Nightwing’s New Love Triangle Was Just Resolved in the Darkest Way Possible

Warning! Contains spoilers for Nightwing #108!

Nightwing has a long history as a romantic lead in the DC Universe, and this can be a problem when he has to choose between two different women — which is the exact situation he found himself in with Bea Bennett and Barbara Gordon. Nightwing clearly loves Batgirl, but Ric Grayson loved Bea. Nightwing is now in a position where he has to deal with his current love for Babs and his past feelings for Bea.

As Nightwing goes on a pirate adventure with the love of his past life, Bea Bennett, the potential love triangle between himself, Barbara Gordon, and Bea has just ended in the darkest way possible in Nightwing #108 by Tom Taylor and Stephen Byrne. As Bea Bennett fights her brother for the title of Captain Blüd, she ends up being seemingly fatally stabbed and tossed into the ocean below.

Bea’s fall ends the issue, and it’s unclear if she will survive either the stab wound or the threat of drowning. Nightwing and Bea’s relationship is complicated at best, but now it’s potentitally being cut short thanks to Bea’s villainous brother.

Nightwing’s Love Triangle Is “Solved” with Bea’s Possible Death

Nightwing and Batgirl/Oracle Barbara Gordon have been together for most of the current Nightwing run, and they have a long history together, romantic and otherwise, that dates back decades. Their relationship has never been better: since Barbara is a member of the Bat-Family, she fully understands everything Nightwing has gone through with having to live up to Batman’s expectations. Their shared history makes them almost a perfect couple — but love in comic books is very rarely simple. While there’s no denying that Dick has very strong feelings for Barbara, he also has to deal with lingering feelings for Bea Bennett from the time that Nightwing was Ric Grayson.

When Nightwing lost his memory, he spent a year as Ric Grayson, completely cutting himself off from the rest of the Bat-Family. He took up a job as a taxi driver, trying to start his life over again, as he literally had no memory of a time before he was Ric. This eventually led him to start dating a woman named Bea Bennett, and the two worked well together. When Ric regained his memories as Nightwing, he broke up with Bea, not wanting to date a civilian because of how dangerous his life was. Nightwing was completely unaware that Bea was actually a secret pirate queen, as revealed in recent issues of Nightwing. If he had that information, it’s possible he never would’ve broken up with her.

Nightwing Must Find a Way to Save His Love Interest Bea

While it’s obvious Nightwing would never do anything that would betray Barbara’s trust, it’s also a difficult situation to be in for him. Nightwing broke up with Bea despite his feelings for her, all because he was truly trying to keep her safe. Now that he knows he didn’t have to protect her, it’s possible he could rethink his relationship choices, or maybe their relationship could evolved into something new. Unfortunately, all of that potential is possibly being cut short by Bea’s current fatal predicament, and Nightwing might never know what could’ve been.