I'm proposing that somehow Ray Palmer got stupid as well. Think about the fact that he has patents and is a physicist...why does he always act like such a goofy clown who doesn't know anything? His motivation couldn't be his patents because Jean was giving them back. She is independent again and doesn't need Ray. She only gets back with him because of the situation. A phone call was made previous to both murder attempts...I'm not even counting Drake's. The Atom was not in any picture of the beating of Dr Light...not w/ Batman or without him in the picture. Batman was there when it happened, why wouldn't Green Lantern, Arrow and Canary insist that Batman be in on the vote since they were against using the mind warping of Light anyway. Green Arrow also stated that Batman had used questionable or mind altering tactics on the League after his own. What did Batman do? Does it relate to why Drake was targeted? Batman has Mad Hatter and Hugo Strange technology in the cave I'm sure....Did Batman at one time mess with Ray's mind to get the truth of a suspected misdead by the League to only be foiled again in a cyclical mind warping? This is mostly speculation.....

There is also the science involved in the Atom shrinking...as Dave has pointed out several times....could it be changing or screwing with his brain? There is only one hero with something to gain in this situation and it is the Atom and what he wanted was Jean back and needing him...it certainly wasn't the patents , she signed those back to him. He is always a third wheel, never appreciated and left a lesser-not a better- man because of his time with teh League. You could say the JLA destroyed his life.

I'm not saying that Meltzer won't pull out another card like Mirror Master or the Shade, but I think this is all about the heroes and returning the villains to serious threat levels. Ray Palmer may be a red herring, but I doubt it...the last issue is only 40 pgs and I think bringing in a new suspect and resolving it in that space would be a let down..if not impossible.