Mother Mayhem
Episode 2 of Titans Season 4 starts with another strange murder. A quiet suburban home is rocked by a masked figure showing up, seemingly out of thin air, and sporting that same bird mask as before. He slaughters the mother and as for the daughter, well this spiritual figure comes for her but screams ring out before we find out what happens. Meanwhile, Conner is arrested for the killing of Lex Luthor. He complies and is thrown into the Detention Center, an ominous green glow hovering over him and keeping his powers in check. Dick and Kory show and promise to help him, but Conner is rattled and tells them he’s never seen power like that before. Conner has resigned to his fate, given he was caught red-handed at the scene, but Kory tries to reassure him that this is not over. They’re going to find evidence to try and free him. Kory and Dick decide to work together and find what secrets Lex Luthor may be hiding, hoping it’ll lead to exactly who killed him. Kory follows a lead up at Lex’s mansion, where she finds a guy called Nelson Blake, who confirms it’s not just Lex Luthor who died that night. In fact, the entire inner-circle of Luthor’s nearest and dearest also died too. Blake is the only one left alive, and he breaks the news that Luthor was researching Kory before he changed tact and decided to fight against death itself, aligning himself with a bunch of different cultists, including an “archeologist woman” (potentially Mrs Bennett. They were messing with things they shouldn’t. Suddenly, Nelson hears strange chanting and begins dribbling blood out his mouth. With that, a snake protrudes out of Nelson’s mouth, just like Luthor. Kory makes short work of it. Rachel and Dick search through LexCorp for clues, specifically the crime scene and figuring out its ties to the cultists we’ve seen before. Rachel ends up experiencing a vision, which brings them to the same house from the opening scene of the chapter. The radio is still ominously playing in the kitchen, while each of the group split up and look for clues in each room. Dick finds a bloody apple on the floor, while Rachel is the one who uncovers the deceased body of the mum in the kitchen, propped up against the island. The little girl is still alive upstairs in her room, stuck inside a nightmare. Rachel decides to help and uses her powers to rescue the girl, invading her dreams to do so. It’s here we learn her name is Arya, and Rachel manages to save her from the strange cultist with the bird mask stalking her. We also see a bit more of Sebastian this episode too, who heads off for a big gaming pitch but the men and women there don’t seem too enthused with his concept. He gives a pitch about his community-driven game but his passion doesn’t sway them. They smile thinly and tell him it’s a competitive market and he’s “not a good fit.” After, Sebastian experiences visions, seeing all the men and women with blood dripping down their faces. Now, this isn’t an isolated incident given we saw him experiencing the same thing last episode, with blood protruding out of the taxidermist fox’s mouth. Speaking of blood, the Titans uncover a bunch of victims held up in an abandoned warehouse. Thankfully, they’re all still alive. Rachel is attacked by the bird-mask wearing man and manages to stop him… but it’s not enough. She senses echoes of something still lurking in the shadows but it disappears as quickly as it arrives. Regardless, this seems like enough to get Conner out. Dick Grayson speaks to Arya off the back of this and opens up to her, given he knows a thing or two about losing his parents. He talks about Bruce and how time will make her feel better just like it did with him. Dick hands over his jacket to Arya, letting her have it. With Conner off the hook, given the grisly crime scene and police uncovering more of this case, Dick briefs Conner on what they’ve found and the gnarly crime scene. Upon seeing the bodies and the horrible scene, Conner grits his teeth and tells him he never wants to return to Metropolis again. On their way out however, they’re approached by a sorceress who makes short work of Conner and sends him flying on the road. Rachel too is knocked out and she inexplicably loses her power too, with the chakra-like gem on her forehead disappearing and her hair turning white. Thankfully, Kory manages to save the day and stop the antagonist, who explodes into oblivion. Unfortunately, the cultist shows up with others in the basement, the same one we saw Luthor examining last episode. They begin chanting and preparing for the next phase of their plan. As they do, their voices echo into Sebastian, who continues to experience hallucinations and is somehow linked to all of this.
The Episode Review
So the second episode starts to deepen the ties to this cultist group and it seems like Rachel’s powers are seemingly linked to this, although to be fair that’s hardly surprising given what we know about her and her links to the dark arts. So far this season hasn’t quite been at the same level as what we’ve seen before, with characters like Gar given very little to do. Hopefully that’s remedied in the episode ahead though. With Lex Luthor dead and many question marks surrounding our characters and the purpose of this cult, it remains to be seen exactly what’s going to happen next.
