Season Two of Titans ended with Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) on the hunt to capture Anna Diop’s Kory and bring her back to Tamaran. To hype us up even more after that cliffhanger, we also got a look at Starfire’s new costume that’s now more comic-accurate for the next season.
The two sisters have never really been on good terms in the series, but what about in the comics?
As the second of three children born to King Myand’r and Queen Luand’r, Koriand’r had—like the rest of the inhabitants on their planet—the ability to absorb solar energy and convert it into flight. Unfortunately, Komand’r (also known as Blackfire) had a rare disease that prevented her from flying, so she was unreasonably denied the throne because she was deemed unworthy. She was also shunned, and her sister, Kory, was instead given the privileges of royalty she otherwise should have received.
While it definitely wasn’t fair that her disability and unpopularity led to her unworthiness, it doesn’t excuse her actions that led to her seeking to murder her own sister.
When her first attempt to kill her failed, she was expelled, prompting her to join Tamaran’s enemies called the Citadel to fuel her burning rage. She eventually betrayed her own people, and the Citadel invaded Tamaran. In defeat, the king had to turn Koriand’r over as a slave.
Kory had to spend six years of servitude and torture—she was even horrificly raped by members of the Citadel, even though they were under her own sister’s command.
Eventually, the Psions—a race of advanced scientists with cruel and sadistic tendencies—invaded and captured both sisters. Both of them had to endure terrible experiments under the hands of the Psions, as their natural ability to absorb solar energy was relentlessly abused. To study them, the Psions bombarded them with experimental energy and pushed their bodies to the limit until they were supposed to overload and explode—not exactly a dream vacation.
Given everything that’s happened between the two sisters, it’s safe to say that Kory’s past is incredibly tragic, and it’s a miracle she’s even pleasant to anyone at all. In the original version of the character, even when she was already on Earth, her fortunes didn’t really take a turn for the better. She was almost married to Dick Grayson at one point, and everyone knows that any woman who gets involved with lover boy Dick is just setting herself up for heartbreak. That heartbreak came in the form of a possessed Raven who kills the officiating priest during Nightwing and Starfire’s wedding. The wedding was ruined, and Nightwing quickly moved on, but Kory never did.
Obviously, the TV series can’t possibly show every single detail from the comics with complete accuracy, and with all of the tragedy in Kory’s past, it’s probably best if it never will. Still, knowing all of these little tidbits definitely shines a whole new light on the normally bubbly character, doesn’t it? Diop’s version is anything but bubbly, though—and, given her tragic past, maybe that’s actually a more accurate representation of her personality.
