Well, there are hints of an explanation but Wolfman wasn’t interested in telling her story beyond the bare bones and heavily underling his point that she’s the bad guy. In doing so there’s a lot of contradictions (*1) in what we’re told versus what we’re shown. And since we never get clarification some bits are left up to the readers own interpretation.
Teen Titan Gar Logan (Changeling) tries to murder Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) for his role in Terra’s death. But Gar discovers that he can’t kill someone who wouldn’t fight back so they go somewhere to talk. Slade tells Gar that he has a "strict code of ethics" which Gar questions asking if that includes corrupting sixteen-year-old girls like Tara. Slade rationalize this as both of them used each other and saying that Tara already had a reputation at 15 as a mercenary when they first met.
Yes, she somehow has a reputation yet no one else managed to trace it back to it being Terra the Teen Titan before the betrayal. Despite the fact she apparently worked in the same uniform not the "hostage" costume. None of the assassins sent after the Titans, including Cheshire, even hint at knowing her when they fought. And they weren't in on Slade's plan.
As for Slade’s code I’m not sure I get it, even beyond his “relationship” with Tara it's a little sketchy to me. He always honors his missions to ridiculous degrees to the point it ended up getting his second sons’ throat slashed because he wouldn’t betray his employer. (Plus his arrogance at being able to stop it.) According to his ex wife Adeline this was even the case when he was in the army...only he made an exception for Wintergreen? Why? Because Wintergreen disobeyed orders for him?
Whatever the reason his so-called ethics are already in question given what we seen and will only get worse when later writers make him drug others. He admits that he was drawn to Tara pondering why out loud making his interest even more disturbing.
Slade Wilson: Something drew me to her. Maybe it was her youth, maybe I thought I could teach her...it was probably ego.
This is the closest we get to an answer for why he was with her or rather why he slept with her. It's made clear that he never loved her so it stands to reason that he was attracted to her and/or used sex to manipulate her. Neither of which reflect well on Slade and his supposed code of ethics. The creative team didn't seem to see anything wrong with what he did and place the blame entirely on her.
Co-creator Pérez states, “from the very start, that this girl was going to be a traitor and that we were going to kill this character off.“ When creating the look of the character, Pérez noted that:
I wanted her to be cute but not beautiful. She looked like a young girl. I gave her a substantial overbite, her eyes were wide, her body was slim, she wasn’t particularly busty. I wanted her to look almost elven, so that when you see her for the first time wearing full-make up and dressed in a provocative outfit where you know she’s just been in bed with Deathstroke that it does jab you a bit. “Whoa, good God! This little girl is a slut!”
If you read the series from start to the point Perez is mentioning this is especially odd since there was a story arc about runaway children prior to Terra joining. (In fact Terra is introduced in this arc.) One girl Lizzie, finds out she's pregnant after fooling around with her boyfriend, he dad kicks her out and tells her to become a prostitute. Which she does, and she's shown wearing so much heavy make up she almost looks like a clown. We're supposed to see this as a tragedy, we're told how these kids are being manipulated by adults and even see a pimp doing so with Lizzie.
With Terra we don't know if she's been sleeping with anyone besides Slade yet we're supposed to judge her not the 40-50 year old master mind sleeping with this 15/16 girl? The girl that Slade also knew was insane beforehand? There are definitely some consent issues that aren't being addressed. (As there are with the later Metzer retcon.)
Slade Wilson: Don’t ever think she felt anything for you but hate. She was in capable of loving anyone. She used people to get back at all the villains she saw on her life...from her brothers on.
While Terra yelled about her brothers never using their power before she died she never gives any indication that she wanted her family dead. There was a crossover between the Outsiders and the Teen Titans that had Terra and Geo-Force interact. We even see her thoughts as she worries over letting her Brion down then at the possibility of him being around when she has to betray the Titans. Terra even serves him food, which is far nicer than she's ever been shown to be around anyone else. It's the only time she's ever shown with any genuine doubt or concern for someone else. So despite Slade calling her a sociopath I don't think that fits.
I do think she had abandonment issues since she was the bastard child of royalty that was hidden away from the public eye because she was seen as the nation's embarrassment. Brion clearly loved her even though he admitted that they weren't really around each other that much. Their father's last words were about her, asking her brothers to find her. So she was loved, she probably knew that but still held some resentment. Maybe at her stepmom, maybe at the country too. Sadly this complexity is pretty much ignored by her creators. It does makes sense that her final breakdown happens after she thinks Deathstroke betrayed her.
During their talk Slade claims that Tara took a contract to kill Tawaba, a man that took care of Gar when he was a child. Slade also claims he was a friend of Tawaba that declined the contract...yet he didn't try to protect his friend and ended up teaming up with his alleged killer? The story just doesn't gel for me, and the plots just don't make much sense if you give it some thought.
Slade Wilson: She also had something against you personally...probably because of Tawaba
I'm not sure why Deathstroke thinks that, we never get any real indication of her having this grudge, much less it having to do with Tawaba. The man's connection with her doesn't even get mentioned until issues after Terra has died and Gar has done enough during her time as a Titan to tick her off. (*2) Gar was an ass to her in training which led them deciding to take down the Titans soon after. If he was right about her grudge this might explain why she kissed Gar when she claimed that was "the biggest lie" of them all but her target was Raven not Gar. Deathstroke gave Terra the honor of taking down Raven but you'd think that Gar would also be on her list if she really hated him as much as Slade is implying.
Gar Logan: Slade... Did you ever make love to Tara?
Slade Wilson: (After a panel of silence.) Would make any difference?
Gar Logan: I...I guess not.
I think it does make a difference even with Terra dead. It tells you a lot about Slade's character and his part in what happened. He was the one with the contract, he brought Terra in, knew she was insane and still slept with her. All of it happened because of Deathstroke yet he holds no blame. His trial kind of acts like a meta with Wolfman twisting facts to make Deathstroke look better despite how apparent his horrible actions are.
I do think she actually saw her fling with Slade more seriously than others give it credit for. A big turning point in the story is her reaction to his family. Which kind of highlights how screwed up things have gotten for her when she sees his family picture. Because Terra had to have realized she's the other woman that a guy with a (ex)wife and two sons has on the side. In other words she's repeating the same sad story her mother went through with the King Viktor. She goes flying into an unstoppable rage when she thinks he betrayed her after meeting his son.
Slade also claimed that Terra was a great liar...except she really wasn't. The best acting she does is when she starts crying about the supposed terrorists and when she kisses Gar. The Titans always point out how her flimsy stories keep falling apart, she starts demanding to know their identities early on and doesn't stop asking about it. The only reason she earns their trust is because she's highly skilled in using her powers and saves them in battle. Not because she was some expert deceiver that could instantly convince others of the stories she weaves.
I knew long before I read the Judas Contract what the outcome and the intent was. There were no surprises to be found except for how obvious Terra seemed. At one point it became hilarious, you could literally see how annoyed she was getting on panel. I don't hate or love the character, I'd be fine if she was a villain, hero, anti-hero, etc. But her story wasn't told well, she hardly even has one as she's just used as a plot devise.
I don't hate her for what she's done, I'm more distracted and confused why others aren't called out for their behavior in the comic. Yes, it was a different time and the creators had their own vision in mind. But Gar humiliated Terra in front of the whole team for no apparent reason (*3) and no one objects beyond Donna's weak comment. The focus is on her losing her temper not on what he did that set her off. He's supposed to be a hero while we still know very little about Terra before she dies.
I might read the Metzer Deathstroke vs. Geo-Force story to see if the two can mesh. Plus I really want someone to call Deathstroke out after reading the Perez/Wolfman era TT issues.
*1 Terra is said to be both evil and insane, a pretty big contradiction. Sure, DC likes to play that card with Joker but there has been hints that he's more evil than insane. (UTH outright calls Joker out on this as a secret.) Despite Terra being insane she's supposed to be held responsible for not only her own actions but Slade's.
*2 Something Slade saw for himself with her spy camera lens.
*3 It also read like he was using the fight as an excuse to feel Terra up while commenting how her body felt.
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