love if you'd lay out the reasons, but understand if that would qualify as spoiler, so would be satisfied in knowing if it had been considered or not previously)?

4) These next two are slightly different, but similar wheelhouse in dates and ages. First, Carol Ferris. You've said for her to have been born in 1986 (so 24 for S1 in TY0), while Hal became a Lantern in 2000 - where she'd have been 14. While obviously Hal and Carol aren't necessarily connected in YJ, I was curious if you had been considering these elements when assigning her age? (And ofc, knowing that since its CIT, that you could just as easily change it if it didn't line up to your intents)

5) Similarly, we have Superman and Lois, who are romantically entangled. You've said that Superman joined the Daily Planet when he was 21, so either 1998 or 1999. At this point in time, Lois would have been around 16. Is this something that you'd considered when assigning their ages? (again, knowing full well that you're able to change the ages to suit further elements as desired since they're not established in the show material).

Rove Taylor writes...

Hi Greg, how you feel about people who are fans of young justice not liking Garfield's personality change during the episodes of Phantoms showing Garfield on earth up to episode 13 after Conner sacrifice on mar in episode 4?

NoOneSpecial writes...

Some questions regarding Chaos Lords and their familiars

1. Can a Chaos Lord, in theory make anything in the material world as their familiars? Or does the object and or creature they use need to be special in order to compatible with them? Like was the crystal that became Flaw some way magical itself or was it just a regular piece of crystal? And was the cat that became Teekl something special or was it really just an ordinary cat?

2. Are familiars limited by whatever forms they have or are they generally equally powerful in most cases? Could Teekl say, take the same level of punishment that Flaw could, or is Flaw more durable because he is made of a crystal substance? Seemed like Flaw was impervious to most attacks, whereas Teekl could get knocked around much more easily. Likewise Teekl was killed by Flaw breaking her neck whereas Flaw was much harder for the heroes to put down.

3. When Klarion was using the bus as his anchor, does mean the bus was his familiar at that time? If not, then how was the bus distinct from Teekl?

4. Nabu referred to Klarion and Teekl sharing the 'bond of naming', making Teekl his anchor, but Child only named Flaw after she chose him as his familiar and gave him a name as a 'gift'. So, do Chaos Lords have to name their familiars to make them good anchors?

5. Klarion said that the 'cat', has to look for him. Now Klarion’s inability to explain things clearly in general notwithstanding, what does this mean? Was Flaw looking for Child when they bonded? Or is this more a case of every Chaos Lord is unique in how they chose familiars?

Rick writes...

How was the superheroes able to save everybody from getting kill by Child's rampage on earth in young justice phantoms?

CM3 writes...

1. When Mary faced her demons in the form of Sergeant in Nabu's test, Mary said she could still be a better Hero than Sergeant that she could be just as important and just as powerful, I found this line very ominous, because even while she subdues her demon in that test she's still fixated on being powerful and important to prove that she is someone of value not on being a better person or someone who can help more people. Is this something you have done on purpose to show that she has not yet dealt with her power addiction issues or am I reading too much into it.
2. Also isn't Sergeant and the powers that come with it in a way a part of Mary, trying to renounce it and going cold turkey seems to me not quite the same as say trying to go sober or overcoming a drug addiction, it seems an issue quite similar to dysmorphia. Shouldn't the solution to helping her be confronting and being able to embrace Sergeant and finding a balance instead of while avoiding the issue altogether out of fear. And didn't Black Canary say that if she stopped talking out of fear of making everyone around her go deaf, that wouldn't be a solution. I just can't understand when people like Black Canary and Miss Martian who knows what it's like to do things out of fear, how can they all and much less Zatanna endorse such a solution especially when they already know that is not a solution to begin with. Ofcourse you do deserve the benefit of the doubt since there might have been things that happened offscreen that led to such results being taken. But for me based on that I have seen about Mary and her battle and all the other characters that had to face this same battle it seems too impossible that they will let Mary go forward with her issues with this path especially with Zatanna for example why isn't Mary working with Dinah. I don't mind seeing Mary have this sort of issue but others being okay with Mary taking such an outcome doesn't seem right to me.

I can't thank you enough though for doing such a storyline and clearly you are victorious in getting me to care a lot for a character that I have known for five episodes juggled along with multiple characters, but I am gonna find it a lot harder to comprehend heroes especially those have been under training as part of the Team to end up at this low note in this manner, once again no problem with characters reaching a low point but in this particular manner seems difficult to digest. Also really hoping for a season 5 can't get enough of the show.

Mr. Yeon writes...

Mr. Weisman If nothing went wrong on the trip on Mars and Miss Martian and Superboy got married on Mars and return to Earth safely would have Garfield still breakup with Perdita and if so, why?

Anonymous writes...

In season 4 episode 13 of young justice both Khalid and Traci said Wow in reaction as Zatanna went to talk to Mary. Were they reacting to Zatanna's plan of alternating host bodies since they didnt act surprised when Zatanna put forward the idea to Fate about multiple hosts for Nabu or was the reaction of Wow simply about how Zatanna was dealing with Mary and power stealing habit and how Mary won't be a host for Nabu.