Future Perfect Progressive!
The team continues deeper into Cliché Valley. And since they're deep in the Himalayan Mountains where everything is much more profound than the rest of the world, they encounter a 4,000 year old boy smoking a dozen hookahs from his ancient Papasan chair while guarding the entrance to the Chamber of All.
Also, he's entirely hairless.
This old kid S'aru keeps each of their most cherished memories as the Outlaws head into the Chamber of All. The Chamber of All looks like every other page from Shade the Changing Man. S'aru can't resist looking at Koriand'r's memory.
Starfire's earliest Cheesecake Photo memory.
Starfire's favorite memory is standing up to her captors and remaining the great Tamaran Princess even in the worst of conditions. To be a true badass in comics, you basically just have to beat up everyone all the time even when you're most likely going to get yourself killed. But then you don't get killed and that just shows how awesome you are even when you just acted like a stupid asshole. Roy Harper's favorite memory shows how he understands this rule as well!
A good way to show how tough you are is to say, "Is that all you've got?" just when you're about to get yourself killed.
While this little ancient bald voyeur continues to peep on their memories, the Outlaws get into a boss fight with a giant green toad troll monster. Roy Harper continues to show how tough and badass he is by saying how awesome this fight is even though all he has are a few puny little arrows which don't do anything to this beast. While Jason Todd grabs the thing they were after (a snowglobe of Colorado), Starfire gets herself eaten by the giant beast.
So we all know what happens next. When is somebody going to do the twist to this giant monster eats the powerful person cliché?
The Flash: "How are we going to defeat this gigantic monstrosity?!"
Green Lantern: "I don't know! My giant green monkey wrench is having no effect!"
The Batman: "Look out! It just ate Wonder Woman!"
Superman: "Ha ha! That will be it's undoing for sure! Now we just wait until...."
Gigantic Monstrosity: *CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW*
Wonder Woman: "AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHLLLEEEE" *BLOOD BRAINS SPLINTERED BONES DEAD!*
Justice League: "...."
So, yeah, Starfire bursts out of the monster's belly, killing it.
Swallowed whole and not a single boob out of place.
They escape with the Untitled's all-important snowglobe which he left in the Chamber of All for some reason. Hmm. Has this comic been making sense and I'm just missing it? So some thing called the Untitled has come to the All-Caste to kill them all and enter the Chamber of All to leave a clue in the shape of a Colorado snowglobe for Jason Todd to find. Is the Untitled the God of Scavenger Hunts and Road Rallies?
But wait! This started because Essence came to Jason Todd about several murders where the victims had been missing organs for years. Did these victims give up their organs to create the Untitled and now the Untitled is getting rid of all of the evidence? Fuck if I know! Also, the Untitled had a truce with the All-Caste. The All-Caste were guarding the Chamber of All and nobody was ever supposed to get in. But when the All-Caste were All-Dead, S'aru the Hairless just lets everybody tramp on into the Chamber of All.
But why did the Untitled even want into the Chamber of All? To leave a snowglobe? I'm sure it entered for information or to travel to a specific place and time since the Chamber of All is a portal to everywhere and everywhen, as Jason Todd explains somewhere along the way. So the Untitled broke a truce, killed the All-Caste, and entered the Chamber of All to accomplish whatever it was going to accomplish (I think it must have needed those organs to accomplish it?). But after this complex plan, it leaves a clue for Jason Todd? Does it need him to be wherever for the whatever to succeed? If so, why not just give him a note to meet there?
Apparently Roy Harper doesn't know how memories work.
On their way out, S'aru offers them their memories back. Jason Todd, being the extremest badass of the whole bunch of them, tells S'aru to keep his most cherished memory. But is this really a tough guy move? Once your most cherished memory is gone, you suddenly have a new most cherished memory. And do you really need the old one back? This just proves that Jason Todd has no curiosity.
This is Jason Todd's most cherished memory. Batman taking a night off from patrolling to spend time with him while he was sick.
Jason Todd's rejection of his memory may be meant to represent his refutation of Batman and his past with Batman. That might be what writer Lobdell wants to portray. But it can't be since Jason Todd has no idea what memory he's giving up. And if that's his most cherished memory then his second most cherished memory no doubt is about Batman as well! Perhaps this moment is just to show that Batman means much more to Jason Todd than anything else he's experienced in his life and his death and his new life. No matter how Jason Todd acts out, Batman is still, fundamentally, at the core of his being. And since Todd has no idea what he's giving up at this moment, it isn't an actual stand he's taking. Which proves that Batman is far more important to this messed up kid than he's willing to let anyone know.
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