Titans preview: An introduction into Trigon’s manipulation

Last week’s episode of Titans gave us a snippet into Kory’s life before she landed on Earth. With the finale looming over us, we can assume episode 11 will feature more dire revelations.

Last week, Titans gave us some another layer of disastrous context into Kory and Rachel’s family bond and their relationship in general. After Kory collects enough memories to recognize that she was sent to Earth to kill Rachel to stop her from destroying her planet, Tamaran. At the end of the episode, Trigon’s human form makes his debut in the series, and shortly after, he set up presumably an ability-based forcefield around the Roth household. However, Dick Grayson makes it through — at least, his physical body does anyway.

To be fair, Dick likely makes it through the shield and into the house as the final moments in episode 10 suggest; however, Trigon has also likely compromised his mental state and free will to some degree (or by every degree).

As the synopsis for Titans episode 11, “Dick Grayson,” suggests, not everything in the season finale is at it seems — or at least we can’t rely on a certain character’s point of view:

"In the season finale, Trigon’s powers send Dick into a dreamscape that begins with him living a happy domestic life, but soon takes him into a dark journey back to Gotham."

Titans — Ep. 111 — “Dick Grayson” — Photo Credit: Christos Kalohordis / 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

The dreamscape the synopsis likely refers to Trigon’s canonical illusion casting abilities. The interdimensional demon can create false realities within a person’s own mind. Based on the grim quote from episode 10, where Trigon tells Angela that they need to break Rachel’s heart, Trigon could be manipulating Dick for his own gains.

Trigon has the capabilities to permanently transform Dick into a living demonic puppet that he could use to carry out his will — or keep Rachel aligned with the apparent family of darkness. However, Trigon will probably use Dick’s compromised state to use him as leverage against Rachel.

Based on the set photos from the episode and the trailer, Dick’s demonic hallucinations will include a non-reality of his married life with Dawn and their child, as well as a fight against Batman. Thanks to the original residents of Azarath and their personal goals to cast out all personal evil energy and malevolent thoughts, Trigon’s notoriously nefarious abilities are born from their evil energy. Granted, it took an evil cult to summon and create the physical embodiment of Trigon in the comics; however, it’s easy to see why the demon is so corrupted (beyond being a demon) — he’s literally made of negative energy.

Titans — Ep. 111 — “Dick Grayson” — Photo Credit: Christos Kalohordis / 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

Trigon’s comic origin story could deviate from his televised counterpart, though. His innately nefarious abilities, such as his demonic powers, fall in line with his comic book ancestry. In the Titans season finale, we could also see Trigon start to wield his more esoteric powers, such as illusion casting and potentially fear projections or mind manipulation, on Dick. As Dick is trapped in his dreamlike state, Trigon could use his own fears against him, which we can see foreshadowed through Batman’s cameo and thus Dick’s longstanding aggression (and his lack of abilities to cope, in a healthy manner, with his violence).

“Dick Grayson” will focus on Dick and his residual traumas from both his childhood and his adulthood. Thanks to Trigon, these apprehensions could be amplified or manipulated to create new fears.

With Titans episode 11 being the season finale, we could expect to see a final fight scene. Seeing as Donna and Kory were trapped outside of Trigon’s force field, Garfield is recovering from a sickness (implicitly poisoned by Angela), and Rachel doesn’t yet know how to use the full extent of her powers, Titans could be preparing us for a finale-sized cliffhanger. Given the season has included several, it would almost be out of character not to be left on a ledge.