Teen Titans, an animated adaptation of the DC comic book series, aired on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2006 and is still one of the network’s most acclaimed shows. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled before some of its biggest questions were answered. Almost two decades have passed, and even though fans have demanded the series return, there’s no comeback in sight, leaving fans forever pondering these queries. 

Here are some of the biggest and most burning questions fans have been stuck with for so long. 

Who is Red X?

Red X was a villainous identity Robin once used to go undercover. However, the masked character reared his head afterward, but it wasn’t Robin in disguise. There’s no telling who was under the mask after that point. 

There has been an awful lot of speculation as to who he really is. One major theory is that he was Jason Todd, the former Robin who becomes Red Hood in the comics. Both characters’ names starting with “Red” and them both being anti-heroes are neat little hints that could indicate that this is the case, but there’s never a confirmation. Plus, there was a non-canon short that released after the show’s cancellation that teased that Red X was Jason Todd. However, that theory doesn’t quite work with the rest of the show since Jason Todd has never been seen or mentioned in the series before. 

Who else could it be, though? Is he one of Slade’s robots, one of the other Robins, an illusion made by one of the magic-based villains, or someone else who hasn’t been seen in the show yet? 

What was in the briefcase? 

There was an episode where the Titans, Ding Dong Daddy, and Red X race each other with the grand prize being a briefcase containing Robin’s most prized possession that was stolen from him. He’s kept it a secret from everyone, including the other Titans. Throughout the episode, it’s built up to be a huge, important secret. The episode ends with Robin obtaining the briefcase, realizing there shouldn’t be secrets kept between him and his teammates, and him opening the case to show his friends what’s inside. 

However, the audience never gets to see what was in it. All the build-up was for nothing. This isn’t Pulp Fiction; we need to see what’s in the briefcase. This one’s especially painful since this version of Robin is mysterious and this was a chance to find out more about him. 

How is Terra back and will she regain her memory?

Terra seemingly meets her demise after using her geokinetic powers to prevent lava from destroying the city and ultimately sacrificing herself and turning to stone in the process. However, in the final episode of the series, Beast Boy discovers that Terra is back, but has no memory of him or her superpowered life. Her tomb is empty, so it appears she’s no longer a stone statue. How did she get out alive? Perhaps this is Slade’s doing to mess with Beast Boy and cause a rift within the team. Maybe it was done by one of the few reality-bending villains for the same reason, even though they had each been defeated. It could be that her own powers broke her free, but used so much power that it sort of “broke” something in her brain. 

On top of wondering how she is no longer stone and still alive, the episode ends without her ever regaining her memory. She still thinks she’s a typical school girl with no superpowers and no history with the Teen Titans. It’s an important moment for Beast Boy once he decides to let go of his past and focus on his future, but it’s still strange to never have her remember. If that girl truly isn’t Terra and is just some random girl who looks like her, then what happened to statue Terra? Make it make sense, Teen Titans writers!  

Why is Slade’s face never shown?

The show’s primary antagonist is Slade, who in the comics is Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke. However, the folks at Cartoon Network left him as “Slade” for censorship reasons. Other versions of the character, whether it be the comics, CW’s Arrow, or the post-credits scene in Justice League, his identity is never really a secret. He wears the mask and armor as protection, but he’s always Slade Wilson: a middle-aged white guy with an eye patch. In Teen Titans, we never see him without his mask, and they even tease that his appearance is a secret, like when he hides his face with his hand and runs off after his mask breaks off or when Robin removes the mask and sees that he had been fighting a robot instead of the real Slade. Since the heroes are already familiar with at least his first name, why tease his identity like it’s some big secret? 

There’s a running theory that this version of Slade/Deathstroke isn’t actually Slade Wilson, but someone using him as an alias. Who would do that and why, though? Could it have been Bruce Wayne using Deathstroke’s name and armor to test Robin to see if he’s ready to be on his own the whole time? Is this Slade more scarred than missing an eye? Is he actually Robin from the future? His identity being treated like a mystery certainly makes it seem like there’s something else going on rather than Slade just being Slade Wilson. 

Will the Titans ever defeat Slade? 

Toward the end of the series, the Brotherhood of Evil recruited most of the Titans’ villains to take down the heroes and all of their allies, causing a war to break out between the heroes and villains. However, even though the heroes come out on top and defeat every villain there (and Doctor Light afterward), Slade wasn’t present during this story arc. The other villains are frozen and locked away, but Slade is not. During the final episode, Slade sends a creature after the Titans that can transform into any material it touches, and the episode ends with them battling it. 

We never know if they defeat Slade or the creature or how they do it. After five seasons of battling this evil-doer, we never see them finally beat him. There’s no payoff for all the hardship Slade has caused them. There’s never an epic final battle between the Titans and Slade, which is extremely disappointing.

What happened to Blackfire?

Blackfire is Starfire’s sister, and there’s a pretty big rivalry between them, to say the least. Blackfire essentially serves as Starfire’s arch-nemesis. Not only is she an important part of the show, but she’s vital to Stafire’s character development. The last time we saw her was when she was banished from their home planet of Tamaran, but what happened to her after that? 

She never goes back to Earth to fight Starfire, she doesn’t join the Brotherhood of Evil to take on the Teen Titans, and she is never seen in any of the brief instances other characters leave Earth. Where did she go? What is she doing now? She’s still out there somewhere and likely has hatred toward Starfire, so there’s definitely some unresolved story there. 

What’s going on with all the shipping?

One of the elements of the series fans tend to remember when looking back at it is the shipping. This is bound to happen when a bunch of teens are grouped together. Throughout the show, Robin and Starfire have a “will-they/won’t-they” style of relationship which is finally resolved in the movie Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo when they kiss and finally become an item. However, what about the other Titans? 

Beast Boy’s love life is particularly interesting. At times, it does seem like the writers wanted him to be with Terra. He even appears to have feelings for her during the final episode when she returns with no memory. However, it’s pretty clear to many viewers that he and Raven have somewhat of a “thing” together. Raven shows clear signs of jealousy toward Terra. Even though one is a serious character and the other is the comic relief, they do work well together. They’ve helped each other grow quite a lot throughout the story. Beast Boy even ventures into Raven’s mind to help her overcome some literal personal demons. However, we never see if Beast Boy actually dates or ends up with Raven or Terra. 

Also, with all this shipping going on among these teens, why can’t Cyborg get some love while everyone else gets so much of it? There’s some hints of romance between him and a side character here and there like Bumblebee, but nothing ever comes of it. The romance is far from the most important aspect of the show, but why hint at potential love interests and never deliver?

Hopefully, the series eventually returns for a much needed sixth season to give us necessary explanations, or the writers at least cough up some answers. Until then, we’ll always be stuck wondering.