“War World Part 2”
Superman’s defiance of Mongul sets a bad precedence, so Mongul sets out to make sure Superman is killed on War World, no matter what it takes. The other gladiators, however, come to admire his resolve to treat them like actual people (including using their attempt to help him escape to instead rescue his foe, Draaka. Draaka, however, struggles with other opinions of his escape/rescue, showing a serious side effect of Mongul’s manipulations.)
Mongul sets up a final fight between he and Superman, swearing to destroy Draaka’s home planet if Superman doesn’t fall in battle. Meanwhile J’onn tries to disarm Mongul’s regime and Draaka tries to reclaim his honor by killing Superman before Mongul can.
Even Draaka, as angry and violent as he is, becomes a sympathetic character, making this a more complicated story than you usually find in kids’ cartoons these days.
I’ve mentioned before that this series takes viewers more seriously than a lot of cartoons. This story line is positive proof of that, seeing as we have forced battles to the death, government rulers manipulation people to keep control of them while they starve and their basic needs in life aren’t met, not to mention the complications of Superman trying to remain a “good guy” while also fighting others for no good reason, and Draaka’s PTSD after having been forced to kill so many people for Mongul’s cause. While none of these themes monopolize the short episodes, they are brought up and laid out without being hidden from “young eyes”.
It’s hard not to see similar themes in the politics and the news media these days.