Titans Season 3, Episode 12 recap: Of monsters and men

In Titans Season 3 Episode 12, “Prodigal,” the titular superhero team has never been more broken. All while Scarecrow comes one step closer to ruling Gotham. The HBO Max show gave us quite the scare last week, with Nightwing seemingly being killed in a fight with Red Hood.

Rachel Roth/Raven uses her powers and unique connection to Dick Grayson/Nightwing to find his body. But it’s too late for her to save him. A distraught Gar Logan/Beast Boy ends up transforming into a bat. The other bats that have been following Gar everywhere join him, and together, they carry Dick’s body to the Lazarus Pit. We know it worked on Jason Todd, but will the Pit bring Dick back?

Titans Season 3, Episode 12 – The path home

Now that Blackfire’s got her powers back from her sister, Starfire, she’s more than happy to use them when the occasion calls for it.

For starters, Blackfire steals a car in Titans Season 3, Episode 12. Got to get around Gotham somehow. In the process, she’s found by Krypto, who takes her to a still-unconscious Conner/ Superboy.

Last we saw Conner, he desperately tried to help Dick fight Jason, but Dick dosed Conner with Kryptonite. Uncool, Dick. Blackfire uses her powers to extract the Kryptonite from Conner, who awakens immediately, now extremely angry at Dick.

There isn’t much going for either Conner or Kommand’r with the Titans. So, they decided to leave the team behind and became a duo. Well, a trio, since Krypto wants to be a part of the team, as well.

Their first stop is the facility where Blackfire was kept captive. Blackfire wants revenge, and Conner is more than happy to help. But it turns out that the scientist in charge, Dr. Artie Kind, has an ace up his sleeve.

Dr. Kind had told Blackfire that her ship was wrecked. He lied. The ship is mostly fine, except for the fuel source, which the scientists accidentally destroyed.

When Starfire joins Blackfire and Conner—because she knew this would be her sister’s first stop—she explains that this fuel problem is worse than they thought.

Whatever fuel the Tamaraneans use isn’t available at all on Earth. To create it, they’ll need intense heat—which Blackfire has—and intense pressure—which Conner can provide. So, not a problem, after all!

Except Conner doesn’t want his first great love to leave him. Kryptonians can’t survive on Tamaran, so Conner can’t go with Blackfire. Conner wants to know why Blackfire wants to go home at all. She was never loved by her people, after all.

But that’s because her parents lied to their people. Blackfire was always the rightful heir to the queendom of Tamaran. She deserves to be queen. And she will be. Starfire even promises to go with Blackfire to convince their people.

After a quick goodbye, Conner gets to work on the fuel. Everything’s set. The ball of fuel goes in. the ship comes online. Then, something goes wrong.

Starfire sees Conner out of the corner of her eye. She immediately knows he did something, but it’s already too late. The ship blows up.

Conner, your Lex Luthor is showing.

Titans Season 3, Episode 12 – Back for good

We didn’t really see what happened to Jason in the Lazarus Pit, but we see Dick’s journey in Titans Season 3, Episode 12.

There’s the white light at the end of the tunnel, and annoyingly, Scarecrow is in the way. This guy really got in Dick’s head. Scarecrow keeps talking, trying to keep Dick’s focus away from Rachel and Gar’s welcoming voices.

Scarecrow blames Dick for everything that’s gone wrong in Gotham. Dick wasn’t a good hero. Or a good son. And definitely not a good brother. Scarecrow even manages to get Dick to believe he was the Joker and killed Jason.

Dick manages to escape that scenario and returns to his memory as a child with his father. Despite Scarecrow telling Dick that his father wouldn’t love him anymore, Dick’s dad says he still loves Dick.

That’s a good start. And it gets better. Dick sees a child, one who calls him dad. There’s been no sign that Dick will be a father yet, but perhaps this is Dick’s unconscious telling him that he has something to look forward to in the future?

It’s another push and gives Dick the strength to finally knock Scarecrow out. He bursts through the Lazarus Pit and returns to Gar and Rachel. Unfortunately, the Pit has eaten Dick’s Nightwing suit. What does this mean for Nightwing?

Titans Season 3 Episode 12 – Saving Gotham

Scarecrow is full-on unhinged in Titans Season 3, Episode 12. He’s lost the plot, and he makes that clear to a terrified Jason, who just manages to escape with his second life intact.

Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon, the deposed Commissioner of GCPD, is stuck in a jail cell, tormented by Scarecrow’s boring monologues. But when Barbara learns that Nightwing is dead, she knows she has to do something.

When Barbara’s jailor, her former colleague, comes to check on her, Barbara takes him out and escapes the cell. She makes her way to the only safe place in GCPD—the Oracle room. But Barbara disabled Oracle. How can it help her now?

Meanwhile, Donna and the Drake family are gearing up to protect themselves and escape Gotham. Scarecrow’s taken over GCPD, and the regular folk of Gotham don’t stand a chance. Tim’s cousin is armed to the teeth, but they still need a way out.

Donna manages to steal a massive GCPD truck, and the group piles in. Except for Tim, who has decided that it’s his destiny to be a hero, specifically, the next Robin. The boy will not see reason, even when Donna pleads with him that he needs to stay alive for his family.

Even as they drive down to the border, Tim tries to convince Donna that he came back from the dead to save Gotham, as Robin. Donna counters by saying Tim came back because Hank Hall sacrificed himself.

When they reach the border, Tim’s dad manages to play the former-GCPD card to hold the cops off. But it doesn’t work. They want to check the back, and that’s it. Donna and Tim need to spring into action and protect the group. It looks like Tim’s going to be a hero, after all.

Having returned to the land of the living, Dick goes looking for Jason, who is shocked to see his brother alive. Despite all the animosity, the hate, the death, the moment Dick gives Jason a shot at salvation, Jason leaps for it.

Though Dick tells Jason he’ll never be a Titan again, and the two are on an equal footing now—they’ve both been dead and returned. Dick knows what Jason feels, and he wants him back.

Jason doesn’t know much about Scarecrow’s plans, but he knows enough for Dick and Jason to do something about it. They head to the Gotham armory, where Batman kept dangerous weapons from his rogues’ gallery.

But Scarecrow’s ten steps ahead of them, again. He’s already got what he wanted—hundreds of ampules of fear toxin. Once he deploys them in Gotham, the city will be worse off than it already is. Have the Titans already lost the battle for Gotham?

Final Thoughts – Titans Season 3, Episode 12 leaves us with a lot of questions

I usually believe the heroes will win, but Titans Season 3, Episode 12, has me questioning if I’m wrong.

The Titans are all split up. Conner’s made an enemy of Blackfire unless Starfire manages to salvage the situation. Oracle’s out of commission. Donna and Tim are under siege. And Scarecrow has all the power right now. Things aren’t looking good for our heroes!

Which is the perfect setup for next week’s season finale. I have no idea how things will end, and that’s exactly how I’ve felt throughout this season.

I haven’t really been able to predict the twists and turns, and I love that. Going into the finale, I’m still going to be surprised. What’s going to happen? We’ll find out next week!

What did you think of Titans Season 3, Episode 12? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Titans Season 3 is streaming weekly on HBO Max.