Batgirl # 6 2024

 By Mark Rodriguez

An ancient group of assassins called  The Unburied have returned in modern day seeking revenge upon Lady Shiva, the Al Ghul family and the League of Shadows. Lady Shiva was captured in a recent battle and Cassandra set out to rescue her. Cassie gets hit by sleeping mist and is captured as well. She wakes up in front of her mother, as they are both tied up and hanging from the ceiling. What will happen now?

 

"Mother Part 6 of 6" opens with Cassie and Shiva tied up and hanging from their ropes. Shiva tells Cassie they only have each other now and based on her failed rescue attempt, she really needs her help. Cass says she wouldn't be here if Kalden didn't knock her out with a single punch. Cassie finally asks the question we've all been asking... why are The Unburied are after her. She says the others make sense by why are they after her specifically. Kalden arrives and says it's because she woke them up.

Kalden says she understands that Batgirl is a hero in the world above, just like he is a hero in the world below. He remarks that her mother had not been honest about her troubles and their crusade. Kalden explains that they come from a long line of peaceful people. They lived in a sacred valley hidden in the mountains. One day they welcomed Ra's Al Ghul who brought blood to their lands from which the blue followers bloomed. He soon returned for those flowers with his League of Shadows and Blood of Wu.

Kalden says despite all that, they favored peace, so they worked to rebuild rather than seek vengeance. Cass asks why they target Shiva since they blame the League of Shadows and the Blood of Wu. Some time ago, Lady Shiva discovered their hidden world beyond the Himalayas. While they were cautious of her, they were curious since they haven't had contact with the surface in generations. They followed their ancestors' ways and welcomed her to their home. Shiva ate their food, earned their trust and trained in their ways... but then she stole the Blue Poppies and betrayed them.

 

Kalden says Shiva only saw them as another challenge. She treated them as an obstacle to gain more power. They know their history and how war always follows, so this time they waged war first. They spread across the globe in nests like the one they're currently in. Ra' Al Ghul was dead and the League is in shambles. The Blood of Wu had grown lazy in their commerce. Lady Shiva is currently without allies until she found use in her Order and crawled back to Batgirl.

Lady Shiva had awoken them from their complacency and reminded them of their cruel origins. Kalden says peace only serves those who proper from it, and their people have been denied the sun for far too long. What is buried will always come to light. Kalden walks off and says their leader will soon arrive for an audience for them both.

One alone, Cassie yells at her mother saying this is all her fault. Shiva says she's tired of being judged. Cassie says she was right and she can't trust her. All of the wounded and dead because of this is all her fault. Cassie asks why she did it. Shiva says she ran out of challenges above ground and searched for new ones below. Lady Shiva says she is what she is. Just then Jayesh shows up. He apologizes for being late but he thought Kalden would never shut up. Jayesh was meant to wait aside with the getaway bike but he figures they could use his help. He tosses blades that cut both women free. Cass gives Jayesh a hug.

Lady Shiva says there are debts to pay and she wants to burn the underground to ashes. Cassie says she only came to rescue her. Shiva says the High Priest rescued her. Cass demands no more death. Shiva says death is always calling and she can either wield it or be at her mercy. Just then both women hear Jayesh tell them to tell her daughter that he loved her. He dies at the hand of Nergui and his giant blade. Cassie tosses bombs at her, but Nergui leaps away from them. 

 

Lady Shiva takes Cassie's arm and runs out of the room. Shiva says she also wants to fight Nergui but in a war like this one much choose their battles tactfully. Cassie says that Nergui killed Jayesh. Shiva warns her that Nergui the Unknown is the Unburied weapons and potions master. She says Nergui won't be of any use if hey dispose of her ingredients. She wants to destroy all the Blue Poppies and weaken them.

Cassie says the blue flowers are sacred to the Unburied, and fire will only make more fire. She says she is done with her mother's schemes and all this death. She says they will fight their way out and beat all the odds. Both women make it towards a ledge as Kalden and his ninjas start showing up. Shiva grabs Cassie and they both dive off the ledge. Kalden tells his men to find them.

Cassie lands in an underground river and Shiva pulls her out. Some of the ninjas also fall into the river and get swept away. Cassie and Shiva call them idiots the same time. Shiva says they need a plan and an exit. Cassie knows the one exit. Shiva says the enemy has the advantage underground. She says Kalden has limited vision but has trained himself beyond it. 

Cassie asks her mother who leads them, as Kalden has mentioned a leader several times. Shiva says whoever is their strongest would be their leader, and they pray to never meet the person strong enough to defeat Kalden in combat. Shiva wants to reach the exit, raining fire as she do so. Cassie says no. She says the Unburied were at peace until Shiva came about. She was at peace until Shiva returned to her life. Shiva said Cassie has grown stagnant and lazy with the Bat Family. Cassie says it's a family she chose, while Shiva only ruins and destroys sacred things. Shiva says that Cassie is sacred to her and that is a war she won't lose.

Shiva asks Cassie why she took her to Ba' Bao for healing. She asks why she came to save her life but continues to resist her at any time. Cassie says Shiva is her mother, and every time she tries to trust her and choose her, there is pain. She tired of the pain. She says some wounds never heal and they are what they are. Cassie will help her escape but after that she never wants to see her again. Lady Shiva agrees and asks what 'the daughter of the Bat' proposes. Cassandra puts her mask on and says she'll do something her father taught her.

 

Back to the Grand Masters, Chodak tells the ninjas to flood the tunnels so the only exit would be through them. Just then, Kalden, Chodak and Nergui hear something. A huge swarm of bats fill the tunnels as the ninjas try to escape them. There are so many, some of them are even knocked off their feet. Batgirl leaps in and kicks Kalden back. Shiva tells the group that there is no luck, and Batgirl adds that there is only them. 

Lady Shiva and Batgirl fight their way through all the ninjas who are still distracted and overwhelmed by the bats. Batgirl finally lands some blows on Kalden, each one being for his victims, Ba' Bao, Liam, Tony, Van and Jayesh. Batgirl tells Kalden to stay down. She fires off her grappling hook gun and pulls herself upwards and out of the cave while carrying her mother. Both women run out of the cave and head towards Jayesh's motorcycle. Cassie says she'll take her as far as she can.

 

The Unburied follow them as Kalden calls out to Shiva. Cassie tells her mother to hop on the bike. Shiva says this is not where her path leads and she will not yield. Shiva says this is a wound only she can close. She tells Cassie to go find the Bronze Tiger, the only one that can help her now. Cassie says she'll die. Shiva accepts that challenge so that Cassie may live. Shiva tells Cassie to let her be soft again, and to ask Benjamin Turner about the Jade Tiger.

Cassie drives off as Lady Shiva fights against the ninjas and Kalden. She monologues about how a mother may sacrifice herself so her daughter may live. Cassie screams as Kalden cuts Shiva down with his sword. All she can do is drive away.

 

My Thoughts- 

So this was an unexpected ending. This was more of an escape from the enemy stronghold than actually defeating the enemy, which is fitting because in this case Lady Shiva was the aggressor and started all of this. The Unburied don't seek world domination or anything, they just want to live in peace... after they get their retribution. Lady Shiva riled them up and while searching for her, they decided they might as well strike a blow against the Al Ghuls. This explains why all of their focus was on Shiva and they seemed content just capturing her while not also capturing Nyssa when she was right there. In fact... Shiva could have been lying to Nyssa and the League of Shadows the whole time and only allied herself with them for the sake of safety in numbers.

We also see that they had no personal qualms with Batgirl. They warned her several times to just stay away and they also see that does not follow her mother's footsteps. They only went after her because Shiva got her involved.

Now the Unburied are not completely innocent though. While their focus was on Lady Shiva, they had no reason to kill Ba' Bao and her family. Knock them out, maybe, but outright kill??? And Kalden definitely didn't have to kill the Gotham firefighters in issue 1 when they were just doing their jobs.

Lady Shiva.... was a real piece of work in this one. So she stumbled across the Unburied, gained their trust and then stole their sacred flowers... all pretty much because she was bored. Then they retaliate against her... and she wants to burn them down. Even though all of this was her fault? Screw you lady. While we do get to see a more motherly side to her... Cassie was right in the sense that all of this was her fault.

The Unburied, or to be more precise, the Grand Masters are too powerful to defeat. They're threats you just have to survive. I like that Batgirl didn't randomly overpower them after being taken down so easily on two occasions. She finally landed some hits on Kalden, but only due to the bats swarming around. Even then they goal was  not to defeat him in combat, just to get past him. 

As the women escaped and the comic was nearing its final pages, I was wondering what would prevent the Unburied from continuing to chase them after the story ended. We see that Lady Shiva purposely stayed behind and fought them off the most she could before getting ultimately defeated. With Lady Shiva apparently being killed, the Unburied can presumably return to their peaceful ways now that vengeance has been served.

I feel bad for Jayesh though as he didn't get much to do other than explain the Order of Shiva to Cassie in his introductory issue. He did take Cassie to the Unburied hideout, and he did cut both woman free... but then he just died at the hands of Nergui without much time to fight. At the very least Cassie was able to use his motorcycle to get away. Also, we never got to see the leader of the Unburied. Maybe later down the line in another story? Kalden, Chodak and Nergui are too awesome to confine just to this story. 

Overall a great story in a (thankfully) still on-going run. We got a fun adventure that takes Cassie out of Gotham for a solo mission, and we get more insight on how she feels about her mother. Between Lady Shiva and David Cain, Cassie has a dark and troubled backstory and it always tends to come back to her in current day. While Lady Shiva apparently dies in this issue, it seems next issue will show us more of her backstory. Of course someone like Shiva won't stay dead for long. I mean she did have a mini-series involving her fighting with Black Canary around this general time so I'm sure she 'got better'. 

The comic also featured a few preview pages of Fire and Ice. It looks like Zatanna is there too. That one didn't really catch my interest the way Batman Dark Patterns did. 

I've been enjoying the run so far. I've heard this series got positive reviews, mostly because it follows the overall vibe of Batgirl's pre-New 52 adventures and the 6-issue 2008 mini series. I have to say I agree, We'll see what happens next issue as we start a new story hot off the heels of this one.