Batman is renowned for his ability to plan for anything and everything. This includes coming up with plans to neutralize his metahuman allies, should they go rogue or be mind-controlled. These became known as the Babel Protocols, named for the Tower of Babel storyline where they premiered. The finale of Titans: Beast World reveals that Nightwing has his own Babel Protocols but with one major difference from his mentor’s plans.
Nightwing’s plans were revealed in Titans: Beast World #6 by Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis, Lucas Meyer, and Eduardo Pansica. The story found the Titans trying to stop millions of innocents controlled by Starro drones from being killed by Amanda Waller. This proved difficult, as the drones were attracted to powerful metahumans and aliens. This put any superhero who tried to help the infected at risk of becoming a threat.
Despite this, Nightwing proposed a bold plan, using Earth’s most powerful heroes as bait for the drones. It was his hope that they could neutralize the drones while they were in the process of changing hosts. However, in case they couldn’t, Dick Grayson also had plans to pacify any ally the drones possessed, which he freely shared with his allies.
Nightwing’s Babel Protocols Are Not Secret
The chief problem with Batman’s Babel Protocols was that he was the only person who had access to them. This left the Justice League vulnerable to attack when Ra’s Al Ghul stole them and kept Batman distracted so he could not aid his allies. Some of Batman’s allies appreciated the logic behind the Babel Protocols. However, they pointed out that simply knowing the protocols existed would have saved them a lot of grief.
This seems to be the reason why Nightwing took care to make sure the other Titans knew about his plans’ existence. More, Dick Grayson also made sure that every other Titan had access to at least one of his plans. This trust is part of why Nightwing is widely regarded as a better leader than Batman.
Titans: Beast World #6 is now available in comic shops everywhere.
