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"Switched" is the seventh episode of season one and the overall seventh episode of the Teen Titans series.

Synopsis[]

The Puppet King turns Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy into puppets and it's up to Starfire and Raven to save them. However, when the Puppet King accidentally switches their bodies, they are going to need each other's help if they can rescue the boys and get their bodies back.

Plot[]

RavenPuppet

Raven remarks on the craftsmanship of her wooden likeness.

The episode literally opens up as a stage performance would and showcases marionettes in the exact likeness of the Teen Titans admitting defeat to the self-proclaimed “Puppet King,” who decides that it’s time to cease rehearsal and “start the show”.

The next day, Raven is meditating alone in the living room until Starfire walks in wondering where the others are. Raven tells her that she has no idea where they are (and frankly couldn’t care less) and Starfire then proposes the two of them hang out one of these day before taking the hint that Raven wants to just be left alone right now. She resumes her meditation until the guys burst in with a mail call. Specifically, they have just returned with a large wooden packing crate they found on their doorstep which Beast Boy believes to be fan mail, but with no return address. When they open it, they are amazed to find someone has crafted them exquisite marionettes in their likenesses (like those very same marionettes in the beginning sequence), except for Beast Boy who was hoping it’d be chocolate. The guys are all totally enamored with their whimsical devices and how all the details were done to perfection. While the boys engage in a round of “Puppet Fu”, Starfire asks Raven if they should follow their lead. But the disaffected Raven just tosses her marionette to Starfire and walks away, leaving her alone to do as she will with both of them.

Later that night, the Puppet King emerges from his hiding place in the crate, revealing it to have been a trojan horse for the Puppet King’s sinister plan. While the Titans are asleep, he activates his strange controller and transfers energy from them into the puppets HE made of them. However, in his sneaking about, he awakens Starfire, who roams the halls looking for the intruder. When she hears his sinister laugh, she is met with Raven, who was woken up to the sound of Starfire talking outside her bedroom door. Just before Starfire can explain herself, they are attacked by Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. They are apprehended and the Puppet King reveals his grim plan to the two of them; the marionettes he made for the Titans were part of his plan to sneak into the tower and enslave the Titans by trapping their souls inside of them while their physical bodies would remain mindless zombies with all their powers and abilities under the Puppet King’s command. His plan has already succeeded with the boys and just as he is about to do the same to Starfire and Raven, Raven is just barely able to cast a spell to stop the process. The Puppet King loses his controller and the girls’ souls are released and return to their bodies. When they awaken, they find a place to hide in one of the service ducts. However, when they turn a light on, they realize that while the souls returned to their bodies, they returned to each other’s bodies instead of their own. So now, Raven is Starfire and Starfire is Raven, much to both of their shock.

The girls escape Titans Tower and into the city, giving them enough breathing room to acknowledge their frankly horrible situation. As they stroll down the street, Starfire (as Raven) stressfully recaps their dire predicament while her lack of control over Raven’s telekinesis leaves a trail of destruction behind her. Raven (as Starfire) tells Starfire that she needs to get a hold of herself because of how dangerous Raven’s abilities can be when her emotions get the better of her. When she does, Raven assures her that they will find a way to defeat the Puppet King, rescue the boys, and return to their own bodies. Their situation just looks as though it’s getting more hopeless by the minute and to add insult to injury, they are spotted by Beast Boy. They are hunted through the alley ways by the others with no way of fighting back due to their inexperience with either of their powers or skills. While Raven’s inability to get a grip on the specific emotions tied to Starfire’s specific abilities proves suboptimal when they are cornered, Raven is able to channel enough laser focus to rocket both of them out of there with Raven’s levitation. She briefly succeeds where Raven failed at flight before falling into a pile of trash and are able to use that as cover to hide from Cyborg and Robin and just narrowly hide from Beast Boy. The Puppet King calls off the search and decides to catch them later in order to expedite a ceremony that will destroy the marionettes in which the boys' souls are imprisoned and sever their attachment to the mortal world, leaving their bodies under his control as mindless puppets for good. Seeing how the situation has just gotten infinitely more dire, Starfire attempts to follow the Puppet King. However, Raven holds her back, citing that they would not be able to save the boys without adapting to each other's powers.

Starfire berates Raven for being so grumpy and rude all the time to even bother to be able to summon flight, which is the most infantile ability anybody can learn on her planet. However, Raven reminds Starfire that her powers are not tied to emotion like hers are, but fueled by them and are too dangerous to feel the tings Starfire does, such as unbridled joy (flight), righteous fury (star bolts), or boundless confidence (super strength). The fact is, Starfire may have Raven’s body, but does not know anything about Raven. With Starfire in agreement, they share with each other stories about their life and learn about each other as a person, in the hopes of understanding their respective powers and having a better chance in coming out as the victors against the Puppet King.

Zombie Titans

Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy's bodies are controlled by the Puppet King.

The girls rush to an abandoned theater where the front door is guarded by Beast Boy. With their new understanding of each other, they are able to sneak in undetected. The Puppet King orders Robin and Cyborg to resume patrol so as to eliminate any potential witnesses. However, the girls bare witness to him readying to enact the final phase of his plan from a catwalk above. With his concoction ready, he prepares to drop the marionettes with the boys’ souls trapped inside into the flaming cauldron, which will destroy them for good and leave their bodies under his control forever. The situation appears quite grim for the boys, but Starfire is able to use Raven's powers enough to telegrab the marionettes off the Puppet King's hands and into her arms. The Puppet King sets the mind-controlled boys at the girls, attacking them ruthlessly. An epic battle ensues and they are able to hold their ground until they are overwhelmed. The marionettes are then reclaimed by the Puppet King and resumes with the execution ritual. There seems to be no hope left until Raven sees her friends facing their imminent doom and is finally able to summon the kind of righteous fury needed for one star blast. She nails a bull’s eye and knocks the controller out of the Puppet King's hand and it lands in the flaming cauldron. With the controller destroyed, the Puppet King loses his power over the boys’ bodies and the imprisoned souls return to their rightful bodies, as well as Starfire and Raven to their own bodies. When the girls are hailed as heroes, they all bare witness to the Puppet King losing the last of his magic and he drops dead to the floor when he is reduced to a perfectly normal lifeless puppet, neutralizing his threat to the city once and for all.

The next day, while Raven is meditating, Starfire asks if she can meditate with her. Raven says yes and they begin their meditation. Together, they peacefully relax and meditate after a day's work. Raven then asks Starfire if they want to go to the mall together afterwards, just the two of them.

Characters[]

Main characters[]

Supporting characters[]

Villains[]

Credits[]


Trivia[]

  • It is noticed in this episode that Cyborg, Raven and Starfire have different colored souls than their actual colors in the opening theme while Robin and Beast Boy have matching colors: Robin is Red and Beast Boy is Green. The colors of their souls from Puppet King's Magic puppet control is seen again in "Mother Mae-Eye" when the Titans are escaping from her killer gingerbread henchmen.
    • Cyborg is white in this episode; whereas in the opening theme, his actual color is blue.
    • Raven is blue in this episode; whereas in the opening theme, her actual color is violet.
    • Starfire is yellow in this episode; whereas in the opening theme, her actual color is orange.
  • Even though no actual changes were made to the appearances of Starfire and Raven, the two look different when their bodies are switched. Raven suddenly appears weak and helpless, while Starfire seems older, more mature and looks more like Blackfire.
    • Beast Boy's Utahraptor form has no head feathers (also seen in "The Sum of His Parts"). The later episodes show his Utahraptor form has head feathers.
  • When Raven screams, her hair goes into the shape of a raven.
  • Starfire may have subtly revealed that she does not like the way Raven looks (though it may be that she does not mind Raven's appearance, just not on herself).
  • This episode was one of the few times we see Starfire angry, when she calls out Raven's rude and pessimistic attitude. However, she quickly calms down and understands why Raven is always so down to earth cold.

Title[]

  • The title represents the fact that Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy's souls were switched into dolls, while Raven and Starfire's souls were switched into each other's bodies hence the episode title.

Continuity[]

  • It appears that Starfire kept her puppet, since it appeared in "The Quest", while the puppets of the other Titans make an appearance on the wall in the evidence room in "Fear Itself", along with the Puppet King's controller (even though it was destroyed).

Cultural references[]

  • The roars of Beast Boy's Utahraptor form are similar to the T-Rex from Jurassic Park.

Goofs[]

  • The crate which was sent to the Titans was labelled "To: Teen Titans, Titan Tower". Later when Robin examines the label, the words "Titan Tower" was amended to "Titans Tower".
  • Even though Robin says the person who made the puppets got every detail right, his puppet has a lowercase "r" on its costume instead of an uppercase one like his real costume.
    • In addition, Raven's puppet wears blue gloves, whereas she does not.
  • When zombie Cyborg gets back up, his left ear is human instead of metal.
Snapshot - 2

Starfire and Raven a frame before they realize they have switched bodies.

  • Starfire (with Raven's soul/conscience) was shown to have a navel when she says "And what?" This could possibly be an animation error.
  • Right after Beast Boy says "You go, girls!", Starfire's eyebrows are out of place for a second. In addition, Beast Boy's right Arm is shrouded in fur when he is fist pumping.

Gallery[]

Titans GO
Click here to view the gallery.

Transcript[]

ForReal37
Click here to view the episode transcript.

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