By Matt Webb Mitovich / December 1 2022, 1:00 PM PST

The following contains spoilers from the Dec. 1 episode of HBO Max’s Titans. Colored Glaze Custom

HBO Max’s Titans headed into the holiday break by gifting fans one helluva fall finale.

If I may channel Saturday Night Live‘s Stefon, the episode “Brother Blood” had everything. Superhero strategizing. A major haircut. Sad flashbacks. The questioning of Dick’s preferred nickname. Easily re-tasked satellites. Experiments in teleportation. A minor (would-be) lovers’ spat. A well-earned glow-up for one hero. A shocking death (?). And a race against time that came up short in ways that viewers were left barely able to comprehend. (Where did the Titans disappear to?!??!?!)

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After ignoring Zadira re: Kory’s “destiny” to kill Sebastian, Mother Mayhem last week barged into the “Elko’s Diner” plane of existence to claim her boy. After Kory and Rachel showed up at STAR Labs to break the bad news, Dick & Co. got to strategizing how to locate May’s Temple of Azarath, grab Sebastian and somehow get away — with just hours left until the Red Moon.

Enter Conner Kent Luthor, with his newly super-sheared, Lex-like head. Suddenly channeling his Bad Dad, Conner advocated for a merciless slaughter of Mayhem and her minions, but the other Titans (well, most of them) weren’t having it. Instead, Jinx helped the team wrap their brains around the concept of “teleportation” and the delicacy involved in “reorganizing” dissembled human molecules.

Meanwhile, we got flashbacks to formative moments from Sebastian’s past— when as an orphan he had to give up his warmer bedroom to a sick kid… the time a professor penalized him for being too smart… and the night he kissed off a perfectly lovely girlfriend.  For too long, Sebastian was dinged for being a stronger person, Mother Mayhem argued, so now it is his time to realize his potential, by drinking some blood and taking a dip in a pool of more.

Conner bought the Titans time by having LexCorp satellites congregate in the sky, reflect sunlight onto the moon and reduce its “red” quality. Even so, that left a window of minutes during which Sebastian would be able to fulfill the prophecy. But while Dick, Jinx et al mapped out a rescue plan — Jinx would help Rachel power up, after which Kory would give some of her blue light to Rachel, allowing the latter to “see” where the temple is — Conner went rogue, got the temple address from a LexCorp staffer and attempted a solo raid. Alas, after arriving at the scene and seemingly incinerating May with his heat vision, he was duped by her and unceremoniously cuffed to a column.

That left it to the other Titans to sneak into the temple, where Dick and Kory slugged it out with goons and Gar-as-gorilla (!) tossed other acolytes around like rag dolls. As for Rachel, she experienced a major plus-up when Gorilla Gar smashed a blue crystal and her absorbing of its essence completed her transformation into White Raven.

Jinx meanwhile sneaked up on Mother Mayhem to “freeze” her with a spell. May, however, only pretended to be spellbound, and with Jinx’s guard down, she ran her scepter through the trickster’s belly. As a bloody Jinx slumped to the ground, Dick ran to her side.

Rachel and Kory (who now has access to a 80% of her potential power) rained white and blue power blasts on Mother Mayhem. Sebastian, though — tired of “being nothing” — proceeded to drink the ceremonial blood, after which he let out a supersonic roar that, well, disappeared the Titans, one by one. And after the last Titan blinked away (to where?!), Sebastian submerged himself in the pool of blood, to complete his fulfilling of the Red Moon ritual.

What did you think of Titans‘ fall finale? And how do you think Dick & Co. will be found/hopefully saved, when the back half of Season 4 arrives sometime in 2023? Bernard, you busy…?

Want scoop on Titans , or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

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