With the rise of the villainous Insomnia, nearly the entire world was plunged into a dreadful slumber filled with nightmares. Thankfully, the heroes of the DC Universe have proven themselves to be more capable than the self-proclaimed God of Nightmares. Unfortunately, they haven’t even begun to recognize the villain that was working behind the scenes the entire time: Amanda Waller, who has made significant advances towards one of her biggest goals.
In the wake of Insomnia’s defeat at the hands of Deadman, the heroes of the world are left to wonder whether anything about the situation could be called a victory. While that might not be true where the likes of the Justice League are concerned, Knight Terrors: Night’s End #1 (by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stafano Nesi, Travor Hairsine, Rain Beredo, and Troy Peteri) reveals that Amanda Waller is in a better position than ever thanks to Insomnia’s global assault. Not only has she come to acquire yet another of the DC Universe’s most powerful artifacts, Waller’s agenda against the Justice League has just been given a substantial boost.
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DC’s Knight Terrors Benefited Amanda Waller’s War on Superheroes
From her first appearance back in 1986’s Legends #1 (by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne), Amanda Waller, known colloquially by her coworkers as The Wall, has always been a formidable force. Her stern, stoic, frequently sadistic outlook was largely shaped by the unjust deaths of her husband and two of their children. As a result, Waller never questioned what she needed to do in order to reign in the criminal element that stole away the most important parts of her life, taking it upon herself to rise through the ranks of the world’s most clandestine organizations, although her endgame goes much further than that.
Throughout the course of her career, Waller commanded Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad, as well as whatever other superpowered agents she could bring into the fold under her purview. Waller also developed an acute distaste for heroes who work outside of her direct command. With a deep-seated need for complete and total control over any given situation, Waller’s personal grievances against the world’s heroes slowly evolved into declaring her own secret war against them, and the conclusion of Knight Terrors have given her and her mission a distinct advantage.
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Amanda Waller’s Knight Terrors Victory
When Insomnia first took hold over the world, his focus was on hunting down the Nightmare Stone that resided somewhere within the dreams of the DC Universe’s heroes and villains. Once Insomnia had the Stone in his possession, he was able to unleash the nightmare beings under his command upon the waking world. Despite the heroes pushing this threat back into the shadows with their defeat of Insomnia, the impact left by it on the rest of the world’s denizens is undeniably profound. Now, the former supporters of the Justice League and other superheroes find themselves horrified by the thought of what these would-be saviors are truly capable of, not to mention the havoc they so often wreak in the wake of their adventures.
This alone is a major step forward for Waller, yet it somehow isn’t the greatest of those that Insomnia made for her. Even if Waller wasn’t taking part in the events of DC’s Knight Terrors firsthand, she maintained her near omnipresent view of the situation from afar courtesy of both her vast network of surveillance systems and her agents on the ground. In fact, it is thanks to the cybernetically enhanced Bright that Waller was able to claim the dreaded Nightmare Stone for herself during the final moments of the fight against Insomnia. Coupled with the Helmet of Hate she acquired via Peacemaker, Waller now has everything she needs to create the ultimate agent in her pending war against the heroes.
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DC’s Knight Terrors Sets Up Amanda Waller’s Next Big Move
With the Justice League already disbanded and fear by the general population, Waller’s next step is to take the fight to the Titans who have replaced their predecessors as Earth’s premier superhero team. With her new agent Doctor Hate now in the picture, it is hard to imagine how the Titans or anyone else will be able to stop whatever it is that Waller has in store for them next. Presumably, this will involve Hate in some capacity, but there is no telling what that will be.
Based on how much damage Insomnia’s crusade did to the reputation of heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman, it is all the more likely that Waller will be looking to subvert the Titans’ place on the world stage as well. Between the Nightmare Stone and Helmet of Hate that Doctor Hate now wields, it would be easy enough to turn the masses against the Titans and their fellow heroes to some degree, but there is no reason to think that will be the full extent of Waller’s plot. Worse still, the heroes may not have any chance of holding themselves together when they are tested in such a way, considering the tenuous grasp they currently have on themselves as a whole.
Amanda Waller has officially emerged as the true winner of DC’s Knight Terrors, and its aftermath sets up her next big endeavor. Read More