Leviathan Theory: Lois Lane #4 Clues

Tomorrow Event Leviathan #5 will hit the stands and the mystery will be solved. My assumption is the last page of the issue will be the big reveal.


Now I have had a Leviathan Theory and I have been talking about it since the middle of May. In short, Leviathan and his cohorts are the Charlton Heroes and Leviathan himself is Ted Kord. And I am sticking to that guess.

And since May I have been writing posts about clues wherever I see them. And last week's Lois Lane #4 had a couple of doozies.

Now as I have said for a while, I am stuck on my Charlton guess so I look at clues through that lens first.

First ...
But not only.

And so I am going to tell you what I saw in the issue but with it bolstering a couple of different theories.

The bottom line is this time, I think I'm right.

On to the clues.

In the issue, the police are called to the apartment of an unnamed woman who is clearly addled.

We see her wide eyed and clear disheveled. And she talks of how she is being hunted; that people like her are being erased.

Now dark hair, dark lipstick, dark finger nails all make me think this is Nightshade. That would make sense for my theory. I think it is the Charlton Heroes from another Earth who came in and took over Leviathan.

We know Leviathan has been absorbing agents into his cause, not erasing them. So that word sticks out. Perhaps this is the Earth-0 Nightshade trying not to be replaced ... that is hunted and erased.

Of course, Nightshade wouldn't need a gun to defend herself ... but more on that in a bit.

As the scene plays out, the woman starts shouting moves on a chessboard.

That made me think this could be Sasha Bordeaux, of Checkmate fame. After all, they were all about chess symbolism and nomenclature.

Plus, Sasha would use a gun to defend herself.

And if this is Sasha, that makes Maxwell Lord a better suspect for Leviathan. And given all the shenanigans with espionage groups and mind controlling people, Lord is on the list. He comes in at 6:1 odds.

But why would she be being 'erased' rather than absorbed?

But thern it becomes clear that this woman is in need of help. When she cannot think of the next move in this imaginary chess match, she puts the gun to her head to kill herself. It looks as if the officer is able to stop her from hurting herself. But she is so exhausted, she collapses.

We see that she has been in some circle of protection, most likely hiding her from Leviathan.

Now Sasha Bordeaux would not use mystic sigils and glyphs.

But Nightshade?

Heck, she was part of the mystical team Shadowpact. She'd probably have picked up a few things from this team, enough to whip up some circle of protection for herself.

And maybe that circle forbids/inhibits powers such that she'd need a gun to defend herself?

So what part is more crucial?

The 'erase' line, the look, and the sigil seem more Nightshade, confirming my guess.

The chess moves and the gun make it more likely Sasha Bordeaux and thus Leviathan is Maxwell Lord.

But that isn't the only clue in the book although that is the biggest one.

In the book, Renee Montoya has a conversation with Vic Sage. Remember, Vic is supposed to be dead.

In the talk, Renee talks of things happening and not happening. How all things happened but only some things happened. In essence, she is trying to figure out how Vic is still alive.

And while her timey/wimey, Crisis-y/wisis-y talk is perfect for comics, maybe there is a simpler answer.

Maybe the Earth-0 Vic Sage is still dead. And this is the Earth-4 Charlton Question who has taken over that identity.

I am going with that as it helps out my theory. The Question would be an inside man for Leviathan, keeping track of everything the heroes are doing.

Why else do I think that?

Well in the issue, Renee talks about the final moments with her Charlie. It is a touching scene where she relays how he told her the .man dreaming he is a butterfly' story.

But notice how she has to say it. When she asks if he remembers, he stammers. He does this 'I remember I had a hard time getting it out' and she gives the answer.

What if that is because he didn't know? Why would the Earth-4 Question know what the Earth-0 Question said alone on a mountaintop moments before dying? So he pauses and let's the witness answer.

That means this is the Earth-4 Question. And all those Rorscach Watchmen moments I have shown are really this Question keeping tabs on our heroes.

And it explains why Barbara asked who was in the room with Batman in Event Leviathan #3.

She knows who Leviathan is. She knows the Question is working for Leviathan. And she knows the Question is also 'working' with the detectives.

So there you have it.

The woman is Nightshade, trying to stop herself from being killed/erased so the other Nightshade can take her place. And The Question is actually working with Leviathan.

This time I'm right!