WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shadow War: Alpha, now on sale from DC.
Shadow War is set to be a massive event, with various street-level heroes and villains of the DC Universe turning against each other in a chaotic conflict in the aftermath of a major death. But that demise isn’t the thing that should be the most concerning.
Ra’s al Ghul is indeed murdered before the end of Shadow War: Alpha by Joshua Williamson, Viktor Bogdanovic, Daniel Henriques, Mike Spicer, and Troy Peteri — but despite appearances to the contrary, it looks like Deathstroke isn’t responsible.
As teased in solicitations and previews for the event, the Shadow War crossover’s inaugural issue includes the apparent death of Ra’s Al Ghul. After finally deciding to turn himself in, Ra’s was on his way to face justice when a sniper’s bullet — seemingly fired by Deathstroke — struck him in the head. While a usually fatal blow to anyone, Ra’s connection to the Lazarus Pits opened up the possibility that he could be restored to life. However, this hope was dashed when an incendiary device landed on Ra’s and exploded, completely reducing his body to ashes. It appears that by all typical metrics, Ra’s al Ghul is indeed dead — with Deathstroke to blame, as Talia and Damian both set on the warpath against him.
It would have made sense, too. Deathstroke has been rallying villains to the Secret Society, which he took over by executing the Calculator and the new Libra. If Deathstroke wanted to consolidate power, it makes sense that Ra’s would be a major target. He’s also had plenty of personal anger to work through with the immortal, considering the recent discoveries of Ra’s creation of Respawn (a clone of Deathstroke and Talia) who spent years as a tool to the ancient villain. Deathstroke was perfectly primed to be the culprit — only for the final pages of Shadow War: Alpha to reveal that Deathstroke was no where near Ra’s when he died. He was seemingly training with Respawn — meaning someone has successfully framed him for the murder of one of the world’s most dangerous men.
It’s an interesting turn of events, as it all of a sudden turns Shadow War from just a conflict over the future of the DC Universe into a murder mystery. Whoever actually killed Ra’s had the skill to do so and hold their own against Batman in a fight — but they clearly want to cause chaos for Ra’s, who’s now effectively going to be contending with a whole host of threats. The killer could have been an agent of the Great Darkness, working behind the scenes to cause chaos ahead of the upcoming Dark Crisis — which Deathstroke was actively preparing to confront. It could have been a personal attack orchestrated by someone like Ravager, who was recently forced onto the run when Respawn sided with Deathstroke. It could even be a rival for Deathstroke’s throne, leaving his status as the King of the Super-Villains up for debate.
It’s a potentially vital mystery to solve, especially with the chaos that’s begun to spread to the entire greater universe. Figuring out exactly why Ra’s died — and who actually pulled the trigger — might be Batman and other heroes’ best chance of stopping an all-out villain conflict between Deathstroke and Talia’s forces. If the heroes don’t figure it out fast though, then all of that damage might end up playing out despite their best efforts — leaving the world further weakened as it heads closer to the Dark Crisis.
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