‘Titans’ Showrunner Explains Why Batman-Centric Finale Was Necessary

The first season finale of Titans has finally aired on DC Universe, forcing Dick Grayson to embrace the darkness in an epic confrontation with his former mentor Batman.

But in the last episode of Season 1, not everything was as it seemed as the Raven’s father Trigon put the former Robin through a mind-bending and will-breaking test.

Warning: Spoilers for Titans Season 1 finale episode “Dick Grayson” below.

While the series so far has largely revolved around the mystery of Rachel Roth, her destiny as the Raven, and her mysterious father Trigon, many of those elements took the back seat to Dick’s journey into darkness. Trigon created a scenario in which Batman went over the edge and began killing his enemies, forcing Grayson to put Bruce Wayne down for good.

Of course, all of this was in his own mind, and the end of the episode shows Grayson has embraced the darkness he was trying to suppress the whole season. Titans showrunner Greg Walker spoke to Entertainment Weekly about why they made this episode the series finale, rather than a more traditional team up that united the cast in a battle to save Rachel from her evil father.

“I think one of the things that most intrigued me and brought me to Titans was this idea of depicting Dick Grayson and his journey as Robin in a very emotional and psychologically grounded way,” said Walker.

The showrunner added that the ending with Grayson succumbing to Trigon’s influence brings the whole narrative of Rachel running away from that darkness full circle.

“I liked it both thematically and I liked it from a cliffhanger point of view, and I liked that it focused, in many ways, back to where we started with the Dick-Rachel story,” Walker said. “It felt very focused and sharp and made you want to know how you’re going to pull him back from the brink of disaster, as it were.”

There were some changes to the plan over the course of production, but Walker promised Trigon’s story will continue to play out in the upcoming second season.

“We’ve started in on another episode that will finalize the Trigon story, and it felt like it needed to do two things: end one season and launch another,” Walker added. “We got really excited about the way to launch a new season with that episode and pitched it to our partners at DC and Warner Brothers, and they signed on. We shot a piece that we’re going to use, and then we’re going to incorporate it into where we want to launch the new season.”

The first season of Titans is now streaming in its entirety on DC Universe.