Ashanti writes...

Hey Greg! Love Young Justice. I started rewatching S3 the other day and started wondering about the construction of the team. What's the in-universe reason Dick Grayson chose Jefferson Pierce to be on his Markovia squad?

I'm assuming Dick asked the people closest to him who weren't otherwise occupied or involved in Batman's quitting drama--i.e. no Batman members, no League members, and no leader of the Team. That leaves Artemis and Conner and Will from the original team, but Will was more interested in taking care of Lian. But why Jeff? Did he and Dick develop a close relationship in-between seasons, or does Dick trust Jeff because Jeff's recent resignation was a sign that he can be trusted to care about completing the mission/helping people without stirring up unnecessary drama in the then-somewhat-fractured superhero community?

I know that Jefferson plays an important role later in the season that only he could do, and also that his role in the season is a nod to the Batman and the Outsiders storylines, but y'all are pretty good at clearly establishing cause and effect for your characters' relationships, so I wanted to know if there was anything I missed that led to Dick trusting Jefferson so much that when he recruited him for the mission, he specifically said he came for the man, not the powers.

Thanks for all you do!