Warning: contains spoilers for Justice League Dark Annual 2021!
Yuga Khan is the father of Darkseid, a presence even more fearful than his son, and now Khan is working to thwart Darkseid’s plan to take over all of creation. In Justice League Dark Annual 2021, on sale now in print and digital, readers learn that Khan is manipulating the wizard Merlin in a battle against the Lord of Apokolips—but what deeper game is Khan playing?
Darkseid is the ultimate evil in the DC Universe, but there is one even more feared than him—his father: Yuga Khan. The most powerful and evil warlord the universe has ever known, Yuga Khan finally met his match when he tried to pierce the Source Wall and learn the secrets that laid beyond. As with all others who attempt to breach the Wall, Khan failed and found himself imprisoned in the Wall for all eternity. He has been freed once before, and his return made even Darkseid shake in fear. Khan deposed his son, turning Apokolips into an even more horrible place. Khan tried once again to learn the secrets of the Source—and once again, he failed. Khan has once again been imprisoned in the Source Wall ever since, while Darkseid has increased in stature, recently assuming his ultimate form and forsaking his quest for the Anti-Life Equation in favor of the Great Darkness beyond the multiverse. Darkseid’s search will have huge ramifications for the DC Universe—and apparently his father is working against him.
In the story, written by Ram V and Dan Watters with art by Christopher Mitten, colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr and letters by Rob Leigh, Mister E reveals to the assembled Justice League Dark why Merlin has betrayed the magic community. While traveling, Merlin stumbled upon Yuga Khan, Darkseid’s father, at the edge of the universe. Khan tells Merlin that a “darkness is coming to this universe, a great and terrible thing that must be stopped.” Khan goes onto say neither Merlin, nor Earth, is ready. Khan grabs Merlin and rips out his innocence and goodness. He then sends the now-dark Merlin back, and he begins his campaign against Earth’s magic users.
At the conclusion of Infinite Frontier #6, Darkseid revealed he is seeking the Great Darkness, a primordial cosmic evil lurking outside the multiverse. Darkseid wishes to use this power to conquer the Omniverse and, for reasons yet unexplained, his father is attempting to stop him. The question then is: what is Yuga Khan’s stake in this conflict? Khan told Merlin he was not “cruel enough” to prepare Earth for Darkseid’s assault, and that he (Khan) would be cruel enough for both Merlin and the rest of the universe—but what has motivated him to rip the goodness out of Merlin? Have the countless eons spent imprisoned within the Source Wall led to a change of heart for Yuga Khan, and with this last, albeit cruel action, does he seek to redeem himself? Is he playing a deeper game, perhaps banking on a resurrection (and return to power) if Darkseid is defeated? Or is all of this motivated simply out of spite?
Future State showed the long-term ramifications of Merlin’s attack, and now fans know why he did it—he has been corrupted by Yuga Khan, Darkseid’s father, who is attempting to thwart his son’s dreams of conquest one last time.