"This isn’t a good time, guys. We got a theory of mayhem test tomorrow and I’m totally gonna bomb."
—Cyborg
Cyborg goes undercover to investigate the H.I.V.E.
Tropes:
- Academy of Evil: H.I.V.E. Headquarters is an academy for budding teen supervillains. It turns out the Titans' enemies, Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth from the previous seasons are among their best students.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:"I've been learning their combat techniques, weapons, armor, and we had a dance..."
- Bait-and-Switch Comment:
- Brother Blood welcomes Cyborg/Stone with the "You're not clever...you're brilliant!" variety.
- Later, it appears that Cyborg really is brainwashed by Brother Blood and is about to blast the Teen Titans into next Tuesday... before he calls out "Psych!" and aims his cannon at Blood.
- Batman Gambit: After Cyborg learns what the class project, Ion Amplifier, is and what it does he pretends to be brainwashed until Brother Blood trusted enough to hand the weapon to him.
- Becoming the Mask: Cyborg actually begins to enjoy being at the H.I.V.E. Academy the longer he's there. He mentions at the end of the episode that he never got to finish high school because of his accident, and that his mission gave him a chance to feel normal again.
- Berate and Switch: After a training exercise, Brother Blood is seemingly scolding Cyborg for destroying the equipment, and making Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth look bad, then he commends him, and saying he sees a bright future for him.
- Big Bad: Season 3's Big Bad, Brother Blood is introduced in this episode.
- Continuity Nod: Just like in season 1, the H.I.V.E Academy employ Blockers (those huge mono-eyed robots) for their student's combat training.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Cyborg's robotic copy offers almost no assistance to the Titans in the final battle due to its glitchy and frenzied attack mode. When the other titans are captured and it faces off against the real Cyborg (disguised as Stone) it gets a few good hits in, but the real Cyborg has no trouble destroying it once he gets serious.
- Dating Catwoman: Cyborg and Jinx attend the H.I.V.E.'s dance together, and it's later confirmed by Bumblebee that Cyborg had a crush on Jinx.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Billy Numerous, See-More, and Kyd Wykkyd appear in the background of this episode, and both later go on to play roles in Season Five; Billy Numerous is also the Villain of the Week in a Season 4 episode.
- Bumblebee can also be seen in the background shots; she would go on to be a supporting character in the rest of the arc and in Season Five.
- Funny Background Event: Several classroom scenes have multiple copies of Billy Numerous for no reason other than to subtly hint at his Self-Duplication.
- Hope Spot: Cyborg gets the intel that he needs and makes to leave. Brother Blood then confronts him, having figured out that he was a spy. Before Cyborg can fight, Brother Blood hypnotizes him.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Cyborg reveals to Starfire that his disguise was what he looked like before his machine implants, and his infiltration mission was a chance at re-experiencing that normal life. Starfire assures him that he is already "normal" because she never met him prior.
- Initiation Ceremony: Cyborg has to go through an embarrassing one when he infiltrates the H.I.V.E., and another one is implied when he rejoins the Titans Involving a rubber chicken and another tutu...
- Klingon Promotion: Implied; the former headmistress of H.I.V.E. is nowhere to be seen except for her missing portrait photo appearing on a milk carton.
- Ends up subverted in Season 5; the headmistress can be seen among the villains gathered by the Brotherhood of Evil.
- Mind-Control Eyes: Those under Brother Blood's influence can be seen with glowing red eyes.
- Mythology Gag: Cyborg's villain name, Stone, is the last name of his comic book counterpart's secret identity, Victor Stone.
- Not So Above It All: Raven gleefully joins Robin and Beast Boy in forcing Cyborg to through the Teen Titan Initiation again!
- Pretend to Be Brainwashed: Cyborg feigns being brainwashed to get the drop on Brother Blood at the end. It works, turning the tide of battle around.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Jinx is revealed to be genuinely nice when she's not forced to do evil. Cyborg briefly enjoys dating her and says that their platonic relationship wasn't a lie.
- Rule of Symbolism: At the end episode, Cyborg removes the ring to his disguise and says "Goodbye Stone", showing that he has accepted that he can never be Victor Stone again and lets go of his former life.
- Ship Tease: Cyborg and Jinx go to a dance together, and a later episode confirms that Cyborg had a crush on Jinx. Since they're of course on opposite sides at this point in the series, it never goes anywhere further.
- [Verb] This!:Robot!Cyborg: Booyah! [Sends Cyborg-as-Stone flying across the room]Cyborg-as-Stone: Booyah this! [Curb-stomps Robot!Cyborg]
