After the insane multiversal exhibition in the previous episode, which showed Garfield Logan finally realizing his true worth as the metaphysical realm of the Red allows him to find balance, the tenth episode of HBO Max’s Titans reunites Gar with the rest of the members of the team, although not before a detour to his first family, the Doom Patrol. In the ending sequence of the previous episode, as Gar requested the Red to send him home, he ended up in Doom Manor, where Vic found him. On the other hand, a renegade Conner took over Lexcorp and offered Sebastian a proposal to join his side, and the rest of the team got busy hitting upon a plan as to how they could stop May and Sebastian from summoning Trigon into the Earth realm. In this episode, we see three sets of narratives unfolding in parallel as members of the Titans look to settle their issues before engaging in direct conflict.
Spoilers Ahead
What Does Conner Propose To Sebastian?
Conner channelizes his inner Lex Luthor to play with Sebastian’s insecurities by turning him against Mother Mayhem. Before becoming Brother Blood, Sebastian wished to follow his passion, which was to develop games. Conner proposes Sebastian join Lexcorp, where he can actualize his dreams, a choice that his predestined ‘son of Trigon’ role didn’t allow him.
Conner’s offer entices Sebastian, and he starts having second thoughts about the Church of Blood Affairs. His fickle-mindedness disgusts May, who continues to goad and provoke him, stating he is nothing on his own; Trigon’s powers are the only thing that makes him special. An already worked-up Sebastian uses his powers against May in anger, which ends up burning her to death. The next day, Sebastian officially joins Lexcorp by accepting Conner’s invitation, and Conner makes the alliance public in front of the media. The team sees this and wonders whether they have to fight against their former (?) friend to get to Sebastian.
What Happened With Dick And Rachel?
Fearing that Sebastian might use his connection with his half-sister Rachel (both of them are children of Trigon) to harm her and get to the team, Dick and Kory decide to cut her off from the team’s plans for the moment, much to Rachel’s dismay. Later, Dick approaches her with ‘Clavis Noctem’, aka the ‘Key of the Night,’ a black magic grimoire he secured from his occult detective friend in England that can help Rachel sever her ties with Sebastian. Dick offers Rachel the choice of going through the ordeal, which Rachel accepts on the condition that Dick doesn’t tell anyone else about the matter.
The two go to a witch, also recommended by Dick’s occult detective friend in England, who is heavily implied to be John Constantine. The witch asks Rachel to step inside the ritual arena and clear her mind, and she states to Dick that a physical manifestation of Rachel’s connection with Sebastian will emerge during the ritual, whom Dick must have to slay using a conduit. A Deadite-looking monster manifests soon after, and Dick’s brotherly love for Rachel allows him to weaponize a mystical conduit, which, after much struggle, he manages to use to slay the monster.
How Did Kory End Up In Doom Manor As Well?
Frustrated over herself due to the fact she didn’t end Sebastian’s life when he was still human and vulnerable, an infuriated Kory goes on her own to seek answers but gets transported to Doom Manor after she leaves STAR Labs. After mistakenly punching Vic, aka Cyborg, in the face, she meets Gar and the rest of the present “Doom Patrol” members: Cliff Steele, aka Robotman, and Larry Trainor, aka Negative Man. Gar states that they have been trapped inside the manor, which is also a manifestation of the Red and not the real manor, and they are uncertain as to how to get out. Seeing Kory appear in the manor as well, Gar remarks that the Red wanted Gar to strike a balance before releasing him, which implies it must have summoned her for a similar reason.
Kory and Gar spend time socializing with the bunch of hapless ragtag members of the Doom Patrol, frolicking and playing tennis, and at one point, they lose track of time or any sort of urgency to get back. Larry spots an exit door and brings the team there, and Kory confesses that her vengeful attitude against Sebastian is what trapped her here. Spending time with Gar and the Doom Patrol has made her realize that instead of hating on Sebastian, who was also a victim of circumstances, she should return to protect the ones she loves. Much relieved after the confession, Kory joins the rest of the team, and somehow they manage to get out. Kory and Gar find themselves in the STAR labs, and although what happens with Doom Patrol is not shown, they probably end up in their own reality. This portion of the narrative finally allowed a chance to let the OG members of the “Teen Titans,” Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy, share the screen in live action.
What Is Conner Planning?
As Conner provides a ‘programmer’s playhouse’ with a central grid to directly launch and access the mainframe of the game, Abraxus, which Sebastian created, a feeling of failure that has chased Sebastian all his life once again creeps up. Conner assures him of his trust and leaves Sebastian to his devices. Going to Sebastian’s office, Conner tries his best to destroy the horn of Trigon, to no avail. In the meantime, Sebastian uses his demonic powers to augment the game’s likeability and also corrupt it from within. As a result, after the launch, in no time, the game’s popularity skyrocketed as people all over the world got addicted, but as soon as the demonic powers took hold, the players got their vitality sucked out of them, which empowered Sebastian.
At STAR Labs, Bernard becomes one of the addicted players and also falls sick. Tim gets anxious seeing this and tries to hack the main server of Lexcorp, which fails as Sebastian doubles down on the security by using his demonic augmentation powers. Conner realizes that the server is being hacked by his friends in the Titans but deliberately hides the fact from Sebastian. Instead, he allows the firewall breach by allowing Tim’s Trojan to corrupt the mainframe by manipulating the server within a split-second gap using his super speed without alarming Sebastian. As his plan to take over the world using the game fails, Sebastian realizes that his bond with Rachel has also been severed.
At STAR Labs, the Titans reunite, and Dick informs the team that Conner allowed the server breach willingly, which implies that he is still on the team’s side, although his method of approach varies. Conner gets a text from Mercy Graves, which states that she has found a way to destroy Sebastian, which she will soon share with him. The episode ends as a distraught Sebastian sees a vision of the burned corpse of May getting resurrected and calling out his name.
Overall, this lengthy episode seems to have lost the steady flow that began after the midseason break, yet it contains some key moments in the form of the Doom Patrol segment. Conner might plan to break Sebastian mentally as opposed to his previous hands-on approach, but it can be guessed that he will once again realize he is way over his head if he thinks he can control something as unpredictable as the power of Trigon. At least he wittingly showed his allegiance to the Titans, which leaves space for another timely reunion, and the sooner he realizes that they can win this battle only by teaming up, the better. This episode also gave space to each of the characters before it gets really busy with the upcoming episodes, which will see the team strike at Brother Blood when he is at his lowest. Here’s wishing that before the season ends, Conner gets some sort of advice from this universe’s Superman as well, missing which he has gone down this edgy path of imitating Lex Luthor.
