Young Justice: 10 Best Episodes, Ranked According To IMDb
HBO Max's Young Justice is one of the longest-running animated series' based on DC Comics characters. Originally airing on Cartoon Network in 2010, Young Justice was revived on the short-lived DC Universe streaming service for a third season before moving to HBO Max in 2021. With more than 80 episodes and a multitude of different storylines across its four seasons, Young Justice has had many great episodes during its run.
From the development of The Team, the Justice League, and other groups of young superheroes, fans have grown quite attached to the characters throughout the seasons. However, these 10 episodes ranked by IMDb stand out compared to the remaining 75 episodes that have been released.
10 S2E15 - War - 9.4
The fifteenth episode of Young Justice's second season held the responsibility of building the foundation for the big conclusion of the season's main narrative. The episode briefly shows the progression of the Justice League's trial in space before shifting the focus to The Reach and their subtle invasion on Earth. At this point in the season, the audience is aware that the alien race is manipulating Earth's leaders into trusting them, while they are also subtly removing the heroes of Earth from the equation through diplomacy. What makes this episode so great is that it concludes with Blue Beetle's scarab taking over his body and attacking his teammates and friends, temporarily fulfilling the prophecy of him becoming a supervillain in the future. Blue Beetle is a fan-favorite comic book character who gets a lot of storylines this season, that becomes more crucial in "War".
9 S3E7 - Evolution - 9.4
In the seventh episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, Nightwing, Artemis, and Superboy continue training their newest recruits as superheroes. It's a nice episode that continues to showcase their new powers and how they interact with each other on the battlefield. The training scenes are reminiscent of the show's first season when the first iteration of "The Team" was learning to work with each other. The remainder of "Evolution" focuses on Young Justice's best villain, Vandal Savage, as he works towards accomplishing his goals. The episode finishes with Savage killing his oldest daughter as a "mercy" due to her deteriorating health, thus proving how cruel he is to others, regardless of their relations to him.
8 S3E23 - Terminus - 9.4
"Terminus" is the highest-rated episode in Young Justice: Outsiders as it deals with the aftermath of the emotional events in the season's previous episode. Tensions run high among the show's heroes after everyone's secrets came to light in episode 22. However, the best part of this episode takes place later on when the original members of The Team fight alongside each other for the first time in years. It's an exhilarating moment for longtime fans of the show and emotional when Nightwing accidentally expresses his lingering grief over Kid Flash's brave sacrifice two years earlier.
Overall, it's a fun and exciting episode that helps provide closure to some of the main characters.
7 S4E8 - I Know Why The Caged Cat Sings - 9.5
Episode eight from Young Justice: Phantoms is the only one from the show's ongoing season to appear on this list. This episode serves as the conclusion to Artemis' arc where she and her team rescue Orphan after the latter was previously kidnapped by Lady Shiva. It's an action-packed and thrilling end to a solid arc, filled with great fight scenes and impactful character development. The episode also contains sensitive moments with Superman dealing with his grief after the death of Superboy earlier in the season. Seeing the Man of Steel vulnerable is something new to Young Justice and it's a short but important episode-long arc that displays the show's heart.
6 S1E16 - Failsafe - 9.5
"Failsafe" is one of the best episodes of Young Justice's inaugural season, as it displays how close-knit The Team has become since they formed. The episode showcases how Miss Martian is one of the strongest characters in the entire show after she unknowingly takes over The Team's artificial reality training exercise.
Before "Failsafe" fans were aware that Miss Martian was very strong, but it's not until Martian Manhunter reveals to Batman that she has the strongest telepathic mind he's ever encountered that it truly sinks in. This was the first time in the series that her raw power was shown without limits and she only grows stronger from then on.
5 S2E7 - Depths - 9.5
The seventh episode of Young Justice: Invasion is one of the most memorable in the entire series. This episode reveals that Aqualad has been undercover in Black Manta's organization instead of being a traitor to his friends. However, it is also revealed that no one except for Nightwing, Kid Flash, and Artemis are aware of this secret, which was a big twist. "Depths" shows just how much the main characters have grown during the five-year time jump in-between seasons one and two. The small group works together quietly to fake Artemis' death to her family and friends, which proved the lengths they were willing to go to accomplish their secret mission. Nightwing is widely regarded as the best character in Young Justice, but even this plan wasn't without its consequences later on in the season.
4 S2E16 - Complications - 9.5
"Complications" is one of the more stressful episodes of Young Justice: Invasion as it details Miss Martian working to escape Black Manta's submarine with the assistance of an undercover Aqualad and Artemis. What makes the episode so great is Artemis and Aqualad are constantly on the verge of having their cover blown and they have to get crafty with their tactics. To make matters worse, they have to deal with Artemis' father, Sportsmaster, and her sister Cheshire, who's one of the best fighters in Young Justice. The entire episode is a lot of fun and seeing everyone on board the submarine with their agendas makes everything more hectic from start to finish.
3 S1E26 -Auld Acquaintance - 9.6
The season one finale of Young Justice is the highest-rated episode of that season. The episode features The Team fighting against a brainwashed Justice League on the Watchtower. It's thrilling to watch the former sidekicks fight against their powerful mentors and friends, ultimately using teamwork and their skills to beat them. Throughout the first season, the audience gets to see The Team make mistakes and learn from them over time. They become a family from episode to episode and to see it pay off in a satisfying way like this makes the finale such a great experience. "Auld Acquaintance" packs in so much in its 22-minute runtime, but it's worth it and carefully sets up the second season's plot without doing too much in the process.
2 S2E20 - Endgame - 9.6
The finale of season two is arguably the most heartbreaking episode in the entire series, despite being one of the best. "Endgame" is the episode that the entire season had been building towards from the very beginning, as every ongoing storyline comes to an end by the conclusion. Unfortunately, this finale also resulted in the tragic and unexpected death of Wally West, also known as Kid Flash. What makes this tragedy sadder is that the members of the Justice League who were on trial return to Earth not long after Wally dies. This was the first time in the series that a major character was killed off and it essentially sent the show into a more adult tone in the following seasons. However, the episode was a massive success because of its pacing and how it delivered closure by passing on the Kid Flash mantle to Wally's cousin from the future, Bart Allen.
1 S2E19 - Summit - 9.7
"Summit" is the highest-rated episode of Young Justice, according to IMDb, and for good reason. The penultimate episode of season two reveals everyone's secrets at a meeting with The Light. The way everyone's agendas and lies get exposed is riveting because of the way it's presented to the audience. Members of the team infiltrated the meeting without viewers being aware so it was exciting when its shown that they were fully prepared from the start. "Summit" also properly sets up the climactic final battle that takes place in "Endgame" so having the two best episodes of Young Justice occur back-to-back is a treat for everyone who watches the series.