The following article contains spoilers from Batman #123, on sale now.

In Batman #123 (by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Tomeu Morey, and VC's Clayton Cowles), Respawn threw himself in front of Deathstroke to shield him from bullet fire, in the process seemingly dying. This left Deathstroke to mourn the loss of his son, and may also have given him his inciting reason to fight back against Talia al Ghul.

Up until now, Deathstroke has been playing defense. He knew he had nothing to do with the death of Ra's al Ghul, but he couldn't sit still and explain that to Talia's forces. However, the loss of his son after so recently finding him will undoubtedly send Deathstroke into a spiral of rage. Here is where he begins his counterattack, and the rest of the world will suffer for it.

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Respawn Shields Deathstroke

Obviously Deathstroke knew he had been framed. It's why he'd gone on the run instead of fighting back. He didn't see the point in fighting a battle that he never truly started. His hope all this time was to figure out who actually pulled the trigger and bring proof of their existence to Talia.

That chance for peace died the moment Respawn did. In his unexpected child, Deathstroke undoubtedly saw a chance to be a better father than he was to his first two sons. He had even followed through on this, treating Respawn more like a son than a soldier in training. The two had developed a close bond, close enough that Respawn would turn himself into a human shield for his father, and close enough that Deathstroke will avenge his son.

He already admitted to Batman that he should have killed Ra's for keeping his son from him and for everything else the Demon's Head did to Respawn. But now, he'll want to kill Talia for taking Respawn away from him.

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Respawn Is Dead

Without having to worry about his son's safety anymore, Deathstroke can now begin fighting in earnest. He's still in communication with the Secret Society, who up until now were ordered to remain hidden. The death of his son is all the motivation he needs to organize the villains under his employ to start resisting the Demon's Shadow.

This in turn could spark a truly global conflict where the scale of the damage is unfathomable. Each villain Deathstroke employs is capable of massive destruction, pitting them up against fanatics like Talia's followers will only guarantee that there will be collateral damage. Take what Deathstroke did just to distract Batman and Robin, tossing a grenade into a street full of people to buy himself the time he needed to get away.

This is a war of annihilation between two people without a care for the lives that will get caught in the crossfire. Both believe that the other has robbed them of someone they love. There will be no true armistice until the perpetrator comes forward, and even then, Deathstroke has lost his son, again. If the true culprit himself, Deathstroke might still want Talia dead for what she did.