#sergeant marvel

Is like the first iteration of any member of the Marvel Family that gives their mortal forms any kind of magic.

Now that Young Justice has officially given us two fallen heroes, it is only natural that they have some fun analyzing them, and have found two common traits with both journeys away from the good side: the misperception of their issues leading to a lack of proper treatment. Let’s begin by looking at the case of Mary Bromfield. 

When we are introduced to Mary in the show, she is a 19-20 year old sensational of magic who used to be on the Team as Sergeant Marvel sometimes between the ages of 11-15 who is struggling to come to terms with no longer being a hero, as Zatanna pointed out, despite the time that has lapsed. Her magic utilizes a fraction of the powers she once has, invoking the same gods, but having to use lay-lines as conduits instead of Mary herself being the conductor, placing a buffer between her and what she once had. But as the arch advances, we see that lay-lines aren’t the only conductors she can use, and can also gain power by stealing it from other living beings: people, planets, animals. This is abused several occasions with the endangerment of teammates. Looking at face value, which is what everyone in cannon does, it looks as if she is too “attracted to power” and gives little required to the wellbeing of others so long as “The cost is worth the result”. Has Mary made some questionable decisions? Yes. But I believe that Mary isn’t power hungry, and is instead, attracted to feeling powerful, the confusion of which is getting in the way of her getting proper help. 

Every person has something physically, even if they haven’t found it yet, that they do or internalize that makes them feel powerful. Make up, nice clothes, jewelry, relieving clothes, modest attire, defined mussels, defined anatomy, androgymous appearance, really it can be anything to anyone. To Mary, it’s Sergeant Marvel. In episode 11 during the Fate induced mental tests while Mary is confronted with a vision of Sergeant Marvel, Serg. tells Mary, “this is what power looks like'' and that she is “beautiful” and “powerful.” Not strong, not magical, beautiful, a physical paragon of strength. Later when Granny Goodness recruits Mary as a Fury, she does so by playing into the idea that, as the SergMary has both “strength and grace,” prioritizing grace to power. Mary is not taunted with the prospect of regaining the form of Sergeant Marvel so that she can have stronger abilities and a closer connection to the gods with their power is drawn on, but rather so that she may be perceived by others as powerful, beautiful, and graceful. 

Here is the thing though. I bet Mary has been thinking for the past five years that one day, she may be able to regain how she once felt, Sergeant's strength and physical form. The super versions of the Marvel family all resemble some version of the kids when they are older. Both Mary and Billy, now that they are 20 are smaller, less muscular versions of their Marvel forms, and that must have only grown as they have, giving Mary hope that she may someday become the Sergeant naturally. But the Sergeant is supposed to be permanently frozen at 18, and Mary is over that age now, maybe by a few months depending on birthdates. I cannot imagine how crushed she must have been after passing that threshold of an achievable goal only to fall short. Greg spoke of Mary promising to stop using the form when she was younger, only to continue anyways, no matter how much she meant the promise the quiet, behavior similar to an addict. And addicts often develop tunnel vision to reach whatever their vice is. I believe this is where Mary’s “get the end result no other way” mentality. Zatanna in the training scene tells Mary that she needs to use more creativity in her powers, but why would Mary need creativity when she knows her end result. She has felt powerful at Sergeant Marvel for possibly five years, she’s been to point A and B, all she needs to do is say the word, little thinking required. Of course she only focuses on the end results of situations when the end result of her own internal struggle, that earning to become Marvel again, is so close to one way to get it now. 

But how do the others play into this? We know from the mental challenge in ep. 11 that Billy and Tommy both had interactions with Mary over her behavior, dream billy going so far as to ask Mary “how could you trade everything for power” which I am pursuing is a direct quote from that memory. Her brother and her new mentor both believe that the problem is one of simply wanting power and they treat it as such. Asking Mary to give up or control her inclinations. But the issue goes deeper than wanting power and is rooted in self loathing over being a powerless child that she perceives as worthless and unneeded. These thoughts can not be rid over by teaching better avenues to gain what you want, as Zatanna had tried to do, and rather require time to explore the source of this hatred, and the time and resources to come to terms with herself as she is. They are two very different conversations. And I truly believe that if others, particularly the elder heroes who had taken mentor roles both on the team five years ago and Zatanna had the second, that Mary would not be furious right now. But they looked deeper at the problem and, instead, took it at face value, leading to Mary spiraling down into such a vulnerability that Granny Goodness was able to manipulate her. 

Mary is still obsesse with power!

that was brutal on the same level of when Phobos sucked up the power of Taranee and Cornelia in "v is for victory" (W.I.T.C.H) which is other Greg show and maybe that's is were he got the idea.

Possibly. Maybe. I don’t know, but I definitely think it’s at the very least a solid guess as to why Mary Bromfield can’t change into Sergeant Marvel anymore. That answer is the Seven Deadly Sins. What if Mary, during her tenure on The Team, was forced to absorb one or more of the Sins into her body, corrupting her Sergeant Marvel form, and that’s why she isn’t able to change into it anymore? It would certainly make sense given the fact that one of the Sins’ main powers is the ability to possess mortal souls. And given the fact that the Sins are demons, it would also explain why Etrigan could sense an “other” inside Mary, as I’m unsure if Etrigan would be able to sense Mary’s Marvel form unless it had been corrupted by something demonic like Etrigan himself.

Now there’s the question of which Sin is inside Mary to answer. My theory is that it’s Greed, as that would explain her ability to absorb and redirect the powers of other forms of magic. Greed’s whole thing is, to quote the DC Wiki, “ insatiable ambition and the desire to possess more than one needs.” Mary certainly has plenty of ambition, so she would be the perfect target for Greed to possess, and her ability to absorb and redirect the power behind other sources of magic definitely plays into the theme of possessing more than one needs considering she already has the powers of Shazam (Or a third of them, at least).