The True Meaning of Christmas

"The True Meaning of Christmas" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of Teen Titans Go!, and the one-hundred-twenty-third overall episode of the series.

Summary[]

Fed up from never getting presents from Santa three years in a row, the Titans head to the North Pole to take themselves off the Naughty List, by "any means necessary".

Plot[]

The episode begins with Robin's alarm clock ringing at 8:00 AM on Christmas Morning and all the Titans run to the living room, but for three years they wake up and discover that there are no gifts under the Christmas tree, which upsets them. That year, Robin says there is only one reason why they weren't getting presents... they were on the Naughty List! They journey to the North Pole, sneak into Santa's workshop and disperse. Raven and Starfire ask a gingerbread man where the naughty list is, but after a while, they are allured by the gingerbread smell and start devouring everything in his house, including his cat Gumdrop (which Starfire happily munches up) and him (after Raven accidentally chews one of his arms off). Meanwhile, Beast Boy visits Santa's reindeer and ends up upsetting Rudolph with insults as he drives away in Santa's sleigh.

Over in the toy factory, Cyborg gets in with the elves and asks where the naughty list is, but the noise makes the leader elf angry. The leader elf asks what was happening, and Cyborg blames another elf, who is then carried away by Jingle and Jangle as Cyborg gets away.

Meanwhile, Robin investigates in Santa's office, standing over Santa's Naughty List, attempting to erase their name from the list. Surprisingly, it doesn't erase as he expected, so he tries rubbing out the Titans' name first, uses white-out, and then a mini bomb, but eventually gives up from the failures. He is then interrupted by Santa's dog, which intentionally barks to get Santa's attention. Santa comes over and scolds Robin for his actions, but the other Titans eventually arrive to complain about how they didn't get their wish for presents for the past three years. Santa states that presents are not the true meaning of Christmas, resulting in the Titans blowing up his toy factory. Forced against his will, Santa quickly confesses that the true meaning of Christmas is presents, and ends up taking the Titans in his sleigh, who help him give all nice and naughty people presents.

Characters[]

Starfire
Cyborg
Beast Boy
Raven
Robin
Santa Claus (speaking debut)
Frosty (debut)
Santa's Elves (debut)
Gizmo (cameo)
Jinx (cameo)
Mammoth (cameo)
See-More (cameo)
Billy Numerous (cameo)
Red X (mentioned)
Slade (mentioned)
Kitten (name mentioned on the naughty list)
Ravager (name mentioned on the naughty list)
The Joker (mentioned)
Doctor Light (cameo)
Killer Moth (cameo)
Gingerbread Man (debut)
Gumdrop (debut)
Rudolph (debut)
Head Toy Making Elf (debut)
Jingle and Jangle (debut)
Pelican

Song[]

Jolly Fat Man

Trivia[]

This episode premiered the day before the one-year anniversary of "The Best Robin" and the two-year anniversary of "Second Christmas" (both aired on December 4 one year apart).
This was the last episode to premiere in 2015.
This is the first time that the Titans meet Santa.
Strangely, the Titans do not get coal for being on the Naughty List.
Some people on the naughty list included The Joker, Teen Titans, Rose Wilson, Red X, See-More, Slade, and Kitten.
On the Titans computer screen, Robin has a document titled "Dolphins".
In Santa's workshop, there are various toys on the shelf, one of them being Kryptonite fists.
Coincidentally, Peter Rida Michail directed both this episode and "Second Christmas".
This is the second Christmas episode of the series. The first one was "Second Christmas".
Robin is particularly distressed to find Slade's name on the naughty list. This is most likely because he and the other Titans thought Slade had been vanquished once and for all in a prior episode, "The Return of Slade". Apparently, as in the original series, Slade isn't easily destroyed.

Continuity[]

Raven is seen unhooded for the 32nd time.
The gingerbread house from "Grube's Fairytales" is seen again.
This is the second time the Titans sing "Deck the Halls" since "Second Christmas".
Robin is shown wearing pajamas for the seventh time. The other six times were in "Second Christmas, "Slumber Party", "Terra-ized", "Staff Meeting", "Cat's Fancy", and "Dreams". Raven was seen wearing pajamas in "Caramel Apples", "Dreams, Slumber Party", and "Man Person". Starfire and Beast Boy both wore theirs in "Dreams" and "Slumber Party".
If you count Starfire loving the gingerbread cat, this is the ninth time she loves and adores cats. The first eight were in "Dreams", "Caramel Apples", "Multiple Trick Pony", "And the Award for Sound Design Goes to Rob", "The HIVE Five", "Cat's Fancy", "Animals, It's Just a Word!", and "Scary Figure Dance".
Robin is shown wearing pajamas for the seventh time.

References[]

The Gingerbread Man bears some similarities to Gingy from the DreamWorks Shrek films.

Errors[]

This episode shows that, for three years straight, the Titans have not received any gifts from Santa, which disregards the continuity from "Second Christmas". In that episode, the Titans receive gifts in the beginning montage. Since Santa starts giving presents to anyone whether they've been good or bad at the end of the episode, it is possible that "Second Christmas" actually takes place after this episode.
On the third year of Christmas, when the Titans are discussing how to get Santa to arrive, viewers can see that on the computer screen there is a document that says "Terra's Drive". That can't be the case, since Terra took out her drive in the episode "Be Mine".
- However, another possibility can be she accidentally left it behind.