Awkward family reunions galore!
Shadow War is a 2022 crossover story, taking place across Batman, Deathstroke Inc. and Robin. The event is written by Joshua Williamson, who writes all three titles, and is part of the DC Infinite Frontier initiative. It takes place across the March, April and May issues of the series.
Batman and Robin, father and son, are brought back together when Deathstroke assassinates Ra's al Ghul. His daughter, Talia al Ghul, demands revenge and sends her League of Shadows after Slade Wilson and his associates, but the Dynamic Duo want to bring him to justice for his crimes... or do they?
Preludes
- Deathstroke, Inc. #7
- Robin #12
Main storyline
- Shadow War: Alpha #1
- Batman #122
- Deathstroke Inc. #8
- Robin #13
- Batman #123
- Shadow War Zone #1
- Deathstroke Inc. #9
- Shadow War Zone #1
- Robin #14
- Shadow War Omega #1
Tropes applying to the crossover include:
- Arc Welding: As Williamson's the current writer of Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke, threads from all three runs are being tied together and merged during this crossover.
- Ascended Fanboy: Respawn, who wears a recoloured and slightly altered Deathstroke outfit and has modeled himself off the man, gets to meet Slade Wilson himself.
- Association Fallacy: The League of Shadows have standing orders to kill anyone connected to Deathstroke. This includes Black Canary, who teamed up with him during Deathstroke Inc.'s early issues, and Harley Quinn, who is revealed to have been a part of an incarnation of the Secret Society for all of five minutes before getting tossed out.
- The Atoner: Ra's al Ghul in this story has come to regret his actions as a ruthless eco-terrorist and decides to turn himself in as penance.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Geo-Force attempts to end Talia's life by turning himself into a massive stone golem.
- Bat Family Crossover: Between the series that Joshua Williamson writes on his own, which leaves out Future State: Gotham and Justice League Incarnate.
- Big Damn Heroes: Prometheus is saved from Razorburn and Hook by Ghost-Maker and Clownhunter at the end of Robin #13.
- Bittersweet Ending: Geo-Force has become a Fallen Hero for his actions against both Deathstroke and the al Ghuls, Talia has been rearrested to stand for her crimes, Angel Breaker is in command of whatever's left of the League of Shadows and Slade has Came Back Wrong, but Bruce and Damian are back on talking terms again, reuniting fully for the first time since City of Bane.
- The Bus Came Back: In order to avenge her father, Talia assembles nearly every major member of the League of Assassins and the League of Shadows, many of whom hadn't appeared in years; The Demon's Fist, the Seven Men of Death, Rictus, December Graystone, Mad Dog, Onyx Adams (who had recently returned during Catwoman), Whisper A'Daire, Dragonfly, White Willow, and Mara al Ghul (who hasn't been seen since Benjamin Percy's inaugural arc on the DC Rebirth-era Teen Titans).
- Bradford Thorne, the Crime Doctor, makes his first Post-Flashpoint appearance during Deathstroke Inc. #9.
- Came Back Wrong: When the Secret Society use a Lazarus Pit to revive Slade, the pit turns a murky black and only just revives Slade, who vows to kill everyone. The Society realizes that that's not supposed to happen and, since it's a Sequel Hook to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, it's implied the Great Darkness corrupted him.
- C-List Fodder: The only major casualties of the event are Deadline, Dr. Moon and The Hood, none of which were particularly prominent.
- Dressed in Layers: Somehow Geo-Force was dressed in his original costume underneath the fake Deathstroke costume.
- Easily Forgiven: In Robin #13, Damian agrees to work with his father again...provided he gets to drive the Batmobile.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Besides Talia with her father and Deathstroke with Respawn, Dr. Moon reveals he was in love with Phobia, which is why when he's captured he tells Slade that they must rescue Phobia before Angel Breaker has him executed.
- Family Disunion:
- Deathstroke, Inc. #7 sees Rose Wilson reuniting with her father after he abandoned his restored family before the start of his series. She brings Respawn along with her as well, a guy who's modeled himself on Deathstroke.
- The event itself is a reunion between Bruce, Damian and Talia. Given its premise, they're clearly not in agreement.
- False Flag Operation: In Batman #122, Bruce wonders (as does Slade later in Robin #13) if Talia was actually behind the assassination to consolidate her hold on the League and to manufacture a casus belli to deal with Slade (given tensions between their organizations had been growing). Talia denies it. Robin #14 reveals it was a False Flag op...and that it was actually Geo-Force.
- Frame-Up: Deathstroke's framed for the assassination of Ra's — or at least he claims he's being set up. Robin #14 reveals he was indeed being framed and it was Geo-Force.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Talia kills Deathstroke, the fake Deathstroke finally appears and after revealing he missed killing Talia so she could suffer, there's an earthquake. The only one who doesn't realize what this means is Ravager.
- Hold the Line: Deadline sacrifices himself to allow Slade and Respawn to escape the onslaught of League ninjas, getting himself slashed by Angel Breaker in the process.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When Angel Breaker orders Merlyn to execute Dr. Moon via an arrow to the head, we only see the silhouette of his head getting shot, with blood and his broken glasses flying off.
- Grand Finale: For Williamson's Deathstroke Inc., Batman, and Robin runs, as Williamson will be leaving all three books following the crossover (due to his workload with Dark Crisis).
- Incurable Cough of Death: Ra is shown to have been coughing up blood, and according to his mother, he's dying due to prolonged exposure to the Lazarus Pits.
- I Have Your Wife: Angel Breaker convinces Dr. Moon to sell out Slade and contact him by threatening to kill Phobia if he doesn't comply to her demands. She still has him killed, anyway.
- I'm Standing Right Here: While discussing the dangers of their work with Clownhunter, Ghost-Maker calls Black Spider a lowlife punk and not someone who needs saving, and Black Spider indignantly says he's right there. Ghost-Maker doesn't care he heard him.
- Internal Reveal:
- Deathstroke Inc. #8: Batman finally finds out about the tournament on Lazarus Island.
- Robin #13: Respawn reveals to Damian and Batman who he is and Slade downright says it wasn't him who killed Ra's.
- Batman #123: Damian tells Bruce that he now has a sort of girlfriend (Flatline).
- It's Personal: Geo-Force orchestrated the Shadow War to avenge Markovia after what Talia did to his homeland during the events of Leviathan Dawn. Deathstroke was also targeted for his past crimes against the Markovs (i.e. The Judas Contract).
- Locked Out of the Loop: Batman is very much caught off-guard by all the events of the story, as he had no idea of what Damian, Talia or Slade were up to recently. This includes things like Talia joining all of the League of Assassins factions, Damian taking part in the Lazarus Tournament, Respawn's very existence and Slade's rise as a "King of Supervillains".
- Mirror Match: Robin #12 sees Damian Wayne fighting himself upon his return to Gotham.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: Angel Breaker, the only new member of the League of Shadows, has a plunging neckline that goes past her navel.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Slade's reaction to Respawn offering to cut out his own eye to be more like Slade himself (likely remembering it with his children in the past).
- Not Me This Time: When questioned by Deadline over the insanity of killing Ra's, Slade says he didn't do it, that he had been training with Respawn the whole time and that the one who did the deed was using one of his old armors.
- Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement: Referenced in Deathstroke Inc. #8.Slade: Those are instruments of death and destruction, Respawn. Nothing that can take a life is ever a toy.
Respawn: You telling me you've never killed someone with an action figure?
Slade: Okay, maybe. - Once More, with Clarity: In Batman #122, Bruce replays a digital recording of the assassination to point out and reveal the clues and inconsistencies readers likely missed during the prologue.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Batman #122, this is what makes Bruce suspect Talia may have been behind the assassination. Deathstroke is one of the most efficient killers on the planet and he took no chances in killing Ra's and ensuring the body wouldn't be intact for a Lazarus Pit. And yet...he only wounds Talia? When he had ample time and chances to kill her too?
- Poor Communication Kills: Bruce's attempts to comfort Damian after Ra's assassination, and his angry, impulsive response to Damian's accusations, only ends up straining their relationship even more.
- Practice Target Overkill: To show off to Respawn, Slade not only hits all his Teen Titan target practice cardboard in the head with a shuriken but also has the shuriken explode.
- Pretender Diss: Deathstroke dismisses The Hood's attempt to shadow him, saying he's not as stealthy as Batman.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Batman isn't pleased when Raptor tells him that Damian took part in a death tournament.Batman: What. Death. Tournament?
- Redemption Equals Death: Alpha has a repentant Ra's al Ghul turn himself to the authorities, having come to regret his actions as an Eco-Terrorist and even convincing Talia to do the same, but he ends up getting assassinated in the middle of his public statement.
- The Reveal: Robin #14 reveals the identity of the fake Deathstroke, the one who started this war: Geo-Force, getting revenge on what Deathstroke and Talia did to his family and his country. Shadow War: Omega reveals why he did so: Talia for her casual destruction of Markovia at the end of the then-recent Checkmate mini-series and Slade for his sister Tara.
- Sacrificial Lion: Respawn, who had received focus in the previous story arc and was being seen by Slade as something of a Replacement Goldfish for Grant, and a Long-Lost Relative for both Rose and Damian. And he's killed protecting Slade, leading to the final confrontation between Deathstroke and Talia.
- Sadistic Choice: In order to evade Batman and Damian, Slade throws a grenade against a crowd of innocent civilians, forcing Batman and Damian to save them while he, Respawn and Rose escape together.
- Sequel Hook: In Shadow War Zone, the stories for Black Canary, Ghost-Hunter and Harley Quinn all end with this, though Black Canary's story is given a definite answer as to where it continues at.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Prometheus leaves Deathstroke alone after the League sends a huge army of ninjas against the Secret Society. Unfortunately for him, the League of Assassins has orders to kill anyone associated with Deathstroke, so he doesn't get too far.
- Mara al Ghul and the Demon's Fist leave during the final battle against the Secret Society since she feels she has fulfilled her family duty towards her aunt.
- Sex for Solace: Downplayed. Due to the grief of her father's death and worry over Damian, Talia and Bruce end up sharing a kiss, but quickly stop and brush the whole thing off as a "moment of weakness".
- Signature Style: In Robin #13, this is what convinces Damian that Respawn is telling the truth that Slade's been set up. Damian knows his tells when he's lying...and as his clone, Respawn's exhibiting none of said tells.
- Suicide Attack: After Respawn's death, Deathstroke assembles the remaining members of the Secret Society for one final all-out strike on the League's headquarters.
- Supervillain Lair: While on the run from the League of Assassins, Slade takes Respawn to a Secret Underground Passage in San Francisco that leads to a base so they can hide for a while. He claims he built it on the days he fought against the Teen Titans. Damian and Rose end up tracking them there, and Slade is forced to active a Booby Trap that caves the whole place.
- Taking the Bullet: Respawn dies protecting Slade by getting in the way of the ninjas' hail of bullets.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- The solicitation for the Alpha issue spoils that Talia winds up in control of the League of Shadows — previously, she'd only been in control of the League of Assassins. The League of Shadows had been working with the League of Lazarus, independent from Talia, within the pages of Robin. Robin #11 saw her fold all three factions together under the League of Shadows name.
- Played with re: Deathstroke's assassination of Ra's. The solicitations made no attempt to hide it given it was the event catalyst. There was however, misdirection and ambiguity about the exact motive. Deathstroke Inc. #7 suggested it would be revenge for the creation of Respawn, but the event kickoff itself revealed Slade had actually been framed rather than going after Ra's first.
- Wall of Weapons: Predictably, Slade has the walls of his Supervillain Lair covered in weapons, but medieval style melee-weapons as well as firearms.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Damian calls out Geo-Force for his actions, pointing out that he got people killed that had no chance to redeem themselves all because of his desire for revenge.
- You Killed My Father:
- While she hasn't had much love for him in recent years, Talia al Ghul's goal is to avenge her father with her League of Shadows.
- Bruce and Damian also get variations in the Prologue after the assassination of Ra's. Damian holds Bruce and his choices responsible for the deaths of his grandfathers (Ra's and Alfred). Bruce's angry, impulsive response also implies that, deep down, a part of him blames Damian for Alfred's death (as Damian going into Gotham against orders prompted Bane's retaliation).
