Titans Season 4's New Villain Hints At Trigon's Return
Titans season 4 has officially cast a new villain - Brother Blood. Could this addition to the DC series tease a return for season 1 enemy, Trigon?
Does the addition of Brother Blood to Titans season 4 lay some spooky foundations for Trigon's return? In Titans season 3, Dick Grayson's super-friends overcame an escaped Scarecrow, Jason Todd resurrected, GCPD corruption, and their biggest nemesis of all - the dreaded "internal conflict." By the finale, however, the group departed Gotham City stronger and united, with Nightwing, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Superboy joined by wannabe vigilante, Tim Drake. Titans season 4 was officially confirmed during 2021's DC FanDome event, and the next chapter in DC's not-so-family-friendly superhero series is now taking shape.
A trio of new villains have been cast ahead of Titans season 4. Joseph Morgan of The Vampire Diaries fame will play Sebastian Blood (more often known by his supervillain moniker, Brother Blood). Morgan is joined by Franka Potente as Mother Mayhem, while Lisa Ambalavanar portrays Jinx. Those additions are sure to give Dick Grayson's gang plenty to chew on when Titans returns, but it's arguably Brother Blood DC fans will be looking forward to meeting most. Boasting powers similar to a vampire (which makes Joseph Morgan's casting rather apt), Sebastian is a cult leader of sorts, delivering sermons to his fellow fanatics in the arcane Church of Blood.
Though Brother Blood represents an exciting addition to the Titans villain roster, his presence may also signal the season 4 return of Trigon - Titans' very first arch-villain, and Raven's demonic dad. Trigon was summoned back to our dimension thanks to the machinations of Angela Azarath in Titans season 1, and immediately began making up for lost father-daughter time. Though he subdued the Titans with ease, Beast Boy gave Raven the inner strength to fight back, and she stopped her father destroying all life on planet Earth. The devilish destroyer hasn't been spotted since, but no Titans viewer seriously expected Raven killed Trigon permanently, and the door was left very much open for a family rematch.
Brother Blood's arrival suggests that time has now come. In DC comic lore, Sebastian Blood not only leads the crimson-colored cult his predecessors founded - he's also a servant and emissary of Trigon himself, with the Church of Blood worshiping at the demon's dark altar. Because of her heritage, Brother Blood takes a special interest in Raven (his intended "Bride of Blood"), and in earlier Teen Titans comics, was also immune to her usually-unstoppable supernatural powers. With Brother Blood and Trigon intrinsically linked in DC comic history, that connection must surely carry over to live-action, with Joseph Morgan's Sebastian targeting Raven, and the other Titans doing their damnedest to save her. Though it's possible Titans' Cult of Blood will be solely focused on Raven, it seems counterproductive to introduce a Trigon-obsessed villain without bringing the demon himself back into the fold. Rather than marrying Raven, Brother Blood's goal in Titans season 4 may be exploiting her lineage as a conduit for Trigon's return - just like Angela in Titans season 1.
Readying Trigon for a long-awaited comeback tour of Earth makes perfect sense for Titans season 4. Due to the drastic post-production changes surrounding Titans' season 1 finale, Trigon was never given his due as the show's first major villain. After a whole season of setup, Titans' Trigon payoff felt rushed and underwhelming. Only by bringing the villain back can those shortcomings be fixed, and by welcoming Brother Blood into its congregation, Titans season 4 has the perfect opportunity to redo Trigon... but better. A Trigon reprisal also compliments Raven's Titans journey. A trip to Themyscira helped Raven (finally) hone her abilities in Titans season 3, and she ends the finale in full control of that inner darkness. What a perfect time, then, to reunite Raven with her evil father - the source of those gifts - and test how much she's really grown across four seasons.
Though there's no official word either way, Titans season 4 could potentially mark the last ride for Dick Grayson and friends. If that's the case, who better to deploy as a final villain that the enemy who brought them together?