Teen Titans and Tolkien
Raven, the Eye of Sauron, and what Happens when One Studies the Arts of the Enemy
The Goth Girl aesthetic is “in” and has been for some time now. It’s interesting to see styles that transition from “out” to “in” - especially as a younger millennial who grew up in middle and high school settings where it was common for people to make fun of Goths or Goth-adjacent individuals. At the same time, many of the cartoons and shows that I watched as a kid featured prominent characters that embodied the Goth style: Sam from Danny Phantom, Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jack Spicer from Xiaolin Showdown - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, a 2020 article from The Michigan Daily entitled “Gen Z is going goth and it might be because of our cartoons” makes the explicit argument that is present in its title.
Raven from the Cartoon Network animated series Teen Titans will be the hold on our attention for this Tolkien Pop! article. I’ve always been more on the fantasy side of the fantasy/sci-fi divide. Like many, my dad had Episodes IV-VI of Star Wars on video and shared that universe with me and my siblings. I also grew up when the Prequel films were being released in theaters, so Star Wars was part of my pop cultural upbringing. While being a staple in sci-fi, many argue that Star Wars is more of a science fantasy world where both advanced technology and magic coexist to make up essential elements of the story and universe. So, from an early age the mystery provided by the unexplained nature of things such as The Force captured my attention.
Teen Titans certainly blends the elements of sci-fi and fantasy, making it, I would argue, a science fantasy series. Much art surrounding superheroes usually is. Raven is a perfect example of a superhero who is enabled to perform her work because of the magic which she knows and is able to produce. In a team made up of tech-enhanced fighters, an alien, and boy who can shapeshift into any animal, Raven as a magically imbued human-demon hybrid stands out. The show regularly explores the nuances of right and wrong, good and evil, but Raven is the literal persona of someone who embodies both good and evil. Her gray skin tone is representative of her complex nature and the metaethical fabric of the show. Additionally, Raven is the main fantastical element that brings the show’s science fantasy duality together.
Because Raven is the resident magic-wielder in the show, she is a prime candidate for some Tolkienian analysis. In fact, the episode that I will be writing on features Raven as the main character in a primarily magical setting and plot line. Season 3, Episode 6 entitled “Spellbound” opens with a wizard named Malchior fighting a dragon named Rorek in a castle. As the fight progresses, the viewers are brought to the climax of the battle only to be cut off by some of our Teen Titans interrupting Raven, who was apparently narrating the battle between the wizard and dragon. She grows annoyed with her Titan Tower-mates because she is unable to finish her book. A little stereotypical but relatable situation if you are a reader and just want to be left alone so you can get to the good part of the story.
Multiple attempts are made by Raven to finish the book, but she continues to be barged in on by Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire. As the plot develops, it becomes clearer and clearer that Raven feels like she is misunderstood by her friends and tries to isolate herself into a fantasy world where she feels more at home. The other Titans aren’t trying to annoy or tease Raven. They return to her door each time because they need her help or want to spend time with her. Unfortunately, these gestures of relationship only cause Raven to further cut herself off from her friends in the episode. Beast Boy in frustration asks her, “Why do you have to be so creepy?” This causes Raven to shut herself in and finally manage a portion of time alone from her teammates. During this brief time of solitude, she expresses her frustrations out loud saying, “I’m not creepy. I’m just different. I wish there were someone around here who understood that, someone I could talk to, someone more like me.” A voice from the book replies, “There is.” The book turns its pages to reveal a pair of eyes and the voice claims to be Malchior, the wizard from the tale.
Malchior explains to Raven that he has been trapped inside the pages of this book by the work of the dragon Rorek’s last curse before Malchior was able to defeat him. He requests Raven’s help to free him. Raven is insecure and downplays her magical abilities. Malchior promises to teach her the magic she needs to learn to set him free and builds her up by telling her that he recognizes the inherent talent that she possesses. Being trapped alone in a book and a wizard who knows magic, Malchior makes an emotional connection with Raven and she agrees to help him escape the book.
As Raven spends more time with Malchior , she does so in the confines of her room without the interference of the other Titans. They try to check in on her and become wise to the fact that she is talking to someone. Raven brushes off the Titans’ inquiries about her mystery friend and begins wearing a white cloak rather than her normal dark blue one. Through various spellcasting trials and the reading of many spellbooks, Raven is able to “free” Malchior from his pages by allowing him to manifest into a golem composed of the leaves from his leatherbound prison. However, Malchior is not yet free. He is able to take a physical form but is still bound to the book. Raven has a ways to go. When she progresses in her magic, that is when Raven begins to wear white and demonstrates some serious gains in the power department on her next Teen Titans mission - to the point where she is unable to control her magic and puts innocent people in danger. Instead of talking to her friends, Raven retreats further into her relationship with Malchior, who informs her that she is ready to conduct the spell for his freedom with his help.
A stage for the ritual is set in Raven’s room and the cooperative enchantment begins. Raven begins to chant the spell “hezbarek etmorane gost wenthen verbis nex in obrium bispendrule paran sic cortus rex” with Malchior watching her from his ceremonial circle. Raven normally recites the phrase “azarath metrion zinthos” when casting her magic. The length of the freeing incantation is to give us a sense of difficulty and power that emerges from mastering a longer spell in comparison to her everyday conjuring. Black magic emerges from Raven’s eyes and mouth, the page golem Malchior begins to dissipate under a white light, and the book flashes violently, sending Raven flying across her room. Confused, Raven looks at the loose pages that have flown from the book after the spell. One of these pages shows a picture of Malchior and Rorek and their names magically switch. Malchior is not who he says he is. In order to trick Raven, Malchior labeled himself as the wizard to hide his true identity as an evil dragon.
Malchior , newly released busts out of Titan Tower, leaving Raven’s room and that section of the tower in ruins. The other Titans check out to see what happened and promise to help Raven defeat Malchior before he destroys the whole city. Malchior and the Titans go a few rounds with the Titans absolutely getting their asses handed to them. At the close of the episode, it’s a showdown between Malchior and Raven. When in his page form, Malchior stroked Raven’s ego and took advantage of her loneliness to manipulate her into learning the freeing spell. These moments of vulnerability violated the relationship that Raven thought she was building, only to realize that the Titans, although not archetypes of the nerdy and Gothic, are her true friends. In his dragon form, Malchior tears down Raven, telling her how weak she is. Ironically, Raven reminds Malchior that in her “weakness,” Malchior , in his manipulation, taught her the very curse that could reseal Malchior back into his prison. Raven recites the spell her twisted teacher taught her: hezbarek etmorane gost wenthen verbis nex in obrium bispendrule paran sic cortus rex. And with that, Malchior is imprisoned, the day is saved, and Raven is reunited with her friends.
As I was watching this episode, I thought to myself, “This is the first explicit tie-in to fantasy that Teen Titans has done so far.” And as the episode unfolded, there were more and more connections to The Lord of the Rings and some of the themes within the legendarium that I noticed.
Firstly, I want to highlight that as Malchior reveals himself to Raven, the first physical feature that she encounters is his eyes. Despite having no mouth or ears, Malchior can still speak and hear Raven when she responds to him, but his eyes are the only sensory body parts that Raven and the audience can see. After Raven casts the first freeing spell and Malchior takes his page golem form, he constructs a plain bodily form with arms, legs, and a head, but the same eyes that stared from the book were still the sole aspect of Malchior present in his embodiment.
These eyes seem to be more symbolic rather than functional since Malchior is able to speak and hear without the proper sensory organs to make such activities possible. My mind went immediately to the symbolic Eye of Sauron in the The Lord of the Rings books and the incarnated version in the Peter Jackson films. Additionally, in the older tales of Middle-earth, i.e., those found in The Silmarillion, also spotlight characters whose eyes are prominent features that demonstrate their power. Glaurung the dragon, servant of Morgoth in the First Age of Middle-earth, uses his eyes to paralyze his victims and curse them through magical means in the tragic tale The Children of Húrin. Especially since Malchior ends up being an evil dragon, I thought the parallel between Glaurung and Malchior apt.
In this story, originally published as “Of Túrin Turambar” in The Silmarillion and later developed by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher, through the navigating and reorganizing of his father’s original manuscripts for the story, the hero Túrin lives in a part of history where Morgoth reigns over much of Middle-earth. Orcs roam freely and any remaining human outposts are run by evil humans who are servants of Morgoth. Túrin is brought up in one of these occupied provinces, but is sent to the Elven realm of Doriath by his mother Morwen, where the Sindarin Elf Lord Thingol and the Maia Melian ruled. Doriath was protected by the Veil of Melian, which was an enchanted barrier produced by Melian that shielded it from all those who were not permitted to enter.
Túrin became a great warrior as he came of age under the upbringing of the Elves. Unfortunately, as Túrin grew in stature, so did his problems. More power, more problems, am I right? To make a long story short, Túrin made a series of decisions which led to very bad outcomes for those around him. During his adventures, Túrin ends up in the Elven kingdom of Nargothrond. Glaurung comes to destroy Nargothrond and Túrin leads a band from Nargothrond to meet Glaurung in battle before he reaches the kingdom. Túrin and the Elves are defeated and Glaurung takes the Elven city with his orcs. In pursuit, Túrin is stopped by Glarung’s eyes and puts him under his spell to convince Túrin to go find his long lost mother Morwen and sister Nienor. Glaurung then encounters Nienor on the road and enchants her through his eyes, taking her memories away. Túrin eventually saves Nienor while not knowing that she is his sister, never meeting her in adulthood. He names her Níniel, they eventually fall in love, and are wed. At the end of the tale, Túrin successfully slays Glaurung, undoing his spell, making both Túrin and Nienor aware that they were brother and sister. Both end up taking their own lives, completing the spell of Glaurung.
Giving this extremely brief summary about the tale of Túrin and his ongoing battle with Glaurung is to show that the power of Glaurung’s eyes are in the changing of viewpoints of his victims - to manipulate them into seeing reality the way in which he wants them to see it. During Glaurung’s siege of Nargothrond, he convinced Túrin to go to the realm of Dor-lómin to find and rescue his mother and sister when in actuality, Morwen and Nienor had gone to Doriath. Túrin’s extended time away from Doriath motivates Morwen to pursue her son and Nienor tags along. On the way to find Túrin, Morwen is lost and Nienor is trapped by Glaurung’s gaze, erasing her memory and sending her off running into the wilderness. Túrin is then reunited with his sister, but in a way that brings on consequences of Oedipusian proportions. Glarung’s physical form is raw power and produces destruction, but his eyes bring with them false promises and evil ends achieved through lies, not so different from Malchior’s approach to Raven.
We can see echoes of Glaurung’s evil eye magic in Smaug in The Hobbit when he searches for Bilbo as he’s wearing the Ring in the treasury in Erebor. Smaug attempts to manipulate Bilbo by convincing him to doubt the Dwarves, those he would call friends. We could go on, but instead I want to focus on Sauron and how his manipulation affects others in The Lord of the Rings. Throughout the three volumes, Sauron, unlike his optic counterpart in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, is unable to physically “look” upon anyone from Mordor. However, Sauron does twist others to his will and version of events to achieve his own ends through the palantíri, the Númenórean seeing stones. There are two examples I want to focus on: the first being Denethor and the second being Saruman. Saruman’s fall comes before Denethor’s, narratively speaking, but I want to save Saruman for last because I believe there to be some direct parallels to be made between Saruman and Raven.
The palantíri were seeing stones that were brought over into the mainland of Middle-earth by the ancient Númenóreans and were eventually scattered and lost across the land. Only those of Númenórean royalty had the right and proper power to use these stones, which is why we see Aragorn successfully use Saruman’s palantír to gain the upper hand, intimidate, and draw out Sauron. I won’t go too far into the nature and histSarumory of the palantíri, but I go into more detail in my post on Saruman and Gorr. Denethor and an both have access to a palantír because Minas Tirith and Isengard were both constructed by the Númenóreans. Sauron also has a palantír, one from the tower of Minas-Ithil, also built by the Númenóreans, after the Nazgûl captured it. Palantíri are extremely useful, but come at a cost because the users do not possess the qualities to properly use them. Sauron, being more powerful than both Saruman and Denethor, is able to manipulate them. As the end of The War of the Ring draws near, Denethor spends more and more time gazing into the palantír for answers. In The Return of the King, Denethor sees the navy of Corsair ships sailing down the Anduin. Not knowing that they have been captured by Aragorn and his Dúnedain army, Denethor believes this to be the end of Gondor and brings him to despair, causing him to attempt to burn Faramir and ultimately burning himself alive. What Denethor saw was indeed reality, but it was only in the context by which Sauron allowed him to see it, bringing Denethor to prematurely cremate his son, but also cut his own life short.
Whereas the examples given above have brought the victims of the eyes of evil to despair and confusion, Saruman’s being seen by the Eye of Sauron bolsters Saruman to hubris and increases his desire power. At first, Saruman consults with Sauron, working as an ally to bring about the Dark Lord’s will to be rewarded in turn. However, eventually Saruman decides that he can bring about an army big enough to challenge Sauron, take the Ring, and rule Middle-earth according to his own ideal vision for it. Saruman may not have fallen into despair, but he was indeed driven to a warped view of himself and the world. This a direct result from Sauron’s seeing Saruman through the palantír. Additionally, Saruman entered into the study of ring craft, so that he may discover and master the art of magic ring making in the vein of Sauron. This study led to Saruman puffing himself up to the point where he felt that he could defeat Sauron through the very same means. For both Sauron and Saruman, their own devices are what cause their defeat. Saruman creates an industrial wasteland in order to produce more weapons and Uruks to build his army. In doing so, he cuts down Fangorn Forest to fuel his war machine. This leads the Ents to retaliate against him and brings about his total defeat at Isengard and Helm’s Deep. Sauron, in attempting to manipulate Saruman, produces an unintentional monkey wrench in his plan. Saruman’s defeat leads to the Fellowship acquiring the palantír and therefore giving them the means to trick Sauron so that Frodo and Sam are able to take the Ring into the fires of Mt. Doom without being hassled by Sauron’s army.
Raven, like Saruman, is manipulated through a magic object, where she is caught in the gaze of a powerful evil. Malchior twists Raven’s view of things and convinces her to bring about his will. While learning the magic he is teaching her, she becomes more isolated and begins to wear a white cloak. Similarly, Saruman in learning more about the ring lore and furthering his plans of domination also dives deeper into isolation and his white robes are actually made up of many colors, splintered from the pure light that he used to reflect. While Raven’s white cloak does not seem to be made of many colors to trick others into believing it to be white, it is still indicative of the change from her normal self to a now changed self that may be more powerful, but is formed by deceit. Later when Raven finally joins the Titans on a rescue mission, she uses her boosted powers to a point beyond her control and puts others including herself in danger. Her power, in part, serves as the catalyst to the emergence of Malchior’sdragon form. However, Raven’s newly mastered powers aren’t all in the service of evil. The spell that she learned from Malchior brought her and the Titans to face Malchior and his destruction, but it is also the same spell by which Raven defeats Malchior. Saruman’s actions may have been redeemed, but ultimately, he rejects the grace given him by Gandalf and it leads him to his doom. On the other hand, we see Raven reject the evil that Malchior influenced her by, embrace her friends, and redeem herself by ending Malchior’s reign and begin to rely on her friends once more.
Like The Lord of the Rings, this episode of Teen Titans along with the rest of the show, presents complex situations where people wrestle with who they are, how to face evil, what good really is, and who their true friends are. Túrin faced the servants of Morgoth with bravery and virtue, but ultimately fell under the curse of Glaurung’s glare. Saruman and Denethor originally looked to their palantíri for the betterment of Middle-earth, but got caught up in Sauron’s writhing of reality, leading to their demise. Raven retreated to her room and books, and to Malchior, as a way to cope with her identity in relation to the issues she was having with the people around her. This, in itself, was not bad, but under the eyes of Malchior’s manipulation, she isolated herself to grow in power. But unlike Saruman and Malchior, she did not hoard this power for herself, but learned it to help someone she believed to be her friend. The enemies of Middle-earth and of the Teen Titans - Malchior anyways - cannot fathom the way in which they are defeated because they believe that everyone sees the world as twisted as they do. Raven’s redemption shows us that the genuine desire for relationship and compassion reflects evil against itself, inducing its own defeat.