You
knew it was in the works. Don’t deny it. With a show
as irreverent as Titans can be, people had to suspect
that a Manga episode was in store eventually. It had to
happen right?
Well
here it is. "The Quest" satisfies that anime itch
while still managing to hold onto the reigns long enough
to keep the whole thing together. If it felt weird watching
Robin dwell so heavily on martial arts training, recall
that he is Bruce Wayne’s ward, after all. Wayne is
skilled in a wide variety of combat training methods, and
it's not that far a stretch to assume that Robin would fall
into a similar groove.
The episode opens with Robin chasing down
a martial arts criminal named Kitarou, who manages to steal
a golden bo staff encrusted with ruby gems. Robin and Kitarou
engage in a kung fu throw down, bounding from rooftop to
rooftop, until Kitarou offers a solution to the stalemate.
If Kitarou fails to defeat Robin in three moves he will
concede to the Boy Wonder and go quietly to jail. Robin
agrees and the challenge begins.
After three moves, Kitarou succeeds in defeating
Robin, who questions where Kitarou learned his to fight
so well. Kitarou explains that only one who has trained
with the True Master fights as well as he, then vanishes
in a puff of smoke.
Here’s
the thing that works; like the big bat, Robin hates it when
someone has “one-upped” him. It festers inside
and will not go away until he has wrapped his head around
the problem, working it out from every angle and preparing
for future encounters. This is, in essence, Robin at his
darkest and most troubled. The team couldn’t possibly
understand this, and even Cyborg urges Robin to stay home
and train on some newly uploaded simulations he recently
acquired. Despite this, Robin still insists that he must
leave the tower to seek out the True Master.
The
team may not understand, but they see the issue at hand.
Cyborg even points it out, stating that Robin takes himself
way too seriously. This aside, when put into context with
the proposal that was flirted with in "Titans
East," is an intriguing contrast in leadership
style between Cyborg and Robin. It would have been so interesting
to see this further developed with Cy leading a team on
the opposite coast. Ah well, bygones.
To the point, what ensues is a quest to
find the True Master and train to be the best of the best.
The reason it works is that said quest is chock full of
manga references and action sequences, yet balanced with
the type of off-kilter comedy that, when done correctly,
works in the Titans animated series. This humor, however,
is best distributed with the occasional touch of sincerity.
One such note comes from Starfire, who reveals
that she still pines for Robin despite the seemingly lackluster
development in this department over the course of Season
Three. We get a ringside seat to Starfire’s daydreams,
which pretty much consist of every romantic moment between
the two characters in the series thus far. Here’s
to hoping we see more of this in the future.
While Robin is off somewhere in mainland
China, working his way up the True Master’s mountain
with the help of a nosey old woman, the rest of the team
is busy raiding the Boy Wonder’s closet. Beast Boy
begins the masquerade when he sneaks into Robin’s
room to try on the tights and mask, fulfilling a longtime
dream of becoming The Beast Boy Wonder!
Too hilarious!
As
Robin works his way up the mountain while confronting a
troika of mythical martial artists in animal form, the rest
of the team gradually gets sucked into Beast Boy’s
fantasy, each choosing to don tights and the “R”
suit as well. A team full of Robins proves to be comic gold.
First
Robin must battle a giant talking bear. If you’ve
never seen Robin get his butt handed to him by a jabbering
grizzly, well then my friend, you just haven’t lived.
In between tasks, the loveably wisecracking old woman pops
in to give sage-like advice to Robin in a “Ryu costume.”
It's enough to suggest, but anyone can plainly see who the
“True Master” actually is here.
Robin must learn from each mystic battle
in order to pass his trials. For instance, when battling
the snake, Robin must learn to let go of his sense of sight
in order to defeat his enemy. A typical development for
this genre, but the whole thing is fun in the process. Robin’s
battle with the monkey master is especially enjoyable, as
the two warriors square off atop bamboo poles standing upright
in a misty chasm.
The
whole episode is reminiscent of various different cultural
influences. Obviously Robin’s attire while pursuing
the True Master recalls everyone’s favorite Shotokan
warrior from “Street Fighter,” but one can hardly
ignore the suggestive hints towards such fan favorites as
Ranma 1/2.
In the end, Robin learns from the True Master
what Cyborg knew all along, which makes us wonder whether
or not Robin should have just stayed home and trained with
Cyborg’s simulation programs.
Next
Week: The trend of leapfrogging all over the Season
Four Episode list continues next week with Birthmark, an
episode that promises the return of Slade, and the introduction
of this season’s big plot device. Why is Slade after
Raven? Could her Daddy have something to do with it? We’ll
all find out next week!
