the biggest un-answered question

[DerekPowers]

and there are lots of unanswered questions (the romance between bruce and barbara, what happened to dick grayson, selina kyle, etc), but the biggest one and the one i wanted answered the most is: why did bruce wayne stop being batman? I know we got a glimpse of why in "rebirth", but throughout the series they hinted that there was something more. For example, in "rebirth" and "dissapearing ink" terry inquires why bruce stopped being batman, and "it's not just because he got old". bruce is very reluctant to tell. obviously there is a definate story there, but as the series went on, they just stopped exploring those un-answered questions. what do you guys think?

[batboy2001]

I don't know, but like you I think they were building up to a big finale. There were alot of questions they hinted about, so the only reason they probaly did that was to keep you in sespense for the end of the series. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

[Clayface]

I always thought that question was answered by the unedited version of ROTJ. Bruce has terrible memories of when one of his own picked up a gun and killed. Then he almost did it himself in Rebirth. When that happened, he realized that it was all just too much, and it was time to quit.

[DarkAngel]

Originally posted by Clayface
I always thought that question was answered by the unedited version of ROTJ.


Yeah, I agree. The specific moment that pushed him out the role was when he was forced to use the gun to defend himself in "Rebirth." The "something more" that Bruce refused to talk about were the events seen in the ROTJ flashback.

[Bird Boy]

well, in "Rebirth" he had to resort to using a GUN to protect himself. You saw how freaked out he was at himself for that. Thats the reason he quit...he wasn't able to be batman anymore..

-BB

[James Harvey]

That's likely the reason there. He needed the new suit to keep himself going the first time, ignoring the fact that he may be passed his prime. When he picked up the gun he realized that no new suit or anything to help him beyond this. The gun was the cold hard truth hitting him in the face.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by Clayface
I always thought that question was answered by the unedited version of ROTJ. Bruce has terrible memories of when one of his own picked up a gun and killed. Then he almost did it himself in Rebirth. When that happened, he realized that it was all just too much, and it was time to quit.

I agree with this too. And I think this was one of the major points of contention with Timm and Dini vs the cenesors, as it was always their intention to show the real reason Bruce gave up Batman all together. And this is why we need the unedited version released once and all for all to see!

[Firefly]

Originally posted by Clayface
I always thought that question was answered by the unedited version of ROTJ.

Unedited ROTJ answered a lot of things like why bruce uses a cane. As far as this question I think the events in "Rebirth" led to him hanging up the cape because when he was holding the gun you could he the fear in his eyes thats when I think he thought this is it and said that famous line "Never Again"

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Clayface
I always thought that question was answered by the unedited version of ROTJ. Bruce has terrible memories of when one of his own picked up a gun and killed. Then he almost did it himself in Rebirth. When that happened, he realized that it was all just too much, and it was time to quit.

Oooh, great observation!

Given the long lag-time between "Rebirth" and ROTJ I think it's pretty clear Timm & Dini didn't have the events of the latter in mind when they started the series. But that just means it's another mark of how good they are that with this "thematic echo" they managed to tie ROTJ in so tightly to the overall continuity. It's seamless.

[DerekPowers]

i just always felt like they were hinting all throughout the series that there was more of a reason why bruce quit. They knew we all saw rebirth and know we know that bruce "quit" because he picked up the gun and nearly had a heart attack. but they always seemed to make terry ask, implying you didnt know the whole truth. i just think they were getting at something during the first season, but then season 2 completely lost direction and they just seemed to forget about alot of the really cool themes they were tapping into in season 1. and i feel had the show continued the direction it was going in it would have answered that, but for some reason they sort of dropped the ball midway in season 2. oh well, i guess you cant have it all.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by DerekPowers
i just think they were getting at something during the first season, but then season 2 completely lost direction and they just seemed to forget about alot of the really cool themes they were tapping into in season 1. and i feel had the show continued the direction it was going in it would have answered that, but for some reason they sort of dropped the ball midway in season 2.

Actually, I still think this was because of ROTJ. If I'm not mistaken, ROTJ was greenlighted right around the time they were doing season 2 - they probably knew then that the issues would be dealt with in the movie, and didn't feel the need to continue on with them in the series.