DC Universe’s Titans season 2, episode 12 recap: Faux-Hawk

It’s the penultimate episode of Titans season 2, and the team are desperate to save their friends. But Hank is on a completely different trip.

Dick escaped prison after discovering the truth about Jericho – he had jumped into his father, Slade Wilson’s body after Jericho had been impaled by him. That event took place five years ago and it caused the Titans to disband.

Jericho has been trapped in his father’s mind ever since his ‘death’. He keeps trying to break out, but he can’t. Slade is under the impression that by keeping the Titans apart, or by destroying them, he’s avenging their betrayal of Jericho, but his son doesn’t feel the same way. Despite his cloistered circumstances, Jericho tries to resume control of Slade’s body and attempts to kill Slade, but to no avail.

Rescuing Gar

DC Universe’s Titans season 2, episode 11 recap. light. More

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Mercy Graves’ experiment now moves to the real world, where she unleashes Gar on unsuspecting people at a café. When Gar comes to his senses, he’s covered in blood and has no memory of what he’s done. It’s awful to see him powerless and afraid. But perhaps he won’t have to suffer for too long.

Donna and Dawn have tracked down Mercy’s Cadmus agent Walter Hawn (Raoul Bhaneja) who tells them that both Gar and Superboy are under the company’s control. Despite the ominous task of taking down such a giant organization, Dawn refuses to call in reinforcements – aka Hank. But they want the rest of the team’s help.

Kory is still struggling with her powers, and it’s making her irritable. When Rachel insists on locating Dick because of her dream about him, Kory loses it. The two of them briefly hurl rather amusing insults at each other, before Kory gets a text about Gar needing help. They decide to leave for San Francisco. Dick will just have to find his own way back.

Meanwhile, it seems like no superhero property would be complete without a cage fight, so Hank is putting his Hawk suit to good use – he’s an underground cage fighter claiming to be the ‘undisputed leader of the Titans’. Hank is good at fighting, but he’s supplementing his emotions and anger with drugs and alcohol. He’s so drug-addled, that he apparently sells his suit for drugs and then has to steal it back because the new user is abusing the Titans name. Hank, get it together!

Rose’s Story

Jason is still playing the love-sick puppy; he’s fallen for Rose hook-line-and-sinker. It’s almost cute if it weren’t so cheesy. While busy making corndogs, Jason gets a message about rescuing Gar. He refuses to play along, believing Dick is messing with them again. Rose, however, is cautious, worrying that Deathstroke will kill the team because they’re getting back together. Once this secret is out, Rose has to explain her story to Jason.

Three years earlier, Rose confronted her mother about her inability to get hurt. Despite many near-death experiences, Rose was always able to survive, completely unharmed. Her mother explained that her biological father was someone she knew briefly – he was ‘from another life’. Rose grew up not knowing Slade.

Once Rose found out about her father, she met him and realized he was a jerk who cheated on his wife (probably several times) and had very little regard for Rose’s mother. Slade definitely felt some amount of guilt though. After rudely dismissing Rose during their first meeting, Slade returns on prom night and tells Rose about how he’s been paying for the house and club membership her family enjoys. He wants to make amends with Rose and she agrees. After all, they are more alike than the family she lives with.

The Judas Contract

Nothing Slade does is out of the kindness of his heart. He gives Rose the Ravager suit and prepares her for battle. He’s still raw from Jericho’s death and Slade has made up the fantasy that the Titans are a gang of psychopaths who murdered his son. Now he needs Rose to help him destroy them.

Slade had Rose break Dr. Light out of prison and then slowly maneuver herself into the Titans – many of us wondered whether the showrunners would adapt ‘The Judas Contract’ in this season, and it looks like they have, but with Rose as the traitor instead of Terra, and Jason falling in love with her rather than Gar. It’s not quite as successful an adaptation because the writing has been haphazard with Rose not being given enough screen time for her character to grow.

When Rose reveals all this to Jason, he is heart-broken. Curran Walters is brilliant in this scene as he throws Rose’s lies back at her. He isn’t over-the-top, but he is unable to contain his emotion. This is why everyone loves Walters’ Jason, and it’s a shame that he’s been shunted to the side in an overcrowded season. As Jason leaves, Slade calls Rose and orders her to join him in his quest to take down the Titans.

Dick Needs a New Suit

He returns to Adeline’s house and learns that Deathstroke has left for San Francisco to kill his team. And he’s working with Rose. Dick is distraught that he fought for Rose to stay in the Tower, but that she was a Judas instead. Adeline, though, doesn’t care about any of this. It took her a while to realize that Jericho was trapped inside Slade’s mind and she wants Dick to bring him back. Apparently, Jericho thought very highly of Dick, claiming he had special abilities. Funny how Dick isn’t a meta-human but he held such sway over Jericho.

Dick finally comes to his senses and heads over to get a new suit. Stu is the suit maker and he is very upset that Dick burnt his previous one. In a scene out of every James Bond film, Dick is introduced to his new suit. Dick seems beyond impressed, but we can’t see it yet.

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The Nightwing reveal will have to wait till the season two finale. Let’s hope it lives up to our expectations. Also, the Titans had better rescue Gar quickly, because Mercy Graves seems to have her eye on him attacking a carnival.

What did you think of this episode? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!

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