One of the best additions to the Batman lore in recent years had to be the introduction of the Court of Owls. The secret society controls much of Gotham and, with ties to major business and political resources, the Court quickly became one of Batman’s greatest foes. Yet it was the soldiers serving the Court that truly terrified the Batman and his allies.
The soldiers were known as The Talons. Elite super-soldier level assassins who feel no pain, can repair broken bones and are even preserved to be resurrected after death. Here are ten things fans should know about The Talons.
10 First Mentioned In Nursery Rhyme
The Talons, of course, became part of the DC Universe continuity around the same time as the Court of Owls. However their history, although hidden for a long time, extended far into the past. The first time the Talons were ever mentioned in DC Comics had to be in the original nursery rhyme that spoke of the Court of Owls to begin with.
The nursery rhyme speaks of the Court watching from the shadows, ruling Gotham and watching everyone. If anyone so much as speaks out against the Court or tries to unveil their existence, they send the Talons to silence them.
9 Oldest Talon From Seventeenth Century
The Talons are so menacing and powerful not only for their fighting and assassination skills but because their bodies can be preserved and resurrected by the Court of Owls centuries later, if need be. The oldest known Talon the Court has ever used was Uriah Boone.
Operating in the 17th century, Uriah Boone was active as a Talon before Gotham City started to become industrialized. He would go on to be preserved by the Court and awoken centuries later, sent by the Court to confront Batman when Batman sought answers about The Joker’s supposed immortality.
8 Many Taken From Haly’s Circus
One of the things that has always been mysterious about the Talons is where the Court was getting these soldiers. It turns out that one of the ways they made Talons was by taking acrobatic and trained children from the iconic location of Haly’s Circus.
Knowing the children’s natural acrobatic abilities would serve well in the training of the Talons, they were taken and broken down physically and mentally, then rebuilt to become the loyal assassins the Court needed. A practice used for years, these Talons would serve the Court faithfully up to their passing, and well beyond.
7 Major Talon Figure Related To Dick Grayson
One of the more prominent figures to lead and take on the mantle of Talon has to be William Cobb. A young child who lost his father at an early age and went to work at Haly’s Circus to earn money for himself and his mother before he became a star attraction.
After falling in love with a Gotham socialite and subsequently being banned from seeing her, Cobb discovered her pregnancy and stole the child after becoming a Talon. Years later, it was revealed this child was the grandfather of Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, one of Batman’s closest allies and family members.
6 The Line Of Succession
One of the biggest questions about the Talons was who carried the mantle of the main Talon and how were they chosen. With each Talon being practically immortal and able to be resurrected at will, what prevented the same man from becoming the Talon over and over again?
It turns out the Court of Owls has a line of succession in play to chose who becomes the next Talon. Those training to become a Talon must prove their worth by besting their predecessor in battle, while the current Talon must fight to keep the mantle after being deemed unfit by the Court.
5 William Cobb Defeated By Batman
One of the biggest moments in the Talons history and their war against Batman came when William Cobb, then the lead Talon, was sent by the Court of Owls to take out The Dark Knight. After first being defeated in battle atop a rooftop in Gotham, Cobb managed to capture Batman during an ambush in the sewers.
After holding Batman hostage for a week, the Court sentences him to execution and Cobb goes to end Batman’s life. However, Batman finally manages to break free and beats Cobb in hand to hand combat. After this, the Court deems Cobb unfit and leaves him to perish.
4 William Cobb Battles Nightwing
Another major moment came after Cobb’s defeat by Batman. The Court decided this failure was too much and decided to resurrect the majority of the Talons they had frozen, sending them to eliminate Batman and his allies and other major figures in the city to take back control.
During this time, William Cobb was resurrected and attacked the Bat-Family, including his own great-grandson Dick Grayson. The two fought until Nightwing was brutally injured. However, despite this, he lured his great-grandfather into the subway, where he managed to freeze his great-grandfather long enough to subdue and defeat him.
3 One Talon Joined Birds Of Prey
One unique member of the Talons was Mary Turner. A young woman from the 1940’s, she was disfigured during a firebomb attack by Japanese soldiers in WWII. After losing her family in the attack, she was taken in by Haly’s Circus, where she became a world-class aerialist.
She would eventually join and become a Talon, sent to take out Gotham P.D. It was there that she faced Batgirl, and lost. However seeing the good person underneath the mask, Batgirl took Mary in, rebranding her Strix and having her join the Birds of Prey. She would soon leave after the group disbanded.
2 William Cobb Led Bane’s Army
During the events of Forever Evil, one of the major subplots of the event was what happened to Gotham after Batman was gone. Deciding to divide the city up amongst themselves, the majority of the Rogue’s Gallery of villains took control of the city.
However, one villain had a problem with this, wanting the city for himself. Bane took control of Blackgate Prison, and managed to free William Cobb and make him his lieutenant before the other Talons were stolen and brainwashed by Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter. Cobb defeated his Talon comrades, proving himself the best Talon.
1 Turned Dick Grayson Into The Gray Son Of Gotham
William Cobb lived into the DC Rebirth era, and using his skills as a Talon decided to take it upon himself to find a way to bring his grandson Dick Grayson into the fold and make him the prophesied “Gray Son of Gotham”, a fearsome warrior for the Talons.
After KGBeast shot Dick Grayson in the head, the hero survived but lost most of his memories, leaving behind his life as Nightwing. Seeing this as an opportunity, Cobb decided to try and recruit his grandson. Lex Luthor sent a drone with information that would help William Cobb turn Dick Grayson into a new Talon.