BIOGRAPHY -- Page 48
Matt and Kirsten grew closer, and he told her that he loved her. Almost immediately, though, he began to self-sabotage out of fear that he might lose her, given Daredevil’s history of women being killed or worse by association with him. Matt thought his fears had come true when Kirsten was assaulted and kidnapped during a lunch with her father. Daredevil caught their scent and pursued Kirsten and her assailant into the city’s underground tunnels. After getting Kirsten free, he chased the unknown man until the Shroud emerged from the darkness and caught the attacker for him. The Shroud promised to watch over Murdock’s “vulnerability” as a public figure so long as he continued helping with the search for Julia. Matt couldn’t for the life of him identify Kirsten’s assailant, and she informed him that’s because it was “her arch-nemesis.” The Lilac Murderer was a serial killer defendant she put away with the District Attorney’s Office, completely unconnected to Daredevil and his rogue’s gallery of foes. Matt took the hint and made an effort to stop blaming himself for endangering Kirsten with their relationship. [Daredevil (4th series) #13]
After speaking with Wendell, Matt decided to make some changes to his life. With his book on the way and the secret of his identity and powers out, he no longer saw any reason to wear a mask for his costume. As a public figure, Matt fully embraced being both Matt Murdock and Daredevil all the time. These light-hearted days turned sour when he met Jubula Pride, the Owl’s daughter. The Owl had been kidnapped, and Jubula was beating up other gangs after hearing rumors another super-villain was responsible. Not knowing of any other crimes she had committed, and having a soft spot for fathers, Daredevil agreed to help Jubula’s search.
On Alcatraz, Matt and Jubula discovered the Shroud had taken the Owl, forcing him to use his new wireless information-sifting power to search for Julia. Everything with a digital screen was now a two-way transceiver for the Owl and, through him, the Shroud. Max knew that Matt would stand in his way, so first he gathered information about Matt for weeks and then released it to the 
public. The Shroud not only revealed the deception surrounding Foggy’s death, he also used wireless recordings of attorney-client meetings at McDuffie & Murdock to immediately ruin their reputations as lawyers. The final nail in Matt’s coffin came when he and Jubula went to Charlotte at the deputy mayor’s office for help. Charlotte immediately saw what Matt could not: Jubula’s flight armor was modeled exactly like the men who kidnapped and terrorized Charlotte’s daughter. In fact, Jubula had engineered and sold the tech to them. Deputy Mayor Hastert now believed her city’s entire relationship with Daredevil was based on a lie and ordered his arrest. [Daredevil (4th series) #14-15]
Matt got Foggy and Kirsten into seclusion on Wendell’s yacht as Jubula gave him a tip about somebody who might be able to help. A newcomer to the Bay area and an associate of her father’s. The last name Matt expected to hear: Wilson Fisk. The Kingpin’s interests were already at odds with the Shroud and Owl’s antics, bringing the two foes together. Fisk’s unique brand of 
protection and influence could guarantee Foggy, Kirsten, even Charlotte wouldn’t suffer because of their association with Matthew. In exchange, Daredevil made the Kingpin a unique offer: The Death of Matt Murdock. Daredevil knew Kingpin always enjoyed being the only one who knew his identity. In order to give him that leverage again, Matt would fake his death and go into seclusion under a new identity, including plastic surgery, orchestrated by Kingpin himself.
While Fisk considered the offer, Daredevil intercepted intelligence from Kingpin’s cronies about Julia Carpenter’s whereabouts. He found her at the airport just as the Shroud, Jubula Pride and Fisk’s men descended on her as well. Julia had been in hiding from Max and his growing possessive behavior, a truth he could never accept. Matt and Julia separated at the airport after a scuffle, and he returned to Fisk’s penthouse. Wilson had made his own alterations to their deal in 
his absence. The Kingpin hired Ikari to kidnap Foggy, Kirsten and now Julia as collateral. With his captives corralled by electric shock collars, the Kingpin could mock and bait Murdock as he wished. He ordered Ikari to kill Daredevil and also ordered Murdock to lose in the end, or else one of his friends would die.
Daredevil and Ikari fought across San Francisco as Murdock put on a good show for Fisk while searching for another way out of this mess. Before he could, their fight was interrupted by the Shroud. Delusional in his obsession for Julia, the Shroud expected Murdock to team up with him against the Kingpin. He impulsively killed Ikari and threw him off a roof, narrowing Matt’s options to one. Matt changed into Ikari’s costume and presented Daredevil’s bloody mask to the Kingpin as proof of death. He stalled long enough to cut the hostages’ collars, giving Julia the opportunity 
to lead them to safety. He had also sent the Shroud to access all of Fisk’s digital information through the Owl’s wireless senses. By broadcasting massive amounts of evidence of criminal activity to the public, Daredevil could once again put Fisk on the run from federal authorities.
Still, even with the Kingpin and Shroud in custody (the latter thanks to Julia’s assistance), there was only so much damage control Matt could do. Charlotte rescinded the arrest warrant, but his and Kirsten’s credibility as lawyers was still shot after the digital disclosures. Matt’s days of practicing law were done. Foggy and Kirsten stood by him, and the millions advanced to him for his autobiography kept them fiscally solid, but Matt started experiencing profound regret. He recognized that admitting to his secret identity in court had been a reckless attempt to look 
cleverer than his opponents, and the ramifications on his life were still being felt as ripples emanating from that act. Foggy boosted Matt’s spirits by explaining how Matt’s inherent integrity was a major part of their friendship. But he also pointed out that Matt had always used secrets to shield himself from the world. Going back even before the chemical truck, Matt lied to his father about sticking to the books and not learning to fight. Truth and transparency were what would allow Matt to move past his bad habits and grow as a person. [Daredevil (4th series) #16-18]
And he did. For a time. But life as a crusading public hero began to weigh on Matthew. He missed the balance being able to practice law allowed him. Matt and Kirsten discussed his unease, but there was no going back. She only encouraged him to find a new outlet for balance in his life. They suffered a setback when the inevitable happened and one of his enemies sought out his publicly searchable address. Typhoid Mary snuck into Matt’s house and burned it to the ground before he apprehended her. Matt and Kirsten flew back to New York until they could work out their living situation.
Back in Manhattan, Daredevil realized how at home he was in the sounds and smells of Hell’s Kitchen. On a routine patrol he caught wind of Tombstone and his men beating an informant. He swung in and beat up the gangsters, but the informant fled in the melee. Matt “Daredevil” Murdock 
tried to give a statement to the police, but they were reluctant to listen to him. The next day, Murdock visited District Attorney Benjamin Hochberg to press the issue of Tombstone’s arrest. Instead, he hit a wall. Without the informant to swear a complaint, Murdock’s word lacked any real credibility. As a disbarred attorney and a publicity-driven figure, the D.A.’s office simply couldn’t stake a case on his statement.
This incident drove home for Matt how lost he was. The balance between Matt Murdock and Daredevil’s lives only worked when his identity was secret. He could no longer help people the way he wanted. Matt actively began soliciting opinions from people like Doctor Strange and Daimon Hellstrom about how he could “put the genie back in the bottle” regarding his secret identity, but to no avail.
The turning point came when Matt and Kirsten were visited by two of the Purple Children. Killgrave broke out of custody and went searching for his progeny again. He recreated the Psycho-Prism once used by Doctor Doom to amplify his powers and intended to use his children as living batteries to extend his power over the entire world. Daredevil joined the kids in an effort to rescue their half-siblings, but Killgrave’s enhanced power and his own crisis of self left Daredevil vulnerable to the Purple Man’s control. The bored and spiteful Purple Man commanded 
Daredevil to do the worst thing he could think of doing. This inadvertently forced Matthew into deep introspection as he considered Killgrave’s order. He thought about killing Kirsten, but after Karen, Elektra, Heather and Milla, Matt objectively knew that was something he could survive. He finally settled on directing Killgrave to use the Psycho-Prism and cause chaos all over the world. The worst thing he could think of was knowing people were in danger and finding himself unable to act.
Ironically, Killgrave forcing Daredevil into this position also focused his will. Matt Murdock now knew through introspection that this was something he could not allow, and so he marshaled his willpower to throw off Killgrave’s influence. In the aftermath, he freed the Purple Children but left them alone to wait for the police while he raced home to make sure nothing happened to Kirsten while he was under Killgrave’s power. Once he was gone, the Purple Children took it upon themselves to thank Daredevil for saving them. They used Killgrave and the Psycho-Prism to 
amplify their powers and reach the entire world. The Children altered the minds of everyone on Earth to make them forget Daredevil’s identity and also left them unable to learn the connection between Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the future, unless Matt wished it. Matt got home to Kirsten only to find her uncomfortable with how affectionate “Daredevil” was towards Matt Murdock’s girlfriend.
Matt raced back only to find the Purple Children gone and the Psycho-Prism dismantled. He sought out Foggy Nelson and revealed his identity again to his best friend, looking for somebody to talk to about his new predicament. Foggy questioned why he hadn’t done the same for Kirsten, but Matt decided he would take advantage of the opportunity the Purple Children provided him. Kirsten would always be in danger as long as they were together, so he would take this chance to set her free for her own good. Foggy could not agree with Matt taking this choice away from Kirsten while forcing the knowledge on him again, and their friendship fractured under the weight of this new secret. Matt returned to Kirsten and broke up with her, giving her a few shallow reasons for breaking her heart and committing himself to this new direction. [Daredevil (5th series) #17-20]