Lex Luthor is dead. With Superboy in custody awaiting trial over the incident, the other Titans are not convinced their friend is the guilty party and start their own investigation. The mysterious killer strikes again, and Raven is beginning to get a clearer picture of the disaster that is to follow. And unbeknownst to anyone, young Sebastian is about to experience a change to his own world as he tries to change the world around him.
"Mother Mayhem" contains the following tropes:
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Conner is able to deduce the reason Luthor was spying on Kori by thinking like his late father; if he had an endgame that would benefit him in the long run, Kori was somehow part of it.
- Brought Down to Normal: Mother Mayhem uses her staff to steal Raven's powers, ridding her of the gemstone on her head containing Trigon and bleaching her black hair.
- The Cameo: A reporter who's heavily implied to be Lois Lane is seen on the Daily Planet's channel speaking on the death of Lex Luthor, but pushing a narrative that she believes Conner is innocent given his track record.
- Easily Condemned: Conner hears from all over the outside that everyone in Metropolis thinks he killed Luthor. Even when the Titans prove otherwise, he's still left with the experience of learning how quickly the world is willing to throw him under the bus for being Luthor's son.
- Internal Reveal: Dick, Tim, Rachel, and Garfield discover the serial killings the audience learned about last episode, including witnessing one such grisly murder for themselves. Kori is later brought into the loop when she witnesses one of Luthor's stooges die by the same method that Conner described Luthor as perishing from.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: The MPD refuses to refer to Conner as anything but "it" when they have him in their custody.
- Mythology Gag: Mother Mayhem's cult chants out Raven's famous mantra from the animated series.
- The Reveal: Luthor wasn't the only one who died that day—the entire LexCorp Board of Directors perished the exact same way as their boss.
- Trauma Conga Line: Sebastian gets put through the wringer in this episode. Not only is he feeling the adverse effects of whatever Mother Mayhem is doing to him, but his video game proposal is outright rejected by the video game developer. And when he goes to tell his mother, who's infirm in the hospital, he arrives too late to find out that she died that morning and had no idea about it.
- Unwitting Pawn: Whatever plans Mother Mayhem has for Earth, she's toying with the emotionally vulnerable Sebastian (who loses his mother and fails to get his dream project off the ground) to make it happen.
- Wham Line: As Mother Mayhem and their cult begin their chant, it strikes a familiar note to anyone who watched Teen Titans...Azarath. Metreon. Zinthos!
- The Worf Effect: Mother Mayhem quickly hands the Titans' ass to them, even knocking out Superboy and depowering Raven in the process. The only one who even stood a remote chance against her was Starfire, who's powers were the only thing that seemed to hurt her.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Kori reminds the distraught Conner not to let the negative press get to him, for Luthor wasn't the only father he has.
