Titans: Raven Just Did Something Horrifying to Scarecrow | CBR

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Titans Season 3, Episode 13, "Purple Rain," available now on HBO Max.

Over the course of Titans Season 3, Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow proved himself one of the fiercest villains the team could ever face. Thanks to some help from Jason Todd/Red Hood, Scarecrow was able to turn Gotham City against the Titans, resulting in the death (and quick resurrection) of Dick Grayson/Nightwing. Still, in the finale, "Purple Rain," the Titans prove victorious -- leading to a shockingly dark punishment from Nightwing and Rachel Roth/Raven.

RELATED: Titans Season 3, Episode 12, "Prodigal," Recap & Spoilers

Thanks to their combined might, the Titans end up overcoming Crane without too much trouble. Essentially, they hack into the computer at Wayne Manor so as to keep Scarecrow from being able to detonate the bombs that he's planted across Gotham City. Then, after taking care of the corrupt Gotham City Police Department officers working for Crane, they confront him in the Batcave. Tim Drake ends up being the one to take down Crane -- and he does so with one punch. Around that time, the Titans also resurrect anyone Crane has killed via Lazarus Pit, which Raven, Koriand'r/Starfire and Komand'r/Blackfire essentially turned into a storm.

Once Crane is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum again, Nightwing goes to visit. Although Crane is heavily restrained, the villain swears that he will eventually gets free. As he says, that's just the way things work in Gotham. And as Batman's history of fighting and imprisoning the same villains over and over again has shown, he's right. Worse, Crane also knows the real identities of Batman and Nightwing, as well as whatever information he was able to glean from his time on the Batcomputer and Oracle.

RELATED: Titans Season 3, Episode 13, "Purple Rain," Recap & Spoilers

As Nightwing reveals, though, the Titans have a way to make sure Scarecrow never escapes Arkham Asylum again. Raven enters the room after Crane's boast and uses her magic to draw out a piece of the Lazarus Pit that she absorbed into herself earlier in the episode. She then puts that piece of the Lazarus Pit into Crane, wracking his mind with horrifying images and memories that hse saw earlier in the episode. The two Titans then walk away as Crane screams in agony.

Raven and Nightwing's choice to dispose of Crane in this way is a dark one. It's clear from the context that Raven's magic is going to essentially destroy his mind. This means Crane isn't going to be escaping or exposing any secret identities any time soon. While it's fitting -- Scarecrow, after all, made others feel afraid and must now live in fear -- it's also brutal. The tactic is exactly one Crane himself might use to control or destroy others, and to see it used on him so nonchalantly really throws the morality of Nightwing and Raven into question. As, while they don't kill Crane, they consign him to a fate worse than death. Raven even seems to enjoy the act, and considering just how powerful she is, that could be a bad omen of things to come.

All 13 episodes of Titans Season 3 are available now on HBO Max. The show has been renewed for Season 4.

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