The time skip between seasons 1 and 2 of Young Justice can be quite impenetrable to new viewers, as retroactively figuring out what happened during this time is no easy task. After a strong season 1, Young Justice made the controversial decision to skip ahead in time by five years, going from New Year's Eve on 2011 to 2016 at the start of season 2. While reasons behind Young Justice's season 2 time skip may have been sound, the series would go on to never make such a dramatic leap forward in chronology ever again, and for good reason.
There is a lot about the five years between seasons 1 and 2 of Young Justice that is only slowly addressed in time over the course of the second season, retroactively explained via flashback or exposition. Some events in this time period are also unique to tie-in material, such as comics or the video game Young Justice: Legacy. Between political developments, the arcs of Young Justice's powerful characters, and the progression of dangerous missions, the missing chunk of time has a lot of moving parts to keep track of.
8 Beast Boy's Mom Is Murdered
Garfield Logan's origin takes place in the time skip
One of the most recognizable heroes introduced only in the later seasons of Young Justice is none other than Garfield Logan, a.k.a. Beast Boy. Better known from the 2003 Teen Titans team, Beast Boy is well-known as a green goofball with the ability to shapeshift into any animal. His origins in Young Justice are rooted in the time skip, as his mother, Marie Logan, child actress and star of Miss Martian's favorite show, Hello Megan, sadly died in an accident.
However, it's revealed in a tie-in comic set during the time skip that the death of Beast Boy's mother was actually a very intentional murder plot created by the supervillain Queen Bee. Marie Logan's former co-star and Beast Boy's godmother, the superhero Elast-igirl, took him in and allowed him to join her team, The Doom Patrol, allowing Beast Boy to flex his new powers of transformation thanks to Miss Martian's blood in relatively safe missions. However, Elasti-girl was sadly killed along with the majority of The Doom Patrol in a final suicide mission that left Beast Boy without a team.
7 Ted Kord Became The Next Blue Beetle
Closely followed by Jaimie Reyes
As a legacy hero, the title of Blue Beetle was passed on several times during the Young Justice season 2 time skip. The first Blue Beetle and original discoverer of the scarab, Dan Garrett, passed away at the ripe age of 90, passing both the title of the Blue Beetle and the scarab itself to his trusted protégé, Ted Kord. Wary of the alien device's influence, Kord actually opts to study the device without allowing it to bond to him, becoming a technology-based human hero instead.
The title of Blue Beetle changes hands again when Deathstroke and Sportsmaster are sent to steal the scarab from Ted Kord during the time skip. It's here that an explosion at Kord industries flings the alien parasite onto the back of the unsuspecting Jamie Reyes, who then becomes the next Blue Beetle thanks to his stable bond with the scarab. While Jamie was able to join The Team, his predecessor was sadly killed in the same detonation that gave him his powers in the first place.
6 Red Arrow Began His Hunt For Speedy
Roy Harper's clone did some literal soul searching
One of the most head-spinning plots in Young Justice's entire run was the dilemma of Red Arrow, Project Cadmus' clone of Roy Harper, a.k.a. Speedy, Green Arrow's crimson sidekick. This fascinating yet convoluted sub-plot is the center of many of Young Justice's most egregious mistakes, not helped by the fact that a huge portion of its development takes place during the time skip. Still reeling from the bombshell that he was just a clone of the real Speedy, Red Arrow left the team on a mission to rescue Roy, joined by a second clone going by Jim Harper.
After they failed to find any concrete leads, Jim left and Red Arrow re-focused his efforts on infiltrating the League of Shadows. After being discovered, Red Arrow fled the League of Shadows and took the assassin Cheshire with him, the two of them now having a child together. Eventually, Red Arrow found Speedy in Tibet, only for Cheshire to leave him for good, ending their tumultuous relationship and abandoning him with their daughter, Lian.
5 The Team Added New Members While Losing Others
Some new young heroes came and went within the frame of the time skip
One of the most dramatic changes Young Justice made to its story entirely off-screen was the radical changes to the roster of The Team. While most of the original members of The Team from season 1 do return, there were a handful of new faces that joined, left, or came and went within the time frame of 2011 to 2016. New recruits include Aquagirl, Batgirl, Lieutenant Marvel, Sergeant Marvel, Troia of Themyscira, Bumblebee, Lagoon Boy, Beast Boy, Tempest, Wonder Girl, Tim Drake's Robin, and Blue Beetle.
This massive influx in membership caused The Team to split up into small squads, although many of the new recruits didn't stick around, such as Lieutenant Marvel, Sergeant Marvel, Troia, and Tempest. Kid Flash and Artemis also left the team to live together, the former abandoning hero work entirely. Zatanna and Rocket graduated from The Team to the Justice League in this time frame as well, while Aquagirl died sacrificing herself to prevent the summoning of the monstrous Tiamat during the events of the Young Justice: Legacy video game.
4 Dick Grayson Became Nightwing And Team Leader
Jason Todd, Then Tim Drake Succeeded him as Robin
The superhero identity of Robin also saw some big changes during the course of the Young Justice season 2 time skip. Dick Grayson graduated from the persona to become Nightwing, a fantastic bit of character growth many viewers were disappointed to find happened off-screen. It's a shame that Nightwing's arc in Young Justice largely took place off-camera, being one of the biggest points of fan contention against the time skip.
Soon after, Jason Todd took up the mantle of Robin, also enjoying a brief affiliation with The Team, only to be tragically killed in the same year. Though the show never explores it, it's likely that he was murdered by The Joker only to be later resurrected as Red Hood, similarly to the comics. After Jason Todd, the mantle of Robin is once again taken up by Tim Drake. Drake's Robin initially joins The Team, but ends up leaving in favor of a smaller, more covert group ran directly by Batman. He eventually rejoins The Team and later The Outsiders.
3 Aqualad Leaves The Team To Join A Clandestine Mission With His Father
Kaldur undergoes a lot of change that only becomes apparent later
One of the most glaring absences in The Team from season 2 onward is that of Aqualad, formerly The Team's leader. During the time skip, Aqualad discovered his heritage as Black Manta's son, grappling with the implications of being the child of his former mentor's arch nemesis. Because of this information, and due to the death of Aquagirl in the events of the Young Justice: Legacy video game, Aqualad ended up quitting the team, leaving Nightwing as the new leader.
At first, it seems as though Aqualad had abandoned The Team in favor of pursuing a villain career alongside his father. It's only revealed far later that this evil front was a secret mission done in collaboration with Black Manta in order to infiltrate The Light, taking them down from the inside. Due to the secrecy of this mission, most of Aqualad's former teammates were only clued into the plan far later.
2 The Reach Sends Lobo To Deal With The Kroloteans
The Reach had more enemies than just The Team
The endgame alien threat The Reach are one of the biggest villains in the entirety of Young Justice, but they were far from the only extraterrestrials interested in invading and taking over the Earth. Enter the Kroloteans, short, goblinoid alien competitors to The Reach that had their own plans for the planet. Towards the end of the time skip, The Kroloteans launched their own clandestine mission to secure as much political power on Earth as possible.
Kidnapping the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Kroloteans replaced him with an android under their control with nobody noticing. Recognizing the deception, The Reach hired the infamous "Main Man" Lobo to find and destroy the impersonator, an act which caught Wonder Girl and Batgirl off-guard. Also during the time skip, the Kroloteans also established a research base on the planet Rann thanks to a key bribe.
1 Superboy And Miss Martian Break Up
The time skip was full of relationship strife
As great as the superhero action and political intrigue of Young Justice is, the romantic melodrama is also a big part of the show's appeal. The time skip didn't falter in this regard, with plenty of relationship woes occurring off-screen. While Wally and Artemis moved in together and Red Arrow and Cheshire enjoyed a tumultuous fling, other romantic developments were also in the cards for the season 2 time skip.
Despite establishing a relationship in season 1, Superboy and Miss Martian end up breaking things off over the course of the time skip. The crux of their breakup hinged on Superboy's disapproval of what he saw as Miss Martian's flippant use of her psychic powers, something he was particularly sensitive to thanks to his Cadmus brainwashing. Superboy and Miss Martian's frayed relationship is easily one of the spiciest bits of drama in all of Young Justice. It's a shame that Young Justice ended before all of its season 2 time skip storylines could be fully resolved.
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