this was one of my favourite episodes of the entire show when i first saw it, both for how sick it was visually and for how much darker the plot was compared to typical TTG episodes, i love the little details that pop out on a second viewing, it's so ridiculously good?? it's really cool how the episode shows how Robin is even willing to hurt his own team if he has to, and the mistrust that still lingers from the red X arc. it makes a lot of sense that robin is prone to paranoia, obsession, and bouts of vigilantism, given who his mentor was, and i loved seeing those aspects of his character actually explored within the show (ps: i love your ttg commentary so much!!)
I think it's stories like this that helped Robin evolved as a character, as you said Robin shares a lot in common with his "mentor" including his negative aspects, but it was his time with his friends the titans that he didn't become a carbon copy of him and came into his own.
I miss seeing episodes like this in kid’s shows. Even rewatching it as an adult, it’s genuinely terrifying and makes your heart race. The final fight between “Slade” and Robin is so brutal. Hearing Robin, who is still a literal child, BEG for mercy to an adult male beating him up is gut wrenching. And the voice acting is top notch for everyone in this episode. Ron Perlman’s iconic “I am the thing that keeps you up at night” is bone chilling. Scott Menville absolutely nails it as Robin. The mature nature of shows like Teen Titans is sorely lacking in today’s children cartoon space. It’s more so the exception today to see this kind of cartoon presented to children.
I like to believe the whole seismic generator plot that the Slade hallucination brings up is Robin's brain drawing upon Slade's recent string of actions when he was gunning for Terra. The mine incident, the drilling worms, Terra's raid on Jump City, etc.
@@TheAzulmagia That's possible. Besides, I don't see the Slade hallucination bringing up microscopic probes, chronal detonators or Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload.
This episode is one of the best and darkest in the show. Seeing Robin slip into madness the way he did nearly destroyed him. The Titans trust in Robin as their leader was shaken after he disguised himself as Red X. Robin was willing to do anything to take down Slade. Just like Batman when he has to fight the worst of the worst in Gotham City. Knowing Batman has to fight the likes of the Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the Court of Owls; I can’t help but wonder how he deals with his own mental demons. But I can definitely say that the Bat’s obsessive nature has rubbed off on Robin.
Haunted is without a doubt, my favourite Teen Titans episode. The way we see Robin slowly slip into obsession-fueled paranoia, and nearly kill himself fighting this illusion of Slade is honestly so bone chilling and also heartbreaking. Hearing him beg for Slade to stop genuinely shook me, and seeing how worried and confused the other Titans were as Robin gets more and more aggressive is really gut wrenching. It's just such an interesting yet terrifying premise, to have the hero brought to the brink of their sanity by a dead villain, or one who doesn't even exist, and I'd love to see it done more. And even though I'm older than most people were when they first watched it, this episode has been stuck in my mind ever since I first watched it, and I think it'll always be in the back of my mind, kinda like Slade always being in the back of Robin's mind, one way or another.
In my opinion haunted is probably one of the greatest episodes of Teen Titans Ever! Without a doubt it’s one of the darkest episodes of the series and that’s what makes it so unique. Everything is perfectly executed in this episode especially that ending. While Slade would return, We still felt the presence that even though he was gone he never truly left.
This episode alone is one of the reasons why I can't bear to watch Teen Titans Go. I hate that show with a passion, it's childish and annoying compared to the original Teen Titans show, which tackled themes like this, Robin basically losing his mind and nearly losing his life because of it...
teen titans has been one of my special interests since the first time i saw it on tv as a kid, robin specifically, and this episode really really got to me as a person living w hallucinations, it made my fascination with robin absolutely skyrocket. awesome video, i enjoy your adventure time videos. i’d love to see more on teen titans!
I kept hesitating if Slade actually was real, because let's be honest here, cloaking himself to turn Robin against his friends and mentally breaking him, is definetly something Slade would do if het could
Plus, the Titans even question that if Slade is cloaking himself, how is it that said cloaking is only allowing Robin to see him? Robin's stunned reaction to the question really shows that he doesn't know what's going on either.
It shows Robins obsession with Slade as he even fights his own friends to put Slade down for good. I remember in this episode where he threatned to beat up his own team if they got in his way of trying to beat Slade once and for all. Seeing this makes me wonder how dangerous Robin would be if he became a Villain. Richard Grayson is a good kid and a nice guy but thier have been times where hes almost killed Villians either by accident or on purpose.
Which is why Batman always reigned him in. Dick is no Jason Todd but he still has violent tendencies stemming from the murder of his parents. Slade is kinda like the Joker to Robin's Batman. Slade have even done a lot of damage to Robin especially with the Red X issue and what happened to Terra. Even after witnessing Slade's death, Robin isn't exactly sure if it was just another robot and the real one could still be out there.
@@kidprime6863 It's a good thing Robin has his friends and girlfriend otherwise he could've become like Slade if he didn't have Starfire and the others there for him.
@@katelynthewhitewerewolf6376 That's correct. After Robin left Batman, he decided to go solo. That was until he met Cyborg and Raven along with Beast Boy while fending off the Gordanians who were trying to recapture Starfire. Fate brought them together. And when you think about it, they all started out as lone wolves and outcasts. Robin is an orphan who Batman had taken in but the two eventually had a fallout and Robin left. Raven is a human/demon half-breed sent away from her home for her protection or otherwise. Beast Boy is an orphaned metahuman taken in by the Doom Patrol only to be unnecessarily and unjustifiably kicked out for prioritizing their live over the mission. Starfire is an alien princess who was exiled and put into slavery by her sister Blackfire. And Cyborg was just an average athlete who was converted into a cyborg after getting mangled by an inter-dimensional monster accidentally brought to our dimension by his father and the thing even ate his mom.
The one problem with the whole imagining Slade thing, is how was he able to pick Robin up there toward the end? It could be argued that he was standing on his tip ties, but he's not quite that tall compared to Slade.
Kind of random but I just noticed that the way cyborg was using his sonic cannon was a nod to Sasuke using Chidori in Naruto. Even though Naruto didn't release in the United States till the following year teen titans has a Japanese influence and im sure the show runners knew about how popular Naruto was at the time for a new anime and were probably fans them selves.
When I rewatched this It was very hard to believe that robin was only fighting air yet his obsession was damaging his body…didn’t know the brain was that powerful enough that you can self destruct to the degree
I would say that post-Betrayal Terra is not a Titan, but if you want to argue that she becomes a Titan again after attacking Slade, I wouldn't fight you on it
The Titans do technically consider Terra to a member of the team even after her assault on Slade, hence the plaque that reads: “Terra a Teen Titan a true friend”. Not to mention that she selflessly put her friends and by extension their own hometown first, something that I don’t think that she would do that if she were still evil. After all, the made it clear that she only lost side of who she really is at her core when betrayed them. So by that logic; if the Titans consider her to a one of them, then so do I. The only version of Terra that I don’t consider an actual Titan is her original Judas Contract depiction, whether it’s the classic comic series or the admittedly mediocre film.
Really great analysis! I never watched teen titans or had an interest tbh, but after watching this video it made me go and watch the entire series, so thanks for the great video! There were so many good episodes from the series and I would love to see you cover more like Troq, The Quest, How Long is Forever, and Only Human just to name a few!
I love this so much because it shows how affected Robin is by Slade, It’s just a wonderful episode where you can tell Robin is so impacted by Slade even after his death
@@AmpleSamuel I would like to see a video discussing Terra as a whole. Maybe her relationship with Beast Boy. As well as Ravens fears in the episode Birthmark.
I always thought it would have been really cool if, like, as a DVD extra or something, they’d made a version of this episode where Slade could not be seen or heard at all so that we could see everything from the other Titans' perspectives rather than Robin's
This is one of my favorite episodes and I can see Robin fighting against his Slade Apprentice self similar to Sci Twi and Midnight Sparkle and Slade Apprentice Robin would've been very similar to Midnight Sparkle I chose Slade Apprentice Robin due to the new Red X not being Robin but I think Slade Apprentice Robin fits better and I can see Shadow hallucinating Mephiles and lashing out at his friends and going mad thinking Mephiles is back while his friends try to find out what's wrong with him I even can see this happening with Sci Twi hallucinating Midnight Sparkle and Twilight Sparkle hallucinating King Sombra and them going mad and lashing out at their friends thinking Midnight Sparkle and King Sombra are back while their friends and mentors try to help them and trying to figure out what's wrong with them. In the Sonic Version it would be the Scepter of Darkness Sci Twi's pendant necklace and King Sombra's shadow crystals in The Equestria Girls Version and MLP Version that trigger the hallucinations of Mephiles King Sombra and Midnight Sparkle. Sonic Silver and the others wouldn't be able to see Mephiles and Spike and the others wouldn't be able to see King Sombra and Midnight Sparkle as they're not the ones affected. I can see Charlie going through this in Hazbin Hotel Season 2 where she gets haunted by Adam and hallucinates Adam and she lashes out at her friends girlfriend and father Emily and Angel Sir Pentious in paranoia thinking Adam is back as they try to find out what's wrong with her. This is the best idea ever for Hazbin Hotel Season 2.
Yeah, the chemical in Slade's mask does function just like Scarecrow's Fear Gas. Maybe Slade acquired some samples from Scarecrow at some point to booby trap his mask in case someone were to remove it by force. Before Cyborg revealed the booby trap was triggered remotely, I assumed it was triggered prematurely because of the wear and tear.
@@katelynthewhitewerewolf6376there are some scenes where even with flying Grayson acrobatics and Batman training, dude falls down the stairs like he’s thrown down them