There are some people who think Selina beating Talia in a sword fight was actually a good feat and not exaggeration Talia, a woman who was raised by assassins her whole life, and these are not just random assassins… She is Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter. I mean, come on guys.
The combat part was, too, ridiculous in my opinion. Selina calling her “the ex” and beating her meanwhile Talia not even fighting back properly? Not saying Selina can’t win in a combat fight but at least give Talia more credit. She can at least do some self defense. Tom King vs thinking without racism filling his mind.
I meaaaan… he’s prob an american w-r cr!minal, so yh, his writing reflects a lot of that. His worldview shows, and it shows hard. His version of Selina is white ( unless it was stated otherwise in the comic ? can't remember ) which fits a larger pattern in how he frames power and who gets to be centered as “right.” I usually don’t obsess over Selina’s race bc, historically, she was written as white, so it’s not as foundational an issue as it is with a character like Talia. but even setting that aside, the writing itself was just… bad. like genuinely bad
the constant “bat.” “cat.” “bat.” “cat.” exchange was painfully cringe like it was trying to sound iconic and romantic but instead came off as shallow and embarrassing?? It reduced both characters to caricatures instead of treating them like fully realized ppl with history and depth.
and that fight… omg, where do I even start??? it was clearly written to elevate Selina at Talia’s expense, turning Selina into this weird white-savior figure while completely flattening Talia’s competence. just this morning, I’ve seen someone on this app argue that the sword fight was actually “realistic” for Selina’s character (lmao)
Selina is an EXCELLENT street fighter. that’s her lane. she’s adaptable, clever, fast, dirty when she needs to be. she knows how to survive and how to hold her own in close combat BUT she is not an assassin. she wasn't trained from childhood by the League of Assassins, she wasn't raised inside one of the most deadly cults on the planet.
Talia, on the other hand, is Ras al Ghul’s daughter for a reason. she’s been trained her entire life, she’s older, more disciplined, more experienced and canonically one of the most dangerous fighters in the DC universe. sword fighting is literally her domain and so putting Selina against her in a sword fight and having Selina win isn’t empowering.... it’s absurd.
what makes it worse is how the scene is framed. Talia is written like a cartoon villain, delivering dramatic monologues instead of actually fighting, while Selina gets smug, quippy one-liners. Talia barely even engages, as if the narrative itself is sabotaging her so Selina can look superior.... It’s lazy writing disguised as “character work.”
and the subtext is gross. Bruce calls Talia “the most dangerous woman alive” and instead of letting that stand, the narrative immediately undermines it by forcing Selina into a dominance display like the story is jealous on Selina’s behalf. It turns into a bizarre competition where Selina has to be positioned as the “better” “stronger” “more valid” woman and that’s not feminism, that’s insecurity!!!
Ra's Al Ghul would actually have a heart attack if he saw that fight... and frankly, so would anyone who understands either character beyond surface-level fandom fantasies......
