In Doom Patrol season 2, the audience is shown Niles discovering his daughter in 1927, when she was forced to perform in a circus. The scientist approaches Danny (at the time an alleyway in London) for their help in hiding Dorothy from the world. It seems a little cold for Niles to keep Dorothy under lock and key, but he does it so he can continue searching for a way to become immortal in order to keep an apocalyptic entity known as the Candlemaker at bay.
Danny is very aware that hiding Dorothy is for the best, but also that it's causing severe emotional damage to the young girl, who's extremely lonely without her father. Although Danny can communicate by creating words out of decorations or lights, that type of company isn't the same as Dorothy having her father by her side. She later reunites with Niles in the season 1 finale, "Ezekiel Patrol," which sees Danny reduced to a singular brick.
However, because the Dannyzens are the ones who can help Danny grow to larger sizes, they're later restored back into Danny the Tire with the help of Flex Mentallo's (Devan Long) reality-altering powers. Mentallo is another creation by writer Grant Morrison and also appears in the first season, so it's quite clear which era of the Doom Patrol comics the series' writers have been influenced by. Since the comics find Danny becoming a sentient ambulance (which the Dannyzens used to travel the world to help lost souls), it wouldn't be surprising if Danny the Tire evolves even further in Doom Patrol season 3 and beyond.
