Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes What if Tasmia & Dawnstar never left Marzal?

So my retrospective reached Volume 2 issue 265 and I thought... what if Shadow Lass and Dawnstar were actually stuck on Marzal at the end?
Let's assume the two girls don't return to Earth's dimension until Tyroc does. How would that affect the Legion?

I don't think this would affect Wildfire all that much. Sure he was close to Dawnstar but not that close yet, so I assume he would probably move on relatively quickly. He might fall for another Legion girl, did he ever show interest in anyone else?

Mon-El would definitely be very different. Possibly leaving the Legion to find a way to rescue Shady before eventually going back to the team. I'm not entirely sure he would be able to pull through when the effects of lead poisoning show up again.

Would Shadow Kid eventually take Shady's place in the team? I don't how how well he would fit or if he would change anything, I've always found him extremely meh.

Before their return, Dawnstar would spend a good amount of time exploring Marzal's dimension. I can't see her taking well to the idea of being grounded on a single island.
Shadow Lass probably wouldn't have a hard time adapting to life on Marzal; I believe she might replace Tyroc as the island's main superhero... after all she has some experience being the only hero of an entire planet.


Shameless plug in case anyone needs a reminder of issue 265:
https://comicsarcheology.com/index.php/2022/05/12/legion-of-super-heroes-v2-265/

Good thought experiment...

Dawnstar's tracking power moved a lot of things along. Would that quintet of Legionnaires stuck on the asteroid (Gim, Cham, Brin, Vi/Yera, Imra) ever have been found? If no, would real Vi ever have been found (probably eventually, but when? how would they have realized Vi was not Vi?) with Imra lost, would Garth ever have recovered from his mentally-stress-induced illness?

would Ayla have stayed with the Legion?

I would say eventually yes, considering the resources of the Legion in terms of tech and powers. But would they have been found in time before they froze to death? Imra would've been at the highest risk, since she's the only one between them without physical powers.
Maybe Yera could've been exposed earlier because she changes into another form to better withstand the environment.


I think he would be taken out of active duty for a loooooong time. Possibly coming back only because Mekt is being Mekt again.


Save perhaps a leave of absence to take care of her brother I don't think she would quit.

Interesting. Would the Legion also have tried to find another tracker to fill Dawnstar’s role?

And what would have happened on Talok VIII in the absence of Shadow Lass…

The invention of Grev as Shadow Kid was really a blessing, in that Tasmia gets to remain an active Legionnaire, and isn't shackled to Talok VIII as it's only Shadow Champion (even if it's sort of forecast that she'll end up retiring there, just as Nura is someday going to retire to be High Seer of Naltor, Thom might end up planetary champion of Xanthu, Projectra will presumably someday get around to actually ruling Orando as it's queen, etc.).

That said, I've often wondered what a Shadow Champion does exactly. Does all the light her darkfields negate get shunted extradimensionally to the heart of Talokk VIII where it keeps the molten core burning, or some terrible dark entity sated and bound?

Mon-El would have been a total basket case if LSH # 248 (or thereabouts) is any indication. He relied on Shady more than he let on. She was the rock that kept him grounded. I think that, as long as she was around, he felt safe and secure (which is ironic given his power set, but self-image has nothing to do with actual abilities).

Still, I like to think he would have recovered. He had spent a thousand years losing loved ones, so he must have grown some from these experiences. He still had the Legion to keep him grounded and give him purpose. I don't think he would have left the Legion, but he would have hounded Brainiac 5 until the latter found an interdimensional doorway. If Brainy couldn't find such a doorway, Mon would have accepted his loss, as he had many times before, and moved on.

I always thought that was a neat expectation-juggle. Just looking at Mon and Shady from the outside, he's the powerhouse and she's got one of the 'weaker' powers. And yet, she's absolutely the top in that relationship, since he's got 1000 years worth of PTSD going on.

I do remember Tasmia falling all to pieces when COMPUTO took over the HQ though… she was giving Jan and Shvaughn a hard time

I'm not sure PTSD is that much of a factor. Some women are very strong personalities. Some men prefer to take a less dominant role.

Extrapolating from this a little more . . . Mon only developed his powers when he had amnesia. Just after he regained his true identity, he was committed to the Phantom Zone. So, he didn't truly get to explore his powers until a thousand years later. Even though he was the Legion's most powerful member, barring Superboy and Supergirl, he never got a chance to learn who he truly was apart from the team. I think he admired in Shady someone who was sure of herself and, through her, he could reclaim his own identity.

Good thoughts. I hadn't considered before how little time Lar had his powers before ending up in the Zone and then in the future (in the original timeline at any rate). There is that bit of his character shown by going exploring the universe in a single-person spaceship while still a teen that ended with him on Krypton, so not the stay-at-home type. Still there can be multiple personalities that would choose that option.