WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Checkmate #3, on sale now from DC.
While Batman may be one of the biggest superheroes in the DC Universe, his most prominent love interests have always existed within moral shades of gray, particularly Catwoman and Talia al-Ghul. As the daughter of the supervillain Ra's al-Ghul, Talia is poised to lead the world's largest organizations of assassins while plotting to continue her father's legacy in her own twisted way. And as her son and the current Robin Damian Wayne makes the case that Talia is part of the Bat-Family, Talia's recent actions and betrayals suggests she is far from being numbered among the Caped Crusader's allies, siding with villainy once again.
The former Manhunter Mark Shaw has since taken on the supervillain mantle of Leviathan, dismantling the various clandestine organizations and intelligence agencies of the DCU to start his own island nation, claiming sovereignty. Among Leviathan's targets was the League of Assassins, with Talia apparently taken hostage by the supervillain before she murdered several of her captors and escaped, escorted to safety by Superman. However, as the newly reformed Checkmate debates on whether or not they can trust Talia and how best to deal with her, with Damian pushing for more leniency towards his mother, Checkmate #3 -- by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Dave Stewart and Josh Reed -- reveals exactly where Talia's true allegiances really lie.
After being rescued from Leviathan Island by Superman, Talia is detained in Iron Heights while Checkmate ponders if she's a figure to be trusted as they escalate their vendetta against Leviathan. Unbeknownst to the shadow organization and her own son, Talia has been in league with Leviathan the whole time, including with her staged imprisonment and escape. Leviathan secretly meets with Talia while she is being detained, apologizing for the lengths he put her through to make her peril seem real to the superhero community while confirming that the people she killed during her faux escape were non-essential to Leviathan's overall plans. And as the two partners compare notes, Leviathan is confident that Checkmate will buy her story and invite her into their inner circle, providing him with a mole amongst his most determined opponents.
While Talia was initially introduced as a woman that was victim to her father's sinister machinations, eager for Batman to rescue her from her overbearing familial responsibility, Talia has grown from a reluctant accomplice to a villainous mastermind in her own right in recent years. Carving out a crime syndicate of her own that either coordinates or stands in opposition to Ra's al-Ghul, Talia is one of the most powerful, feared women in the DCU. And while Talia has had a soft spot for Batman and their past romance before, these moments have since become increasingly fleeting as Talia forges her own villainous legacy.
While Talia al-Ghul began the Infinite Frontier era as a tentative ally to the heroes as they surveyed the reborn DC Multiverse, her actions back on Earth have solidified her status as an untrustworthy, unrepentant villain. Naturally, Damian would hope for the best from his mother as the battle lines are drawn between Checkmate and Leviathan but he appears to underestimate his mother's penchant for betrayal and manipulation despite falling victim to it before. Leviathan has always been one step ahead of the heroes, outthinking them at every turn. And now with Talia among Checkmate, he has a woman on the inside to keep it that way.