- Every time we defeat an enemy, a new one rises up! Every time we light a candle in the darkness -- it sputters out! So maybe it's finally time-- To let the darkness in!
- — Zatanna
Justice League Dark #39 is an issue of the series Justice League Dark (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 2015. It was published on February 25, 2015.
Synopsis for "The Amber of the Moment, Part Five: Pralaya"
The Justice League Dark is trapped within the Heart of Chronos - the centre of all time. Though Zatanna tried to close the ruptures in the Timestream, something else has caused even more to open. The creatures causing the tears appear to be thought-forms belonging to the one truly responsible for the ruptures, according to Madame Xanadu, who worries that the magical shield she has built around them may break soon. Frustrated, Deadman welcomes the fight, but the creatures' contact with his ghostly form causes him to feel pain. Soon, the others are overwhelmed by them.
Deadman, Swamp Thing, Black Orchid, Frankenstein, and Andrew Bennett are all consumed by the creatures, leaving only Madame Xanadu and Nightmare Nurse to protect Zatanna after she collapsed from the drain of her spell. Weakly, Zatanna claims that there is one way for them to stop time from collapsing in on itself. With her last strength, she cries out "Tempus Duratus!"
While the others find ways to free themselves outside of the magical shield - though that freedom will surely be temporary, given the number of creatures emerging from the ruptures - Zatanna and the other two sorceresses use all of their combined magical power to cast a spell to freeze time. In that moment, everything outside of their shielded bubble is frozen in a moment without time - and the time inside the bubble is sure to run out soon. Weakened from her effort, Zatanna feels she's going to die, and begs her friends to leave her. Frustrated, Nightmare Nurse refuses to let her go, and uses Xanadu's help in healing her.
Unimpressed by their efforts, the entity behind the rupture in time decides to reveal herself, emerging from the hole in the centre of the Heart of Chronos. She introduces herself as Pralaya, goddess of the void. She explains that she has simply been accelerating a process that the Justice League Dark began. All magic has a price, and the K'am'deva curse that John Constantine and Zatanna unleashed sent them hurtling through time and weakened the fabric of reality, opening the door between the realm of the void and theirs. Whatever she represents to them, the truth is that she is the void in which all things are birthed. The multiverse only exists because it was born into the void - and when it is done, age after age, she calls it back into her womb.
Pralaya urges each member of the team to abandon the lives they have chosen for the tempting peace of the void. She is surprised, though, that they reject her, affirming their own belief that life is a sacred gift. Zatanna, however, does not feel the same. Every battle they win is followed by another, with a new enemy. Maybe it's finally time for them to let the darkness in. Zatanna begs Pralaya to take them, and the void consumes them.
Appearing in "The Amber of the Moment, Part Five: Pralaya"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League Dark
- Andrew Bennett (Apparent Death)
- Black Orchid (Apparent Death)
- Deadman (Apparent Death)
- Frankenstein (Apparent Death)
- Madame Xanadu (Apparent Death)
- Nightmare Nurse (Apparent Death)
- Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (Apparent Death)
- Zatanna (Apparent Death)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Pralaya (Real name revealed) (First full appearance)
- Time Gremlins
Other Characters:
- The Great Darkness (Unnamed) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- John Constantine (Cover only)
- Apollo (Mentioned only)
- Asclepius (Mentioned only)
- Brahma (Mentioned only)
- Chronos (Mentioned only)
- God/The Creator (Mentioned only)
- K'am'deva (Mentioned only)
- Panacea (Mentioned only)
- The Source of All Things (Mentioned only)
- Vampires (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Omniverse (Unnamed)
- Hypertime
- Timestream
- Heart of Chronos
- Dawn of Time (Mentioned only)
- Kingdom of Now (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Timestream
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse (Behind the scenes)
- Earth 0 (Mentioned only)
- The Primordial Void/"The Beyond Beyond"
- House of Mystery (Rebirth) (Displaced) (Cameo)
- Hypertime
Items:
- Rod of Asclepius
Concepts:
- Big Bang (Mentioned only)
- The Light of Creation (Mentioned only)
- Magic
- K'am'deva Curse (Mentioned only)
- K'am'deva Curse (Mentioned only)
Notes
- Although it is not clearly stated in this story, Pralaya's words imply that she's actually a personification of the Great Darkness.
See Also