NoOneSpecial writes...

This may surprise you, but I have question about how time travel works

First let me preface this by saying that I agree with your preferred method of doing time travel as closed loops. Nothing changes the past because it was part of the past. Avalon Part 2 has always been a favorite episode of mine because I always loved how cleanly you explained the two Archmages working in a loop together. But I also understand that DC comics as a whole doesn't work the same way. Some of DC's most iconic stories revolve around time travel, so we have to get messy and roll with it.

1. When Mantis (who is now the MVP of S4) set the Time Sphere back one day to get the Phantom Projector, he created a closed loop of time travel. He didn't alter the past in anyway that prevents his future self from doing the same thing when he arrives later. Basically, Zod's team can't find the PZ projector because it's already been taken into the past by Mantis. So closed loops are possible on Earth-16, but they aren't necessarily guaranteed and require some skill to pull off?

2. Now we get messy. In 2020, Child kills Teekl and de-corporealizes Klarion. Klarion then travels back to 2010 and hijacks the school bus. He then bounces around time for a while until he arrives back in 2020. After Child's defeat, the bus is sent back. So, this would also be a closed loop? The problem here though is that the timeline was altered several times after Team Year Zero. E.g Bart arrives in 2015 and alters history by preventing the Reach Apocalypse and so does Lor-Zod. But this means events would play out differently than the original timelines. Which means Child may not have killed Klarion in Bart's timeline. Not to mention someone else could alter history again and maybe prevent Klarion's death from ever happening in 2020. Yet from what we see, the school bus thing was always Klarion. I guess I want to understand how this could a closed loop of time travel like in Gargoyles, when history is also subject to change in Young Justice?

3. I like the Chronotron radiation rule. Basically, if someone is dosed in this radiation, they are immune, or in future Neutron’s case, semi-immune to changes in the timeline. So this may be a spoiler question since it involves a hypothetical scenario, but it is based off what we’ve seen already. Let's say someone time travels back to Team Year Zero and mucks up history, resulting in a new timeline. What would happen to Bart, Lod-Zod, the Legionnaires and I guess Mantis and M'comm, who have all been exposed to Chronotron radiation? If it makes them immune to changes in timelines, then it stands to reason they would be unaffected if someone else alters history even further back. We know that Bart's timeline is gone, but so far, he has stuck around, and the Legionnaires survived Lor-Zod's changes because of the radiation. So, does the radiation make you time-proof forever or do you just need to be in proximity to this radiation and have a strong enough dosage when the timeline is about to be alerted?

4. When speaking to the Legionaries, Superman asked why they don't use their time sphere to go back and try to save Superboy. I get that Superman may not know the rules of how it works, but this brings me to another hypothetical scenario. Let's say, after Lor-Zod's first failed attempt to kill Superboy at the UN, he decides to just go back in time earlier and try again rather than wait for another chance. So, if he went back, like say a week, knowing where Superboy was and killing him, that would change history. So, what would happen to the Lor-Zod who would show up the UN a week later? Since Past-Lor-Zod has Chronotron radiation, he is immune to changes in history. Would that include ones made by his own future self, going further back into the past? Similarly, let's say the Legionnaires did go back to save Superboy on Mars, they would run into their past selves, who like them are immune to changes in history due to Chronotron radiation. So, would the duplicates stick around or be erased from the timeline?

5. I'm a bit confused by Chameleon Boy expecting there to be changes after talking to Superman. He initially thinks they failed to reset the timeline, but then Saturn Girl brings up their exposure to Chronotron radiation making them immune to changes. I mean Bart resetting the timeline didn't make him disappear or send him back to his future so why was Chameleon Boy expecting something to happen? Am I missing something in this exchange or was it just a case of Chameleon Boy being optimistic?

Mal writes...

When Wally appeared to Conner in the Phantom Zone, he looked like a phantom as well. Was this an animation error?

Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Just so I can understand, Vandar Adg is Vandal Savage's real name in the comics, but this is NOT true in the Earth-16 universe, correct? As such, what is his real name in the Earth-16 universe?

Steve Hockensmith writes...

Has Flash met Guy before? Is that why he was so supportive of him in Agendas? (That double "no" was hilarious, by the way)

Anonymous writes...

I know you don't like to reveal designations here, but since we know the time some members (Batwoman, Hardware, Fire, Ice, Katana, Elongated Man, Blue Devil, & Magog) joined the League and we can assume they belong to Designations 28-35, would you mind saying who has which? If not, I understand. Thanks.

Anonymous writes...

Don't you think it's the silliest idea ever to call Captain Marvel "Shazam" ? The guy can't even introduce himself ! He can't say his own name without transforming ! There was one name in the entire universe that he couldn't have and precisely he got it !
Illogical and stupid, right ?

Paul writes...

Sorry, Mr. Weisman -- I should correct myself know and say that the more recent response from you that I just alluded to was on May 9th, 2022! So EIGHT years passed between you answering those two questions! Still, I hope you may remember.

Paul writes...

In a response dated Sept 16th, 2014, you said that you had an in-universe explanation for Troia and Mary being absent from the bridal shower in "Satisfaction".

Your response was: "Yes. (Both excuses are a bit feeble, to be honest.) But I can't reveal why each didn't attend without revealing SPOILERS about their stories, so..."

When I asked you just recently if you could reveal the in-universe explanation for Mary's absence, you responded on May 9th, 2021, with "Maybe. If I had one."

I'm sure you've just forgotten the reason for absence, since it's been 7 years since these two questions were read by you! A lot of time has passed. Nevertheless, since you once knew the answer to the question of why she was absent in-universe, is this something you could find out or remind yourself of? Maybe you have notes somewhere, or it's on the timeline, or it's a discussion that you have had with Brandon Vietti? I just thought I'd bring up that you did know the answer to this once, and I'm trying to jog your memory.

Anonymous writes...

1 Was there any noticible reaction from the league of shadows when al ghul left and was replaced by deathstroke?
2 how do the other league of Shadow members beside deathstroke abd lady Shiva view their partnership with the light?

Anonymous writes...

1 This isn’t a criticism, but Why did you decide to make lor-zod black?
2 Did tomar re know the zods before they were imprisoned?