In a move to possibly keep the focus on the two-part "Calling All Titans/Titans Together" arc, Cartoon Network chose to air the final episode of the Teen Titans animated series on a Monday amongst the Miguzi lineup (as opposed to its normal weekend timeslot).

So comes the end of the Teen Titans animated series. Promising that things will change, the final episode actually turns out to be less of a reflective “remember when” episode and more of a mind-shattering turn of events than initially suggested.

Sure, the city has changed while the Titans were off saving the world from The Brotherhood of Evil, but that isn’t the bigger issue at hand. While reacquainting themselves with the city, the teens realize that a lot of their favorite businesses have been replaced by apartment complexes.

Amidst these discoveries, the Titans are attacked by a strange monster that can assume the physical properties of whatever it comes in contact with. While battling the monster, Beast Boy catches a glimpse of a young blonde-haired girl on the street, and becomes determined to prove that the girl is his long thought dead ex-girlfriend, Terra.

Gasp! Yep, that’s right, they went there!

While the rest of the team struggles to track down the creature and deal with it accordingly, Beast Boy seeks answers, first by visiting Terra’s final resting place. Expecting to find Terra still stuck in statue form, Beast Boy is shocked to find that this is not the case, and that she has somehow returned.

Beast Boy tracks Terra to Murakami High School, where she is a regular student with no memory of her former life as a Titan or a pupil of Slade’s evil machinations. Throughout the rest of the episode, Beast Boy attempts to jumpstart her memories in hopes of regaining his lost friend, but she remains unwavering.

Eventually, things boil down to a showdown with Slade. Yes, that Slade. The fight between Slade and Beast Boy is surprisingly aggressive, ending with Beast Boy losing control, turning into a T. Rex, and destroying Slade in the process. What turned him vicious was Slade’s insistence that he had nothing to do with Terra’s return, and that if she doesn’t remember Beast Boy it is by choice, not because of some evil plan. In the end, the Slade that Beast Boy was fighting turns out to be an android doppelganger of the villain, obviously constructed to taunt the young Titan.

The rest of the team continues to struggle against the mysterious monster, and at one point admits that they could use Beast Boy’s unique skills in tracking the creature. On the Terra end, Beast Boy manages one final confrontation with the girl who would be her. In the exchange, he insists that she remember, but she retaliates with the simple answer: “Things change, Beast Boy; the girl you want me to be is a memory.”

So the series creators leave us with more inferred answers and contemplative interpretations to mull over for the rest of eternity. Is Terra actually alive? Is Slade really dead? Did Slade have anything to do with her return? Was Slade connected to the mysterious creature the rest of the team was facing off against? Who the heck is Red X??

A few clues are there for interpretation. The use of mirrors is pretty prominent, although what they are meant to symbolize remains a mystery. The monster in the episode shares the same robotic eyes as the Slade android, seemingly linking the two together, and Terra’s dialogue definitely leads one to believe that she is choosing to live a straight life and leave her past behind her.

Season Five will go down as an excellent close to a rather consistent series. Although the manipulations and sinister plots of early Slade-heavy seasons seemed to wane midway through, the show’s creators did an excellent job constructing something fresh and new for Season Five by exploring the roots of The “New” Teen Titans comic series, specifically their ties to the Doom Patrol via Beast Boy.

One of the strengths of this series has always been its method of linking the villains to the heroes in the series. We had ties between Robin and Slade, Raven and Trigon, and Cyborg and Brother Blood. We even had touches of betrayal with the Terra arc.

All in all, it is a bummer to see the show come to an end. It seemingly struggled for a bit, but managed to entertain nonetheless. Those interested in seeing further adventures of the Boy Wonder can look forward to his stints on The WB or The CN series, The Batman, although many seem to blame the demise of Teen Titans on the decision to use Robin in the anime-influenced bat-series.

Not that it makes the pill easier to swallow.

Mario Anima