It’s been almost a month since our last visit to National City, but time doesn’t hold its healing factor when wounds aren’t able to heal. The Children of Liberty gained some credibility publicly after taking credit for “killing” Menagerie and securing Ben’s release from prison. The continued growth of anti-alien sentiment continued to trouble Supergirl, but her battle gained another opponent in the form of the returning Manchester Black. With his assembled allies, dubbed the Elite, Black’s willingness to go beyond Kara’s limits was put into action. The easiest way to lose a war is to fight one on two fronts. That is unless you have plenty of backup.
The Elite
J’onn agrees to meet with Manchester Black in prison only to fall victim to a well laid trap. Black’s associate, the Hat, takes out J’onn and helps Black fight his way out of the prison. They have something bigger than even Agent Liberty to take down. Kara and Brainy’s plan to train Nia at the Fortress of Solitude is interrupted by the attack, forcing Supergirl to intervene. She arrives to find Black and Hat joined by Morae and Menagerie. Black announces the arrival of the Elite before they teleport away to battle bigots across the globe.
The Elite chronicle their attacks via social media, remaining one step ahead of both Kara and the DEO. J’onn’s pacifist promise grows harder to maintain the more he deals with Black. Luckily, Supergirl is Black’s next target as he calls her out for a one-on-one meeting. Kara agrees, but finds Black flanked by the Hat and Menagerie. Black offers to not interfere with Kara’s regular crime fighting if she lets him deal with the Children of Liberty and other racists. Kara isn’t into the idea, but she is shaken by the revelation that President Baker is planning to launch a satellite that will shoot down all alien aircraft that approach Earth. She rushes away to confront Baker.
Problematic Leadership
Kara’s meeting with Baker goes about as well as expected. Baker moves the launch up to the next day despite Supergirl’s warnings about the Elite. Neither realize that the Morae is there as well and the launch date and location is passed along to Black. Kara tries to recruit Alex into the fight ahead of the satellite’s launch, but settles for some sage advice instead: do what’s right.
Supergirl is at Devil’s Tower as the Elite converge on the site. She appears outnumbered until J’onn, Nia and Brainy even the odds. Even Alex gets in on the action after a change of heart. Brainy loses his Legion ring in the Hat’s interdimensional hat as the Morae sabotages the satellite ahead of launch. Black reprograms the satellite to fire on the White House, leading Kara to fly after it. The Hat provides Black with Brainy’s ring, allowing him to give chase until an enraged J’onn pulls him from the sky. Kara averts Black’s plan before destroying the satellite. She returns to an irate Baker accusing her of selfishly destroying the satellite. Her actions lead the president to name Ben Lockwood as the new Director of Alien Affairs. Even worse, he did all of this without the knowledge of the DEO.
Old Relationships, New Questions
The fallout from the incident leads many key players to come together and question the forces around them. Brainy’s anxiety over losing his ring is quelled by Nia, much in the same way he did during her training. Alex offers to help Supergirl from time to time, but encourages Lena to keep her work partially hidden from a government under Baker’s watch. J’onn tries to center himself again and James decides to follow a lead linking L Corp to sketchy medical trials he previously killed to protect Lena.
The Mask & The Suit
The most visceral of these reactions comes from someone that wasn’t even present at Devil’s Tower: Ben Lockwood. The newly freed Agent Liberty arrives in DC to meet with Baker only to be accosted by a local COL leader named Cooper about losing his edge. Being named Director of Alien Affairs does little to squash the beef ahead of a makeshift summit of COL chapter heads from across the nation. Ben arrives to find the meeting already in progress and takes every barb Cooper can throw at him until Ben lashes out, beating him to death with his mask. There’s no question about who heads the Children of Liberty. Agent Liberty is back, and he has the government’s tacit support.
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