User blog comment:Dtuck010/Who killed Tula and drove aqualad to black manta?/@comment-5069635-20120518034811

Aqualad was so unique among animated characters. *mournful* He didn't have an outrageous personality. He was collected and level-headed. I never understood why he didn't become the real, permanent leader of the team.

I don't think an explanation of the actual events are needed, but an explanation of the radical mutilation of his character needs to be explained and substantiated beyond just grief over losing a loved one.

"Aqualad was a very calm person, a trait unshared by the rest of his teammates. Soft spoken and clear headed, he had a tendency to think things through and formulate plans before taking any sort of action. He tried to see the good in all people, and often acted as the voice of reason amongst his teammates, who were rarely if ever as cool-headed as he was." -Character Wiki

He's either a double-agent. ..

After all the drama with Artemis, Miss Martian, and Superboy coming from dark backgrounds, surely he could have related their situations to his?

. . . OR. ..

If not, there are only a scant few ways they could make a legit heel-face-turn believable. Aqualad was never fully respected as a leader by his team, but always kind of considered an interim. Maybe this undermined his self worth. (he already seemed to have a low opinion of himself.) Miss Martian and Artemis never even entertained the possibility of going out with him. Why this is is unclear. MM certainly would never have issues with his appearance, but Artemis might. He could feel inferior to Superboy, whom the girls were butting heads over early on.

Further, during Humanity, everyone was very concerned for Miss Martian, but not for Aqualad, who was in the same predicament. During Drop Zone, Miss Martian flew away to save Superboy just from suffering while Aqualad was presumably ''dying. ''

Consider this: Aqualad is the only one of the team who is permantently abnormal. By this, I mean that Conner appears human, and Miss Martian can become human-looking. This might have hindered his ability to form social bonds outside of the team. He was already dealing with being split between Atlantis and the surface- what if he never did integrate into surface life well at all? What if he spent every day with a subtle resentment towards every team member because they looked human and he didn't?

Everyone on the team leaned on him when he consoled them, but never thought to ask about how he was feeling. Because he kept himself bottled up, and never showed any obvious signs of the extent of his heartbreak with Tula. Enter Clone!Roy, who (during "Auld Aquaintance") asks him upfront.

Clone!Roy can tell how torn up he is, because he is one of Aqualad's oldest friends (and the most mature one.) After the fiasco with the mind-controlled Justice League is cleared up, he intends to talk to Aqualad about it.

Aqualad, though, is confused and a little hurt over finding out Roy (said oldest and closest friend) isn't who he thought he was (a clone) and is suddenly apprehensive about opening up to him.

Clone!Roy's own guilt at betraying the League overcomes him by this point, and he resigns from hero work altogether. He is a "normal," he reasons, and he should just leave this all behind and start over in a normal life.

This includes breaking off his friendship with Aqualad, for his own sanity and peace.

Aqualad, with his usual understanding, selfless, (maybe even self-deprecating) demeanor, accepts the decision without complaint. But inside- heaped on top of everything else-

It destroys him.