‘Asylum’ - the most recent episode of Titans - seems to be trolling those Dick Grayson fans who are anxious to see him take up the mantle of Nightwing. This is a foregone conclusion, given that the show is mirroring the classic New Teen Titans comics where the young acrobat eventually retired as Robin to make a name for himself as a hero outside of Batman’s shadow. Nevertheless, the slow-boiling pace of the series has fans itching Dick Grayson to become Nightwing sooner rather than later.
One of the major subplots of the DC Universe series has focused on Dick Grayson, who was working as a police detective in Detroit, Michigan, as Titans opened. The first episode revealed that it had been about a year since Grayson had donned his Robin costume to fight crime, though no reason was given for why until the sixth episode ‘Jason Todd’. It was here that viewers learned that Dick Grayson had allowed Tony Zucco - the gangster responsible for killing Dick’s parents - to be gunned down by the Maroni crime family, whom Zucco was about to testify against in court. The guilt over how he failed his moral code when it mattered most and his fears that becoming Robin had turned him into a monster sent Grayson off in search of his true self, forming an odd counterpoint to the similar journey being undertaken by Rachel Roth.
‘Asylum’ saw the Titans captured as they attempted to infiltrate a medical facility run by the mysterious organization that has been trying to get their hands on Rachel Roth since the first episode. While imprisoned, Dick was restrained and injected with some kind of drug that knocked him unconscious. After being knocked out, Dick had a dream where he was fighting his younger self, who complained that Dick was the one who had ruined what Robin was meant to be and told him to stop blaming everyone else for what he had become. The words of his subconscious had a deep effect on Dick, leaving him to ponder them even after he was freed from his cell by Rachel and led the fight against the security guards trying to recapture the team.
It was here that the show seemed to be ready to pay tribute to Dick Grayson’s future alter ego with the comics, only to deny viewers a bit of fan-service at the last minute. In the comics, Dick Grayson’s weapons of choice as Nightwing are a pair of escrima sticks with concealed shock-batons he can use to stun those enemies against whom blunt force alone is ineffective. In the middle of a crisis of identity and facing off against several guards armed with shock-sticks, it seemed all but certain that Dick’s transition to Nightwing would begin in this moment, with him picking up and dual-wielding the guards’ weapons by the end of the fight. Sadly, Dick stuck with his original weapon - a repurposed piece of pipe - for the whole battle.
That’s not the only Nightwing tease in the episode, though. There’s another subtle nod at the end of the episode, as Dick Grayson pondered the team’s next move while staring into a puddle and seeing his reflection in costume. While it is clear that Dick’s reflection is wearing his Robin suit, there is a slight tint to the reflection that leaves the Robin costume looking somewhat blue, like the Nightwing costume in the comics. While this was likely a coincidental lighting effect rather than an intentional Easter egg, it seems likely that fans will see Nightwing on Titans someday, though it may be another season or two before that comes to pass.
