Warning: spoilers ahead for Titans season 4.
2018 is back in fashion, as Titans season 4 finally begins paying off season 1's biggest storylines. The overarching narrative dominating Titans season 1 involved Brenton Thwaites' Dick Grayson attempting to uncover the mysterious truth behind Rachel Roth, soon to be known as Raven. Dick discovered an arcane conspiracy connecting Rachel to cult worshipers of the demon Trigon, while also befriending the amnesiac alien Koriand'r, who had been sent from the planet Tamaran to quell the threat Trigon and his daughter posed to the universe. Titans season 1's ending was greatly altered from its original plan, however, leaving many of these huge stories with hasty or unsatisfying resolutions.
Titans is now dredging up the past in a big way. Season 4, episode 4 reveals the villainous Church of Blood is actually a spinoff of the less extravagantly named Organization - the cult from season 1 - marrying these two distant plot threads together. "Super Super Mart" also unveils new secrets beneath Titans season 1's asylum setting, which has since been transformed into the episode's titular grocery store. Naturally, this means the central focus of Titans is once again Raven, her occult superpowers, her relationship to Trigon, and the threat his demonic majesty poses.
Titans Season 4 Can Make Season 1's Storylines Better
Not unusually for shows of its ilk, Titans experienced teething problems during its debut season, meaning the darker aspects of Raven's storyline were rarely given the horror-laced flavoring they deserved. More problematically, Titans season 1's finale was originally intended as the penultimate episode, and the abandoned final chapter became a markedly different premiere for Titans season 2 (via TVLine). The ending to Raven's storyline and the first appearance of Trigon in Titans consequently felt rushed as focus rapidly shifted to Deathstroke and season 2's new narrative, leaving the biggest stories of Titans season 1 either frustratingly underserved, or annoyingly truncated. Titans is now fixing those errors on all counts.
Through Mother Mayhem, Titans leans into horror territory in a way its debut season could not, tapping into more of Raven's comic lore, and giving the relatively cookie-cutter Organization a makeover into DC's Church of Blood. Better still, Titans is taking another look at the nature of Raven's powers, her connection to Trigon, and the possibility that DC's demon dad survived. After Trigon's Abe Simpson-esque cameo and Raven abruptly learning how to control her soul-self in season 2's premiere, the craziness of Titans season 4 is promising to right those wrongs, and adapt its earliest ideas without being hampered by missing episodes or setup for next season's villain.
Titans Season 4 Is Fixing Starfire's First Storyline Too
The season 1 rollback continues, as Titans season 4 also implies Starfire will finally accomplish the mission she was sent to Earth for in the first place. During the muddle between altered finales, Titans foreshadowed that certain heroes would play major roles in Raven saving the world, including Jason Todd, Hank & Dawn, and, indeed, Starfire. These figures all fell by the wayside, largely proving useless in the final battle against Trigon. Titans season 4 even opens with a self-referential conversation making light of how many destinies have passed Starfire by since she landed on Earth.
Titans is promising to atone for that mistake. Mentally meeting her former mentor, Zadira, in Elko's diner, Starfire is told, "Now your destiny has arrived... It's all how it's meant to be." The vision sequence strongly suggests that after her minimal part defending Earth across the ending of Titans season 1 and opening of season 2, the real reason Starfire was sent from Tamaran is actually yet to reveal itself. Not only does this speech explain the failure of Starfire's first Titans "destiny," it signals her big moment in the ongoing Raven and Trigon storyline will still come, albeit three seasons late.
Titans continues Thursday on HBO Max.