In the comics, Brother Blood is one of the Titans’ more dangerous foes. He’s both personally powerful, and has a large cult behind him who will do anything for him. The version of the character on the show so far is very different, but a lot more interesting in many ways. Sebastian, fated to become Brother Blood, has been an important character for this season. We see the transformation continuing in this episode, named for the man himself, “Brother Blood.”

After the traumatic events of last episode, Conner is having some issues. He decides to work through them with a new look and a new attitude, favoring one of his “parents” over the other. Kory and Rachel, returning to STAR after their mission that didn’t work out, talk about recent developments and visions. Rachel shares something that clearly startles Kory, and I don’t blame her.

At the stereotypical Villain Lair In A Cave ™, Sebastian is having what you might call growing pains. Mother Mayhem is there with him, eager to lead him down the dark path. A lurking bald man, who the credits identify as “The Confessor,” but doesn’t get named in the episode, speaks with Mayhem about what’s going on, and gives her a chance to provide some exposition. While the team regroups at STAR, Kory and Rachel tell everyone what happened, Conner debuts his new look, and Gar can’t help being a wiseass about it. To his credit, it was a good joke.

As the Titans work with the techs at STAR to try and find a way to prevent the big ritual from coming off, Conner shows that his change is a lot more than cosmetic, and even brings up some events in Gotham to try and shore up his new point of view. Hiding in a stairwell, Gar is having some problems of his own, and then gets proof that whatever’s going on, it isn’t just in his head. In the cave, Mayhem keeps trying to persuade Sebastian to join her side, and uses some kind of weird pool to show visions from his past to show him why he should work with her. It’s like a really ugly version of the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Growing concerned about Conner’s changes, Dick starts asking around about how he’s behaving. Bernard shares his own run-in, which came with a surprising request about what Conner wants to be called. He and Dick have a conversation that doesn’t go well, and then Conner goes back to order the STAR techs around. He’s being a jerk, but he does seem to be right in what, if not how, he’s doing. Meanwhile, Jinx gets an idea about a possible way to save Sebastian, which, of all things, was sparked by one of Gar’s comments.

Mother Mayhem keeps trying to manipulate Sebastian by continuing to show him select scenes from his past. He has suffered a lot of injustices in his past, and they even work in a reference to George Perez, co-creator of the New Teen Titans. The team starts getting a plan together which involves some creative use of powers, a fair amount of desperation, and a discussion of hair products. Dick gets a call about what Conner’s up to now, which leads to a few surprising contributions to the conversation, especially from Tim.

As Conner’s project seems to be working, and Dick is justifiably worrying, Mayhem continues her campaign with Sebastian, and the Confessor is clearly worried about the effect Conner’s scheme may have on the ritual. Tim and Bernard indulge in some commentary on Conner’s new look and then some entertainingly awkward flirting. There’s also a touching note about Bernard being worried about Tim’s participation in the upcoming attack. Not feeling too great, Gar goes for a walk and has an unexpected encounter with someone who touches on what’s happening with Gar, and namechecks two other heroes with powers from sort of the same area as Gar’s. The meeting ends with a somewhat cliched finale for such mystic encounters.

Inside, Conner paces and shows he can’t take a compliment. He can’t take criticism either, as Dick points out a potential flaw in the plan and Conner just assumes their foes won’t be smart enough to figure it out. Generally, it’s not a good idea to build your strategy around “Oh, don’t worry, they’re too dumb to work that out.” Conner then switches focus on his rant, tearing down his teammates. Dick tries to talk him down, but Conner isn’t having any of it. Dick gently reminds Conner what their priorities should be, and goes to gather the team. Left unsupervised, Conner gets some more intel and decides to do something remarkably stupid, considering one of the weaknesses he and Superman both share.

Mother Mayhem continues her psychological warfare against Sebastian, who is utterly unequipped for this kind of thing. She continues to use carrot and stick both, as well as the carefully curated visions of his past. This one doesn’t quite fit with the others, because while it’s definitely sad, it’s something Sebatian did to himself. As Mayhem appears to be victorious, the team puts the finishing touches on their desperate plan. Dick and Jinx have an interesting sidebar about her motivations, and we see that Dick has learned several good lessons from his mentor. It’s an amusing little scene, well-acted by both Brenton Thwaites and Lisa Ambalavanar.

At the hidden cave, the cult is getting ready for Sebastian’s ascension, and all the pieces are falling into place. They get an unexpected visitor who does their best to disrupt everything, and is utterly overmatched, except possibly for arrogance/overconfidence. The Titans start their plan in motion, and while it doesn’t do exactly what they expected or hoped, it at least gives them some useful information. In the midst of this, Rachel learns some bad news about one of the team. As the team gets ready to act on their new information, Dick and Kory have a quick conversation about visions that affect both of them.

Reassembling and in costume, Nightwing gives the Titans a final briefing about who needs to do what to make this work. There’s a bit of disagreement, but eventually everyone agrees. When you have an expert, you should listen to them, and Nightwing is one of the best leaders around. Then again, Dick makes the questionable decision to leave behind a powerful ally in this fight, so maybe I’m giving him too much credit.

The big finale is a clash between the Titans and the cult. There’s a lot of action and a few surprises about who is capable of what, or at least I was surprised. I’d have to say they end up with some very mixed results. They save someone, don’t save someone else, and take an unexpected loss on their side due to someone getting cocky. After an unexpected departure, the two sides end up separating and someone completes their fall.

What I Liked: Gar’s unexpected meeting was interesting, as were the names that were dropped in it. The new change in Conner was unpleasant, but an interesting take and well-executed. I enjoyed the scene with Dick and Jinx. Gar got in a few good lines. The Tim/Bernard scenes were well done.

What I Didn’t: There were some really foolish choices made by some people who should have known better. From ill-considered solo attempts to leaving behind a powerhouse, I don’t like what appeared to be the death of a character I’ve been enjoying, but they, too, made bad choices.

Overall, this was a decent enough episode with a few great moments, and a few head-scratchingly stupid ones. I’ll give it a 3.5 as we reach the halfway point of the final season.