Don Quixote: Divide and Conquer: 02/14/09

Teen Titans fans will recognize this week's Don Quixote post title as the name of the first episode of the series that ran from 2003-2006. In it, Robin and Cyborg have a falling out and Cyborg quits the team for a while. Basically that's what happens in chapters 47-53 (pages 600-650) in Don Quixote de La Mancha.

Don Quixote spends most of his time during Sancho Panza's absence moping at the Duchess's estate. Panza is now Don Sancho, governor of a small island. It's revealed that he can speak and read Latin and is actually well suited to his new role.

Like Sancho Panza, Cyborg probably can do well by himself. He's older that the other members and probably has more real world experience. The few times he has gone out on his own he has be successful. Yet, he always comes back to the Titans. Panza by the end of chapter 53 gives up his new life and hits the road again on his little dapple donkey.

The only thing of interest that happens to Don Quixote is that he's attacked by a cat and has his nose and face scratched and his reputation bruised. Robin has his own run in with a cat in the form of Beast Boy who chastises him for chasing away Cyborg.

The central theme of this section of the book is drudgery of responsibility. So far the two men have been tromping around La Mancha pretending to be men of importance and stature. Now through the Duchess, they are. Quixote is in the court of the Duchess and Sancho Panza is a governor of an island. Being there on his own he is faced with all the work of keeping the island and its inhabitants happy. He has to weigh in on disputes of love, disputes of land and things too monotonous to list.

Of course with the estate and the title comes wealth and statue of the sort he could never imagine. In fact when officials are sent to fetch the Panza family to take them to the new estate, the wife and daughter can't believe the message and go more to box Sancho's ears than expecting to live in a fine new home.

By the end of chapter 53, Panza decides to give up his new appointment. The open road is calling to him. He misses the wacky adventures with Don Quixote despite six hundred pages of wishing for the good life. Now of course he realizes that he was actually living the good life. Likewise, Cyborg returns to the Titans to complete the team and save Robin just in the nick of time.

Stay tuned for the last two posts on Don Quixote.

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