Too Lazy To Finish Zzz 

Teuta Matoshi ‘Pastel Castle’ Haute Couture Collection

I couldn’t see Talia genuinely loving someone like Pamela. They are both eco terrorists, but Pamela is significantly more drastic in her mission than the LoA is. Plus, I don’t think Pamela would love Talia either. What with the whole hatred for all human life thing. I could see them working together toward a common goal, but not sticking together through the end. Either Pamela would betray Talia (presumedly by trying to kill Batman) or Talia would betray Pamela (by preventing her from fully carrying out her mission.)

I do like to think about interactions between them though! I can definitely see them working together to try and save an endangered species of plant somewhere or maybe drive away some deforesters

propaganda:

eco terrorist wives

Fr tho!! I really think Talia should shift away from romance and family conflict and her stories should focus on being a mother and how it’s changed her.

I’ve decided that I am going to be on tumblr now and do things on tumblr and be a tumblrer guy so here I am 😏 tumbling 😏

Teuta Matoshi “Flourishing Meadow” and “Pastle Castle” gowns

The Psychology of Talia

For throwntotheair, who has a few questions about Talia. :) I’m grouping this under a few broad questions that should bleed into answering some of the others you mentioned.

The preface of this, of course, is that all of my answers are based in the character of Talia al Ghul prior to Grant Morrison writing her. So the 30+ years of content and development we had beforehand. Grant largely ignored the fundamental pieces of her character that were recurring themes over the years, turned her into an infanticidal rapist and, generally speaking, made her as 2-dimensional as possible. His interpretation also gave Talia wildly inconsistent motives, so he is not a good measure for delving into her character.

What are her motives?

Talia has always been motivated by one thing: love. Love for her father, love for Bruce, love for Damian. Even love for the planet (though less so than Ra’s). Each step of her journey has love somewhere in the why. The primary conflict for her, especially early on, was the tug-of-war between acting for good (because of her love for Bruce) or acting for evil (because of her love for her father). 

The animated series still gives one of the best summaries of Talia’s goals, too: she says that she believes in her father’s vision for the world, but not in his means (namely mass genocide). 

Even in dealing with Damian (Morrison, again, notwithstanding), I think she meant everything for love (I’ll explain more in the ‘why did she raise him this way’ section).

When she throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit in Lost Days, her letter to him says that she has done this “for love.”

Despite her badassery, Talia is actually a very loving, empathic person (though sometimes she denies it). Either way, love is at the core of what she does. For her father, that love spills over into loyalty…most of the time.

Why the loyalty to Ra’s (Why has she never stood against him?)

Wellllll this is two parts. The first question: love and indoctrination. The second question: she has.

First we have to understand that Talia is pretty much a psychological trainwreck. In Batman Chronicles #8, we see one of the only stories that’s specifically from Talia’s point-of-view. This and Lost Days are as close as we really get to such direct access to her thoughts.

Yeah. She’s messed up. We should note that Ra’s, despite his being just about Worst Dad Ever, does genuinely love Talia, in his own way.

Realize that Talia has been raised exclusively in Ra’s in environment (like Damian) and that the way she raised Damian was A LOT like she was raised. She’s in a place where he father is viewed as a deity, it’s this massive, powerful cult, and so there’s a level of indoctrination going on.

But that said…Even from the beginning, Talia was defying her father.

She thinks for herself and, growing through the years, she becomes increasingly agitated, worn down and plain ol’ fed up with her father. I would argue that in most cases, she betrays him for Bruce (or Jason, or Damian) because she knows he’s wrong.

(Prior this panel, Batman asks why Talia is betraying Ra’s, and if it’s because she loves him:)

Doesn’t she seem to be lacking independence?

Here’s where I think there was a massive missed opportunity. Talia, after being shot for betraying her father in Tower of Babel, nopes out and goes off on her own. She’s fed up with both Bruce AND Ra’s.

Ra’s shows up and has Talia kidnapped to bring her back. She winds up rescuing Bruce one more time before leaving BOTH of them and heading off to Hong Kong, where she becomes a successful businesswoman in her own right.

At the time, Lex Luthor is about to run for president. He shows up at her door:

Talia becomes CEO of LexCorp. I wish so much that more happened in this era for her. She butts heads with Superman a few times (and even teamed up once and it was awesome), but it was so under-utilized. In the end, though, she runs the long con on Luthor, willfully bankrupts LexCorp and sells off the assets to Wayne Enterprises. Mostly just to spite him.

She hates Lexcorp mostly because she’s an environmentalist. And because Luthor.

So she’s this awesome independent businesswoman who manages to trick one of the smartest men in the DCU.

Unfortunately, her half-sister shows up during this era in Death and the Maidens. She kidnaps and tortures Talia by murdering her over and over and bringing her back with her Lazarus Pit. This goes on until Talia’s psyche shatters.

Nyssa brainwashes Talia, first with intent to kill Ra’s. Ra’s eventually kills Talia.

When Nyssa kills Ra’s, she and Talia both continue with Ra’s mission (with Nyssa as the Demon’s Head until her death). Then Talia, still brainwashed, becomes the Demon’s Head and leads into the modern area (as with Villains United which ran pretty close up to the New 52).

Why did she raise Damian in that environment?

To put it short: because it was how she was raised and because she knows it’s the only way for him to survive. When Talia was 18 (her first appearance) she was kidnapped by an enemy of her father. Her entire life has been violence, danger and bloodshed. Her father is a powerful, dangerous man in a dangerous world.

If Damian had not been trained, in her mind, he would not have survived. I think she believes it was the best way for him to be able to protect himself. Some indoctrination bleeds through (as her raising him would be post-brainwashing, though the timeline is a bit wonky). 

I hope that helps! I’ve got a lot more essays in on my blog, plus one that’s a comprehensive account of Talia’s history.

Found this collecting dust in my drafts so here ya go

This timeline is killing me chat

I think it would be very fun if Talia had a little reservation of wild bats and there’s one particular bat there who’s all scarred up and grumpy looking who she calls Bruce

🗡️ Her true passion, one which has been twisted and manipulated in many ways, was to save the earth rather than control or destroy it. To protect those who could not protect themselves. Innocent animals slaughtered for sport, trees cut for paper, entire habitats destroyed from human greed. Stuck behind glass walls and poked with sticks, forced to perform for the sick humans who laugh at their suffering. To preserve the lands and culture conquered. To ensure they are never stepped on again.

Her entire life she’s hated the city. The air is thick with grime and smog, the streets littered with filth. The stench of the street and the cars and the noise. The lights the people the killing. It was dreadful. To walk around a city covered head to toe with disease, knowing that it was once beautiful and wild. And yet, she still made time to go to the city anyway. To see her son, her beloved, and the rest of his kin. To make sure they are doing well.

She often imagines what her life could have been like if she had chosen Bruce all those years ago. If the children would’ve liked her more. If she could have ever been happy there. Live quietly as a house wife, perhaps assist in both of the family businesses. She wonders if she took too long to wake up. If it will ever be worth it. If there is still a chance for her in this world at all.