WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Daredevil #604 by Charles Soule, Mike Henderson, Matt Milla and Clayton Cowles.
For months, Charles Soule has been deconstructing Matt Murdock piece by piece, not in terms of the vigilante who roams Hell's Kitchen at night, but the man under the mask trying to save New York's soul. In doing so, he's made the lawyer more of a symbol, one that's much more prominent in the light, or in Matt's case, the daytime. The man who secretly patrols Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil has been acting as mayor in an injured Wilson Fisk's stead, and somehow he's once more found himself attempting to rescue New York City from the clutches of the Hand.
After their demonic leader, the Beast, sent a poisonous gas flowing through the streets of the entire city, incapacitating everyone especially Matt with his heightened senses, a mysterious figure has emerged as New York's savior. But this isn't your typical superhero -- it's someone who Matt's recently been confessing to: Father Jordan.
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In Daredevil #608, the priest's purpose comes sharply into focus, and not just because he revives Matt and gifts the horned-crimefighter an army of his own in the Order of the Dragon, rather, it's because it turns out the Order is essentially the heroic counterpart to the Hand, helping to cleanse the world for centuries instead of trying to rule or destroy it.
Father Jordan had briefly mentioned the Order of the Dragon in passing in 2017's Daredevil #16 when speaking to Matt about heroes who fought on the side of righteousness in the past, and how they helped define the fate of the planet. It seemed like just another parable or history lesson at the time, but as we now come to find out, it's much bigger than a mere myth.
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The Order's not just real, it may turn out to be Matt's saving grace -- literally. The priest goes about exorcising Matt, expunging the poison from his soul, and reveals he has 20 good men to join the hero in battling the evil ninja sect.
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Matt Murdock is clearly in disbelief, as this new information pends his previous assumption that the Order was were just a men's club. He quickly realizes they're actually something akin to the Knights Templar, undertaking a mission similar to what the Hand's been doing for generations on the down low, only operating in the shadows while fighting for the Light against a myriad of supernatural threats.
Jordan further reveals the Order dates all the way back to 1408, in Hungary. The organization eventually grew past medieval battles and moved onto fighting vampires, zombies, Yetis and Nazi-created monsters, even boasting the famous vampire hunter Van Helsing in its ranks at one point. However, the Order has never been large in number like its ancient ninja counterpart, something which admittedly limits Jordan's abilities as the head of the New York outpost. Still, like the Hand, it perseveres as a covert ops military unit, taking its duty to save the world very seriously.
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And so, the Order follows a rejuvenated Daredevil into battle against the same army he's fought against, and even allied himself with, for years on end. Armed with jet-packs and chain armor, the Order (whose full name still hasn't really been explained) swiftly set to the task of killing off members of the Hand. The numbers game works against them, in the end, however, and Matt, armed with Father Jordan's sword, ends up running headlong into a trap, leaving Foggy Nelson and the mayor's team worried about his health at issue's end.
With Mayor Fisk shockingly coming out of his coma-like state on the final page, things are certainly heating up for the next issue. Thanks to the Beast laying this trap for Matt, it seems he'll have to call up the group of villains he recently pardoned from prison for help (more or less a dark version of Heroes for Hire), or hope the Order's Knights have a few more tricks up their sleeves.
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As the polar opposite to the Hand, it wouldn't exactly be a major surprise if the Order is revealed to have some sort of mystical weapon ready to bring into play. Because as their history shows, after all those centuries of protecting the world, they have plenty o hidden secrets of their own with which help turn the tide in great wars. Given Daredevil's current predicament, he's going to be in desperate need of the Order to unleash whatever it has hidden in the shadows sooner rather than later.