"Maid of Honor" is composed of the thirty-third and thirty-fourth episodes of Justice League. It originally aired on October 18, 2003.
Plot[]
Part I[]
Princess Diana attends an evening party in Paris. Besieged by curious onlookers, she is rescued by Bruce Wayne, who asks for a dance. Diana thanks Bruce for the rescue and as they dance, they get to know each other. When Bruce admits that he is surprised to see a woman like her at a party, she explains that she's decided she needs to get out more and try to have some fun. She returns the question, and he says he never misses a good party, but there is also "some business" in Paris he may have to attend to. They are obviously enjoying each other's company and continue to flirt, when terrorists drop in through the ceiling and seize the young Princess Audrey, heir to the throne of Kaznia. Bruce is about to slip away and assume his secret identity but finds it unnecessary when Diana rescues Audrey single-handedly and takes down the terrorists.
Audrey thanks Diana enthusiastically and invites her to spend the evening with her club-hopping. Audrey explains she's getting married soon and wants to enjoy her last night as a free woman.
Later that night, a trio of burglars break into S.T.A.R. Labs's Paris facility to steal a microchip, but Batman appears. He captures one, while the others escape. Batman starts to interrogate the burglar, who sneers in his native language (Kaznian) that Batman can't understand a word he's saying, and he won't tell him anything anyway. Menacingly, Batman closes in, replying in fluent Kaznian that "I can, and you will..."
Later, as Diana returns to her hotel, she meets Batman, who informs her that the burglar is a Kaznian special forces officer, part of a team that has been stealing classified weapons technology. Diana confronts Audrey, who swears that neither she nor her father know anything about it. Diana believes her and apologizes. Audrey says there is nothing to apologize for - they are friends, and Audrey respects that Diana, like herself, has responsibilities that sometimes put her in uncomfortable situations.
At her engagement party, Audrey introduces Diana to her fiancé – Vandal Savage. Diana recalls Savage's involvement in World War II,[1] but he claims to be Vandal Savage III – the grandson of the Nazi-era Savage. He is now administering Kaznia's substantial contribution to an International Space Station.
In space, a team of Kaznian operatives boards the space station and takes the crew hostage. In Kaznia, a maidservant poisons the King on Savage's orders, giving the appearance of a paralytic stroke. Hearing the news, Audrey flies home immediately. When Diana hears the news, she flies to intercept their plane and warn Audrey, but is knocked out by a sonic blast from Savage's henchman, Colonel Vox.
In Kaznia, Audrey decides that she needs to assume the throne for the good of her country, and as a sign of the Royal Family's stability, announces that her wedding to Savage will take place immediately.
Part II[]
Diana awakes in a French farmhouse after her fall. Batman informs her of Audrey's impending nuptials, and Diana flies to Kaznia in a rage, followed by the Batwing. In a fight with Kaznia's military forces, she throws a tank through the wall of the palace chapel just as Audrey is getting married. She is incapacitated by Savage and taken prisoner. Feeling humiliated, Audrey refuses to listen to Diana's warnings. She then lawfully marries Savage. As they dance at a royal reception, Savage confides to her that, though she only married him out of duty, his devotion to her is such that he "wants to give [her] the whole world" - and may soon be doing just that.
Audrey becomes Queen, making Savage de facto ruler of Kaznia. On her wedding night, Audrey wakes to find Savage missing and goes around the castle in search of him. When she finds him, he immediately announces his plan via worldwide broadcast: an orbital rail gun has been mounted on the space station, capable of firing asteroids at Earth with pinpoint accuracy – to demonstrate, he fires one at the ocean, creating a tidal wave that sinks a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier group. Savage claims dominion over all the nations of the world.
Seeing the broadcast, a Justice League team – The Flash, J'onn J'onzz, and John Stewart head for the space station in the Javelin but are shot down by the station's defenses.
Audrey confronts her husband, calling him a lunatic like his grandfather: Savage chuckles and admits that he's the original Vandal Savage. Audrey says that is impossible, he'd have to be over a century old. Savage smiles and confides that, in fact, he is over 25,000 years old, and has not aged a day since a meteor fell to earth, bathing him (the only one of his prehistoric tribe brave enough to approach it) in a strange radiation that rendered him immortal, and helped him to understand his "destiny": to become the ruler of the world. Audrey, trying hard to maintain her aristocratic poise, reminds him that she is the heir to the Kaznian throne, and Savage rejoins that he has taken advantage of that fact by marrying her, and by poisoning the king. In a rage, Audrey rakes her fingernails across his face, but is stunned to see the scratches healing almost instantaneously, confirming his tale. Savage orders her own guards to drag her away and lock her in her room.
In space, Green Lantern's ring has kept J'onn, Flash, and himself safe from the explosion. They board the station and fight to re-take it. On Earth, Batman frees Wonder Woman, and with Audrey's help, they fight their way into the control center, knocking out Savage and his henchman. Vox tries to incapacitate Diana again, but she resists long enough to knock him out, by using Audrey's diamond earrings as impromptu earplugs. Batman knocks Savage out, but not before Savage initiates a meteor strike on France.
Neither he nor the team in space are able to prevent the rail gun from firing, but Batman is able to change the target to the palace. He hits a fire alarm and uses the palace address system to order an evacuation in Kaznian. While the conscious guards and servants flee, he and Diana evacuate Audrey, the unconscious guards, and the paralyzed King. The asteroid hits, with Savage still inside. In space, the rest of the League evacuates the space station, which then self-destructs.
As Diana and Audrey inspect the ruins of the palace, Savage emerges from underneath the rubble, disheveled but completely unharmed, his broken bones snapping back into place. Audrey's guards seize him and drag him away, with Audrey promising that he will pay for his crimes. Vandal taunts her to do her worst, claiming that he can't be killed. She smiles coldly, promising to test his claim to the fullest.
Diana teases Batman, saying they never finished their dance. Batman says he doesn't know what she's talking about. She smiles, "If you say so..." but insists that they still go dancing together.
Continuity[]
- This episode continues the recurring subplot of the on-again-off-again attraction between Batman and Wonder Woman that began in "The Brave and the Bold". This storyline would continue throughout Justice League and into Justice League Unlimited.
- When Wonder Woman is mobbed by reporters at the party before the first attempt on Audrey, one of the guests at the party bears a striking resemblance to Vilmos Egans, who appears as Kaznia's Minister of Commerce during the time of Batman Beyond, in "Rebirth, Part II".
- One of the crowds that mobs Wonder Woman inquiries about the time she fought the Imperium invasion in "Secret Origins".
- Audrey jokes that she won't reveal Diana has "feet of clay", to which Diana responds, "you have no idea". This is a reference to Wonder Woman's comic book origin, that she was animated from clay by her mother instead of being born. Her animated origin is confirmed to be the same as in the comics in the later episode of Justice League Unlimited, "The Balance".
- Savage last appeared in "The Savage Time" as a tyrant attempting to lead the Nazis to victory in World War II.
- In Justice League Unlimited, "Hawk and Dove", Audrey is still ruling Kaznia as Queen. Whether King Gustav never fully recovered from his poisoning or passed the crown to Audrey is unknown.
- At the episode's end, Wonder Woman expresses suspicion that Batman is Bruce Wayne. It remains unconfirmed until "Starcrossed".
Background information[]
Home video releases[]
- Justice League - Season Two (DVD)
- Justice League - Season Two (Blu-ray)
- Justice League - The Complete Series (DVD)
Production notes[]
- In the sequence where Vandal Savage assumes control of Kaznia and announces his rail gun to the world, originally, he was going to put on a crown while reading off his demands. When they got the footage from the episode back, the production team realized it didn't work and removed the crown.[2]
Production inconsistencies[]
- During the robbery, the thief reaches in with his left hand, and pulls his right arm out of the case lid before placing the targeting device in the case.
Trivia[]
- Dwayne McDuffie has stated that the reason The Flash was able to survive the vacuum of space is due to the scientific consensus suggesting someone could survive for up to 90 seconds, adding that "Flash shouldn't have been cold, the vacuum of space would have preserved his body temperature. If anything, he should have been sunburned from the unfiltered UV radiation."[3]
- According to Dwayne McDuffie, the rail gun was lifted from his previous work on Shadow Cabinet #0 and Hardware #1, though he believes the original inspiration may have come from an Arthur C. Clarke essay he had read as a child.[3]
- McDuffie has said that he believes Audrey's last line to Savage should have been the final line of the episode, and that Batman and Wonder Woman bantering about not finishing their dance should have come before, but he was unable to convince his bosses.[4]
- Superman and Hawkgirl do not appear, but the former is mentioned in Part I. J'onn J'onzz, Green Lantern, and The Flash do not appear in Part I.
- Vandal Savage's origins are the same as in the comics version, except he gives his age as roughly 25,000 years, half what he claims in the comics. Also, he is shown here to have superhuman healing abilities, while in the comics, he has been forced to harvest organs from descendants to keep him alive for some time.
- The rail gun mounted on the space station is actually more similar in appearance to a coil gun, which also uses magnetic force to launch a projectile, but uses a series of electromagnetic coils instead of parallel rails. The term "mass driver", which is also used, refers to a cannon used to launch projectiles through or into space.
- On the commentary to "Starcrossed", Bruce Timm joked that their version of Batman seems to have a death wish, making reference to this episode. Dwayne McDuffie said this was not necessarily true, since here Batman did leave himself enough time to get out of the palace before the asteroid hit.
- According to Bruce Timm, Audrey was named after Audrey Hepburn, and largely inspired by Princess Ann, the rebellious royal Hepburn played in the classic film Roman Holiday. Timm described Princess Audrey as a combination of Princess Ann and real life contemporary 'party girls' like Paris Hilton.
- Audrey makes a joking reference to the biblical phrase "feet of clay" from the Book of Daniel, 2:33-45, used to indicate a weakness or a hidden flaw in the character of a respected person:
“ | Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image ... his feet part of iron and part of clay. ... And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. | ” |
— Daniel, 2:33-45 |
- It is revealed in this episode that Batman can speak fluent Kaznian. Other languages he can speak include Japanese (Batman: The Animated Series, "Day of the Samurai") and Spanish (Justice League, "Secret Society").
Cast[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Kevin Conroy | Bruce Wayne/Batman |
Susan Eisenberg | Wonder Woman |
Phil LaMarr | Green Lantern Guard (uncredited) |
Carl Lumbly | J'onn J'onzz |
Michael Rosenbaum | The Flash |
Dorie Barton | Princess Audrey |
Phil Morris | Vandal Savage |
Alfred Molina | King Gustav |
Larry Drake | Colonel Vox |
Dan Castellaneta | Minister Socialite (uncredited) Robber (uncredited) |
Corey Burton | Page Robber (uncredited) |
Jennifer Hale | Chambermaid Socialite (uncredited) Sroya Bashir (uncredited) |
Richard Doyle | Doctor Photographer (uncredited) |
Chuck Howerton | Armed Man |
Uncredited appearances[]
Quotes[]
Bruce Wayne: I'm surprised to see you here. From what I've heard, this isn't really your sort of affair. |
Batman: Who are you working for? |
Batman: You're keeping late hours. |
Colonel Vox: Apparently you didn't get the message. Let me make it loud and clear! |
Audrey: Vandal, what do you think you are doing? |
(J'onn, Flash, Lantern, and the crew leave the space station) |
Wonder Woman: You know, we never did get to finish our dance. |
References[]
- ↑ Berkowitz, Stan (writer) & Riba, Dan, Lukic, Butch (directors) (November 9, 2002). "The Savage Time, Part I". Justice League. Season 1. Episode 24 (airdate). Episode 24 (production). Cartoon Network.
- ↑ Justice League season two, DVD easter egg.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dwayne McDuffie on the ToonZone forums (Oct. 20, 2003)
- ↑ Dwayne's World - Ask the Maestro (Nov. 21, 2005)