‘Gotham’ Introduces League of Shadows, but With a Twist

Last spring, Gotham brought on one of the most important characters in Batman lore when it introduced Ra’s al Ghul. Tonight, almost a year after the villain’s first appearance on the show and several episodes after his death, the Batman prequel series brought to life al Ghul’s most dangerous weapon: The League of Shadows.

WARNING: Major Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Gotham! Continue reading at your own risk…

If you think back to the episode of Gotham in which Ra’s died, which aired back in the fall, you’ll probably remember that the show set up one of its biggest mysteries that had gone mostly unanswered until last week. Ra’s, who brought Barbara Keene back to life after she was killed in the Season 3 finale, touched her hand as he said goodbye to her, causing it to glow. At the very end of last Thursday’s episode, Barbara’s hand began to glow once again, teasing that the mystery would be solved tonight.

That certainly was the case as Barbara discovered, through unlocking a vision, that Ra’s named her his successor. She became the new Demon’s Head, and was given control of the deadly group of assassins known as the League of Shadows.

Barbara figured out that the light in her hand was a beacon so that the League could find her. When they arrived later in the episode, they were surprised to learn that Ra’s had put a woman in charge of the league. As you can imagine, most of the assassin’s in the League were men, and one spoke out against Barbara. He said that women could join the League of Shadows, but were incapable of leading it.

After the man tried, and miserably failed to kill Barbara and take the Demon’s Head, the rest of the men in the group pulled their guns on her. It all seemed like bad news for the new leader until the lights went down and multiple guns fired into the darkness. The lights came back, all of the men in the League were dead, leaving only the few female members left standing. They killed their male counterparts and proved to Barbara that they were a loyal force and would follow her to the end.

While this isn’t the League of Shadows many Batman fans remember, it does bring Barbara’s story with Ra’s full circle. She will now take charge of the League and who knows what kind of damage she is capable of doing with it.

New episodes of Gotham air on Thursday nights at 8pm ET on FOX.