- "Embrace your inner darkness."
- — Amanda to Oliver Queen[src]
Amanda Waller (died January 2016), known under the codename Mockingbird, was the corrupt director of A.R.G.U.S. and leader of the Suicide Squad.
Biography
Association with Edward Fyers
Edward Fyers' employer
In order to eliminate China White, Waller sought out Yao Fei Gulong on the island of Lian Yu. She maintained radio contact with Edward Fyers. On the island she had been shipping military weapons to take down a plane headed for China which contained China White. Right before this, Edward contacted her and told her how the plan was coming together.[1] However, the plan soon failed due to Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson's intervention, and Fyers and all of his men were killed.[2]
Association with Oliver Queen
She witnessed Oliver Queen's combat abilities on the island via Keyhole Hexagon satellite. She saw Queen fight and supposedly kill Wilson on the Amazo. After she saw Oliver fall off of the Amazo, she sent in a team to rescue him, seeing him as a potential agent. After Waller had Oliver captured, she moved him to China.
Amanda tried to force Oliver to work for her. She assigned agent Maseo Yamashiro to be his handler. After numerous failed attempts to escape, Oliver agreed to proceed with his training to prevent Waller from killing Maseo's family as punishment for his failure in restraining Oliver.[3] Later, Amanda ordered Oliver to kill Tommy Merlyn after Oliver tried to access his email account during his previous failed escape attempt. Oliver, with Maseo's help, found a way around it so that Tommy could be spared.[4]
Amanda told Maseo to order Oliver to kill "a terrorist". She is summoned to meet with Oliver to her annoyance. She revealed to Oliver she knows he prevented Ferris Air flight 637, Paris to Hong Kong from being blown up over Lian Yu. However, Oliver revealed he knew Waller was the one who ordered Edward Fyers to shoot down the plane, based on the data from a USB drive he picked off of Adam Catswidth, the "terrorist" she had him murder. He knows that Catswidth was Fyers' handler and that Amanda wanted him silenced. Oliver threatened to expose her actions if anything were to happen to Maseo's family. Amanda admitted and revealed to Oliver that Fyers' operation was to assassinate one target; Chien Na Wei AKA China White, and he saved her life. Amanda told him that she needed to know why Chien is in Hong Kong.[5]
Oliver and Maseo were able to discovered that White was after the Alpha-Omega Virus, which she planned to sell to the highest bidder. They failed to recover the Alpha half of the virus, but Waller gave them another chance. She revealed that Omega was in the possession of the Hong Kong military. After recovering Omega, Maseo asked when A.R.G.U.S. would rescue his wife, Tatsu, after she was kidnapped by White. Waller revealed that she had no intention of doing so. She suspected a betrayal and switched the Omega with a fake, which Maseo and Oliver would try to trade for his wife's life.
Amanda gave the two men a chance to redeem themselves. White had flown to Starling City in order to sell the Alpha half of the virus, surmising that the other half could be recreated later. The two men were successful in taking down White and attaining Alpha. They were then approached by Waller and General Matthew Shrieve, who revealed that they had to be debriefed back in Hong Kong.
After general Shrieve removed her authority as the leader of A.R.G.U.S. for committing unspeakable acts,[6] Amanda was then held hostage by general Shrieve who planned on using the bio weapon on Hong Kong, in order to destabilize the Chinese economy. Waller revealed she had no involvement with Shrieve and told Oliver to get as far away from Hong Kong, hoping they could meet again one day. She also revealed the existence of a vaccine, which ended up saving Oliver, Tatsu and Maseo.[7]
Assembling the Suicide Squad
Amanda captured John Diggle telling him that she needed his help to rescue Lyla Michaels as she had gone dark in Moscow. She parted with a statement saying that A.R.G.U.S. was aware of what Oliver and he did at night.[8]
Amanda offered Ben Turner an employment opportunity for a "squad" (The Suicide Squad/Task Force X) in order to shorten his prison sentence.[9]
Waller visited Lyla and Diggle at a hotel and requested both of their assistance to handle a chemical weapon situation, organised by Gholem Qadir an old friend/enemy of Diggle's stationed in Markovia. Waller then tasked them with getting the Suicide Squad into position to take down the chemical weapons and terminating Qadir. Phase one of the plan, getting Qadir's phone from him at an art exhibition, succeeded, but Shrapnel attempted to flee and Waller activated the bomb in his head as punishment. Later, when the squad found the chemical weapons, Waller sent in a drone strike to terminate the threat but intended to take Deadshot and dozens of civilians with it. However Diggle convinced Deadshot to flee with him. Since Waller's drone was homed in on Deadshot's tracking chip, Lyla was forced to cut it out of his neck and throw it away. The re-directed strike caused Waller to have to deal with the Markovian government on "unprovoked drone attack". Later, Oliver Queen visited Amanda in her office and the two meet since his time in Hong Kong, to inform her that Slade Wilson, who Amanda believed to be dead just like Oliver did is still alive. When Oliver asked for information on Slade, Amanda told him about a new mercenary named "Deathstroke" who she believed could be their old nemesis.[10]
John Diggle and Felicity Smoak contacted Amanda to find Oliver after he had disappeared after Moira Queen's death,[11] Amanda revealed that Oliver was at his second base. She sends A.R.G.U.S. soldiers to Starling City to cut off Slade Wilson's army from leaving the city when his invasion begins and was soon contacted by Oliver demanding she call off her men, but she retaliated by reminding him that she must do what she has to in order to defend the country and that was to send an armed drone to Starling City.[12]
She over saw the operation of A.R.G.U.S. soldiers in Starling, unaware of a squad she sent were killed by Slade's army, she is soon held hostage by Diggle, Lyla and Deadshot where she revealed to Diggle that Lyla was pregnant with his child. She called off the drone after Oliver called her again and told her that Slade and his army were defeated.[13]
Taking advantage of King Shark
After the Suicide Squad, consisting of Cupid, Captain Boomerang and Floyd Lawton, surveyed King Shark destroying an aquarium, Waller decided to send them in to extract him.[14] Waller took Lamden to an A.R.G.U.S. detention center to be chained up. She took a woman to see him, before cutting him open to carefully dissect him.[15] After dissection, she sent him across the other side of the country to begin as part of the Suicide Squad. Soon, The Flash came to try and rescue King Shark. However, Waller sent some drones after him, created by General Eiling. They eventually found where King Shark had been, but Barry was quickly captured and was told of what had happened to Lamden.[16]
Shadowspire and death
After John and Lyla witnessed the abduction of A.R.G.U.S. agent Alan Chang, they visited Waller, who secretly revealed Chang was part of an off-the-books A.R.G.U.S. mission to take down the criminal paramilitary organization Shadowspire. Chang and two other agents were killed by Shadowspire under the command of Lieutenant Joyner. Their plan to steal a shipment of railguns confiscated by A.R.G.U.S. turned out to be a diversion, distracting Team Arrow while Shadowspire went after their real target: A.R.G.U.S. headquarters. Joyner demanded Waller give him access to Rubicon, threatening to kill more A.R.G.U.S. agents if she did not. Waller told him it would not matter how many people he killed, and when Lyla confirmed Waller doesn't make decisions based on the value of human life, Joyner shot Waller in the head, hoping Lyla would prove more easily blackmailed. Team Arrow, with help from John's brother Andy (who had previously worked with Shadowspire), defeated Joyner, but it was too late to save Amanda.[17]
Legacy
After her death, Lyla had a toast with Oliver to honor Amanda, as she still had some respect for her former superior, however, Oliver, on the other hand, was hesitant to toast for Amanda, this shows that he still despises the latter for every unspeakable act she had done over the years, including when she forced him to commit crimes in Hong Kong for her.
No one (except Lyla) mourned or grieved over Amanda's death. Sometime after her death, Lyla succeeded Amanda as the director of A.R.G.U.S., unlike her predecessor, Lyla has morals and honor, as well as the fact that she makes decisions based on the value of human life.
Lyla has taken it upon herself to undo all the damage Amanda had caused over the years during the latter's time as the director of A.R.G.U.S..
Personality
Amanda was described as the "formidable and enigmatic". She displayed little to no emotion, morals, remorse nor honor, always caring more about the bigger picture. Though she presents herself as in charge of apprehending and countering dangerous threats to the United States, in spite of what she projects for people around her, she was equally as sociopathic and brutal as the criminals she apprehended, as shown in the almost-casual way she killed Shrapnel when he tried to abandon Task Force X. Similarly, she showed no qualms in sacrificing agents, referring to them as her "assets". This indicates she was indifferent to people like both Deadshot and the late Bronze Tiger.
Amanda's top priority was to protect the United States, no matter what the cost. Her actions followed an "ends justify the means" philosophy, in pursuit of which she could utterly detach herself from any personal feelings. Stemming from this, if she believed the final result was worth it, she would take that any action means necessary. As a result, she endorsed the use of torture while interrogating suspects as well as assassination to remove associates of hers who would be likely to expose her. Because she believed Oliver would make a valuable asset, she was willing to use his newly-acquired morals to get him to work for her, as when she wanted Oliver to become one of A.R.G.U.S.'s agents, she threatened to murder Maseo's family if Oliver did not cooperate, and later, when she threatened Oliver's sister, Thea, if Oliver did not tell her where the Yamashiros had escaped to. She believed Chien Na Wei was so much of a threat that she was willing to blow up a plane full of innocent people to kill her. When Slade Wilson launched his siege, she planned to use a drone strike to bomb Starling City, later known as Star City, she had no guilt or remorse for these vile acts of hers. Amanda tried to justify her ruthless and immoral actions in the belief that there are people in the world that were beyond reason, "that deal only in extremes", and that it would be "naïve to think that anything less than extreme measures will stop them".
Amanda was also arrogant, hypocritical and stubborn, like when general Matthew Shrieve removed her authority, she blamed Oliver and Maseo for it, when it was really her unspeakable methods that resulted in it. When John Diggle, Lyla Michaels, and Floyd Lawton had her at gunpoint, she refused to back down and tried to tell Lyla that "What you're doing is treason" while Amanda herself had ordered a drone strike on Starling City, later known as Star City, a civilian zone, without authorization from the United States government, this showed that she always tried to twist things.
Amanda was not always without reason or restraint, as she agreed to call off the drone strike when Oliver reported that he had subdued Slade and his army, as there was no longer a need to attack. She was intelligent enough to recognize possible talent.
According to Lyla, she never made her decisions based on the value of human life; in other words, she did not care about people in general to the point of being selfish. These negative traits of hers, was what eventually led to Amanda's deserved/justified death at the hands of Joyner.
Abilities
- Expert markswoman: As the leader of A.R.G.U.S., Amanda was skilled with firearms.
- Expert tactician: Amanda was a capable tactician, however, she wasted her tactical abilities on brute force rather than intellectual means, as these methods of hers were not only predictable, but could also be used against her.
Equipment
- Guns: Amanda was very proficient in using guns.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
|
The Flash
Season 2
- "King Shark" (mentioned)
Season 3
- "Invasion!" (mentioned)
- "Infantino Street" (mentioned)
Comics
Arrow: Season 2.5
- "Acolyte" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq
- "Awakenings" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq
- "Gone" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq
- "Assault" Suicide Squad: Crisis in Kahndaq
The Flash: Season Zero
- "Fish Fry"
- "A Little Help From Some Friends"
- "The Impossible Mission"
- "A Minor Setback"
- "A New Home"
- "Mentors and Meltdowns part 2"
Gallery
Promotional images
Season 2
Behind the scenes
- In "Suicide Squad" and "Unthinkable", Floyd Lawton referred to Waller as "The Wall"; this is a nod to her nickname in the DC comics. Since in the DC comics Waller is a very solid 5' 1", 200lb woman, the name is even more appropriate. Likewise, her pencil and ink iteration is a very formidable personality, being one of the few characters, especially unpowered, who does not back down from a confrontation with the Batman.
- Many fans speculate that she was killed off due to the fact Viola Davis played the character in 2016's Suicide Squad. It's unknown if this speculation is the true reason of her death.
References
- ↑ "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
- ↑ "Sacrifice"
- ↑ "The Calm"
- ↑ "Sara"
- ↑ "The Magician"
- ↑ "Nanda Parbat"
- ↑ "Broken Arrow"
- ↑ "Keep Your Enemies Closer"
- ↑ "Tremors"
- ↑ "Suicide Squad"
- ↑ "Seeing Red"
- ↑ "Streets of Fire"
- ↑ "Unthinkable"
- ↑ "Fish Fry"
- ↑ "A Little Help From Some Friends"
- ↑ "The Impossible Mission"
- ↑ "A.W.O.L."