Batman: The Owls Court Explained

Images of Batman Court of Owls

Spoilers follow – read at your own risk!

What is the Owl Court?

The Owl Court has long been a legend in Gotham City. “Beware of the court of owls,” a local nursery rhyme began, “watching all the time, ruling Gotham from a shady perch behind granite and lime. When Bruce Wayne was placed in the crosshairs of an assassination plot, he learned that the Court and its assassins are very real.

Some of Gotham’s wealthiest and most connected families made up the Court of Owls. For centuries, they have used their power and influence to turn the political tide and control the city according to their designs, often resorting to the use of highly skilled assassins called Talons to achieve their nefarious goals.

The Wayne family were one of the cabal’s longtime rivals. Alan Wayne, one of the city’s builders and Bruce’s great-great-grandfather, was tormented by the Owls Court until they tortured him to death in 1922. As a boy Bruce himself had heeded the legend and suspected the court of having a hand in the death of his parents, believing their murder to be too random to be a mere coincidence.

“In many ways, this was my first time as a detective,” he told Dick Grayson. Bruce has found no trace of them or their involvement in the death of the Waynes. He sporadically surveyed society honing his skills as an adult, but the court eluded him until he became a target himself.

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After surviving the assassination attempt, Batman deduced the location of their hideouts, the first of which was founded as early as the 1800s. The Dark Knight quickly won the group’s wrath, and the Court of Owls declared war to the city they intended to maintain. They considered it the night of the owls, and its events spilled over into several titles in the DC Universe.

While the Court targeted Gotham’s rulers for assassination during the long night – and managed to eliminate many of them – the fight to save the city would involve everyone in the Bat-Family, from Jason Todd to Barbara Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and even the Batcave itself. Batman and his allies ultimately triumphed, but before the group’s ruling members could be brought to justice, they apparently committed suicide, leaving Batman unanswered to his many questions about this elusive and powerful organization. The Court of Owls was defeated, but not completely gone, once again disappearing into the shadows.

The yard of the origins of owls

Masked society dates back centuries, having gained a foothold long before Gotham became a city. Wielding influence since colonial times, the group maintained a firm grip on their power and ruthlessly eliminated anyone who threatened them. “We are the shadow architecture of this great city,” described one member. “We hold the walls, the bureaucracies, the small institutions. They give us their power.

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Notable Members of the Court of Owls

Lincoln March, who first met Bruce Wayne as a mayoral candidate, would ultimately be revealed as a member of the Court of Owls himself. Batman’s discovery and subsequent battle against the Court was incredibly personal given that he has long vowed to be the protector of the city, but March delivered an even more emotional punch when he revealed that he may have been Bruce’s lost brother. March took out most of the Cabal himself in revenge after targeting him alongside Bruce and would later return to upset the Dark Knight and his allies, though his relationship with Bruce remained ambiguous.

William Cobb was the first Talon to face the bat fearlessly, killing him almost more than once. After apparently dying in one of these altercations, Bruce was able to determine that he was Dick Grayson’s great-grandfather. Dick’s life would soon be tied to the Court of the Owls, eventually being forced to join the newly baptized Parliament of the Owls to take them out from within in the current DC Comics continuity.

Powers and capacities

Not only were the Court of Owls assassins, the Talons, strong enough to take on Batman (and even some of his enemies in the Night of the Owls issues), they were able to return from mortal wounds and death her- even thanks to a chemical compound that gave them metahuman regenerative abilities. The judgment to put them back into service was handed down by the court, which awakened the assassins when the need arose to help them regain their power in Gotham City.

The Talons were also skilled fighters. Stealthy and deadly, they used claw-shaped blades as signature weapons to pierce their target into specific parts of the body in order to make their deaths as painful as possible.

The Owl Court in TV and Video Games

The Court of Owls notably made an appearance in the television series Gotham, where they worked their machinations behind the scenes until they rose to the fore in the third season of the series. In this iteration of the Dark Group, they were responsible for the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as well as other citizens of Gotham who threatened their power. The cabal came to an end at the hands of the League of Shadows when one of their own turned on them.

The Court also made a cameo appearance as a Talon assassin in 2018’s Lego DC Super-Villains.

The 2015 animated film Batman vs Robin introduced the Court of Owls and Talon as Batman explored the idea of ​​the shadowy group behind his parents’ deaths. The film is loosely based on the history of the comics, pitting Bruce and Damian against each other as they clash over their different personalities and crime-fighting philosophies. They triumphed over the Court of Owls and their undead assassins, though Damian wondered who he was and how he fitted into his father’s life.

Court of Owls in the upcoming Batman game?

With Scott Snyder simply teasing the first line of the nursery rhyme, “beware of the court of owls” and the tagline “Capture the Knight,” it’s no exaggeration to guess that the Secret Society will play a role in the next game. Batman. Whether it’s the Dark Group himself or the assassins they unleash, Batman will certainly have a lot to face in his next battle to save Gotham City.