Originally I had only seen a little bit of this conversation and liked it before I got a better sense of the context. There's a lot more to talk about with this scene than I first thought. Unlike Bruce, who has sadly become more aloof around all of his kids, Alfred knows the boys enough to realize why Damian is really there. He even call Damian out on the fact he went through Alfreds' things and took something without his permission. Alfred seems to know just what item was taken which is extremely curious since he locks the door and tells Damian that he's not allowing him to leave with it.As usual Damian doesn't understand why anyone would want to protect Jason. Alfred says their brothers (yea, someone says it outside of RHATO) and he would do the same for any of them. I do find it amusing that Damian thinks the alarm will be enough to make him move and Alfred knows better.
I'm not sure if Damian is only counting the "betrayal" Red Arrow suggested or using the Penguin shooting when he says "us." But you can tell what's important to him by the fact he says "Red Hood betrayed me" first. We know from solicits that there is a traitor and Damian is quick to be swayed into thinking it's Jason. Unlike Alfred he doesn't call him by name, he just used his codename. Damian himself has crossed the line like Jason has but he still implies that he's doing something Batman should have done a long time ago.What would that be? Bruce tried to bring Jason to Arkham against his will after beating him so bad he couldn't move out of bed for nearly a month. Is Damian implying that he's going to attempt to bring Jason to his torture prison? To kill him? How will he do that with what he took from Alfred? Is it like the crowbar in Batman and Robin, will Damian attempt to trigger a PTSD moment?
I find myself a little frustrated with Alfred after reading him in RHATO. Where was his words of wisdom when Jason was expressing his doubts in the way they do things? If he's willing to protect Jason here why wasn't he willing to tell Bruce not to go after Jason since he knew it would end badly? Damian doesn't really know who he is since he's always at war with which side of the family he takes after.
But I get Alfreds' point, Damian knows how he's Batmans' son and expects to be the heir. Jason constantly doubts he's seen as a son or has a place with them. He has been trying to figure out how he belongs in the family and in the world at general since he returned from the dead. This is pretty insightful and makes me wonder how closely Glass is working with Lobdell. It gives me hope that this wouldn't be a "Jason is evil because we said so" twist.
Alfred Pennyworth: "Do not presume malice in what is perhaps merely miscommunication."
Can that be his lecture to everyone? Especially Bruce? Alfred asking Damian to talk to Jason rather than make a hasty mistake does feel like something he should have told Bruce. Maybe Alfred regrets the fact he didn't and is trying to get Damian to be more reasonable. The similarly is mentioned by Alfred himself when he remarks how Damian is acting after Damian tells him that he wouldn't win in a fight. Sure he says he could never protect Bruce from himself either but he didn't really try when Jason needed to be defended against him. Sometimes he outright threw Jason under the bus for Bruce's sake. (*1) Also why is Damian implying a fight? Would he really attack Alfred over this? Was Alfred willing to fight him originaly hence why he picked up an umbrella?
So Alfred gives up on stopping him since somethings apparently have to be learned the hard way. But why? If whatever Damian took was important enough to attempt to stop him and he's trying to protect Jason wouldn't it be better to try to defend Jason for once? Because whatever Damian is doing isn't going to end well for him. Damian scoffs at the comparison between his father and him. What's kind of neat to me is how what Damian says could be something Jason said.At least in the beginning. How nothing is changing with Bruce's methods but unlike the time Jason expressed doubts Alfred attempts to have an answer. Sadly it's a cliché that Damian doesn't buy. I do like how Alfred points out how scarily similar Damian sounds to Ra's Al Ghul after he goes on about rebuilding from the rubble.
Yet no one is willing to reign Damian in? Why is he allowed to make these mistakes? Ones that could potentially destroy everything? Why isn't Bruce trying to do something? I don't care if he's pushing everyone away for the hundredth time, if he was willing to go out of his way to attack Jason he should at least bother to see if his estranged youngest son is going too far. Especially since he knows Damian disagrees with his methods.The last bit with the paintings is a little confusing to me. The family portrait is from the Tomasi/Gleason Batman and Robin run. Something Jason was obviously not present for. The individual paintings look like their blown up and cropped versions of the family portrait. So the "Jason Todd" painting ? That's actually Tim and you can see it matches up too. Same hair and pose. Was there a miscommunication? Because I'm not sure which version to go with.
If Jason's not there it underlines how isolated he is from the family. It means Damian is purposely avoiding not only Dick's gaze (because he knows he wouldn't approve) but also Tim's because he was always the first to point out Damian's own faults. It makes those that have spoken out about how he acts in the past have a weighty judgement he doesn't want to face. With Jason there it makes him seem like he's more involved with the family than he currently is. It makes Damian looking away seem like guilt because part of him knows that he is doing is wrong but he's still going to do it.
From what I see it seems like Jason is being blamed for the actions of the real traitor. He doesn't seem to have any motive for selling Damian out and I think Jason was the one who contacted him. Alfred seems to be foreshadowing that Damian is making a rash decision that he's going to regret. At the moment Jason is the only one in the family that he could trust to help him and not judge him. Now based on the solicits for #27 I think Jason's going to take another Wayne attacking him pretty poorly. I don't want him to hurt Damian but it looks like that's going to happen.
The fight could either make Damian think Jason is the traitor and be to blind to see the real one or make him realize too late that he screwed up. Being injuried might make him believe the former. For Jason I think it would only push him further away from the family. Hopefully the damage wouldn't be too bad.
*1 In old canon in Gotham Knights it was revealed that even though Alfred blamed Bruce for Jason's death he told Bruce otherwise and victim blamed Jason. Under Tomasi Alfred blamed the Bat family for not being loyal to Bruce after he treated them, especially Jason, like crap.
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