TW: brief mentions of rape and suicide
There’s something incredibly tragic about Raven and Arella’s relationship in NTT that no other version really manages to capture. Arella is such an important character in Raven’s story, but she’s so often glossed over or ignored completely in modern adaptations.
Even though Raven and Arella don’t have that many interactions that we see, it’s clear Arella loves Raven. She constantly throws herself into battle, going against her pacifistic beliefs and facing her abuser, to protect Raven from Trigon.
When Trigon and Raven first meet, Arella immediately rushes over to defend Raven, even though she’s well aware that fighting Trigon is a fight she can’t win.
There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation–although we don’t see the moment she jumps through the Great Door to follow Raven, she shows up almost immediately. She can’t just let Trigon take her away, she has to try and defend her, even if it’s futile.
Their relationship seems to become more strained once Raven leaves Azarath. Arella still loves her, but she doesn’t support Raven’s desire to fight Trigon.
She can’t turn her back on Azar’s teachings, even if it means the Earth will die. She’s steadfast in her convictions–until Raven goes with Trigon to his dimension.
Even though she initially seems to think choosing the passive option was the right choice for Raven, when the Titans insist on going to save her, she agrees to come with them.
This is a bigger deal than last time. Not only is she going to face Trigon again, if she survives, she won’t have a home to return to. Arella is throwing away her whole life, everything she’s built for the last 18 years, just for the off chance of being able to protect Raven from Trigon.
Although she initially says she won’t violate her teachings, this changes the moment Raven is in danger.
Again, she throws herself into battle against Trigon, knowing she’s going to lose, just to keep Raven safe. And this isn’t even the biggest sacrifice she makes.
Arella willingly dooms herself to spending an eternity trapped with Trigon to keep Raven safe.
She says here that it was for the good of all, but in the Terror of Trigon arc, she says it was for Raven.
The rest of the Terror of Trigon arc follows the pattern of Arella going against Trigon to keep Raven safe. She tries to stop Lilith from letting the Titans kill Raven, and sobs over her body once she dies. After Trigon is defeated, Arella immediately goes out to search for Raven, not resting until she finds her.
It’s shown, over and over again, how traumatic Arella’s time with Trigon was for her. She was so horrified over the thought of bringing his child into the world that she tried to kill herself to avoid it. And yet, once Raven was born, it seems like her feelings completely changed.
I see a lot in fics people writing that Arella couldn’t love Raven until she began to grow up and she saw that she was nothing like Trigon, but I personally disagree.
Arella was concerned for Raven, even when she was a tiny baby. After Azar took Raven away to raise her, Arella missed her terribly, even though she believed Azar raising her was the right thing to do.
Every time Raven is in danger, Arella throws herself in harm’s way to save her. She’s beyond selfless, willing to spend eternity in hell just to protect her daughter.
And then, when Trigon and Brother Blood are defeated, she cuts Raven off and abandons her completely.
Sometimes I want to pretend this never happened, and just write it off as another moment to hit Marv with a spatula over. But it did happen, and I do have thoughts about it.
What was Arella thinking, when she finally had what she’d wanted for her daughter’s whole life? Trigon is dead, and Raven is free to experience emotions. Arella can finally be her mother, but she chooses to leave and let Raven flounder as she tries to navigate a world that has previously been denied to her. Was she just sick of being tethered to Raven, and wanting to experience life on her own for the first time? Did she think it would be best to leave Raven on her own so she would stop depending on her?
Canon never really gives us more than a shallow explanation.
In the end, Arella comes to see that she does want to have a relationship with Raven, and they make up.
I think that, while Trigon was alive, Arella was motivated by a strong desire to keep Raven safe. Raven is her daughter, and she couldn’t stand the thought of Trigon abusing her too. She was willing to put herself in harm’s way again and again out of desperation to keep Raven safe from the man who had abused her. But then, after Trigon’s death, she didn’t have to protect Raven anymore. All the feelings Arella had ignored while she was keeping Raven safe came back, and it led to her cutting Raven off.
There’s something so tragic about both of them wanting to be able to have a normal relationship for all of Raven’s life, but it being forever denied to them. Then, when it finally became possible, Arella found she wasn’t ready for it. (And then when they finally started to make up they died, but I pretend Titans Hunt never happened 24/7.)
Arella is so incredibly important in Raven’s life, just as much as Trigon is. There’s so many stories that could be told about them starting to get to know each other as people once they finally have the chance to. As always, I hope that one day DC will remember their relationship and bring it back.
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