Hello True Believers, Fracadactyl here. I’m currently recording my findings about the history surrounding the empire topplers who aptly call themselves, the League of Assassins. Lead by the elusive Ra’s al Ghul… oh man should I use the Arabic or Hebrew pronunciation? Leftists will nitpick me to the ground if I don’t do it properly.
I agree… I suggest you use something more closer to your native tongue. You may not be Jewish, but it’s the closest you’ve got.
Agh! Logging out!
Sorry about that, being near somebody who can kill me more times than I can think of is scary. In anyway, welcome to Comic Theory, the segment that analyzes the stuff in comics and brings them under consideration. This time we’ll be focusing on the classic plans of Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins.
Racial… Who?
Now I’m pretty sure every fan knows this semi-regular foe of Batman. Unlike most of the Dark Knight’s Rogue’s Gallery; he’s not completely insane and he’s been around for centuries because of pools called the Lazarus Pit. He’s also got an army of devout followers who broke off from the original Hashashin group. I guess they got tired of all the marijuana sessions.
Anyway, the League of Assassins is part of a syndicate called The Demon; and it’s been around for a very long time. Ra’s being the old guy he is can only see things fall apart. From empires to just plain urbanization. He’s an environmentalist who goes to great strides at preserving endangered species having seen mankind ravage nature throughout the centuries. Part of his course of action was to exterminate humanity save for his followers and return the world to Eden. Hmm… I guess he’s not Muslim.
Ends Can’t Justify the Means
Naturally Ra’s clashes with Batman and the Justice League more than a couple of times because of his genocidal plans. With Ra’s al Ghul always being the villain, even showing no mercy to his subordinates for just a simple mistake as feeding chocolate to an animal, does his words have merit? The Injustice 2 comics even show nature aligned characters like Animal Man and Vixen siding with him.
Well I’m gonna have to compare the League’s activities to activist groups like the Animal Liberation Front. For all of their claims of wanting to help animals, groups like them are by and far domestic terrorists. Sure some of them are known to go out of their way to make sure nobody gets hurt or killed; but usually they just end up blowing obstacles up. These end up costing millions in damage such as the Londbridges boathouse in Oxford. And for groups that try to educate the masses, they often twist the truth or use similar methods to the people they say they are against like blatant advertisements all the while making a steady profit.
In fact most of these instances, they just gave their opponents more opportunities to make a profit or catapult their campaigns. For Ra’s al Ghul, getting rid of the political and business class would end all of this.
Too Little, Too Late Ra’s al Ghul
Unfortunately for Ra’s al Ghul, in spite of all the eco-terrorism; the damage caused by the human species has already been done. The waste that would be left behind would continue to fester; especially all of the plastics that are so small they attach to DNA. The coastline cities would even sink into the ocean without much support. Nuclear submarines would still function and cause more damage. Methane gas would erupt at once in some of these places causing an even quicker global warming event. The other species that inhabit the planet including pets and domestic farm animals would practically go feral. This would allow species like carp, insects, and former zoo animals to invade areas and cause more extinctions. All things considered, this really isn’t any better. (I’m mainly using Life After People as a basis here. There are a lot of debates about this scenario.)
With that scenario the only successful plan Ra’s al Ghul would have is to make sure humanity never existed. But paradoxes are a pain to deal with so I doubt he would even touch it.
Has He Even Considered All Angles?
Come to think of it, I don’t think Ra’s had a long look at Singapore. The country is known for its cleanliness and making sure technology and nature coexist. There aren’t a lot of other places that even allow trees on buildings. Heck Germany has its public personally invest money into development for wind power. It helps energy development and the economy.
The league doesn’t seem to make use of modern science despite their leaders interest in it; especially when some of which could help their goals in the long run. Instead of just preserving species; they could’ve kept genomes in reserve as it is less maintenance than keeping species alive, and have fallbacks. They could use the Dionesium from the Lazarus Pits by using a filtration system to prevent the side effects the pools have to restore extinct species. But due to their dogmatic beliefs, I doubt Ra’s would even consider that. All the science he uses are environments for animals and chemical weapons. Okay I’m starting to see a couple similarities with the Islamist terrorists.
Change Targets?
Later depictions of Ra’s al Ghul would only lead the League of Assassins; focusing on destroying highly developed cities like Gotham, seeing them as places where corruption festers. Bankers, bureaucrats, organized crime, ambitious businessmen and politicians, activists who demand trivial gains, all a target of the League. But even if this were the case; this just makes Ra’s al Ghul another crime lord who halts progress even in needed areas like a dictator. It wouldn’t even be a stretch to have the League act like Nazis. Have you even seen the state of North Korea? The Kim family sleeps on mines of minerals and can’t even make use of them for more useful technology because of their isolationist policies.
All things considered, Ra’s al Ghul’s dislike of the modern world is similar to how older generations view youngsters; often blind to how their own lives could improve and be made better. He’s so caught up in the simpler times he’s lived in, he can’t keep up with the modern world and wants to destroy it. But the older days just aren’t as good as people like to think it is. Ra’s al Ghul lived during a time of constant warfare and strife with death occurring at any corner. Change is scary for an immortal, especially when all he knows is how to kill people. In fact it was those beliefs that caused his own children to turn against him. Get off the ‘Member Berries Ra’s!
Ra’s al Ghul Should Consider a Career Change
In short, Ra’s al Ghul just couldn’t see past his own stubbornness. Despite all the hiccups humanity has had; the world is making steady progress to cleaner resources, less pollutants, and stable relationships. The political side can even be improved once all the real issues will be in the spotlight. A bunch of killers would only invite more conflicts and more wasted resources. The League’s genocidal actions might leave a blank slate, but that doesn’t mean it will ever be a clean one.
But the ink’s not dry yet. Remember to like, comment, share, and look between the panels.