Teen Titans S2 Episode 11-13 REACTION

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  1. “Slade is so creepy, the way he words things is so weird and he always wants to control children.” Oh boy, wait until they find out what Slade does to Terra in the comics :/

  2. Slade only mentions this once, but Terra did move from place to place because she couldn’t control her powers, and she ended up destroying every city she went to as a result. I think it kinda implies that she probably destroyed her home, maybe even her parents, and ever since then had been obsessed with control. It’s sad / interesting how Slade uses that and turns it on her so that he can control her, and how ultimately it all backfired on him when Terra took back control.

  3. I’m going to defend Terra here: SHE WAS A CHILD!
    Slade groomed her, used her fears of hurting others to control her and made her do things then made her double down under the logic of “there is no going back now- no one will forgive you”
    Beast Boy’s comment “Slade was right, you have no friends” was said in anger but it was all the amunition Slade needed to manipulate Terra even further. We see Beast Boy regret saying this as early as their next interaction but the damage is already done.
    Slade is a child groomer, that is why he is such a terrifying villain…. Terra was his victim
    Yes she made mistakes and did things that should not be forgiven but to refuse her the opprotunity of a second chance- especially considering the circumstances of being a literal child who was being groomed- only validates Slade’s tactics more

    1. The thing was she was given a second chance. So in the context of the show the Titans are completely valid, as nothing they did could’ve set her off. Considering they had to censor events from the comics, showing a fallout between her and the team before would’ve helped.

      I think this arc is completely fine when u know the context of slade and terra’s relationship, because the show sadly couldn’t give enough context. At least it was softly implied.

  4. Something I learned a few hours ago is that the music track that acompanies the opening scene of Aftershocks Pt1 is called “Terra Marries Slade”
    He is clearly meant to be a child groomer which is a very bold move for a children’s show about teenage superheroes
    There’s a reason this show is held up as one of the greats

  5. Terra wanted control over her powers more than anything, you gotta remember Slaide got to her in one of the earlier episodes when she was just introduced saying how he could help her and knowing about all her past actions because she couldn’t control her powers creating earthquakes and landslides, etc. wherever she went. Then she thought Beast Boy betrayed her by telling robin she couldn’t control her powers, we know he didn’t but she didn’t know and ran off. The next one was being betrayed by Beast boy who she lives at the Carnival after what he said at the end. She ended up being pretty mind broken after that as you can also see it in her expressions. All in all Terra is an amazingly well written character when you look back on everything that happened and all the small details that were just a few lines of dialogue.

  6. Terra lacks so much self awareness it’s not even funny. She really expected to still be considered a friend to the titans after literally plotting to kill them all with slade. She deserves no empathy or sympathy

    1. You forgot that she was manipulated and ultimately just a lost kid, she wasn’t really thinking or in-control of her actions. She definitely deserves empathy when Slade cornered her and got in her head first.

  7. My biggest problem with Terra’s arc. is how out of order and rushed everything feels. Why wait until the end of season 2 to make us feel empathy, but then barely flesh out her actions WHEN they happen? Yes she is a troubled teen, but i get why bree already writes her off because a first time watcher isn’t going to dissect what isn’t properly fleshed out. It’s pretty tedious re-watching these episodes with them because i forgot how much they had to cram with what little time they had, or how much they slighlty messed up with character structure, and Terra’s development suffered from that. Instead of coming off as a lost kid who was groomed by a super villain, she comes off as a bratty kid who doesn’t realize what she lost ( that being friendship with the titans ) and now she flip flops between them and Slade all within the same season. The route isn’t bad, it’s the execution that ultimately makes Terra such a pain in the beginning of the series. The comics obviously handle this much better, i just wish the show had more time to flesh her out early, so the audience’s first watch they get her character immediately.

    1. yea iirc they wanted to actually do more with terra but because the network wanted the show to be episodic they couldn’t do much. It honestly sucks because someone like terra would easily be my favorite character if they were able to do her justice

  8. My biggest problem with Terra’s arc. is how out of order and rushed everything feels. Why wait until the end of season 2 to make us feel empathy, but then barely flesh out her actions WHEN they happen? Yes she is a troubled teen, but i get why bree already writes her off because a first time watcher isn’t going to dissect what isn’t properly fleshed out. It’s pretty tedious re-watching these episodes with them because i forgot how much they had to cram with what little time they had, or how much they slighlty messed up with character structure, and Terra’s development suffered from that. Instead of coming off as a lost kid who was groomed by a super villain, she comes off as a bratty kid who doesn’t realize what she lost ( that being friendship with the titans ) and now she flip flops between them and Slade all within the same season. The route isn’t bad, it’s the execution that ultimately makes Terra such a pain in the beginning of the series.

    1. I definitely agree. I haven’t read the comics, but I grew up with this show. I remember never really liking Terra at all, and I always skipped her episodes when I rewatched Teen Titans. Years later, I was interested to see if I still didn’t like Terra, so I was a little excited to rewatch with the crew. I…still don’t like Terra, but now I know why. 😀 I fully agree with you. Terra’s arc not only feels rushed but is also actually rushed to a painful detriment. She’s introduced, ignored for some episodes, and then reintroduced as a spy. We didn’t get any time to see the characters affect each other at all, so I don’t really feel anything more than “whew, glad that’s over” when Terra sacrifices herself. I also agree with Bree that Terra’s sacrifice earned her some points but not enough. I think it would’ve been better if Terra survived taking out the active volcano and had to live with totally eviscerating her friendships. Even if her character arc was rushed, if she was forced to live out the consequences of betraying her friends and worked hard to better herself, she’d become a far more likable/interesting character. I say all this as someone who has NEVER read the comics–I’m only criticizing the show’s execution of this character.

      1. It’s kinda understandable because a big part of her character is her being groomed, which had to be HEAVILY toned down for the cartoon. Idk whether it was on the writers or the executives because the pacing definitely feels off, but I think with the context the arc is more forgiving.

        It wasn’t just simple manipulation, but a very taboo relationship, that had to be implied.

  9. idk if any of you noticed but there’s a lot of symbolism with terra’s hair and slade’s control over her. you’ll notice when we first meet her she has the butterfly clip that pushes her hair back that gets lost and we eventually see that slade found it. we also see that during that entire first ep with terra’s introduction, her hair is Always pushed back so you can see both eyes. BUT when they go on that mission and slade isolates her from the titans (foreshadowing we love to see it), her hair begins to cover her right eye leaving the left one exposed; just like slade.

    and thats exactly how the writers show her struggle with herself and slade’s power over her in a kinda subtle way. when she’s eventually revealed as slade’s new apprentice her hair begins covering that eye again BUT when beast boy is snarling at her from the smoke, we see her hair move from her eye as she pleads with him. its the same as when she returns to slade and he beats her; her hair is constantly shifted over so both eyes are revealed. then when slade takes control over her movements the hair shifts back Over the eye until terra finally regains her control and her hair lifts up entirely almost as if to show the manipulation and power slade had over her is gone. it’s just small things like that.

    also terra in the comics totally has a tragic backstory but since it was a kid’s cartoon (and also limited the terra arc to one season) they were never gonna go into details about that.

  10. I’ve never seen this series past this point, but this is what I remember about Slade from comics and other shows (no teen titan shows or comics though). I don’t think any of this would be a spoiler since it’s other versions and basic info.

    From what I know of the comics Deathstroke/Slade is basically Deadpool without the comedy. Deadpool was even an acknowledged rip-off of Deathstroke (Deathstroke = Slade Wilson, Deadpool = Wade Wilson). Slade typically is some kind of super soldier with strength and healing, his healing isn’t always fast but it brings him back from nearly anything sometimes. He sometimes goes mad from getting the super soilder powers and also typically loses the eye covered by the mask somehow and it never heals for various different reasons. He is also typically a mercenary and/or vengeful criminal (a criminal just to get revenge on a hero) as his reason for being bad or sometimes a bit of an antihero. He’s been a villain/antihero in shows and comics for batman and green arrow mostly, originally Batman tho. He’s even had antihero solo comics.

  11. When you guys get the chance watch Teen Titans Judas Contract which is the whole Terra story, but is dark just like the comics and not kid friendly like TT cartoon is.

  12. You guys gotta remember that Terra is an insecure isolated teenager who is very vulnerable to manipulation and on top of that she couldn’t control her powers for a long time which fed into her insecurities (which you saw in the episode she debut in), now many people have already said it but I’m gonna say it as well in the comics it has been confirmed that Slade has groomed and raped Terra that is why he has such a strong control over her, and obviously they can’t show any of that in the cartoon, so they did the best they could to show how creepy and manipulative Slade is towards Terra.

  13. I’d agree with your criticisms of Terra more if she was an adult, but she’s an insecure child (with seemingly no adult guardians in her life) who’s been groomed and manipulated by one of the most sick bastards on children’s television. I feel like the show is more to blame for how insufficiently it portrayed her situation than the character herself. Her arc was very rushed in my opinion, but it was a kid’s show so I get that they were probably limited with what they could show/get away with.

    1. I believe it’s been stated that they really did want to do more with Terra, I heard they even wanted to include her in the intro but didn’t have enough time for all of that. Sadly, the limit of a children’s how and more. I will disagree about the arc being insufficient entirely though, I just think it requires a lot more analysis compared to the apprentice Robin arc since they do not directly tell you anything until the end but you can infer plenty of things from the last three Terra episodes. Certainly not perfect, but an interesting route to go.

  14. honestly i gotta agree with brie i feel more sorry for beastboy than i do terra by far UNLESS we are talking about the comics in which case… oh god if you thought slade was creepy in the show

    1. and yeah ive seen some people mention it its not a spoiler to the show cause they never directly adress it in teen titans, but in the comics, OH GOD yeah slades obsession with children goes MUCH deeper and hes an outright scumbag the stuff with terra is 10x darker in the comics because of the shit slade does to her

  15. isn’t the other part of her backstory other than being alone that she couldn’t control her powers well and would accidently destroy things wherever she went from what i remember, if so that also goes into why she chose to be with Slade

  16. The other big heroes simply can’t show up cause of the Bat Embargo. Since the DCAU was going on alongside this show, the Justice League wasn’t allowed to show up in this show, and these characters couldn’t show up in the DCAU, save for Robin but it’s the DCAU’s Robin, Tim Drake at that point, not this Robin, who’s made clear to be Dick Grayson, as such this show is in a completely seperate continuity from that show, and again as such Superman, Batman, and the rest can’t show up save for 1 or 2 characters like Speedy showing up in the contest of champions episode.

    1. Yall also have to remember Terra is an isolated child, and manipulated by Slade. In the comics he’s THAT level of an awful person, and this show tackled that greatly with the limited episodes they had with his wording, and the voice actors amazing performance, we have no idea what’s gone through Terra’s head or her upbringing, beyond that she’s been isolated for a long time and cursed by her powers. Her unability to control her powers torments her, and here comes a silver tongued master of manipulation worming into her head. Going a long time without friends can have ones social judgement go pretty stray, I’d know, it led me into some very toxic friendships much like Terra was manipulated into working for Slade. I’ll admit with the few episodes they have it can feel like whiplash, but overall analyzing her story, it’s handled very well.
      (Really hope this literal novel makes sense and doesn’t just sound like a raging fan boy trying to blindly defend the show. Cause I promise that’s not what I’m trying to be.)

        1. Yeah I was just kinda using “yall” generally, I know it was brought up still, just had to reiterate and, like others have just fully confirm how awful her situation actually was. Incase any doubt that they were tackling such a topic was left.

  17. I can’t remember how the original comics addressed it specifically, but in the DC Judas Contract movie it’s confirmed that Terra was groomed and raped by Slade/Deathstroke. So the narrative for Terra was that she was always under the control of an abusive pedophile, which is why she is so psychologically under his control. I believe the comics at least infer this as well, and you can look back on the CN cartoon and see how they try to infer it in a much more kid-friendly way, but I think that’s why her motivations seem weak from your understanding of what you’ve seen. Her character actually is very tragic though for this reason. The core of it is that she is deeply insecure and vulnerable to manipulation, and through falling into the hands of Slade she learns to blame her insecurities on the Titans rather than accept herself. Anyways, I’m really happy y’all are watching this series – it’s one of my favorite cartoons ever and it brings me a lot of happiness to see other people engaging with it in such a thoughtful way. I’m a huge Robin and Starfire shipper so I’m especially excited for y’all to see more episodes about them hehe

      1. Oh I assumed that they were just going to watch the original CN show and then Trouble in Tokyo – I didn’t realize the Judas Contract movie was also on their radar. Do you know how to delete comments on here?

          1. TBF the movie is basically a retelling of this story, so it’s not too huge of a spoiler since we know how everything fundamentally plays out from these two episodes.

    1. I get that it’s an opinion that you think robin doesn’t fight as well as the others but it actually been proven in the show he’s more than capable especially in season 1 where he was red x and working for Slade and he beat the all of the titans TWICE. Not to mention when he fought the Slade bots and beat them all before the Titans could fight them. And if robin wasent capable it wouldn’t make sense for Slade to want him instead of the other titans to be his apprentice so in my opinion he’s actually the strongest.

  18. I love fights that focus on Beast Boy’s powers. His powers were always my personal favorite and seeing him quickly swap between several animals each one best suited for a particular moment in combat shows how much he’s really mastered the power as opposed to just morphing into a single animal and charging at the enemy.

  19. There was that one time that Robin took out like all of the enemies before the team could even get to them. He also got a win against Slade recently which I find impressive since Deathstroke often 1v1s Batman. Robin even won the tournament a couple episodes ago. Clearly Johnny Rancid is just god tier.

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