The reasoning behind the “on again, off again” nature of Cartoon Network’s program scheduling remains a mystery, but what boggles the mind even further is why the network chose to bury this episode, "TROQ," amidst the squalor of reruns in May.

At first glance, based on previous episodes in the series’ run thus far, "TROQ" seems to have all the makings of yet another run of the mill episode, distracting viewers from the slow build of Season Four’s Slade related storyline. This, however, is a misguided assumption.

"TROQ" tells the story of a space bound hero named Val-Yor, who is seeking the assistance of the Teen Titans to help curb an intergalactic coup in the making by a devious band of villains known as The Locrix. The actual who, what, when, and where of the coup is pretty much dismissible as the real bulk of the episode’s strengths are firmly routed in the development of both Cyborg and everyone’s favorite Tamaranian, Starfire.

Val-Yor’s charm immediately wins over the rest of the team, and soon enough his compliments for excellence in both prowess and skill become carrots, deviously dangled before the Teens, each of which ever so eager to gain Val-Yor’s praises. He immediately takes to issuing pet names to each of the Titans, most of which highlight their importance among the team. That is, all except for Starfire’s.

Instead, she is given the rather odd moniker of “Troq,” which Val-Yor never fails to throw her way every time he refers to her. Starfire’s mood changes and she becomes far more withdrawn as the episode progresses. Fans of the series will immediately identify Starfire’s actions as being somehow tied to the rest of the teams desire to be noticed by Val-Yor. Her ties to her newfound Earth friends is a deep one, which has been explored to great lengths in previous season filler episodes, so it is only natural to assume that the same route is being employed here as well.

This is where the episode slyly turns into something far more interesting that superhero Teens fighting epic space battles to save lives, and becomes something much more aligned to the work that The New Teen Titans accomplished in comic format under the guidance of Marv Wolfman and George Lopez.

As soon as Val-Yor begins calling Starfire “Troqie,” a far more goading fashion with underlying implications of sneer and hatred, Cyborg begins to question the nature of Val-Yor’s nickname for Starfire. When approached about the nature of this nickname, Starfire seemingly dismisses Cyborg’s inquiry by telling him, “It means nothing.”

Later on, when Starfire finally unleashes her true feelings about Val-Yor’s treatment of her to Cyborg, he questions why she told him Troq didn’t mean anything. She explains that she meant that it literally means “nothing,” because that is what people like Val-Yor think the Tamaranians are worth.

Seeing that this has become an intergalactic race-issue, Cyborg equates her feelings to his own feeling of being half-machine, a touching sequence that could have easily been saying the same thing about his own issues with racial identity back on Earth.

This infusion of identity in "TROQ" really makes up for the potential bobble this episode initially shaped up to be. Many fans will dismiss this as yet another filler episode. However, doing so would be a mistake, as there is more taking place in character development than we have seen in quite some time.

Next: Many have noted my absence from Titans as of late, and for that I apologize. I am running a bit behind due to some business on my end, but rest assured, we will be back on track shortly. Next up we dive back into the Raven / Slade story arc with "Prophecy."

Derek's Continuity Corner: Yeah, yeah, what business do I have spilling over from the JLU reviews into Teen Titans, especially since Mario DOES actually know the comic book history? Just a side note that Val-Yor sort of exists in the DCU -- the Daxamite hero Valor (real name: Lar Gand) fought in the late 20th Century alongside heroes like the Titans and the Justice League in the wake of Invasion! He even had nine issues of a solo book. If the name Valor doesn't ring a bell, it's because he was a retcon of an older hero that has since been retconned again -- even in the last issue of his own book everyone involved realized it wasn't working and he died, leading into the events of Zero Hour.

Still not ringing a bell? It's because Lar Gand was originally Mon-El of the Legion of Super-Heroes, so named because Superboy thought he was a long-lost cousin that he found on a Monday.

Really.

Then when Superboy disappeared from continuity, Lar Gand became Valor, the "new" inspiration for the Legion of Super-Heroes in the absence of a teen Superman. He still spent a thousand years in the Phantom Zone, only to be rescued by Brainiac 5. Since Gand had flopped as Valor once (and a religion had sprung up around him), he chose the new name Mon'ell, a Martian word meaning "Wanderer," thus tying several continuity gaps together until the most recent reboot of the Legion.

At any rate, whether Valor or Mon-El or Mon'ell, Lar Gand looks nothing like Val-Yor.

Mario Anima