Teen Titans S01E12 Review: Darth Robin

Teen Titans, Season 1, Episode 12: Apprentice, Part 1

Ah, season finales! As far as season finales go, Teen Titans always go for a more serious tone... though this being Teen Titans, there's always some comedy to the whole thing. Having Starfire's allergies to chronotron particles being an actual plot device is hilarious, but the two-parter's focus is still on Robin and Slade. Like 'Masks', this episode shows how similar Slade is to Robin, and as previous episodes have built up, Slade doesn't really care about the generic supervillain plots that other villains in the show like Mad Mod or Trident or Mumbo has, and I don't think it's exemplified as beautifully as the insane plot device, the Chronotron Detonator, being a dud. No, we're not dealing with the generic city-destroying-bombs, blob monsters and armies of robots that are in our comfort zone.

We're dealing with Slade, and the fact that his plans really revolve around Robin. Getting Robin to be obsessed with Slade, forcing Robin to understand that Slade is better than Robin in combat, and Robin's increasingly desperate and unhinged attitude throughout this episode and the instilled paranoia as Robin gets more aggressive, threatening to beat up random construction workers and snapping under the pressure at his friends is all too human and a very great display of how much Slade is corrupting Robin. It's very subtle and very dark for a kid's show that has villains like Mumbo and Control Freak, yeah?

Cinderblock shows up for a minor role as Slade's flunky, but like everything else, it's just a mere pawn to get Robin and Slade alone, and their fighting scene with the very atmospheric shadowy clockwork tower thing is awesome as all hell. Slade's big plan is to make Robin his apprentice, but he's also not stupid enough to believe that Robin will join willingly despite their similarities, so he injected the other Titans with nanobots that will basically explode and kill the other Titans. The episode ends with the chilling show of Robin's uniform being discarded while he dons a Slade-inspired uniform.

Definitely a great episode and an excellent setup for a confrontation between Robin, Slade and the other Titans.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• I have never talked in-depth about Slade's origins, have I? Well, it's a good time to do so as any. In the comics, Slade Wilson is the alter-ego of Deathstroke the Terminator, though this cartoon uses 'Slade' as the codename instead of Deathstroke because, y'know, censorship. In the comics Deathstroke is a mercenary and less of a criminal mastermind, but his obsession towards the Teen Titans and especially Robin (well, Nightwing in most of their clashes) is still more or less the same. Deathstroke has experienced a big resurgence in popularity in recent years, showing up as enemies to both Green Arrow and Batman, though he is still the quintessential Teen Titans villain in the comics. 
• The opening sequence of Robin unmasking Slade and finding his own face is a reference to the dark cave in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.