History Recap / TeenTitansS3E5Haunted

[[caption-width-right:350:Even from beyond the grave, Slade finds ways to be a pain in the butt.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Even from beyond the grave, Slade finds ways to be haunt his enemies.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Even from beyond the grave, Slade finds ways to be an asshole.]]

* FiveStagesOfGrief: Robin's entire nightmare throughout the episode could be considered this, though not in the typical order.

* MindRape: The dust causes Robin to hallucinate Slade as an omnipresent, untouchable attacker whose assaults [[YourMindMakesItReal physically injure]] Robin.

* RewatchBonus: Slade being a hallucination becomes much easier to spot upon repeating viewings.

* {{Foreshadowing}}/RewatchBonus: Slade's [[ImaginaryEnemy illusory nature]] is hinted by his body never affecting his environment in the way others' do:

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Slade's [[ImaginaryEnemy illusory nature]] is hinted by his body never affecting his environment in the way others' do:

** In a more blatant variation of the same idea, Slade skips around on the debris piles in his abandoned lair and they never budge. Robin lands on them, and they ''collapse''.

** When Raven enters Robin's mind, she can she the eye of Slade's mask glowing red. It does so at the end of the episode.

* RewatchBonus: Unlike other characters, Slade never makes a sound when he takes a footstep or lands from a sizable jump. He is also completely untouched by the rain.

** Obsession is not only bad for yourself, but also for the people around you.

** '''Acceptance''': By the end of the episode, Robin admits how his obession with Slade is hard to let go of and that he feels like he's the only one who can stop him. His friends assure him that he'll never be alone and suggest he gets some rest, to which Robin happily agrees.

* NeverFoundTheBody: Robin tries to use this as an excuse to keep his obsession with Slade, insisting they can't be sure that Slade is truly dead because he "was never captured, never found." While Cyborg is quick to point out that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat Slade fell into a pit of lava]], the audience knows Robin has a point considering before he joined the Titans, he'd previously dealt with [[ComicBook/TheJoker a clown]] notorious for [[JokerImmunity surviving much worse]].

* NeverFoundTheBody: Robin tries to use this as an excuse to keep his obsession with Slade, insisting they can't be sure that Slade is truly dead because he "was never captured, never found." While Cyborg is quick to point out that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat Slade fell into a pit of lava]], the audience knows Robin has a point considering before he joined the Titans, he'd previously dealt with [[ComicBook/TheJoker a clown]] known for [[JokerImmunity surviving much worse]].

* EurekaMoment: "All these... bruises...but you don't have a scratch." What causes Robin to realize that the Slade attacking him is a hallucination is that Slade has no wounds- As good as Slade is, their past battles were never so one-sided. Furthermore, Slade's EvilGloating about how he's always lurking in the darkness of Robin's mind has Robin determine that the hallucination only exists in the dark, and defeats "Slade" by turning on the lights.

* EurekaMoment: "All these bruises...but you don't have a scratch." What causes Robin to realize that the Slade attacking him is a hallucination is that Slade has no wounds- As good as Slade is, their past battles were never so one-sided. Furthermore, Slade's EvilGloating about how he's always lurking in the darkness of Robin's mind has Robin determine that the hallucination only exists in the dark, and defeats "Slade" by turning on the lights.

* WeakenedByTheLight: Robin only sees the hallucinations of Slade in the dark.

** '''Anger''': Slade's apparent return drives Robin into a frenzy, driving him to the point of hurting Starfire when she seemingly lets Slade get away and threatening to severely harm his teammates if they get in his way.
** '''Denial''': When his teammates try to spell it out that Slade isn't real, Robin is left furious, angrily screaming that he ''knows'' what he saw.

** '''Acceptance''': By the end of the episode, Robin admits how his obession with Slade is hard to let go of. His friends assure him that he's not alone and he agrees with their idea that he should rest.

** If you look at it from Robin's perspective, he somewhat has a point. For all the Titans know, the Slade they saw get killed by Terra could've been one of his robotic body doubles.

* {{Deconstruction}}: To the previous episode, "Crash". Both stories starts out mostly the same; a Titan (Cyborg, and then Robin) gets infected by a virus of some sorts and embarks on a self-destructive spree that endangers both themselves and ''their'' fellow Titans, with most of the episode being the Titans trying to locate their escaped, infected friend before things turns to the worse. But what "Crash" plays for laughs, "Haunted" plays it ''dead serious''.

** The scene with Robin begging Slade to stop as the latter beats him to a pulp is redolent of a rape victim begging their aggressor to stop.

* ContinuityNod: When inside Robin's head, Raven briefly sees two acrobats falling to their doom. AKA, the Flying Graysons being murdered which led their son to become Robin.

* ApologeticAttacker: Downplayed with Stafire knocking Robin out. She doesn't ''say'' anything, but her expression is clearly apologetic. More in the [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan "sorry, but you needed that"]] sense than anything, though.

* AnAesop: Obsession is bad. If you let someone live rent-free in your head, then the person will have mental power over you and you won't even ''know'' it.

** If you look at it from Robin's perspective, he somewhat has a point. For all the Titans know, the Slade they get killed by Terra could've been one of his robotic body doubles.

* AnAesop: Obsession is bad. If you let someone live rent-free in your head, then the person will have mental power over you and you won't even know it.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Starfire [[TapOnTheHead knocks Robin]] out when he more or less threatens his friends over the whole Slade coming back thing. Her expression when she does so pretty much screams "Sorry dude, but you needed that."

* NeverFoundTheBody: Robin tries to use this as an excuse to continue his obsession with Slade, insisting they can't be sure that Slade is truly dead because he "was never captured, never found." While Cyborg is quick to point out that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat Slade fell into a pit of lava]], the audience knows Robin has a point considering before he joined the Titans, he'd previously dealt with [[ComicBook/TheJoker a clown]] known for [[JokerImmunity surviving much worse]].

* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: When Robin tells the rest of the Titans he saw Slade and he told him about the generators he plans to use to destroy the city, a skeptical Cyborg asks "I don't get it. The dude fell in a pit of lava. Who lives through something like that." Raven answers "Apparently, Slade."

** Later, while Robin berates the team for not searching for the generators, they explain they couldn't find any.