Sidekick

"Sidekick" is the thirty-third episode of the first season of Teen Titans Go!, and the thirty-third overall episode of the series.

Synopsis[]

When Robin gets called back to the Batcave as a house-sitter while Batman’s away, the other Titans show up and tease him about his sidekick status.

Plot[]

The episodes starts inside of the Titans Tower, where the Titans are hanging out, trying to find a good television show to watch. Robin enters the room with his suitcase, announcing that he has a secret mission that he must do alone. After nobody cares, Robin keeps repeating himself, until he is acknowledged. He tells them he will be at the Batcave if they need him.

Suddenly, all of the Titans sit up, excited, and begging Robin to take them along with him. Robin turns them all down, and then leaves. After traveling across the entire country on his R-Cycle, Robin finally arrives at Gotham City in New Jersey. To enter the Batcave, Robin has no choice but to mutter his embarrassing nick-name "Boy Wonder" into the microphone.

Eager to start his "special mission", Robin sits at the Batcomputer and fiddles around on DCUbook. All of the sudden, a message from Batman pops up on the screen, thanking him for cave-sitting while he is away, and giving him permission to take juice from the fridge. Beast Boy excitedly exclaims that he would like juice, startling Robin. Robin is horrified to find that he left the Batcave door unlocked, allowing all of the Titans to enter.

In a quick instant, the Titans are running around the cave, messing around with Batman's stuff. While Cyborg is trying on Batman's belt, Beast Boy is turned into a bat, posing in front of a lamp, and Raven is meditating with some bats on the ceiling. Before Robin can stop their shenanigans, he is stopped by Starfire, who is trying on Batgirl's costume for herself.

After several seconds of being in awe of his crush, he regains control of himself, and decides to stop the Titans before they do any real damage. When he finds Cyborg and Beast Boy, he is terrified to see them staring at Batman's most prized possession: The Ultimate Bat-a-rang. The duo insists on being allowed to use it, much to Robin's annoyance. Raven asks Robin why he is so scared of Batman, but he avoids the answer.

Suddenly, everything is interrupted by a crime-alert alarm. The Titans are shocked to find that, for unknown reasons, the H.I.V.E. Five are terrorizing downtown Gotham City. The Titans rush to collect as many of Batman's gadgets as they can to prepare for the coming battle. Robin frantically trying to prevent the inevitable, but he is too late when Starfire scoops him up and sets him inside the Batmobile.

A short time later, the H.I.V.E. halts their attack on downtown Gotham when they notice the Batmobile coming their way. Thinking that the Dark Knight himself is behind the wheel, each member of the H.I.V.E. halts in their tracks, becoming too scared to move. A dark, bat-shaped figure jumps out from behind the car, and stares them down. The H.I.V.E. members breathe a breath of relief when they realize that the bat-shaped figure is none other than Starfire in her Batgirl costume, and the car is being driven by none other than their arch-enemies, instead of the Caped Crusader.

A battle breaks out, and the nervous Boy Wonder is more focused on picking up the gadgets than fighting the villains. Due to snatching away all the gadgets, Robin accidentally helps the H.I.V.E. win the battle and tie up all the other Titans. Beast Boy realizes that there is only one hope left: The Ultimate Bat-a-rang. Sadly, the H.I.V.E. has the weapon, and decides to use it against the Titans. The villains push the button, causing the Bat-a-rang to beep, and throw it at the Titans.

Robin fails to catch the device, and it nearly decapitates the other Titans. Flying up into the sky, the Ultimate Bat-a-rang explodes, creating a gigantic light show, which lights up all of Gotham City. Everyone, including Robin, is shocked to find out that the Ultimate Bat-a-rang is not a weapon. Beast Boy then wonders out loud why Batman would have such a strange device.

The camera cuts to a week ago, where Batman and Gordon are sitting under the stars, watching the light show. Batman and Gordon begin to laugh together as friends. Back to the action, Robin decides he will use Batman's gadgets after all, and quickly defeats the villains.

Later, at the Batcave, the Titans attempt to help Robin clean up the gigantic mess they have made. Robin decides that he is tired of being treated like a sidekick, and that he is going to stand up to Batman, making sure that he knows that he is not the boss of him anymore.

Suddenly, a tall, Bat-shaped shadow walks up from behind him, and Robin begins sobbing, begging Batman to forgive him. He tries to convince Batman that he didn't mean any of it, but shortly after, is embarrassed to realize that he is not really talking to Batman, but a mannequin wearing Batman's cape and cowl that Beast Boy is putting back.

Robin admits he is still scared of Batman and graffiti's the words "The Joker was here" on the side of the ruined Batmobile before fleeing the scene.

Characters[]

Major Characters

Minor Characters

Batman (cameo)
Commissioner James Gordon (cameo)
Police Officer (cameo)
Clayface (cameo)
The Riddler (cameo)
Scarecrow (cameo)
Ra's Al Ghul (cameo)
Mr. Freeze (cameo)
Killer Croc (cameo)
Man Bat (cameo)
The Joker (cameo)
Two-Face (cameo)
Bane (cameo)
Poison Ivy (cameo)
Mad Hatter (cameo)
Hush (cameo)

Trivia[]

Robin seems to be very attracted to Starfire in Batgirl's costume, most likely because it combines his two main love interests in the comics: Starfire and Barbara Gordon. The fact that, according to Starfire, the costume is tight-fitting on her may have been an added effect to him.
The Batmobile in this episode is different from the one that Robin crashed in "Driver's Ed", most likely because Robin destroyed the other one. This one seems to be a combination of the Batmobile from Tim Burton's Batman films and the one from Batman: The Animated Series.
It is revealed that Robin doesn't like to be called "The Boy Wonder".
- It is also shown that Robin won't be let in the Batcave unless he says "Boy Wonder" into the voice controlled door.
Despite the full comment not being seen, Space Ghost's comment on DCUBook is shown to say "BOO", referencing his last name.
It's revealed that Robin is scared of Batman.
It's revealed that the HIVE Five are scared of Batman.
In the episode "You're Fired", Robin's DCUbook username was "The Boy Wonder", but he changed it between then and this episode to simply Robin.
Strangely, the H.I.V.E. were in Gotham City, despite not having any plan.
This is the first time the Bat Cave is seen.
This is Batman’s final physical appearance in Season 1.

Continuity[]

The R-cycle makes a second appearance in the series.
Robin's Profile Picture on DCUbook is him with the mustache he tried to grow in "Staring at the Future".
Robin's fragile mental state is shown for the third time. The first was "The Date" and the second was "Staff Meeting".
This is the third time we see Batman and Commissioner James Gordon together. The first was "La Larva de Amor" and the second was "Girl's Night Out."
The music from "Driver's Ed", "Meatball Party", and "Starfire the Terrible" returns when Cyborg and Beast boy get Batman's Ultimate Bat-a-rang.

References[]

On his shelves, Batman likes to keep souvenirs from different missions. Some include the bandages of Hush, Scarface (the doll of the Ventriloquist), a Riddler plate, the ashes of Robin 2 (Jason Todd), the crowbar that Joker beat Jason Todd to death with, Mr. Freeze's head, a vintage domed helmet and bow tie from The Joker's Red Hood persona, a bag of "Selina's Kitty Litter", and Renuyu (the chemical that turned Matt Hagen into Clayface).
Starfire dresses up in Batgirl's costume.
It's shown that in the Batcave, Batman has a giant Joker card hanging up.
On DCUbook (first shown in "You're Fired!"), Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) has a status with the hashtag #SaveYoungJustice, alluding to one of the shows on Cartoon Network that got unexpectedly cancelled.
Harley Quinn's headshot is seen on one of the Batcomputer screens.
In the DCUBook, on the very bottom there is a cut-off post reading "BOO" posted by "Space Ghost", a long forgotten DC space hero.
A picture of the Justice League: Unlimited characters including a fish and Plastic Man appear on the computer while Robin is using it.
Another picture saying "Want Super Abs?" with the Batman (The Dark Knight trilogy variant) costume is seen, though it doesn't show his face.
The Titans look at an old picture of Batman and a young Robin in his old costume and Starfire wonders what is with "the short shorts." This is a reference to Dick Grayson's original Robin costume that he wore from his debut in 1940 until his transition to Nightwing in the 1980's in the comics, which today is sometimes criticized and laughed at for the same reason.
Several small headshots of Batman's villains are seen: including the Joker, Scarecrow, Riddler, Ra's Al Ghul, Bane, Clayface, The Mad Hatter, Hush, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Man-Bat, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze.
The music that plays when the Ultimate Batarang is revealed is the musical score from Chariots of Fire, by Vangelis.
When Starfire fires lasers from her eyes in the Batgirl costume, part of Danny Elfman's theme from the Tim Burton Batman films is sampled.
The way Starfire confronts Jinx is similar to part of the intro to Batman: The Animated Series.
Robin wrote "Joker was here" on the Batmobile, which is what the Joker wrote on a painting in the first Tim Burton Batman film.
When Robin has a meltdown from seeing the other Titans make a mess in the Batcave, he acts out an exchange of words between himself and Batman (and Alfred, too). During the exchange, Robin (acting as Batman) slaps himself (acting as Robin) in the face. This likely is a parody of a panel from the 1965 comic book, “World’s Finest #153" where Batman slapped Robin across the face in mid-conversation. The same panel has been parodied many times through memes.