Well, that happened and I'm glad that Joshua Williamson dragged this event more than he should.
The penultimate chapter of the Shadow War crossover is here and once again Williamson demonstrates why Robin is his best book. The character moments between Batman and Robin are the highlight once again with Bruce appropriately making Damian get rid of the guilt of Alfred's death by blaming himself for not being there to help, is the kind of logical character development you can expect from the writer which also nicely sets the tone for the battle that is about to come.
The rest of the issue is mostly action focused with fitting conversations between Slade and Talia just when they're about to kill each other (once again, Williamson uses continuity in his favor) but the best part comes at the end when the person responsible of all of this is revealed and while I'm sure some people already predicted who would be, that's still one hell of a way to reintroduce a character.
Roger Cruz remains in art duties and his work showcases kinetic action scenes and detailed character expressions at the right moments.
Great read, can't wait for the conclusion.