Let’s
bring everyone up to speed here. Raven opened the portal
allowing her demonic father Trigon access to this world,
which he immediately proceeds to raze into a scorched and
desolate wasteland. Our beloved Titans were somehow shielded
from this initial destruction of all things early by Raven,
who somehow managed to give the team access to her powers.
Robin and Slade made a deal to help one another track down
Trigon, and in turn Raven, during which Robin learns that
Slade is actually the living dead, eagerly seeking payment
of life from Trigon for his services. Upon finding Raven,
Robin finds that she has regressed into a childlike state.
Phew!
We begin
part III of this massive epic with a continuation of the
Titans vs. Evil Titans sequence. Starfire manages to put
up a good fight against her counterpart, but having an audience
of Trigon proves troublesome for the teens. He is amused
at their tenacity, but insists that the evil Titan counterparts
will prevail in time. The team must continue to put up a
fight despite the whomping they are each being dealt, because
as long as Trigon is distracted, Robin’s rescue mission
won’t be jeopardized.
The
problem here is, Trigon knows all. He’s an all powerful
demon, so it’s only logical that he is aware of Robin’s
rescue mission Raven. Speaking of Robin, his sequences trying
to convince the young, mind wiped Raven of continuing to
fight Trigon were touching, and starkly contrasted with
Slade’s struggles with the undead guardian of human
souls.
Ultimately
Slade gets what he wants, which should set up season five
with some ripe opportunities for further Slade antics. Trigon’s
use of the Titan’s tower as a throne is a great affront
to the team’s integrity and hope.
Slade’s
decision to pitch in and help the team seemed a little odd
at first, but perhaps this makes since, considering that
although Slade falls on the opposing side of the fence from
the Titans, Earth is still his home, so the last thing he’d
want to see is it’s destruction along with his, especially
since he has just returned to the land of the living.
Kid
Raven. At first stripping Raven of her powers and turning
her into a regressed child seemed an adequate approach to
this arc. Upon further postulation, it doesn’t quite
sit right. One of the most memorable sights from Trigon’s
comic story arc was Raven’s physical transformation
into a red skinned, four eyed version of herself. She oozed
evil, and this made for a fairly stunning and dismal visual
in the comics.
For
the most part, feeling that this may never come to fruition
in the animated version of the Trigon arc was a touch disappointing
at first, however Raven’s long haired revamp at the
end of this episode was sheer perfection. Alas, her new
look didn’t last too long, because once things have
returned to normal Raven’s hair goes back to it’s
usual, shortened length.
Admittedly,
t his is a pretty lame complaint. Oh well.
With
the unlikely help of Slade, the teens manage to hold off
Trigon long enough to afford the self-doubting Raven the
chance to realize that all hope is not lost, and that she
is capable of putting an end to all of this if she would
only step up to the plate and deliver.
Raven’s
inspired destruction of Trigon is a logical wrap up, and
although some may feel it to be a bit rushed and simplistic,
it seems suited that Raven overcome her own self-limiting
fears and doubts to defeat a father whose sole purpose for
siring her in the first place was filled with selfishness
and greed.
All
in all, The End pays off in ways that no other arc in the
animated series has thus far. Bringing a darker edge to
the series, one can only hope that the team behind the Titans
continues to work in this direction next season.
Hope
on the horizon: Good news folks, it looks like
there may be a Tivo in my near future, which means Season
Five should hopefully be a trouble free season chock full
of Titan reviews and other fun stuff. Stay tuned!
