Would more Terra have equaled tragedy?

[Antiyonder]

Simply put, Terra was a Titan for 3 episode prior to her 4th appearance where she would be revealed as a spy. I enjoyed the story, don't get me wrong. That said would her status as a spy been more dramatic if she had been in more of the Season 2 episodes as a Titan.

I believe the decision was done so the episodes could air out of order without consquence (which was why her appearance in Winners Take All was brief, so it would work before or after Betrayal), but I believe it was planned for her to be part of the cast in Season 2, even have her in the opening theme.

Her appearance in Teen Titans Go is pretty good as we get a story with her, but without Slade's appearance or her spy status. You get the feeling she really is a Titan.

So I would say that she should have been part of the main cast prior to Betrayal.

[bigdeath]

I was always a big fan of terra and I wish they had shown more of her. :crying:

[Rolling Cloud]

I think if they used Terra more before her big reveal in betrayal could go one of two ways. One way is that she would've had more time to interact with the team and fit in more than they probably showed. On the other hand, they risked the chance of over-using her and by the time it was revealed that she was a spy, the viewers could be sick of her.

But, that's just my view on it.

[Jave]

For the record, we'll be seeing Terra again soon (http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=8771).

[Nygma]

I think hindsight is 20/20 on whether or not having Terra there longer would've worked. That being said, I still think they could've done a better job even with the circumstances given in this.

I can't speak for everyone but ,for me, the reason the Aftershock 2-parter fails is because the entire 2-parter is just way too heavy handed. They drove the point of Terra doing horrible and unforgivable things in to the ground way too much to the point where I was sick of it.

I think Stu pretty much nailed my thoughts on Terra after Betrayal in his review on the Teen Titans site:

The problem with this episode really does rest on the characters shoulders. Terra worked best as a member we weren't sure we could trust. Once she had turned evil, the mystery had gone, and with it, the interest.

Now this doesn't mean this couldn't have been avoided, but the problem is that I as a viewer wasn't given a reason to care about Terra after she was a traitor, had they given me a better reason for me to care about Terra I probably would not have complained as much. But they didn't, so here I am.:(

However, as I said before. Aftershock suffers from being too heavy handed for its own good.

[Wonderwall]

Her whole exchange with Robin actually offends me. It's that groan inducing. i didn't care for her so Im glad we saw very little of her. Im sure others disagree with that, but I think she got enough episodes.

[byron lomax]

I really liked Terra, but she needed to have an extra episode that would emphasise Slade's increasing influence over her, in guiding her to evil. What really jars for me is the opening scene of "Aftershock", when Slade asks her if she'll destroy the Titans, to which she replies with a smile, "I thought you'd never ask". Now up to this point I really enjoyed her story, which was progressing well - but that scene felt like a huge jump. "Betrayal" showed that she felt conflicted over her relationship with Slade and the Titans, but at the beginning of "Aftershock" she seems very determined to destroy them. I wish we could have gotten more insight into how Slade indoctrinated her against them.

[Tea]

I do agree that having more screentime with Terra would have made her betrayal much more tragic. As it was, not seeing her with the gang in "Winner Take All" (save for a cameo) just seemed suspicious and like she was never really part of the team. Where was she while they were playing the card game/sitting around and knitting? Went to the bathroom? Too busy with the betrayal thing? :D Add onto the fact she wasn't in the intro and we never really were led to believe she'd be there for long. It could have used a few more episodes (or maybe a season) with her with the team to drive the tragedy home.

Oh well.

[Mad Mod 49]

Of course. Terra's fate was sad and tragic as it was, but the fact that Terra didn't appear in alot of episodes made the tragedy easily left behind come Season 3. Had she been there for the majority, if not all, of Season 2, it would have been better.



Her whole exchange with Robin actually offends me.


Sheesh, touchy much? :sweat:

[Antiyonder]

Of course. Terra's fate was sad and tragic as it was, but the fact that Terra didn't appear in alot of episodes made the tragedy easily left behind come Season 3. Had she been there for the majority, if not all, of Season 2, it would have been better.

That and like with issue 12 of TTG, it would have help to have some Terra centric story with nary a Slade in sight. Kind off helping us forget that she could be a traitor.

For the fun of it, for those with a good sense of guessin, how would the following episode differ if Terra was in them. Like how her presense would change parts of the story if any (Of course that means Titans Rising happens sooner):

- Only Human
- Fear Itself
- Transformation
- Date With Destiny

[Harvey Two Face]

That and like with issue 12 of TTG, it would have help to have some Terra centric story with nary a Slade in sight. Kind off helping us forget that she could be a traitor.

For the fun of it, for those with a good sense of guessin, how would the following episode differ if Terra was in them. Like how her presense would change parts of the story if any (Of course that means Titans Rising happens sooner):

- Only Human
- Fear Itself
- Transformation
- Date With Destiny

Just thinking about it, I don't think I would particularly like it since I'm only used to those episodes with the original Titans, but I guess it would be ok?

[Starbro]

I never cared much about Terra, mainly because I had already read the 'Judas Contract' story from the comics before the TV show began, and also because even if I hadn't, it would have been obvious that Terra wasn't destined to become a full-time Titan since she was never featured in the shows' opening title sequence. (Same deal with Morph on X-Men:TAS). Granted, sticking her in the opening might have made her eventual betrayal more shocking to some viewers, but it would have too expensive to animate a revamped opening just to accommodate a character they knew they were going to dump after about 3 episodes. Terra was basically TT's equivalent to the red-shirted ensigns on Star Trek; no point getting too attached to them, since you already knew their fate.

[Wonderwall]

Sheesh, touchy much? :sweat:

Haha, I was just trying a new word, it really just bothers me a lot, but nah I'm not gonna kill bunnies over it:p

[Project:Cadmus]

I agree. The impact Betrayal and Aftershock were supposed to have seemed greatly impared because she wasn't really around long enough to get us to care about her as much as we should have.

Aside from Terra appearing as Titan I think it would have been nice if we either beforehand or in a flashback, show Terra's time with Slade. Maybe in the middle or end of episodes like Only Human or Fear Itself show snippets of Terra being manipulated and trained by Slade, since at least I found the "Terra being a spy for Slade" relevation pretty predictible.

[AlexTheOdd]

Ah- I really never cared for her,
at first I really liked her-
But her attitude started to turn more into an angry teen trying to 'do the right thing'.
I dunno..
Maybe she'll change?
She did have a pretty amusing power :]
(though she really needs ta' gain wait ;x her figure is sickly)

[Antiyonder]

Aside from Terra appearing as Titan I think it would have been nice if we either beforehand or in a flashback, show Terra's time with Slade. Maybe in the middle or end of episodes like Only Human or Fear Itself show snippets of Terra being manipulated and trained by Slade, since at least I found the "Terra being a spy for Slade" relevation pretty predictible.

But that's kind off the problem, because any episode that had her was alluding to her true nature with Slade. We simply needed some episodes with her simply as a Titan. And again, TTG #12 was a good example of that.

[Juu-kuchi]

If Terra's story ended like it did in Aftershocks Pt. 2, then more Terra may have equaled more tragedy, but would've completely lost its impact.

What good is tragedy if they'll find a cure someday?

[Project:Cadmus]

But that's kind off the problem, because any episode that had her was alluding to her true nature with Slade. We simply needed some episodes with her simply as a Titan. And again, TTG #12 was a good example of that.

I was thinking it would have been good to have both. Though out of the two havcing her simply as a Titan would have been more important.

[DisneyBoy]

Actually, I think we'll be seeing Terra return in Teen Titans GO! #49, which also features the return of Slade. Since she's on the cover of #50, my hunch is that it's a two-parter, and J Torres will take his time re-introducing them both.

[kenhardin]

I think the DCAU guys almost always wrote with the assumption that grown-ups watching their product were comics geeks (and I say that affectionately) and were aware of the major story arcs of the base material, to which they almost always stayed thematically true. They treated almost all the will they/won't they characters -- Clayface, Two-Face, The Prankster -- which the same sort of determinism.

So, I always assumed they conceded their more discriminating viewers knew Tara was gonna go south from jump street, and they didn't spend a ton of time on the transformation.

[Starbro]

I think the DCAU guys almost always wrote with the assumption that grown-ups watching their product were comics geeks (and I say that affectionately) and were aware of the major story arcs of the base material, to which they almost always stayed thematically true. They treated almost all the will they/won't they characters -- Clayface, Two-Face, The Prankster -- which the same sort of determinism.

So, I always assumed they conceded their more discriminating viewers knew Tara was gonna go south from jump street, and they didn't spend a ton of time on the transformation.

Good points, but if you mean her code name, it's Terra, not Tara. As in Latin for 'earth'. Her real name, however, was Tara Markov.

[Antiyonder]

Actually, I think we'll be seeing Terra return in Teen Titans GO! #49, which also features the return of Slade. Since she's on the cover of #50, my hunch is that it's a two-parter, and J Torres will take his time re-introducing them both.

I'll be looking forward to them. Though, it's not so much that I wanted to see more Terra on the show, just asking if her betrayal be more shocking if she was on the team longer in season 2?

[zoombie]

It seemed something as dramatic as the end of the Terra arc would have a lasting impact, I wish they treated like that in the aftermath. Season 3 was like it never happened or affected them.

The season 3 premere Deception was the perfect episode to bring up the recent events of betryal and being spied on. When Robin suggested Cyborg spy on the H.I.V.E. Academy someone maybe Beast Boy, Raven, or Robin could have said angerly "They (villains in general) want to spy on us, want to plant people into our home, well two can play at that game. Let's how those peaces of scum like that." Even though spying on Brother Blood and the H.I.V.E. Academy is not direct revenge, because had nothing to do with Slade and Terra's season 2 plot.

Plus the part when all of the other Titans really thought Cyborg had joined Brother Blood, one of them could have said "Can we go one day, with someone betraying us."

Speaking of the H.I.V.E., they should have at some point had the Titans with Terra take on the H.I.V.E. kids, even if they are not the featured villains in the episode.

[Jave]

I'll be looking forward to them. Though, it's not so much that I wanted to see more Terra on the show, just asking if her betrayal be more shocking if she was on the team longer in season 2?Terra is not going to be in #49 and #50, as J. Torres stated. Her appearance in the cover of #50 is mainly for milestone purposes.

#51, however, is the long-awaited Terra Origin story. I linked to it in my first post in this topic.

[DisneyBoy]

Oh, Torres said explicitly that she wouldn't be in 49 and 50? Okay then.

[JAG]

I absolutely think they should've kept Terra on the team longer. I mean, she was a Titan for what? Half an episode? What's the point of that?

They should've moved Titan Rising to an earlier point in the season, and kept Terra on the team for at least two or three episodes. In these episodes, Terra would've been more-or-less ignored, just treated like part of the team. Her presence wouldn't've had any noteworthy effects on Transformation, Only Human, Fear Itself, or Date With Destiny. These episodes were primarily focused on one or two particular characters, with the rest of the team in a support role. Just give her a few lines of dialougue, have her throw a few rocks at the Bad Guy, and show her gradually adjusting to her new lifestyle, and everything would've been good to go.

As an added bonus, this way we could've avoided the gag-inducing pizza scene in Betrayal. "We love you Terra, you're so awesome Terra, way to go!" And then "gasp!" she shoots 'em in the back. Didn't see that one coming!