Why did Jason do it?

I've been seeing some confusion over this online and gave this some thought.

SPOILERS AHEAD


Why should Jason give a damn about Willis?

Besides the fact he throttled Two-Face in the last canon over supposedly killing his dad? Most of those asking about this seem to bring up the implied abuse Lobdell has mentioned briefly in past issues. Which is too vague in regards to Jason to have the whole picture. Regardless Jason has shown that he cares about people who have done him wrong like Ma Gunn so it's not impossible for him to get upset over it. Jason definitely isn't in denial over what kind of father his dad was, he freely admits to Penguin that Willis wasn't a good dad.

One of the reasons for him hating Willis was the fact he was away so much. He didn't stop Catherine from having an OD. By Willis' own admittance he never really talked to Jason growing up thus there's a lot Jason doesn't know. Such as why Willis worked as a henchman. Jason was under the impression his father didn't love him only to learn he did and risked his life on the chance of getting time off. Willis signed on to be a guinea pig for Jason. That must make him feel guilty for hating his dad for so long. This has him question everything he knew about his dad even if he's still aware of his dad's failings.

If you consider the themes of redemption in RHATO then Jason must be relating it to his own actions. He tried to redeem Joker' s Daughter just because he felt bad for her and drew a parallel. The letters prove his dad wasn't entirely a sinner and there were shades of grey. There was a possibility that Willis could change. I think he'd feel a huge impact from the letters especially when you have the "what if?" thoughts since Willis being around could have changed his life. Jason never would have died in the warehouse if Penguin didn't frame Willis. Maybe his mom would never have ODed. It's not just the chance to have a good relationship with his dad, Jason was robbed of the opportunity to have a different life.



Why doesn't Jason research it more? Why did he just go off to shoot Penguin?

Didn't Jason also rush off when he heard about his mom? Strong emotions cause Jason to make bad choices. He's been better at dealing with things over Lobdell's runs but he's had slip ups. Like killing most of the Iron Rule on camera then ditching Roy to protect him after Duela pushed his buttons. If he's worked up Jason's not going to be thinking clearly.

There's also the stress factor that already puts his emotions through the wringer through this run. Let's look at it from the beginning of the Rebirth series to the moment before he gets the letters.

• Bruce laid down the rules and Jason has been shown struggling to do things Batman' s way. He's doing this to prove his worth and find what his niche is in the family. It's underlined in their talk that Jason feels he's not trusted like the others. If you take Tynion' s DET into account he apparently is only playing by the rules to be part of the family. (I think it's more complicated that that.)
• A number of times Jason is shown questioning his mission or someone tells him he's headed down the wrong path. Alfred can't even give him any encouragement when Jason talks to him about his problems.
• Ma Gunn goes missing. While Jason's POV of her isn't as glowing as her apparent admiration of him it's already been made clear that Jason cares about her. Remember his reaction to Black Mask attacking her? He's not able to give her granddaughter any information either. While he seems to be fine as long as she wasn't targeted by the Outlaws enemies he still expressed concern to Faye (Jr.)
• I don't know how Lobdell was interpreting Jason/Artemis besides Jason having a thing for her. The fake date might be a factor if Jason was hoping for more.
• There were several Bizarro problems he had to deal with. Befriending Bizarro then deciding if he should break his promise to kill the clone to protect others. We see how hard Jason takes almost losing Bizarro when he was dying. Then not knowing what to do when smart Bizarro was acting weird. Seeing his friend almost murder henchmen. Recently he had to deal with the heartache of his buddy losing his smarts.
• Finding out that Luthor expects something for helping Bizarro. Jason has expressed his mistrust of Luthor more than once.
• The crappy treatment they were given by Batwoman and her team. The Outlaws were disrespected and treated like criminals. With no repercussions for the other team almost getting them permanently put on the Suicide Squad. Not a good experience for someone already having problems with how their being treated within the family. It probably reinforced a few of those doubts.
• While Jason does have a few good moments with the family it's still apparent that he's having trouble dealing with them. Having doubts with Bruce, a strained relationship with Dick and his sad response when Alfred mentions coming over to the manor. He's not satisfied with his relationship with them. Jason has said as much to Artemis and he doesn't believe their close in the ways that matter.
• Seeing the site he died at and having PTSD so bad that he only realizes when he snaps out of it that he was being physically tortured.

There might be more incidents I'm not thinking of at the moment but that's still A LOT of stress. What makes it a hundred times worse is that Jason doesn't always have someone to voice his problems to depending on what the topic is. Personal pains such as his death, rebirth and family issues aren't things he can just bring up and discuss at length. Even back in the drug arc in the first series Jason can't do more than briefly mention what happened to his mom to Roy. 

Jason does go directly to the his dad's grave to have someone to confront. But he's not done sorting his emotions yet. He's in denial over his own pain at the end of the issue and gets angry in the next. Because all he has is a target, someone who took away a possibility he never knew he had.

Shouldn't Jason know Willis is alive? Why would he attack if his dad is alive?

While Jason knows there is no body in the coffin that's all he's sure of. He does consider Willis words from his letter but for all he knows there might not have been a body to bury. Willis was tested on and given what goes on in the DCU it could very well have burned him to ash. Plus he's acting on his anger not logic. Lobdell' s Jason is more rational than most but remember what was said to Jason under Winick via one of his teachers? That when Jason gets angry he does stupid things.



Why would he throw everything away?

Again he's not in his right mind he's acting out on his fury. Right after Jason shoots Penguin he's already regretting it. He admits that he messed up while trying to contact his teammates. This is not the same Jason that shot a bad guy and knew he did the right thing.