Talia al Ghul is one of Batman’s most famous villains, but Infinite Frontier and Checkmate have her fighting on the same side as DC’s heroes.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Infinite Frontier #1, by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr and Checkmate #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev and Dave Stewart, on sale now
Talia Al Ghul has been through a lot in the past decade. Her relationships with her father, Ra’s Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne and their son Damian have been complicated, to say the least. Now that Dark Nights: Death Metal restored every DC timeline into the Omniverse, everyone knows and remembers more than they probably should, including Talia. This knowledge is overwhelming everyone in the DC Universe, but it’s also fueling Talia’s motivations as she takes on a whole new role in both Infinite Frontier and Checkmate.
Prior to the events of Infinite Frontier and Checkmate, Talia had a brief conversation with Damian about the status quo of the Al Ghul family in the “Demon or Detective” story featured in both Batman #106, by Joshua Williamson, Gleb Melnikov and Jorge Jimenez, and Detective Comics #1034, by Joshua Williamson, Mariko Tamaki, Gleb Melnikov and Dan Mora. The latter issue revealed the most important information about Talia’s new motivations in the post-Death Metal world. In Detective #1034, Talia made an admission to Damian. “Leviathan was stolen from me,” she explained. “Our family has lost control over the League of Shadows and the League of Assassins. My father has fallen from grace. There are much larger things going on in the world that I’m now a part of which demand my attention. And it falls on me to rebuild our empire. That is my priority.”
With her goals stated, this contextualized a major reason Talia joined the Totality as detailed in Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #4 by Brandon Thomas, Joshua Williamson and Inaki Miranda. When questioned by the Martian Manhunter as to her reasons for joining, Talia shared, “I believe this reality has already been manipulated according to the whims of others.” She went on to express feeling abandoned by her son — whom she sacrificed everything for — when he chose to follow his father, a man she described as having a weak commitment to what she believes is a shared mission with the Al Ghuls. She doesn’t believe any of this was meant to happen and wants to ensure no more changes are made to the DC timeline so that “it never again tears another mother from her son.”
From what we know of Talia in the Infinite Frontier era, her losses are very personal. This is one major reason her role is being transformed to that of a reluctant hero. In Infinite Frontier #1, we see the follow-up to Talia’s mission statement in Secret Files #4. In the story, we learn that everyone — not just the DC heroes and villains — is aware of the existence of the multiverse and that there could multiple versions of themselves out there. They’re even aware they have multiple versions of their own history.
This new knowledge is proving quite dangerous for everyone and it’s leading to the formation of new threats The Totality is trying to keep under control. One of those threats is Extant, who is threatening to control time. Since temporal manipulation is one way the DC timeline is consistently altered, Talia is naturally there at the scene to ensure this does not happen. While Lex Luthor is piloting the aircraft in which she is a passenger, Talia checks for changes in time and space fluctuations and confirms to her teammates all is safe and well.
Checkmate #1 is more strongly fleshing out Talia’s narrative as a reluctant hero. Two years ago, Talia built Leviathan as a highly advanced counterintelligence powerhouse Mark Shaw (the former Manhunter) acknowledged as the start of something historic. Leviathan has since come under his leadership with Talia now looking to dismantle her former project by forming a new team called Checkmate. Her team is comprised of the world’s greatest detectives: the current Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Question, Bones, Steve Trevor, Lois Lane, and King. None are particularly trustful of Talia, but they all share a common goal: take down Leviathan before it becomes a larger world threat. This consistent with Talia’s current motivations to protect her world — and the greater omniverse — on a larger scale.
While Talia’s narrative as a reluctant hero is still in its infancy, both the Infinite Frontier and Checkmate miniseries appear to be building that narrative on three main points: Talia as an Al Ghul, Talia as a mother and Talia as a character with a rich history and a lot of untapped potential to be one of the DC Universe’s most powerful and resourceful women.
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