Born Again Episode 9 Reveals Who Killed White Tiger

Spoilers for “Daredevil: Born Again” follow.

Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) was in nominal vigilante retirement for most of “Daredevil: Born Again” season 1. Yet less time as Daredevil meant more time for his lawyer day job.

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Episodes 2 and 3 of “Born Again” focused on Matt defending Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes), a man accused of murdering an NYPD officer, and secretly the vigilante the White Tiger. These episodes directly adapted Brian Michael Bendis’ “Daredevil” comic arc, “Trial of the Century,” but unlike the source material, Matt managed to get Hector found “not guilty.” It didn’t matter in the end because episode 3 concluded with a masked man, dressed in the Punisher’s skull logo, shooting White Tiger in the head.

Of course, this wasn’t the actual Punisher, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal). Matt, noticing the slug that killed Hector had a Punisher logo on its casing, tracked down Frank. Mr. Castle countered that he can’t control what his fanboys do. In the real world, lots of police officers love the Punisher because he carries big guns and violently brutalizes criminals. “American Sniper” Chris Kyle saw himself as a real-life Frank Castle. “Daredevil: Born Again” has imported this trend into its text, because the show’s fictional NYPD rock Punisher tattoos just like many real ones do.

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The mystery of White Tiger’s murder hung in the air for the next four episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again.” The obvious answer is that it was one of the Punisher-loving cops, who didn’t want to let a “cop killer” like Hector “get away with it.” But would the show pinpoint a specific culprit or leave it an open question which cop it was?

The former, it turns out. Daredevil and Punisher fight a squad of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force in Matt’s apartment. One of those cops uses the same Punisher-branded slugs that killed Hector. The murderer, who confesses, is someone Daredevil fans might recognize: Sergeant Cole North (Jeremy Earl), first introduced back in episode 6 when Fisk put the Task Force together.

One of the big influences on “Daredevil: Born Again” is Chip Zdarsky’s recent run on “Daredevil,” which (as the show does) featured Kingpin as NYC’s mayor. That run also introduced Cole North as an NYPD (formerly Chicago PD) Detective hunting Daredevil. North distrusted vigilantes and was seemingly vindicated when, in issue #1, Daredevil carelessly manslaughtered petty criminal Leo Carraro. That gave North the license to hunt Daredevil.

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But the two slowly developed some respect for each other. North was a rare principled cop and spurned any commendations from Mayor Fisk. In “Daredevil” issue #14, North and a masked Daredevil sit in a diner together, “Heat” style, sharing coffee and disagreements. North revealed why he left Chicago: he (non-fatally) shot a 16-year-old boy while chasing a drug dealer, thinking the kid was pulling a gun out instead of a phone.

That’s why he’s so ardent about law enforcement accountability and opposed to vigilantes. He made a huge mistake, accepted the consequences, and unless there’s universal accountability, the law is meaningless. Matt countered that North being a cop places him above that full accountability. While Daredevil and North didn’t resolve their differences in that meeting, they agreed that they had common enemies — like Fisk and dirty cops — and became allies.

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Later in the run, North resigned from the police altogether, deciding he could do more good fighting alongside Daredevil. The run ended with him opening a new law firm with Foggy Nelson, Nelson North. (Nelson’s the lawyer, North’s the investigator.)

The Cole North in “Daredevil: Born Again” clearly shares none of the principles that the comic one did. His backstory is adjusted to him being transferred out of Chicago for murdering a drug dealer. The Marvel Cinematic Universe Cole North is just as much a vigilante as the Punisher, so he reveres him where the comic Cole North hated the Punisher as much as he (initially) did Daredevil.

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North also happily throws in with Fisk in “Born Again,” whereas the comic North recognized Fisk being mayor didn’t erase him being a criminal. Finally, the comic North never saw cops like himself as above reproach; he would’ve accepted the ruling that White Tiger was innocent, because the legal system had done its job.

So, why is “Daredevil: Born Again” twisting Cole North’s characterization so much, turning him from an anti-hero to a villain and thug for the Kingpin? It could be a twist designed especially for Daredevil fans, one linked to the show’s political commentary: even one of the expected “good cops” is really no such thing.

“Daredevil: Born Again” is streaming on Disney+ with season 2 scheduled for a 2026 premiere.

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