Gotham: An Introduction To The Deadly And Formidable Talons

In Gotham’s Season 3 premiere,”Better to Reign in Hell…,” we got our first look at a Talon—a deadly Court of Owls assassin.

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Bruce knew the dangers of confronting his own board of directors. However, he never imagined that the secret cabal, the Court of Owls, would send an assassin—a Talon—after him. Even Alfred, with his British Special Forces training, couldn’t stave off this deadly killer.

For comic book fans, Talons are already a staple of the Batman mythos. But for the laymen, these Court of Owls go-to hitmen may be obscure entities. Most likely, if you’re reading this, you fall into the latter category. So here’s a quick primer on why the guy who looked like Green Hornet’s Kato is such a big deal.

Very Brief Comic Book History

Writer Scott Snyder and Artist Greg Capullo created the Talons when they created the Court of Owls. Both entities made their first appearances in Batman #2 (October 2011). And the first Talon introduced to Batman fans was William Cobb.

Aside from Cobb, there have been many Talons throughout history. Though they all had varying backgrounds and skills, all of them shared similar superhuman traits.

Talons are the Court of Owls’ most loyal servants. These assassins remain sleeping until they’re activated by their masters. The Court also used electrum—a concoction made of silver, gold, and trace amounts of copper and other elements—to treat their wounded Talons. Later, the electrum was combined with a serum—this new formula had the ability to bring back dead Talons.

Resurrected Talons were virtually invulnerable. There have been instances where these assassins survived falls from great heights, electrocution, dismemberment, knives through the head, decapitation—anything that would kill a normal, living person. Only a special poison, developed by the Court, has the ability to kill a Talon.

Talons are extremely proficient with knives and hand-to-hand combat. Talons deemed unfit, or too old to function, must face their potential replacement in a battle to the death. And Talons who were brought back to life can return to their former selves using the Lazarus Pit.

Next: Check out our review for 'Better to Reign in Hell...'

Talons on Gotham

In “Better to Reign in Hell…,” the Court of Owls sent a Talon to kidnap Bruce. In the Talon’s confrontation with Alfred, we got a taste of the assassins knife skills and fighting prowess. Knowing what we now know, Alfred is lucky that he survived the attack. It was never divulged who this Talon is (it could be a Talon from the comics, or an original character created solely for the show) or whether or not he’s formerly resurrected. However, I’m sure the show will be diving deeper into this character and his history soon.

Gotham airs on Fox on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. EST.