To kill or not to kill. It’s a question that comes up in most superhero stories or franchises at some point, and it’s easy to see why. Superheroes using violence to fight crime is an inherent part of the genre, so it’s only natural that readers and viewers, and even the stories themselves, ask just how far they’re willing to go. It doesn’t really matter to an individual project’s success what position it takes on the issue, just that it has a firm one that is explained and justified well. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most popular media franchise in the world and most of its heroes have few to no qualms using lethal force at times, after all. DC and HBO Max’s Titans, on the other hand, exemplifies many of the problems that arise when a superhero tale doesn’t have a consistent stance on the issue and in the latest episode, one of the show’s own characters called out its inconsistency.
On Titans, the titular team often preaches the old-fashioned, simple belief that heroes don’t kill but most of them have broken this rule in some way. Some of the times they’ve done so are more or less excusable, such as when Rachel Roth/Raven (Teagan Croft) would unleash her soul-self in self-defense before receiving proper combat training, or when Gar Logan/Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) lost control of his tiger form and ate one of the members of the Organization that had tortured him. More problematic are the actions of characters like Dick Grayson/Nightwing (Brenton Thwaites), and Kory Anders/Starfire (Anna Diop).
The series began shortly after Dick allowed Tony Zucco (Richard Zippieri), the mobster who killed his parents, to be killed by rival gangsters. In the wake of this dark act, Dick continues to bend his superhero code, using brutal tactics like maiming and impaling against even low-level criminals that could easily lead to any of their deaths. Kory is an alien from the planet Tamaran, which has a warrior culture, making her quick to kill enemies, especially in the beginning of the series. Perhaps the most egregious act the team has committed is when Dick ordered Kory to blow up the Organization’s asylum headquarters, with many members of the villainous cult still inside. The Organization had just put the team through horrific mental and physical torture, but this was still mass murder and the incident has lingered in many viewers’ minds, making the team’s later calls for non-lethal tactics seem hypocritical.
The Titans’ Hypocrisy
In Season 4, Episode 6, “Brother Blood,” after barely surviving a magical attack by the Organization, Conner Kent/Superboy (Joshua Orpin) embraces the ruthless influence of his biological father, Lex Luthor (Titus Welliver), shaving his head, calling himself a Luthor, and taking command of STAR Labs. He suggests that the Titans should kill Sebastian Sanger (Joseph Morgan) before the Organization can complete the ritual that would give him demonic powers. Dick and the rest of the team repeat the “heroes don’t kill” mantra, but Conner scoffs and points out how many times they’ve done so, referring to the asylum incident in particular, in one of the series’ most self-aware moments.
As funny as the scene is, the fact that it cuts away quickly, letting Conner have the last word, emphasizes that Dick and company don’t really have a proper argument against his criticism, which is telling. Meta humor like this is almost always somewhat amusing, but it works best when it’s pointing out minor details that don’t really effect a project’s quality. Titans’ flip-flopping on heroes killing is a significant recurring problem in the series and by calling attention to it the creators are forcing themselves to finally resolve the issue in Season 4. Viewers now know for sure that they know about the problem so if they don’t fix it, it will be a sign of laziness or lack of interest in improving the series.
Until this episode, the killing issue hadn’t been that significant in Season 4 and Conner’s willingness to kill makes sense as part of the downward spiral he’s currently on. The only other team member who has recently shown an inclination towards lethal force is Jinx (Lisa Ambalavanar), who is an only semi-reformed magical thief, not a superhero. If the rest of the season can keep the other Titans consistent in their no-killing stance or make any exceptions logical like these are, Conner’s meta moment will be remembered as a funny landmark after which the show successfully corrected one of its major problems. If not, it will be remembered as an embarrassing instance of the show effectively admitting its own failures.
