But You? It's like I told you, mate ...there will always be a place for the monster that lives in the Swamp. 
- — John Constantine
Justice League Dark (Volume 2) #23 is an issue of the series Justice League Dark (Volume 2) with a cover date of August, 2020. It was published on June 23, 2020.
Synopsis for "The Parliaments of Life, Part 4"
The Heart of the Rot
Anton Arcane is trying to defeat the Justice League Dark, using the connection to the Rot to amplify his powers. An awakened Abby Arcane manages to handle him just enough to let Diana prepare an attack able to destroy the bestial form Arcane assumed to fight them all together. As Anton transforms himself into a swarm of flies and escapes Wonder Woman, after telling her that far worse things are coming for her and her team, Abigail tries to pursue him, but John Constantine convinces her to let Anton go, as Zatanna was severely damaged by their enemy and clearly needs some help if she wants to survive.
The Hall of Justice
Abigail helps Zatanna get rid of the Rot that infected her due to the actions of Anton, talking to John Constantine about the problem presented by the disappearance of Alec Holland: the Green and the Black are two opposite of the same coin, keeping balance between the two forces. With the Swamp Thing dead, she was trapped by Anton in her own dreams and the Rot was able to damage the team. John tells her to stop feeling guilty and to focus, as there are bigger things involved than the Parliaments. It seems Constantine knows more than he's willing to share, and decided that only Abigail should be informed about it. Later, John asks Bobo to keep an eye on Zee while she's recovering, and then gets informed by Kent Nelson about Khalid starting the ritual to reform the Parliaments in Tanzania.
The Floronic Man is needed to perform the ritual, and John goes to the jails to get him, telling him he knows he was involved in the rescue of Abby and that he clearly knows more than he has told them. Woodrue admits it, and Constantine tells him he will keep his mouth shut as long that Woodrue follows his orders completely during Doctor Fate's ritual.
Ol Doinyo Lengai (The Mountain of God), Tanzania
Khalid gathered all the Parliaments and their hosts, and started the ritual: the first step was for all the human hosts to renounce willingly to their powers. Woodrue was forced by Constantine, then Buddy renounced to his position. As Abby was going to be next, she attacked the manifestation of the Green, the Parliament of Flowers, rotting it with her powers as an act of revenge towards what happened to Alec. Wonder Woman turns to Constantine for an explanation, and she sees the Hellblazer taking a seed out of the rotting Green and going away, of course with a personal and secret plan in mind. As the Parliaments attack in rage, believing the humans betrayed them, Buddy wants to know from Abigail what the hell she was thinking, and Abby tells him it's all part of Constantine's plan.
The Swamps, Houma, Louisiana
Utilizing the Key of Houdini, Constantine opened a passageway to the place where Swamp Thing was born and, planting the seed he retrieved from Abigail's attack, he gives life to a new Swamp Thing, formed by the essence and the memories of all the previous hosts of the Green. Anton Arcane was there to witness the monster being reborn, and was there to be defeated by him: Arcane was an agent of the Upside-Down Man, who wanted to eliminate Swamp Thing forever to destroy the balance between the Parliaments, as the Parliament of Flowers was unstable and not adapt to the other forces. With the plan of the leader of the Otherkind stopped, the new Swamp Thing reunites with the Justice League Dark after bringing peace inside the equilibrium of the Parliaments, with the Trees taking over the Green once again.
Meanwhile, in the Hall of Justice, Zatanna keeps having nightmares about the Upside-Down Man himself.
Appearing in "The Parliaments of Life, Part 4"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League Dark
- Doctor Fate (Khalid Nassour)
- Detective Chimp
- John Constantine (Quits team)
- Kent Nelson
- The Swamp Thing (First appearance) (Joins team)
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira)
- Zatanna
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Anton Arcane
- Floronic Man
- The Upside-Down Man (Dark Multiverse) (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Parliament of Flowers (Destroyed)
- Parliament of Decay
- Parliament of Limbs
- Parliament of Trees (Rebirth)
- Alec Holland (Mentioned only)
- Devils (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- Harry Houdini (Mentioned only)
- Oleander Sorrel (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Dark Multiverse
- The Other Place (In dream sequence only) (Cameo)
- Multiverse (Behind the scenes)
- Earth 0
- Tanzania
- Serengeti
- Ol Doinyo Lengai/"The Mountain of God" (Real name revealed)
- Serengeti
- United States of America
- Tanzania
- Sphere of the Gods
- The Dreaming (Cameo)
- Hell (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0
Items:
- Ayahuasca Vine (Mentioned only)
- Bracelets of Submission
- Helmet of Fate
- Houdini's Key
- Lasso of Truth
- Silk Cut
- Sword of Night
- Wonder Woman's Shield
- Wonder Woman's Sword
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Concepts:
See Also