Adeline is the former wife of Slade, The Deathstroke. She is the guardian of Alec Holland, the last person in Jarnlünd with colour.
History
Adeline trained Slade when he was first learning to be a warrior. They fell in love, married and settled in the capital city Gyllenhjem where they had two sons: Grant and Joseph. One night twenty-one years ago, Slade ran home in a storm covered in blood and told his family they needed to leave. Adeline immediately realised Slade had done something terrible and demanded to know what had happened.[1]
Slade revealed that he had assassinated King Maxwell, and also accidentally killed Lady Nora, the wife of the court magus Viktor. Enraged by Nora's death, Viktor cursed the land with an endless Allwinter and even colour itself vanished.[2][3] Adeline and Slade managed to escape Gyllenhjem, but on the way their sons were caught in the spell and were transformed into Draugr.[4] Adeline blamed Slade for their deaths and all the other suffering the Allwinter had caused. She left him and cut out his right eye.[5]
With the king's death the Old Kingdom was torn apart by warlords known as Jarls, each trying to carve out their own private kingdom in the ashes. Adeline searched the land for the next two decades looking for a way to break the curse. For a time she joined up with Slade's old mercenary partner William Wintergreen, who was tunnelling under the impenetrable Everstorm around Gyllenhjem to reach Viktor and kill him. She grew frustrated with their slow progress, and was unable to forgive Wintergreen for helping Slade kill Maxwell, and so eventually moved on.[3]
Many years later, Adeline discovered Alec, and found that he not only possessed colour, he was able to temporarily break the spell of the Allwinter and temporarily restore colour to anything he touched. Alec received dreams from The Green, the source of his power, which told him he must get to the Old Kingdom's abandoned capital Gyllhenhjem to save the world and end the Allwinter. Adeline believed in Alec's dreams and gathered a small group of followers for the long and perilous journey. As they were preparing to head out, they were attacked by a band of warriors sent by Vandal Savage to capture Alec, including Slade and the ice witch Killer Frost. They killed all of the others, and Adeline was wounded by Frost, but when Slade realised Adeline was there, he turned on the others and drove them off. Slade pulled off Alec's cloak, wanting to see why Savage wanted him, and saw that he had colour.[6]
Slade pulled Frosts' ice spear out of Adeline and she passed out from the pain. She woke up in an Inn, with her injuries sewn up, and Slade and Alec sleeping nearby. She tried to quietly wake Alec up and slip away, but Slade woke too. He asked Adeline who Alec was, and why he could temporarily break the spell of the Allwinter, but she told him it was none of his concern and they started arguing about him working for Savage. The noise woke Alec up and Adeline told him it was time to leave. Alec revealed where they were going and Slade offered to go with them as it was a long journey through dangerous terrain. Adeline refused, saying she would never trust him with a child after what he did to their sons.
After several days, the journey took them to Icethorn Vale, a hundred mile-wide dense forest of frozen bramble-oak. Alec was afraid of the darkness inside, but Adeline reassured him the way she used to comfort Joseph when he was afraid and they went in. However they found Rose, Slade's daughter who had also been hired by Savage to capture Alec, waiting for them just inside the forest. Rose attacked Adeline and, although she put up a good fight, the younger and uninjured woman eventually defeated her. Just as Rose was about to deliver the killing blow; Slade, who had been secretly following them, revealed himself by hurling his axe at Rose. Rose deflected the axe and she charged at Slade. They fought but he overpowered her with his supernatural strength, sending her flying through the air to be impaled on a thicket of thorns. Slade went to Adeline, and after a moment she begrudgingly allowed him to help her up. However, Rose ran up from behind and ran them both through with a branch, killing Adeline instantly.
Slade fell helpless to the ground, but just as Rose was about to kill him, Alec's rage and despair caused his magic to surge. With Adeline's words about the "fire within" echoing in his mind, he rose up into the air and released a huge wave of energy that knocked Rose away and shattered the land, momentarily restoring colour around them. Slade said "Impressive, boy", before he passed out, the world once again fading to grey. Alec fell to his knees, weeping.[5]
Slade buried Adeline under a cairn in Icethorn Vale and decided to take Alec the rest of the way to Gyllenhjem.[1] Unbeknownst to them, the burst of magic that Alec had released restored Adeline to life and she rose from her grave. She continued on the journey to Gyllenhjem to catch up to them, and on the way she met the Bat-Prince, who had also travelled with Slade and Alec for a while. She knew that to reach Gyllenhjem Slade and Alec would have needed to use William's tunnel, and convinced Bat-Prince to go with her into the city. They travelled through the tunnel and found Slade, Alec, Wintergreen and Rose frozen in ice by Viktor. Bat-Prince fought Viktor while Adeline freed the others and they joined the fight. She tried to get Alec away, but he told her that he now knew what he needed to do. While Adeline held off the Draugr, Alec ran to where Nora was frozen in ice, kept just on the brink between life and death by Viktor's magic. He restored Nora the way he had restored Adeline, breaking the curse of the Allwinter and restoring colour. He also brought back all the people who had been transformed into Draugr, including Grant and Joseph; and Adeline tearfully reunited with her children.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Equestrianism
- Pedagogy
- Weaponry: Adeline was a highly skilled warrior who trained Deathstroke.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Helmet
Weapons
- Axe
- Sword
Notes
- Adeline Kane was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, first appearing in New Teen Titans #34. However, the Dark Knights of Steel version of Adeline Kane first appeared in Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #1 by Jay Kristoff and Tirso Cons.
Related
- 5 Appearances of Adeline (Dark Knights of Steel)
- 3 Images featuring Adeline (Dark Knights of Steel)
- Quotations by or about Adeline (Dark Knights of Steel)
- Character Gallery: Adeline (Dark Knights of Steel)
Footnotes