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Quote1 Oh. Failing. Right. You mean by pulling yourself up out of a suicidal depression by faith and sheer force of will to become a force for good on this planet? We should all fail so tragically. Quote2
Daredevil[src]

History

Maggie is the mother of Matt Murdock, the vigilante known as Daredevil, and Mike.[1] She and Jack had their twin sons when they were a young couple. However, Maggie soon began suffering from postpartum depression, becoming very emotional for no reason, having doubts, feeling constantly anxious regarding Matt's safety, thoughts which soon developed into self-loathing, and feeling estranged to everyone, as she considered herself to be a bad mother. She couldn't trust herself to be around Matt or Jack.

Her depression became a paranoia. She began thinking that Jack was plotting against her, and that Matt was there to tear them apart. One night, under the influence of her mental illness, Maggie tried to assault the baby. Jack stopped her, Maggie became emotional and she actually hugged her husband while confessing she didn't know what to do with her illness that she brought to the family. As soon as she came to her senses, she finally realized that she needed to leave for her husband's and her sons' sakes. She packed her bags and ran away in shame. She was taken in by a church, and took the name of Margaret. With the help of doctors and counseling, she recovered from her depression. She never came back to the Murdock residence so she can protect her family from herself.[2]

Margaret Murdock (Earth-616) and Matthew Murdock (Earth-616) from Daredevil Vol 1 229 001

As an adult, Matt first met Maggie during a time when Kingpin, having learned that Murdock was Daredevil, engineered the ruin of his life on several levels. Nearly broken after trying to get revenge and merely survive this all-out assault, Murdock was taken in by Sister Maggie and with his enhanced senses, immediately felt the connection between them but he never knew that she was his mother. However, when he asked her flatly if she was his mother, Maggie calmly smiled and denied this but in her heart she couldn't believe that she had a reunion with her son but she doesn't know how to tell him the truth. During this period of recovery, Maggie also briefly met Matt's friend and ally, Spider-Man, who was put off both by how broken Matt was and how intense Maggie seemed. For some time after, Maggie was a figure in Matt's life but not a good one, though mainly in the background and periphery. Matt, who had 'read' Maggie's reaction to his question with his abilities, knew she was lying, but not why.

Years later, while caring for an infant girl suspected of being the Antichrist, Daredevil brought her to Sister Maggie at the Clinton Mission Shelter. Maggie brought Daredevil into the Church, and he slept for two days straight in her room. While he slept, she cleaned his costume and cared for the infant. When Matt woke up, Maggie greeted him and offered him some food. After some small talk, Matt got her to finally admit that she was his mother. She noted the similarities between him and his father, but told him she had no answers for why she had left him so many years before. When he questioned all the problems he had had in life and told her that God had let her off pretty easily, she slapped him across the face, and he dropped to his knees and apologized. After they talked for hours about Maggie's life before becoming a nun she explained about her depression and illness and how she felt ashamed with being a bad wife and a bad mother, she encouraged him to ask God for answers about the baby, telling him that after all of his experiences in the supernatural that he should have no problem believing in the Almighty. He questioned how she could be so confident in her faith, and she told him a story about a knight and a monk. Maggie then advised Matt to talk to Karen, who was waiting for him downstairs in the sanctuary.[3]

While Daredevil met with Dr. Strange to question Mephisto about his possible involvement, Bullseye, sent by Mysterio to retrieve the baby, assaulted the Clinton Mission Shelter. Maggie and the others refused to tell him where the baby was, so he killed Sister Theresa and tortured Sister Anne, but Maggie kept the baby hidden. When Daredevil returned, Maggie told him what had happened, and then Bullseye appeared and attacked him. While the two battled, Maggie and Karen spoke quietly, and Karen showed up soon after, offering the baby to Bullseye in exchange for not killing Daredevil, whom he had shot and now had at his mercy. Karen tricked him, delivering a doll, while Maggie tried to escape out the door with the real baby. Bullseye dropped Karen with the doll and then snatched the baby from Maggie and raised Daredevil's Billy Club to kill her (or the baby), but Karen had grabbed his discarded gun and demanded he stop. Bullseye mocked her, as the gun only had a single bullet, and he then hurled the billy club at Daredevil, but Karen leaped into its path and was killed when he went through her chest. Bullseye took the baby and left.[4]

Maggie met up with Matt at the hospital when he visited the baby girl Mysterio had used as a pawn; still banged up from her recent trauma and using a walker, Maggie was likely a patient at the same hospital. They discussed the child and what the baby means to Matt and how the whole Mysterio nightmare has affected him. Maggie told Matt that the authorities had arranged for the kid to be adopted and said the baby needed a name. Matt suggested calling her Karen. Maggie finally confessed why she left, she didn't leave because of herself, she left for the sakes of her husband and her son, she felt that she is a dark cloud. Maggie was emotional and she was so sorry that she hadn't been there for her son Matt. Matt and Maggie hugged and they became very close. Maggie later attended Karen's funeral and comforted her son and she wanted Matt's permission to be a part of her son's life.[5]

Attributes

Power Grid[7]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Poor:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

See Also

Links and References

References

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