[7.5/10] This one wasn’t quite as strong as “Birthmark” but is still another strong milestone along the path of this Trigon arc. I’m most invested in Raven’s emotional state through all of this, but the episode does a good job of setting up Trigon as an ominous threat, even if it’s not quite sure what to do with the rest of the TItans.
I’ll confess, the rest of the team’s “ghost story version of Indiana Jones” routine through the tunnel underneath an old library did very little for me. The set pieces weren’t especially memorable or scary, and the puzzles felt arbitrary. I did appreciate some of the set design (especially the final Raven chamber), but it came off like filler while Raven went on her more interesting adventure.
Again, I’m on board with her emotional arc through all of this. Her desire not to be found out as a harbinger of doom by her friends, and her willingness to transcend this mortal plane in search of any help whatsoever, puts her in a desperate and vulnerable state that we don’t normally get to see from the deadpan snarker. We can understand through her actions how much she fears what the titular prophecy has in store for her, and how much she wants to both keep her friends in the dark and avert it at any cost.
In the same way, the episode does a good job at making Trigon’s arrival seem positively doom-ridden. The presence of the “Mark of Scath” is a good “From Beneath You, It Devours”-esque symbol of foreboding. The gang trying to decipher it and Slade’s ghastly, taunting hints as to its import, help make the oncoming threat seem truly momentous. (The same goes for an angelic version of Raven, who turns out to be her mom, warning her that the cataclysm can’t be averted.)
My one other big beef is that it seems clear from the jump that Raven is the “gem” or “portal” that the ghosts’ riddle alludes to. So that further lowers the stakes of watching the Titans chase down an obvious red herring. Still, Raven confessing to her friends about what’s really going on is an open-hearted moment for her, and I appreciate the way this advances her plight and her support, even if it’s more of a stepping stone episode than a worthy story in and of itself.
Shout by DCwatcher1BlockedParentSpoilers2023-11-02T06:45:15Z
This is close to being the best episode. Everything about it was awesome, especially when Raven fought Slade. That moment was epic!