Nightwing

*For the eponymous character, see Dick Grayson.*

"**Nightwing**" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second season of *Titans*, and the twenty-fourth episode overall. It premiered on DC Universe on November 29, 2019.

## Synopsis

The Titans reassemble under Dick, who has now fully taken on the mantle of Nightwing, to fight Deathstroke and attempt to save Jericho. But that's not the only struggle they face – as the team finds themselves up against mind-altered versions of Gar and Conner, who are now supercharged weapons at the "mercy" of Mercy Graves and her Cadmus final Phase Two plan. It's Titans vs. Titans in the epic season two finale that's filled with surprises.

## Cast

### Starring

* Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson/Nightwing
* Anna Diop as Koriand'r/Kory Anders/Starfire
* Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth/Raven
* Ryan Potter as Gar Logan
* Conor Leslie as Donna Troy/Wonder Girl
* Curran Walters as Jason Todd
* Joshua Orpin as Subject 13/Conner
* Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson/Ravager
* Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall/Hawk
* Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger/Dove

### Special appearance by

* Esai Morales as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke

### Guest starring

* Chella Man as Jericho
* Damaris Lewis as Blackfire
* Natalie Gumede as Mercy Graves
* Raoul Bhaneja as Walter Hawn

### Co-starring

* Shane Marriott as a Police Officer
* Nabil Traboulsi as Cadmus Tech
* Natalie Morgan as Paris
* Tim Cody as Stunt Man Actor
* Markeda McKay as Little Girl
* Madison Cipparone as Female Delegate
* Jane Hailes as Mom
* Eva Placzynska as International Buyer 1
* Mel White as International Buyer 2
* Leo Choy as International Buyer 3

## Plot

Mercy tells a group of international buyers via television that Cadmus is ready to let evil have its way. As Walter looks on, Mercy offers the buyers the chance to buy a fully-programmable super-soldier. She shows them Connor and gives him a handgun. Conner aims it at Mercy, fires, and then speeds over to catch the bullet before it can hit her. Mercy tells the buyers to prepare to watch the end at 9 pm that evening.

Once Mercy turns off the monitors, Walter applauds and Mercy has Conner throw the bullet into Walter's head. She tells him "good boy" and welcomes Walter's corpse to Phase 2.

At the downtown carnival in Golden Gate Park, Gar walks through the crowd. He stares off into space for a moment, and then walks off.

At the Titans Tower, Rachel tells Donna that Dick left the message saying that Jericho is still alive. Donna figures that Dick has lost his mind and says that they have bigger problems. Kory and Dawn figure out how they can break into Cadmus, and Donna figures that they have plenty of firepower to get in. The alien says that her powers are gone and Rachel tells them that she's powered but her powers have been getting "dramatic". The quartet gets a report of a police alert about a wild animal, and they assume the so called Phase 2 has begun.

The women drive to the park and Rachel says that she won't hurt Gar no matter what. Deathstroke opens fire on their car, and they brake to a stop. Kory tries to get out of the car to draw Deathstroke's fire, but a bullet takes her in the arm and she gets back in. Nightwing drops down on top of the car and then disarms Deathstroke. He tells the others to take care of Kory while he takes care of Deathstroke.

Deathstroke draws his sword and Nightwing avoids his blows, and calls to Jericho. Inside of Deathstroke's mind, Jericho hears Nightwing and calls to him. Meanwhile, Rachel heals Kory's wound.
Nightwing parries Deathstroke's swords with his escrima sticks, disarms Deathstroke, and tells Jericho to emerge. Jericho, for his part tries to break through the door to the outside world.

The ruthless mercenary knocks Nightwing down and tells him that he should have stayed away. Ravager arrives and calls to her father, and Deathstroke tells Nightwing that she's been working for him the entire time. She says that she's accepted her true family: the Titans. Ravager and Nightwing fight Deathstroke, and Ravager finally manages to stab her father through the chest. She removes his mask and then her own, and tells Jericho what to do. Jericho jumps into her body as Deathstroke falls dead on the street.

Nightwing asks Ravager if she's okay, and she says that she will be. Jericho speaks through her, giving Nightwing the finger, and Nightwing says that it's good to have him back. He thanks Nightwing for finding him, and says that he understood why Nightwing did what he did. Nightwing tells Jericho that he was a part of his family and still can be, and Donna comes over and says that Kory is okay but that the night isn't over yet.

Back at the park, a police officer calls for backup as Gar's tiger advances on him. Mercy and her men arrive in hummers and Mercy says over the PA that help has arrived. The soldiers let Conner out, and Mercy tells the buyers to begin their bidding as they look on. Meanwhile, Conner punches Gar when Gar leaps at him, and the tiger recovers and bites Conner's arm. Conner throws him across the midway, and Dove, Wonder Girl, and Kory arrive. Mercy is glad to let the bidders see what Conner can do.

Rachel goes over to Gar and asks if he's okay. She says that they need her and he growls at her.

Dove suggests that Wonder Girl talk to Conner, and Wonder Girl goes over. She introduces herself and tells him to snap out of it. Mercy tells Conner over the radio to eliminate the Titans, and he punches Wonder Girl. She counterattacks and parries his blows, and he head-butts her and then knocks her back into a pylon. Kory walks over and tells Conner not to make her regret saving his life. She's unable to hurt him and he grabs her, and Hawk arrives and hits Conner with a mallet. Conner, unaffected, grabs Hawk, and Dove uses a shard of mirror to bounce Conner's heat vision back at him when he uses it. She tells Hawk that she's doing just fine and tells Hawk that he can apologize later.

The Titans regroup and the monitors go out. In her van, Mercy gets a message telling her that she's having technical difficulties. Bruce is watching from Titans tower and tells Mercy that bidding is closed for the day. Luthor calls Mercy to make his feelings clear.

As Conner advances on the Titans, Nightwing attacks him with a grenade. He tells the others that they need Rachel to stop Conner.

Rachel tries to get through to Gar, reminding him that he was the only one Trigon couldn't turn. She touches his paw like Gar touched her, and his memories return. Gar reverts to human form.

When Conner recovers, he discovers that the Titans are gone. Wonder Girl lassos him and Rachel uses her darkness on him. She merges her darkness with Nightwing, and Dick finds himself in a black void. Conner is crouching on the ground, and Dick tells him that he's not alone anymore. Conner mutters that he can't make Mercy's voice stop and it tells her to kill them all, and he can't fight it. Dick punches the wall, letting in the sunlight, and Conner holds his hand out to the rays. Conner steps into the light, screams, and finds himself standing in a cornfield with Dick. Dick tells Conner that he's part of their family and they'll always find him, and Conner tells him to stand back. Conner flies off into the sky and in the real world, where a back to normal Conner tells them to let him go. Wonder Girl and Rachel do so, and Conner thanks Nightwing for freeing him. Mercy tells her soldiers to concentrate their firepower on Conner as he walks to the command van. The bullets have no effect and the soldiers run. Conner yanks open the van doors only to discover that Mercy has escaped. He easily finds her and says that it's over, and Kory punches Mercy unconscious. As the others arrive, Conner stares at the devastation and realizes that he did it even if wasn't the real him. The customers applaud, and Dove gives a girl her doll.

The pylon that Wonder Girl hit earlier starts falling, and Dove gets the people back. Wonder Girl speeds over and catches the pylon before it can hit Dove, the electricity sparking through the metal and electrocuting Wonder Girl. She finally drops the pylon safely and collapses, and Nightwing holds her body in his arms.

The next day, the Titans bring Wonder Girl's body to the Tower. Dawn puts Wonder Girl's belt in the heroine's chamber. Rachel goes to the gym where Gar is crying and puts an arm around his shoulders.

Later, the Titans take Donna's body to the airport and turn it over to the Amazons, along with her lasso. They thank Dick for returning their sister to them, and Rachel says that she should go with Donna. She explains that her powers are getting stronger and can make people's thoughts real, and Dick tells her that they can't always change the world. Rachel figures that they should always try, and goes with Donna. Dick says that he'll miss her and they hug. The Titans watch the Amazons' plane leave, and Dick sees Jason at the edge of the airfield. Jason drives off on his motorcycle without approaching them.

Later at the Tower, Bruce arrives and offers his condolences. Dick says that he brought her back into the Titans, and Bruce points out that Dick couldn't have forced Donna to do anything against her will. Dick wonders what's left of them without her, and Bruce says that things inevitably fall apart and life is how they put them back together. He admits that he's not an expert at life, and Dick says that he knows why Bruce took him in and gave him the one thing neither of them ever had: family. Bruce tells him that the Titans are worth keeping together, and tells him to fight the impulse to turn away from others and let them heal together. As Dick goes, he tells Bruce thanks for the new suit.

Gar is in his room when Dick comes in. He says that Donna cared about people and of doing the right thing Dick assures Gar that it wasn't him. Dick admits that it was his fault for leaving Gar alone, and he let Gar down when Gar tried to keep the Titans alive. He promises that he'll try not to let it happen again, and asks Gar to help him make dinner when he's ready.

Dawn is in her room packing her costume, and Hank comes in. He asks how Dawn is doing, and she says that Donna died saving her life. Hank admits that he was never good at comforting her and starts to leave. Dawn reminds him that he said they only brought pain into the world, and Hank admits that he was an asshole. He suggests that they give it another shot, and Dawn tells him that Hank and Dawn are over. Hank asks if the same can be said about Hawk and Dove.

At dinner, Dawn invites Rose to join them. Kory thanks Bruce for summoning them to the diner, figuring they wouldn't be here if they hadn't. Bruce says that he's never been to Elko, and Kory dismisses it as a mistaken identity. Kory suggests to Dawn that maybe Rachel got into their heads and created "Bruce", and they wonder what is going on. Dick gives a speech saying that he and Donna had nothing in common but parents that fought crime, and says that he wasn't interested in having a family. He tells them that Donna knew if enough strays get together, they form the best kind of family and they need what they have now more than ever. Dick says that he doesn't know what is next for them, but offers a toast to the Titans and Donna.

Gar checks his laptop and discovers that cops and the bomb squad are responding to a disturbance in the Mission district. Dawn gets up and asks the others what they're waiting for. Everyone goes after her except Dick and Bruce. Bruce tells Dick that he has his answer. The Titans go to the Mission district together.

At a grocery store, a mother is taking her daughters out to their car. As the mother loads the groceries in the back, a purple organism crawls into her ear. Her cart runs into another man's cart, and when he complains the mother backhands him away. She walks off, her eyes briefly turning purple.

## Notes

* Some of this episode's easter eggs include:
	+ Dick Grayson’s iconic identity as Nightwing was first introduced in *Tales of the Teen Titans #44* during the “Judas Contract” storyline. However, the original costume wasn’t quite what we saw in this episode, with its high collar and disco-inspired look. The superhero suit Dick wore in this episode is closer to the costume given to him by Batman’s assistant Harold in 1995’s *Nightwing #2*.
	+ During his battle with Deathstroke, Dick deflected the assassin's blows with his trusty Escrima sticks. In the comics, the sticks are an iconic part of Nightwing’s arsenal, and he’s seen holding them in many covers, pin-ups, and posters. But despite their long status as his signature weapon, he wasn’t pictured with them until the cover of 1996’s *Nightwing #1*.
	+ After a thorough brainwashing from Cadmus, Gar Logan attacked his Titan friends. There's a comic storyline where Gar Logan (known as Changeling at the time) battled his friends, but it was because of Raven, not Cadmus. At the time Raven had been corrupted by the lost souls of Azarath, and used her powers to turn Gar evil. As a result Changeling attacked the Titans in *The New Titans #115*.
	+ The Titans were also forced to face a brainwashed Superboy in the comics. Lex Luthor had implanted a few commands in Conner’s mind during the early stages of his cloning, and activated them in 2005’s *Teen Titans #24* causing Superboy to attack his friends.
	+ Rose literally stabbed her father in the heart. But this also coincides with her comic book counterpart's actions, who also had to make the tough decision to break from her father. Nightwing played a very big role in Rose’s emancipation, due to him frequently trying to tell her that Slade was just using her. He finally got through to her in *Nightwing #117* and she left her father’s side for good.
	+ The Slade vs. Ravager fight, like the one from this episode, pays homage to *Teen Titans #77*, which contains one of their most epic brawls.
	+ Donna’s comic book counterpart met her tragic end in *Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3* after a rogue Superman robot blasted her. The loss of Donna was too much for Dick, and in his grief he disbanded the Titans.
	+ The comic version of Donna didn’t stay dead for long, and she later returned in the appropriately titled *DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy* limited series.
	+ The idea of sending a dead member of the Titans to Themyscira to heal (with Raven sent along to help) was used in 1981’s *New Teen Titans #11* after Deathstroke killed Gar Logan. The Amazons and Raven helped Gar get better.
	+ While there's no true Easter egg for this episode's cliffhanger with Blackfire arriving on Earth, In 1982's *New Titans #23-25* and *Annual 1*, the very first Blackfire vs. Starfire story takes shape, and it could be a hint at what's to come for the two sisters in Season 3.

## Gallery

### Videos

Titans Season 2 Finale Nov. 29 DC Universe The Ultimate Membership
## References

1. ↑ All the Easter Eggs in TITANS Episode 2-13: “Nightwing” - DC Universe