Caution: spoilers ahead for Titans season 3
In an afterlife-heavy episode, Titans was absolutely right to resist bringing Hank Hall, a.k.a. Hawk, back to life in season 3. No one ever said being a superhero was easy, and they certainly didn't say it was safe. Titans rams that point home in no uncertain terms, with every main character both emotionally troubled and under constant threat of imminent death. Season 2's finale marked Wonder Girl 's time but, not to be outdone, season 3 quickly followed with the explosive death of Hank, courtesy of a Saw-worthy Jason Todd booby trap.
Titans viewers widely expected Donna would come back sooner or later. Not only was her resurrection signposted with all the subtlety of Time Square on New Year's Eve mere minutes after she stopped breathing, but those Amazons generally have a trick or two up their sleeves. Hank's chances looked decidedly slimmer, since his body wound up in several different wings of Wayne Manor. Titans season 3's "Souls" finally decides who goes where, with Donna meeting Tim Drake (shot by Scarecrow in the previous episode) and reuniting with a Bon Jovi-blaring Hank. Together, the trio find the road out of limbo, but Hank is forced to hold back ghouls while Donna and Tim skedaddle.
Tim was never going to die this early into his Titans career, but the decision to revive Donna while keeping Hank in the afterlife will no doubt trigger debate among the fandom. Here's why the HBO Max series made exactly the right choice.
Donna's Death Was Bad; Hank's Was Great
The general reaction when Donna Troy succumbed to an electricity pylon in Titans' season 2 finale was one of underwhelmed disappointment. Introduced midway through season 1, Titans' Wonder Girl made a promising start in live-action, but still had much more to offer when she bit the dust. That pill might've easier to swallow if her final scene was some epic battle or a grand moment of sacrifice, but Donna's death was as limp as Scarecrow's dance moves. Wonder Girl - the sidekick of Wonder Woman, lest we forget - caught an electricity tower to save innocent bystanders, but as the voltage surged, Donna's body gave out. Not only did the death feel completely avoidable, viewers immediately questioned whether those possessing Amazon abilities even could be killed by electrocution - especially when those bolts were coming from a regular human power source, not the fingertips of a mythological God.
To make matters worse, Titans immediately started hinting that Donna's death wouldn't be permanent, trying to backtrack before her body had barely ceased crackling. For all of those reasons, Donna's long-awaited resurrection in Titans season 3's "Souls" is hugely welcome, erasing one of the show's more baffling moments and bringing an exciting character back into the fold.
If Donna was a prime example of how not to kill a character, Hank's final scene in Titans season 3 was the exact opposite. In Alan Ritchson's best Hank Hall performance so far, Hawk was given a chance to say his emotional goodbyes and clung onto hope until the very last moment. It was a death that not only respected his character, but one caused by the very flaws Hank has suffered from since episode 1. If Hank had successfully traversed the bridge out of limbo alongside Donna and Tim, all of that emotion and bittersweet storytelling would've been wasted. Viewers would feel duped for investing into Hank's death scene, and any future main character goodbyes would be spoiled by the nagging sense that they'll be back only 6 episodes later. For the integrity of Hawk's character arc and viewers' trust in the show, Titans was right to keep Hank in the realm of black and white.
Hank's Afterlife Adventure Is A Perfect Epilogue
With a touching farewell in the rear view, Titans season 3 took a big risk bringing Hank back - even for a single episode. Fortunately, his adventures in purgatory made for a fitting and poignant epilogue. Fighting the good fight with a smile on his face, even after such a grim exit from the mortal plane, is a distinctly "Hank" thing to do. He might now exist somewhere between life and death, but driving around saving folks with a killer mixtape on the stereo sounds more like Hank's idea of heaven. By showing the audience his total lack of regret (apart from maybe handing an ass-whooping to Jason Todd before kicking the bucket), Titans fans can move on, remembering Hank's best traits while accepting his role in the story was finished.
"Souls" also carves Hank a bigger legacy in Titans' future. Though he died bravely trying to rescue Jason Todd from a path of villainy, Hank ultimately failed; his death merely pushing Red Hood closer to Scarecrow. By sacrificing his own freedom to let Donna Troy and Tim Drake escape, two major Titans characters owe their second chance to the one and only Mr. Hall. Tim might even make some room among his Batman and Nightwing posters for a few pictures of Hawk. There's also a dramatic symmetry in how Donna accepted death but survived, while Hank kept fighting for a comeback, only to selflessly put his friends first.
The icing on the cake is Hank reuniting with his brother - the very person who inspired him to become a superhero in the first place. Sure, it's a huge coincidence that Hank and Dove (the original one, not Minka Kelly) would reunite in purgatory, but the convenience of their sudden meeting can be forgiven for how neatly it brings Hank's superhero story to a satisfying circle. Hawk's first chapter was written side by side with his brother - it's only right his finale mirrors those humble beginnings. More importantly, Titans' afterlife episode lets fans know Hank is going to be just fine... even if his body is far from it.
Can Hank Return To Titans In The Future?
Titans might've dodged a bullet by keeping Hank in the afterlife for now, but can the Hawk fly again in a future season? Though it seems he'll be busy staving off ghouls for the time being, Titans does leave the door slightly ajar for a potential return one day further down the line.
The route out of Titans' black-and-white limbo is a big, ornate bridge, but when our superhero trio try crossing, the structure crumbles, disappearing completely when Hank takes a final look behind him. Though Titans doesn't properly explanation its mechanics of life and death, it's highly unlikely the mysterious bridge of resurrection was a one-time deal, never to appear again. A more realistic explanation is that the bridge jumps from place to place after each crossing, and the dual resurrection of Donna and Tim has sent the exit door elsewhere. That'd explain why folks aren't constantly returning from the afterlife in crowds, but an ever-shifting bridge doesn't feel as contrived as the exit door appearing once for Tim and Donna's sake before disappearing forever.
Assuming the miraculous bridge really does cycle through locations like Bruce Wayne going through sidekicks, there's a slim chance Hank and his brother could both return in a future Titans season. As the feathery duo flit around limbo rescuing lost souls, they may one day encounter the very same bridge, this time with no one else to help across. Whether Titans ever should revive Hank is another matter, but the book of Hawk certainly leaves a few blank pages... just in case.