Spoilers for: Teen Titans (2003)
There’s a special kind of magic in a first. Perhaps this magic is found in the countless hours of anticipation, in the unknown that lies ahead in those unwatched episodes, in the haunting feelings of emptiness as the credits are rolling. But this magic is fleeting.
You could try to recreate this magic. Forget what you’ve seen. Rewatch, reread, replay. But it’s not the same — you can only have your firsts just once, and if something is haunting enough, you won’t forget its impact.
A decade has passed since I first discovered Teen Titans on Cartoon Network. I remember my first introduction to these superheroes was watching a teaser, a few minutes clipped from “Betrothed” (S3E3). Starfire and Blackfire were duelling for the Tamaranian throne. The animation was beautiful. Glen Murakami sure knows how to animate a good fight scene. That’s how Teen Titans introduced me to the world of superheroes.
I was instantly dazzled. I loved it all — the Murakanime aesthetics, the visual gags, the action, the secret identities… everything.
But I have to say: Beneath the superhero masks, what is really captivating about Teen Titans is how the show explores teenagehood and coming-of-age. Though the Titans are constantly dealing with extraordinary circumstances as big as the world almost ending at least once per season, they also often confront the same struggles that many of us have lived through. Starfire (Hynden Walch) has acne in “Transformation” (S2E20). Robin (Scott Menville) and Cyborg (Khary Payton) struggle to communicate with each other in “Divide and Conquer” (S1E3). But it’s the tragedy of Terra (Ashley Johnson) that really stands out.
In its second season, Teen Titans adapts the tragic “Judas Contract” storyline from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s The New Teen Titans, in which Terra joins the Titans but eventually proves to be a double agent working alongside the supervillain Slade (Ron Perlman). This Terra is manipulative and cruel, callously taking advantage of Beast Boy (Greg Cipes)’s feelings and the Titans’ trust, and the eventual reveal renders her time with the Titans as a complete lie. After all, she had been working for Slade all along.
Image Source: Internet Archive
But in the animated series, Terra isn’t a cold and calculating villain. She’s instead introduced in “Terra” (S2E3) as a young girl who has spent her whole life running away from accidents caused by her own powers. Terra is immediately sympathetic. She always wants to do the right thing. She’s an aspiring superhero. It’s just that her attempts at helping almost always end up backfiring, and she doesn’t quite have a grasp on her geomancing abilities yet. As a result, Terra is deeply insecure. She wants to be a hero. She wants to belong. And she believes that controlling her powers is the key to both of her desires. Even though most of us can’t necessarily relate to having earth-shattering powers, Terra’s longing for belonging and a sense of identity is something that is very relatable, especially during such an important time of self-discovery that is teenagehood. But when Robin offers Terra a spot on the team, her insecurities prove to be self-sabotaging as she runs away at the first inkling of conflict.
Terra eventually does return to the Titans in “Titan Rising” (S2E8), though as a double agent for Slade this time. But she does still forge genuine connections with the team, especially with Beast Boy, with whom she shares romantic feelings. It’s Beast Boy that Terra likes, and through their growing romance, Terra is sweet and genuine, but very unsure and confused. And Terra and Slade’s relationship dynamic is not a twisted love affair like in the comics. Her mentorship with the supervillain comes across as predatory, almost like a tragic Faustian bargain. Terra sacrifices her autonomy to gain some semblance of control over her powers, but it’s revealed that Slade has been pulling the strings all along, having taken advantage of Terra’s vulnerability and naivete. It’s not surprising, but it is tragic, and even more so when she finally stands up for herself against Slade, only to die through a heartbreaking sacrifice. In the finale “Aftershock: Part 2” (S2E13), Beast Boy and the Teen Titans memorialize her, and then we don’t see her again until three seasons later.
In the series finale “Things Change” (S5E13), the Titans finally return to Jump City after a globe-hopping season, but they find that everything has changed. Their favourite restaurant is permanently closed. There’s a new supervillain in town, and they prove to be a difficult challenge for the Titans because they’re constantly shifting forms, constantly changing. Perhaps most disturbingly, however, is the appearance of a civilian girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to Terra. But after Beast Boy confronts her multiple times, “Terra” seems to have entirely forgotten both her powers and her past with the Titans. Eventually, “Terra” asks Beast Boy to give up. She’s not the girl he remembers, knows, loves. He needs to move on. But it is difficult, so difficult to let go of the girl who was his best friend and first love. Though Beast Boy eventually lets her go, we also never find out if “Terra” is truly Terra.
The genius of “Things Change” lies in exactly that — the lack of a definitive answer. Is “Terra” truly herself or just a doppelganger? If she’s truly Terra, then is she being truthful about her memory loss? How did she return to life? Or has all of that just been a figment of Beast Boy’s imagination as he mourns the girl he loves? This mystery is never resolved.
Image Source: Internet Archive
It frustrated me so much when I was younger. I really wanted closure like Beast Boy did. I wanted a reunion, a goodbye, or at the very least some semblance of one. It was unfair.
But what is fair isn’t always what is true, and “Things Change” is supposed to feel unfair, and that’s what makes the impact of the episode so much more real and memorable. Beast Boy and “Terra” don’t reconcile. There’s no resolution, there’s no answers, and that’s the point. Things change, and you have to move on, just as Beast Boy eventually has to. At the end of the episode, Beast Boy gives up trying to get Terra to remember, and he doesn’t seem to find joy or peace in this action. But he must move on, whether he wants to or not. He must accept that things change. The Titans also never beat the nameless villain of the episode, as he constantly shapeshifts to evade their grasp. This villain does not speak or have much of a personality, feeling more like a concept than a person. I’ve come to think of this villain somewhat as a representation of change. The Titans cannot win against them, because you cannot avoid or overcome change. It’s inevitable.
This is the “Things Change” I know now, watching Teen Titans again in my twenties. That things change, and that’s something you have to accept, no matter how disappointing or frustrating. Sometimes, there’s no closure, and you still have to move on. Such is the bittersweet nature of coming of age.
Teen Titans is timeless to me because I’ve always found a different feeling every time I’ve rewatched the series. I’ve felt frustration, disappointment, sadness, nostalgia and acceptance when watching Beast Boy walking away from Terra into the void. There’s always something new to take away, depending on your age and life experiences. The vague, open ending invites us to linger a moment longer, stay contemplating our unanswered questions and what they mean.
There’s no answer, so it becomes what you make of it. String together your memories and feelings, and those will always remain even as you move on. Don’t forget, but don’t hold on too tightly. You have to accept change before you can truly grow into your own. I think that’s what Teen Titans was trying to teach us teens.
One final lesson before the credits: Things change, but we’ll always have the memories.
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