Saturday, October 12, 2019

Are we getting any consequences?

Will there be any fall out or will everything be ignored? What--if anything--will Bruce do when it comes to his two sons?

While Bruce has done some very questionable parenting in general a lot hasn't really come up again. His estranged relationships with Damian and Jason have been plot points in their titles for awhile now but not much has come from it. At least as far as their relationships with Bruce are concerned. Simply because "the world's greatest detective" hasn't figured out what they have and haven't done yet.

What I find curious is the different direction these two stories took. Originally--at least according to different sites/rumors I read--DC wanted Red Hood to become a villain, which is what prompted the Red Hood: Outlaw change. BC said he was originally Leviathan but regardless he's not actually in that role. In truth Jason hasn't really done anything to warrant concern yet. (*1) Even accepting Lex Luthor's offer was done simply to protect the students. Given the darker tone in Damian's Teen Titans it would be odd if two Robins both had the exact same type of plot.

Bruce beat Jason to point he was bedridden (then acted like it was no big deal), tried to threaten him, blindly agreed to round up a group to take Jason down on a hunch someone else had...and Jason never actually attempted to break their agreement. Bruce is the one who screwed up here.

Bruce has messed up with Damian too, like not being around for him. I want to see the consequences of these two plotlines. Jason was constantly being lectured/threatened and seen as a loose cannon. He didn't break the rules, yet everyone always thinks the worst of him and uses him as a scapegoat. It's happened at least three times within a short period.

Then we have Damian who despite being at odds with his father still has moments where Bruce and him work together. One of those times had Damian accusing Jason of being Leviathan and Bruce going along with it despite having no real evidence to speak of. Damian himself has done things that Bruce would object to like:

Holding a (number of) villain(s) in his personal prison in questionable conditions. This one is interesting as Bruce himself is guilty of this. He held the Joker prisoner in the cave and the Batman-Who-Laughs at the JL headquarters. Based on Jason's narrative Cobblepot locked himself in his safe room but Jason never planned on holding him for long. (*2) Instead of letting the justice system handle their sentences Damian decided to carry it out himself. Even holding a woman named Swerve captive despite her apparently being pressured into villainy.

He also had a system in place that would kill the prisoners if they escaped their jail. The only reason this didn't work was because they were captured before they got too far. This was apparently undone before they were "reformed."

I don't think it's ever been confirmed if the prisoners Damian captured were tortured but I'm not convinced that they weren't. Especially when Black Mask welcomes another prisoner to "hell." Torture does technically factor in later on with the mind wipes which apparently cause the prisoners agony. This by it's self is a BIG problem that needs to be addressed. Batman wasn't happy when his memories were messed with in Identity Crisis, so he shouldn't be pleased that Robin is forcing others to reform via mind control. While other mentors like Flash and Green Arrow should factor into the current Teen Titans facing consequences I think this is especially concerning for Bruce.

In both cases I believe his relationships with Damian and Jason need to be affected once he learns the truth. Damian needs to finally be punished and earn everyone's trust back. Bruce needs to realize he was wrong to hurt Jason and has to try to make amends with him. To work towards a better relationship with both of them to prevent these things from happening again. I don't want either to be swept under the rug or to be instantly forgiven. I'd like to see more drawn out plots that focus on them making real attempts to fix the problems instead of ignoring them. 

If Bruce/JL could force Dick's Titans to follow their commands and have a supervisor due to their "screw up" (*3) then Damian/his team should definitely be held accountable for their actions. For awhile I've gotten the impression that the Waynes always get off scot free and what's happened needs to be addressed otherwise I feel like these storylines are pointless. No one is stopping Damian and as a result he's getting progressively worse. (The latest rumor is that a future version of him is actually Leviathan.)

Jason followed the rules and his worst fears have been confirmed. He knows how unfairly he's viewed/treated and no one (*4) has stood up for him. I don't think any future team ups would work unless this is properly dealt with.




*1 Jason did kill in Gotham but it was in self defense against a former member of the All Caste. Since Jason was the only (successful) member of the All Caste that was said to be human this might not "count." I'm not sure since whether Bruce cares about the lives of non-humans has varied from writer to writer. He didn't for example regard the Talons the same as humans since they are basically the walking dead. Except for Essence and Ducra (Untitled beings) we don't actually know what most of the All Caste are.

*2 The point was to ruin Penguin's reputation and get him in trouble with his backers by keeping him out of the picture long enough. Jason doesn't even attempt to recapture Penguin when he escapes.

*3 The Titans didn't really do anything wrong per se, they just encountered a possible future version of Donna Troy that was evil. Considering how often heroes encounter evil Alternate Universes and possible future versions of themselves it really felt like the JL were overreacting.

*4 This hasn't been said outright but it's implied that Jason compared the Su sisters' bond to his own relationship with his adopted family. Jason was confused why anyone would stick up for the black sheep of the family.

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