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"I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. "
- SladeOriginally aired: October 2, 2004 Written by Adam Beechen
Directed by Ben Jones
Ever since the Titans final confrontation with Slade, Robin has been haunted by one question: Is Slade really gone? When Cinderblock breaks out of jail, Robin finally gets his answer: he sees Slade. Robin goes after him, determined to stop his nemesis once and for all.But Robin begins to doubt himself when only he sees Slade. As his obsession mounts, his friends become more concerned. Has Slade really returned? Or is Robin just haunted by the memory of Slade?
Ron Perlman as Slade
First appearance of Slade since AFTERSHOCK
Story Editor/Writer Amy Wolfram on HAUNTED " That one was definitely very dark. That episode came about for two reasons. First, it came out of Robin's character. Robin's greatest strength is that he's obsessive and he won't ever let anything go - ever. But that also becomes his greatest weakness. It became a way to give Robin a really good story. And two, we also wanted to see Slade. We last saw him in the Terra arc and we wanted to bring some sort of finality about it in an unusual way. ""[...] We wanted to make sure that what was real to Robin was truly real to him. And that the other characters understood that. Whatever the case, it was very real to Robin whether it's really Slade or not. I think that's true with children. If they think there's a monster under the bed, to them, there IS a monster under the bed. It's real to them. So we wanted to address that."
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on HAUNTED: " I can't take too much credit for that one. That was an episode that Amy and Adam Beechen cooked up. It's a really, really cool episode. And I think it's one of the scariest ones we've done. When we saw the animation that came back for that one, I remember Amy said, "Oh dear. Is this too scary?" But it was a great way to bring him back without bringing him back exactly. We didn't want Slade upstaging this other arc we have going on, because he's so evil and cool. But we love Slade as a character and Ron Perlman as an actor. So it seemed right to do something with him. And as you see season four unfold, you'll see some mysteries to puzzle concerning where Slade was. "
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on what inspired HAUNTED: "We talked about things like FIGHT CLUB, GASLIGHT and THE SIXTH SENSE. Movies with a good twist ending. What would happen if Robin couldn't let Slade go, even though Slade wasn't around. It's a story about how sometimes we carry things with us a lot longer than we need to. "
Producer/Story Editor David Slack on who activated the Slade mask: "That might be something people may have to wait and guess for themselves at this point. That may remain a bit of a mystery. "
Once more, we get a hint to the identity of Robin. When Raven enters his mind, we see elements from Dick Grayson's past. Robin takes a crimefighting oath in the Batcave, which is straight from Robin's very first story in DETECTIVE COMICS #38 [1940]. And Raven sees the fateful night at the circus when the Flying Graysons fell to their deaths - an event which started the chain of events that led to Dick Grayson becoming Robin.Although the identity of Robin is not revealed in the series, this is yet another hint that the character is based on Dick Grayson. Also see notes for the episodes FRACTURED and HOW LONG IS FOREVER for more.
For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page.