Knight Terrors – Nights End #1 – The Final Temptation Of Deadman

Knight Terrors – Nights End #1 is the culmination of the two-month line event that plunged the DC Universe into the nightmare realm and saw public opinion towards the heroes take a turn for the worse. This final installment of the story incorporated the various story threads weaved throughout the main and tie-in series to give a satisfying conclusion to the first major event of the Dawn of DC era.

The issue opens with a young child waking up from her nightmares and informing her parents that in her nightmare, the heroes were chasing her with intent to harm her, and she was being chased by a man with no eyelids.  After the parents try to assure their daughter that her dreams were caused by something on television, the scene shifts back to Insomnia, who has brought the Nightmare Realm to the real world.

This sequence of events is one where Insomnia tempts Deadman with his heart’s s desire: a family of his own. While the exchange between Deadman and Insomnia plays out, the heroes take advantage of the moment and make their final assault on Insomnia and make their way back into the Hall Of Justice to retrieve the Dreamstone, which they hope will be the key to defeating Insomnia. At this point, Wesley Dodd finally gets his moment as he wields the Dreamstone against Insomnia, who believes he has just defeated Deadman.

The fight with Insomina wraps fairly quickly as Deadman turns the tables and traps Insomina in his nightmare before transitioning into the story’s coda as Superman and Wonder Woman realize that the heroes lost. Insomina accomplished his goal of turning the public against them. Wesley Dodds’ story also comes to a close as he returns to his grave, and Amanda Waller makes her only other appearance since Knight Terrors: First Blood.

The sequence with Waller is the setup for the next stage of her plans: turn public opinion against The Titans in the event coming this fall. The Waller sequence also pulls from the Lazarus Planet storyline as it is revealed that she not only has a magical helm like that worn by Doctor Fate but, when combined with the Nightmare Stone, turns her mysterious associate into Doctor Hate, who is sure to make an appearance in the upcoming storyline.

For the most part, Knight Terrors was an exciting and interesting exploration of the heroes’ nightmares while setting up future storylines as Amanda Waller and her shadow council are once again scheming to discredit and turn the public against the heroes.