As the Robin King relentlessly hunts DC Universe heroes in Dark Nights: Death Metal, the villain mercilessly takes down a fan-favorite character.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #4, by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia & Tom Napolitano, on sale now.
One of the most twisted villains introduced in the crossover event Dark Nights: Death Metal has been the Robin King. The Bruce Wayne that murdered his own parents and the heroes of his world in the Dark Multiverse, the pint-sized serial killer has since been adopted by the Batman Who Laughs after his omnipotent transformation into the Darkest Knight to become his latest protege. And as the Robin King begins stalking the heroes of the main DC Universe, he reveals that he is just as psychologically terrifying as he is supremely lethal.
While the heroes launched their last-ditch plan to stop the Darkest Knight and restore the DCU after the Dark Multiverse villain had rewritten it in his own hellish image, the Robin King went on the offensive for his sinister mentor. After menacing Barry Allen before the Scarlet Speedster joined the other Flashes on their own vitally important mission, the Robin King turned his attention to the remaining heroes before him. Quickly dispatching Jonah Hex, the Robin King finished off the undead gunslinger in full view of his assembled comrades before turning his attention to a new target: Harley Quinn.
Rather than open with a direct, physical attack on Harley, the Robin King toys with his prey first, with the villain providing his own psycho-analysis of the former criminal psychiatrist. The evil Bruce Wayne reveals that the mythological origins of a “harlequin” was as a title given to minions of the devil. The Robin King observes that being named “Harleen Quinzel” hinted that Harley’s parents always knew that she would be up to no good, long before her corruption by the Joker. While Harley had recently made an attempt to redeem herself by leaving the Joker and becoming more of an antihero, the Robin King theorizes that Harley’s weapon of choice being a mallet subconsciously chips away to reveal the darker, more murderous secrets about herself and her true nature.