I remember this episode, I just don't have that much to say about it. I get the idea behind the episode, but I'm still disappointed. I did briefly discuss this in my editorial on the show as a whole, so for a lack of better ideas... writers block beware, I have waffles.
The few things I remember about this episode are bits and pieces of how the plot's carried out, the plot at hand, and a joke I feel like mindlessly nitpicking. I'll put these to different sections for the sake of flow.
A Forced Meme
This episode is notable for spawning a certain quote, if this was the only takeaway people had of this episode it'd make things even more sad. Fans of the show would know what I'm talking about, but if you don't know...
"Evil beware, we have waffles."
You're probably gonna get at me for whining about a silly line, well how can I not? It plays out like a forced meme, a good meme is short, simple and to the point, this feels just a bit too long. Not to mention where else would it fit in any other context? Here it was just because something Cyborg made happened to have a waffle-maker.
I feel this sums up the humor of the show at its core. Teen Titans Go isn't just a stupid comedy, it's just more of Teen Titans' initial humor.
The line did blow up a bit for some time, which is why I'm singling it out. If you wanna get at me for this, Bring on the Belgian.
A so-so episode
After a machine malfunction, Cyborg is transported many centuries back in time, or is it some fantasy world. I dunno, what time period do witches and humanoid insect slime creatures fit in to? I mean, a fantasy setting is basically the simplest premise to use, whether you make your own rules or base it off of an existing interpretation.
Most I could bring to the table at this point is Cyborg going back in time and meeting his ancestors, but even then that's as generic as I imply this story to be.
It's the kind of story I can easily sum up in a few sentences or less, focusing on familiar story elements.
Cyborg meets a skilled fighter who turns out to be female, both strike a match and stir the ire of a jock-type ally who pines for the female, the jock turns out to be the one responsible for the attacks his people face as he bargained with a witch to create them to fight in order to pass himself as a hero, but pays the price where when he seeks stronger aid, he is reconverted into one of the witch's grunts, this time of a stronger variety and we lead to what would be a major fight scene.
The only thing that helped this stray from it being entirely cliche, Cyborg is brought back to the present during the middle of the fight, with a phoned in resolution showing the woman to be alive and having won the fight.
What I said accounts for a stark bulk of the episode, minus any jokes or significant dialog. Literally the most major thing that stood out was the aforementioned forced meme.
Where could it be better?
I feel that if they actually thought about it, this could've been a good episode and a lead-in to an interesting arc and new character.
To get the simple thing out of the way, what if the woman warrior was an ancestor to one of the heroes in the show? Imagine if the woman warrior was an ancestor to Jinx, the latter being evil being owed to her bloodline, the woman warrior would always feel second rate to that jock and wound up killing him out of spite, or to stop him from carrying out a plan that'd prove damaging to her people.
She would ironically go to that witch and get abilities to help her take down her oppressors and maintain a long life. With Cyborg going back in time to help, the woman would maintain a moral compass and reinvent Jinx as a hero, undoing her prior history.
Next is one that would've made for a good arc. What if the woman turned out to be a twist villain? That her trying to be the best was just to gain power over her people and gradually militarize them. That's my worst.
But what if, hear me out, what if the woman didn't win at the end? What if she wound up either dying or becoming evil? This could lead to a rift between Cyborg and Raven as she brought him back. On the evil aspect, she could've been the ancestor to a major villain or become one herself through a bargain of her own and Cyborg has to face the consequences of helping her live to that point.
When you're young you don't pick up on anything but what you see, but when you get older and see much more, you can basically tell what direction these episodes could've gone.
Final Thoughts
Waffles was the only major takeaway from this episode. You'd think that Teen Titans Go episode was rubbing in the fact that waffles are more memorable that a bare basic time travel adventure.
This is another in a crop of disappointments. Let's face it, fans like these have ruined the show for a lot of people, spiking up hype that wound up building high expectations that couldn't be met, and I feel like I'm the only sensible person left, the lessers are working on suffocating contrarians.
I'd make a closing line relating to waffles, but I'm not a fan of the obvious.
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