Warning: contains spoilers for Knight Terrors: Ravager #1!In his most terrifying form yet, Deathstroke has become an absolute monster. DC is currently in the midst of the Knight Terrors event. This event introduces Insomnia, the crossover’s antagonist who uses his powers to force everyone in the DC Universe, both heroes and villains, to experience their worst fears.
Ravager finds herself in an Insomnia-constructed nightmare of her own in Knight Terrors: Ravager #1 by Ed Brisson, Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, Troy Peteri, and Ben Abernathy. In Rose Wilson’s twisted dreams, she is haunted by visions of her father, Deathstroke. In this nightmare, a teenage Rose at a time when she lived under the foster care of the Madisons is being tormented by Slade and his Slaughter Squadron, even as Ravager fights to save her. In this world, Slade is more than just Deathstroke as when working under Insomnia, he is the Murder Man.
Deathstroke Becomes the Murder Man
Deathstroke has always had a tumultuous relationship with his daughter, dating back to when he originally brainwashed her into becoming his apprentice. More recently, they were at odds during the Dark Crisis event. During the final issues of Dark Crisis, Deathstroke vowed to kill everyone in his path, having been possessed by the darkness beyond the multiverse. Slade died shortly after declaring himself the king of DC’s assassins, definitively going from troubled antihero to true, unbound evil.
For Rose, Deathstroke Is the Personification of Evil
More terrifying than the appearance which Slade takes is what this form seems to represent for Ravager. Deathstroke’s new form seems to symbolize how the real Rose saw Deathstroke in her mind as a teenager. When Deathstroke first met Rose, she was a teenager living with the Madisons until Deathstroke anonymously hired the former Ravager to kill them. That nightmare plays out similarly, right down to it ending with a teenage Rose working under Deathstroke. It shows that while the two may have reconciled multiple times, Rose’s true fear is what fans learned in Dark Crisis – her father really is a monster who’s willing to destroy her.
The real Rose became Slade’s protégé by means of a monstrous manipulation on Slade’s behalf. Now, everything monstrous about Slade’s behavior and actions is symbolized through his new appearance. If readers were not disgusted or disturbed by Deathstroke‘s past, his Murder Man transformation shows what was always lurking under his iconic costume.
Knight Terrors: Ravager #1 is available now from DC Comics.
