Template:EpisodeInfobox/Season1 Apprentice - Part 2 is the 13th episode of the Teen Titans series and the final episode of Season 1. This episode is the continuation of Apprentice - Part 1.
Synopsis
Now that Robin has become Slade's apprentice he must do whatever Slade tells him otherwise he will lose his friends forever. Robin and the others soon confront each other which leads to a fight, but when Robin refuses to fight Starfire, Slade activates the probes and shows him that he is serious about what he will do to the others: Will Robin figure out a way to stop Slade and save his friends or will he remain Slade's apprentice forever?
Plot
Slade forces Robin to be his apprentice to save the rest of the Teen Titans from Nanoscopic Probes that Slade has planted in their blood. The Titans look all over Jump City but they find no sign of Robin. They are soon alerted of the robbery of a high-tech thermal blaster, so they abandon the search and rush to prevent the theft. The Titans, with Cyborg as the de facto leader, receive a massive shock when they find out that the culprit is none other than Robin. Robin escapes with the weapon, but the Titans, refusing to believe that it was Robin that they encountered, once again encounter him during his next mission to steal another weapon for Slade from Wayne Enterprises.
Robin, equipped with the stolen thermal blaster, fights off and defeats all of the Titans except for Starfire, who threatens to blast him. Slade orders Robin to use the thermal blaster to shoot Starfire, and, unable to go against his mentor, charges his weapon. Starfire believes that Robin is still good, and stops charging. Starfire tells Robin that, if he is truly evil, he can shoot her. Robin listens to Starfire and puts his blaster down. Enraged, Slade sets off the probes which begin to kill the Titans, leaving Robin helpless to save them. Robin pleads with Slade to not kill his friends. Slade replies that he must attack the Titans to stop the probes - for now. Robin reluctantly fires the blaster at Starfire saying "I'm sorry". Slade keeps his promise and turns off his probe machine with his controller. Robin once again escapes before the Titans can recover from their injuries.
When Robin returns to Slade's base, he becomes angry again and tries and defeat his mentor. Slade, seeking to test Robin's abilities against his own, battles him. He continues to goad Robin, telling him that they are so much alike. Meanwhile, the remaining Titans have recovered and Cyborg has discovered the presence of the Nanoscopic Probes in their blood systems. Raven deduces that Robin is only working for Slade to prevent him from using the Probes to kill them. With this in mind, the Titans rush to Slade's base to rescue Robin.
As the battle progresses, Robin rips off the "S" emblem on his apprentice uniform and throws it at Slade's feet in defiance. Slade once again becomes enraged, telling Robin that he needs to show gratitude for giving him knowledge and power, but the only thing Robin can care about is the safety of his friends. Slade threatens to kill Robin's friends, but is interrupted when the Titans charge into his base. The Titans tell Robin that they are willing to take the risk of the Probes killing them, so that he can bring down Slade. Slade, who becomes aggravated when Robin doesn't attack them, activates the probes, condemning them to death unless Robin attacks his former teammates. At first, he didn't take any action, but when he sees Starfire crying because of the pain, out of the blue Robin defies his master's orders and jumps onto the probe machine, allowing himself to be injected with the probes as well. Robin, referencing the fact that Slade is a person that hates to lose, makes a desperate deal with the villain: if he continues to kill the Titans, his apprentice will also die. Slade, furious but with no choice, finally destroys the controller, stopping the probes. Robin rises from the floor, but Slade makes a surprise attack on him. Robin catches his mentor off guard, which surprises Slade. The other Titans get up and using their combined forces, defeat Slade, breaking his mask in the process. Slade triggers the self-destruct sequence, which causes the building to collapse, then runs away and disappears in the darkness. Cyborg quickly grabs the probe machine and together they manage to evade the debris and get to safety.
The Titans return to Titans Tower and Cyborg, after thoroughly analyzing the probe machine, manages to removes all the Nanoscopic Probes from everybody's blood streams. The Titans celebrate their victory with breakfast for dinner. During this time, Starfire apologizes to Robin about not believing that Robin was good anymore, but Robin says he doubted himself. He also admits that he and Slade are quite similar, but the big difference between them is that Robin has friends around with him.
Characters
Main Character
Supporting Characters
Villain
Credits
- Written by:
- David Slack
- Directed by:
- Ciro Nieli
- Starring:
- Greg Cipes as Beast Boy
- Scott Menville as Robin
- Khary Payton as Cyborg
- Tara Strong as Raven
- Hynden Walch as Starfire
- Also featuring:
- Ron Perlman as Slade
Trivia
The Wayne Enterprises logo on top of the building.
- Half of Slade's face is seen in the shadows in this episode. In the comics, Slade has hair that is white and a beard, but in this episode, Slade is shown to have brown hair and no beard.
- It is interesting to note that when Slade had the chance to destroy all 5 of the Teen Titans he refused. It was either because Slade didn't want to be without an apprentice/nemesis or he didn't want them defeated so easily.
- Oddly, Raven is the one that suggests having a party at the end of the episode.
- It is unknown how the other Titans located Slade's lair after discovering that Robin is only working for him to save them.
- In the comic Wayne Enterprises does not sell weapons due to the CEO being a superhero.
References
- As Beast Boy explains his theories, he is dressed as Sherlock Holmes, complete with a lead pipe.
- Two references to Batman appear in this episode:
- Slade tells Robin that Robin might come to see Slade as a father, but Robin says he already has a father. Right after, bats are seen flying across the scene. Also, the music that plays sounds like Batman music.
- The top of a building on which Robin and the rest of the Teen Titans fight has the fluorescently lit Wayne sign, and beneath that is the word 'Enterprises', suggesting that building is a part of Wayne Enterprises.
- The first comic book cover Beast Boy shows Raven and Cyborg has the title Static Shock, another show being aired at the same time by DC.
Mistakes
- After Slade reconfigures the thermal blaster, he places it on Robin's right wrist. In later scenes, however, it is on Robin's left.
- Slade says his nano-machines can function for decades, but they are shown to live on red blood cells which only lasts several months.
- The orange part of Robin's outfit is on his left, and when he first turns around to look at the blank white screen from a back view, it stays correct, but it switches to his right when it shows the fake chronoton detonator and other events from the past, after his mission of getting the thermal blaster. Then it returns to his left after switching to a view of Robin from the front, with the screen now blank and white again.
- Whenever the probes are activated, the Titans' clothing changes colors as if it were affected, even though it isn't. It's likely that the clothes also changed color to show that the skin under the clothing they were wearing (and the robotic parts of Cyborg) are also infected by the probes.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
See also
Apprentice - Part 2 (Transcript)