Deathstroke Ravager’s daughter will finally kill her father
Ravager may finally be ready to end the rocky relationship with his father. The question is: can she actually follow through?
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman #122, on sale now.
Ravager always had a difficult relationship with his father. Emotionally distant man at the best of times and abusive parent the rest, Deathstroke’s parenting style not only damaged all of his children, but sometimes drove them to exact revenge on him. Yet Ravager has always been different. Although she held animosity towards her father, she was never really driven to pursue him.
All that seemed to change in Batman #122 (by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Tomeu Morey, and VC’s Clayton Cowles). After being betrayed by Respawn and accepting that her father was about to upset the natural order of the DC Universe by proclaiming himself “King of the Villains”, Ravager seemed ready to kill him. She even teamed up with Robin to succeed. But after knowing him for so many years and being about to have a somewhat normal family dynamic with him, can she actually pull the trigger?
Rose Wilson is the result of a brief love affair Deathstroke had with one of his clients, Sweet Lili. Rose’s mother rightly thought it best to hide the child from Deathstroke, but he inevitably found out. From there, it was a jarring pattern of interest and disinterest. At first, Deathstroke didn’t want to be around her, not trusting his background with his own children. Then, when his two sons from his first marriage were dead, he manipulated Rose into becoming his apprentice, fake-kicking her just to give her the opportunity to murder the man she believed had killed her. mother as a test.
Ravager would eventually break free from the cycle of manipulation and come to fear and hate his father in equal measure. Despite this, she never really had the courage to seek revenge, even after all that he had done to her. So his commitment to killing his father now is questionable. All in all, what Deathstroke has been doing to him lately isn’t really as bad as their early moments. Rose, of course, still resents him for abandoning their family after trying to bring them back together, a fact that brought tears to his eyes. If that was all it took, she would have gone after him much sooner.
The most likely reason is that Rose has accepted that there is nothing redeemable about her father. For a brief moment, she wanted to believe he could do good, only to be disappointed. Now he seems to be doing the opposite, not only trying to lead an army of villains, but also assassinating Ra’s al Ghul and consequently upsetting the balance of power on Earth. She doesn’t go after Deathstroke to settle a grudge, she does it because she thinks it would be better for the world if he was gone.
Ravager’s attitude towards him is more resignation to an unfortunate task than a mission of great importance. It’s understandable, because he’s her father and a part of her loves him. On the other hand, she is as much his victim as his daughter and these feelings now come into conflict. The general portrait of Rose is one of defeat. Not because she has to kill her father, but because it eliminates any chance of a happy ending.
So the question remains: can she pull the trigger? While she undoubtedly has the motives to do so, the question is whether she has the will. She could very well be the one to end her own life, thus sparing the world any trouble her father might cause her and leaving Rose knowing that she had killed her father. It would also destroy any chance of having a relationship with Respawn, but in the long run it might not be a terrible price to pay. However, his apparent exhaustion with the whole situation implies that Rose might let Deathstroke live, perhaps finally washing his hands of any pain from his past.
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