Was the deal unfair?

I visited a board and saw it discussed some. Fair warning, this is a long entry.

A while ago I saw a post that struck a chord with me. The poster brought into question how solid Jason's relationship with the bat family truly is given the fragile structure it was (re)build upon. To paraphrase they mentioned the message the bat family is giving Jason. That they seem to be saying their only love him if he does what they say/obeys their rules instead of making it clear that they love him and then stating why they don't want him to do harmful things.

In other words the bat family is giving the impression that their love for Jason is extremely conditional.

I've been thinking along the same lines ever since the deal was made. It rubbed me the wrong way so I'm going to go over it to see why. Keep in mind this is about whether Bruce was treating Jason fairly compared to the others and his role as a father. For now I'm going to put a pin in confusing bits like Jason being in Arkham for unknown canon reasons and how Sanctuary makes that even more head scratching. Sure they are factors but I already talked about them in another post and want to focus on the deal. Likewise the Penguin shooting and aftermath is also not part of this discussion.

Right after Jason fakes the public out by shooting the mayor with an antidote Batman shows up at his base underneath the police station. By this point Bruce knows the truth but that's not the first thing he mentions. He starts off by telling Jason how clever his base location was. Did he know about it beforehand? If he did you'd think they'd already have that conversation. If not is Bruce trying to prove a point by discovering the base and waiting for Jason before he gets there? To prove that he knows how Jason thinks? (*1) Jason isn't surprised if Bruce just discovered his headquarters and says:

"Well, it's not like you let me stop by and use the bat-computer anytime I need it. So I had to be more creative in how I get my information."

I'm not certain if Jason is just saying this in a way to brush off the compliment or if it's a dig at Bruce's lack of trust and willingness to share resources. Still Jason has gone to the bat cave twice hoping to visit without Bruce being there. Once in #17 in volume 1 to get his helmet only to find Bruce there and to get kryptonite in #7 of volume 2. Either way getting information was never a problem he had.

Bruce talks about figuring out the truth and asks why he wasn't informed. Jason counters by asking why Bruce can't just trust him. Which Bruce claims he does since he's the one that brought Jason in to investigate. Jason took the opportunity to make himself look good in the eyes of the criminals of Gotham and informs Bruce of the idea he has to go undercover. The reaction is instantaneous:

Batman: No, I won't allow it.
Jason Todd: Why? Because my name isn't Dick Grayson?
Batman: This has nothing to do with Dick. Or Tim. Or Damian. Or anyone other than you. Do you really expect me to stand here and pretend you don't have a history of crossing the line?


It seems like Jason was right that Bruce doesn't trust him enough. Bruce dismisses it having to do with the others and claims it's about Jason crossing the line in the past. Which is kind of understandable and kind of wrong since Jason isn't the only one who has crossed the line. Before and after this meeting takes place others have gone too far. They have been treated better without giving Jason the same consideration. It's not even accounting for Jason suffering PTSD or the good he's done working with the family.

Reminding Bruce of their first meeting Jason brings up something that was said by Bruce about giving people a chance. He wants to prove he can do it and asks if Bruce will get in his way. This scene has layers and one of them is about control. Jason seems to imply he's going to do it with or without Bruce's blessing. Which makes sense, Dick, Tim and even Damian are pretty much allowed to do whatever they want. Even despite some previous slips ups. Before this volume Jason had that freedom and worked with the family abiding by the no kill rule when they were together yet he's still distrusted. It's still a confrontational way to address it but he has a point.

Batman: My city. My rules. You get one strike, Jason. If I think for an instant you're in too deep--I'm pulling you out. If you take one life--for whatever reason...I'm coming for you.

These rules are made without waiting for Jason to agree to them but they both know Bruce will enforce it. If any of Jason's actions are deemed wrong by Bruce then the dark knight will put an end to it if there's even one mistake. "You're in too deep" hints at Bruce thinking undercover work will having a negative affect on Jason. If that happens he will end the mission himself, beyond that there doesn't seem to be any bad outcome. However if Jason takes a life (for whatever reason) Bruce promises "I'm coming for you."

Bruce didn't threaten Damian after he murdered Netz or Nobody. Now Bruce has his faults and one of them is how he deals with Jason.  They can have good moments but Bruce is treating Jason like a criminal not a son. Maybe I'm not remembering everything from pre-Flashpoint but I don't recall Bruce ever threatening any of the other Robins with jail. Dick did some questionable actions as Renegade (I think he was "in too deep") and Tim seriously considered murdering Captian Boomerang.

Bruce claims the whole problem is with Jason alone going too far but has he really come down as hard with anyone else? In fact in some canon he's been down right mean. (*2) Jason sees it as him not being trusted like the others are and having to just work with what little freedom he's given. He clearly has conflicting feelings given his own convictions but he's willing to try to make a compromise. Well it was forced upon him but he still made an effort. In all likelihood this connects to his talk with Artemis about not feeling like Bruce and the rest are family. He's not seeing himself as being viewed as an equal or having unconditional love.

Is Jason approaching the situation wrong? Maybe but it's not like the other Robins hadn't also taken action (in this case curing the mayor) without informing Batman. The problem is the usual lack of understanding between Jason and Bruce. Despite proving himself as a capable team player Jason still feels he hasn't progressed much in the eyes of his family. Bruce is notoriously bad at communicting (Jason also struggles with this a bit just not as much) his feelings and usually it can only be seen through his actions. Which aren't always so positive.

We've seen Jason asking Alfred if Bruce regretted taking him in. From his POV it's not clear. All he sees is how he differs from the family. As stated above none of the family really addresses Jason killing in the right manner. They make it about the law, their differing set of morals and depending on the book look down at him. With the exception of Tim none of them try to see things his way. Maybe it's part of the victim blaming situation that they never quite got past? (*3) As a family they should be concerned with Jason's well-being and try to help him with his trauma. Granted the family doesn't usually deal with their own trauma well. But their approach isn't that great. Some treat Jason hostility, some don't know how to deal with him (Dick) and in some cases it's kind of vague how they see him.

Jason has his own set of faults to be sure but I don't think Bruce handled the deal well. I also don't think Tynion quite has all the nuances of why Jason agreed not to kill when he talks about it at Kate's "trial." But according to it Jason seems to think he can't be part of the family unless he obeys the rules. A lot of Tynion' s writing can be off with Jason but given what I've heard he has some ideas given by the editors. (*4) That doesn't necessarily mean he has all the right information or interpretations but he at least has the basic idea. Maybe the reasoning is more complex but I'll give Tynion enough credit to say Jason probably doesn't think he has any other choice if he wants to be part of the family.

I have a lot of problems with the scene but it's curious how Tynion portrays the family bonding then it stopping dead when they notice Jason. Their all shocked he even got invited and Jason purposely stands away from them.

In the first arc of volume 2 Jason mentions Black Mask doing what he wishes without asking for permission drawing parallels between BM and himself. Batman also acts this way, in fact the bat family in general do. In Super Sons Damian even tells Jon it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. (Which I find more problematic for a 10-13 that rarely has supervision but that's for another entry.) What's fascinating when it comes to Jason doing what he wants is how it applies where Batman is concerned. UTH was all about Jason getting Joker, Batman and himself to that point at the end. It's obvious when he's crying that he knows Bruce won't choose him. Yet he still does it.

In the second volume of RHATO Jason presents Bruce with his idea of going undercover after he gained the villains approval by shooting the mayor. He didn't tell Bruce beforehand because he knew Bruce would be reluctant to go through with his plan. The way he informs Bruce of it, even changing the phrasing, leads me to believe Jason purposely put it in motion because he knew it would be a hard sell. He attempts to hold his ground when asking if Batman will stand in his way but he clearly knows there will be some resistance.




*1 The only other way I can see it is Jason leaving Bruce a message (voicemail, text, etc.) telling him the location. I kind of think it was supposed to mean Bruce figured it out because it was hinted that Black Mask might have gone to the base to get another helmet.

*2 Winick had Bruce refer to Jason as trash in the sewer. Sure Ollie called him out on that being his way of separating himself emotionally but Bruce has a lot of negative thoughts towards Jason. The victim blaming for example. He also coldly referred to Jason as a villain in early Batwoman. While Bruce has been mean towards Steph and maybe Cass during her OOC period (I didn't read those issues) it's not really the same.

At worst Steph was treated like an amateur that was reckless. She was never seen as a rejected family member that's looked at as an enemy. In one Tomasi issue Bruce even said the "whole family" was present disregarding Jason and Cass.

*3 I don't know how many of them still blame Jason for his own death in this canon, besides Tomasi having Damian do it and claim it's what Bruce told him. But old canon had everyone blame Jason.

*4 Apparently higher ups wanted him to finish the Untitled plots. I've also heard some of the things we thought were awful in his run are kind of part of Lobdell's plan. His execution was just off not helped by the fact he never really explained it.