DC's Titans: 10 Big Questions After Episode 7

"Asylum," the seventh episode of Titans, may have finally set the heroes up to get answers to the many questions viewers have been wrestling with for the last few weeks. It features yet another side-quest, this time to the asylum Doctor Adamson works at. The mission naturally goes terribly wrong, with every member of the proto-team put through the wringer in some pretty horrific ways. It's clear that "Asylum" is also meant to be a key moment in Dick Grayson's character arc, with the episode ending with the burning of his Robin costume. Will the show soon see him embrace the Nightwing identity?

Unfortunately, at this stage, Titans has had far too many side-trips. The visit to Hawk and Dove has, so far, seemed to serve no purpose in the show's overarching narrative; the two characters haven't been mentioned since episode 3, and Robin seems to have forgotten that his old flame is currently badly injured. Given Raven's new healing powers, that seems odd. The entire encounter with the Doom Patrol, while a tremendous episode, was essentially setup for a future DC Universe TV show. Even last week's Robin-centric story was a side mission for Dick and Jason Todd. Out of seven episodes to date, four of them seem to have been irrelevant to the overarching story.

Still, by the end of "Asylum" the Titans have rescued Raven's mother. That surely means some of the mysteries surrounding Raven's birth, and the origins of her powers, are about to be revealed. Hopefully the main narrative is about to move on. In the meantime, let's look at all the key questions raised by "Asylum."

This Page: Raven's Mother and Bruce Wayne's Resources
Page 2: Do We Need To Start A Kill Count For Titans?

10) Who is Angela?

Angela Roth, commonly called Arella, is an important figure in DC Comics. A Gotham runaway (because everything dark in DC Comics comes from Gotham sooner or later), Angela fell in with a group of cultists and was tricked into becoming the lover of the demonic Trigon. It was only after she'd slept with him that Trigon revealed his true nature to the horrified Angela, and she fled from the cult. Soon after she gave birth to Raven, she gave up maternal care of her daughter. In character terms, the Titans version appears fairly accurate. Notice how Angela reacts to seeing Dick Grayson's violence; in the comics, she's a pacifist, and indeed such violence would appal her.

9) Why Didn't Dick Tell Raven How Quick His "Recon" Would Be?

This episode of Titans really all spins out of one error on Dick Grayson's part: he doesn't tell Raven how quick his recon would be. She assumes he's going to spend days working out the best way to attack the asylum, when in reality he's simply going to turn on one of Bruce Wayne's computers, look at some satellite images, and put together a strategy. It's highly likely none of the Titans would have been captured had Dick just been up-front with Raven right from the start.

8) Just What Resources Does Bruce Wayne Have?

Speaking of Bruce Wayne's computers, it's clear that Batman has some pretty sophisticated tech. It seems Batman has literally every building in the entire United States under observation - to the extent Dick is able to pull up everything from plans of the tunnels beneath the asylum to thermal images that tell him how many people are inside it. This is definitely evoking memories of "Brother Eye," a sophisticated surveillance system that Batman developed in the comics - that ultimately went catastrophically wrong.

7) Who Are The Organization?

Unfortunately, the villains of Titans - the much-vaunted "Organization" - are becoming increasingly generic. On the one hand, they seem to be little more than a group of cultists, with Doctor Adamson believing so fervently in Raven's powers that he slits his own throat so she will be forced to heal him. At the same time, though, "Asylum" presents them as being a group of mad scientists. That's most apparent in their experiments upon Starfire, when they decide to cut her open without even putting her under anesthesia. Notice that countless people from the facility flock to the scene to watch the dissection; oddly, there are more spectators than Dick detected in the building using his thermal imaging scans.

6) How Did The Organization Prepare In Advance For Starfire?

The Organization's experiments upon Starfire are pretty confusing. For one thing, they seem to know far too much about how her powers work. How did they even know that Starfire's energy could be depleted? And why did they just happen to have a fireproof room ready for her? It's all pretty convenient. It doesn't help that this arc sees Starfire - who up till now has had a bad temper, but also a degree of tactical skill - make significant strategic errors. When her powers prove unable to break through the walls of her cell, she simply continues to expend her energy until she runs out of juice. She'd have been wiser to realize she wasn't getting anywhere, and bide her time.

Page 2 of 2: Do We Need To Start A Kill-Count For Titans?

Dr. Adamson sits at a table with tea cups in Titans

5) How Did Doctor Adamson Escape Bruce Wayne's Safehouse?

The Titans really don't seem to know how to deal with prisoners. In previous episodes, when they captured the Nuclear Family, they left them completely unobserved. This time round, it's even worse; as soon as the Titans have left Bruce Wayne's safehouse, Doctor Adamson breaks himself out. Presumably he chose to break his own shoulder in order to get out of the cuffs, since the doctor clearly has a high tolerance for pain. This does mean the Titans have no way of knowing whether or not their safehouse is compromised, of course. Adamson could easily have told his superiors where it was.

4) Do We Need To Start A Kill-Count for Titans?

In thematic terms, "Asylum" appears to be the episode where every members of the Titans accepts that they're killers. Even Beast Boy mauls a man to death, much to his horror when he shapeshifts back to his human form and tries to wipe away the blood around his jaw. And Dick Grayson surrenders to the bloodlust; still reeling from the drugs he was injected with, he's unable to hold himself back, and cuts a bloody path through the Organization's guards. Dick Grayson may not have powers, but he's the most dangerous of the entire Titans team. Finally, Starfire blows up the entire Asylum, killing everyone inside - including any other prisoners. Titans has always been a violent series, but this episode up the ante significantly.

3) Is Starfire Fireproof?

"Asylum" comes to an end with Starfire using her powers in spectacular fashion, triggering a gas explosion that destroys the entire building. She walks out unharmed, not even slowed by the ferocity of the inferno she's ignited. In the comics, Starfire is indeed fireproof, although it's unclear quite how she and Dick have worked that out in the Titans world. But her clothes shouldn't be. Presumably Anna Diop has a no-nudity clause in her contract - notice she keeps clothing on during her sex scene with Dick Grayson earlier in the series. It's just amusing that the same series has emphasized how Beast Boy needs to strip before morphing, for fear of shredding his clothes.

2) Where Did The Burning Robin Costume Come From?

This episode of Titans is clearly intended to be some sort of turning point for Dick Grayson, as he burns his Robin costume, putting his old life behind him. It's actually quite a smart way of destroying the suit, given the previous episode had subtly hinted Grayson's version was less fire-resistant than Jason Todd's. Unfortunately, the scene's effectiveness is limited by the failure to answer a simple question: where did that Robin costume come from? Remember, all previous glimpses of the suit in "Asylum" were part of Dick's hallucinations.

1) Is DC Intentionally Trolling Nightwing Fans?

"Asylum" may see Dick Grayson destroy his Robin costume, but it seems to avoid giving nods towards his future superhero identity as Nightwing. Nightwing is famous for using escrima sticks with concealed shock-batons, and during the break-out Dick goes up against guards who are using similar weapons. Viewers would naturally expect him to acquire a couple and put them to good use, at least as something of an Easter egg to fans - but Dick fails to do so, instead settling for using a repurposed piece of pipe.