If you are amongst those who have found all of the Riddler trophies scattered around Gotham, then there is a high chance that you belong to the category of people who have watched the True Ending of Batman Arkham Knight and have their mind running around in circles looking through the 12+ hours of gameplay to unearth hints that will explain what you just witnessed. Don’t you worry; YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
If you are still to beat the game to 100% by putting all those bad guys behind bar in a GCPD building, which surely has seen a long night, then I warn you that this article contains MAJOR SPOILERS. Consider yourself warned, and tread ahead with caution.
There are two questions that are going on in everyone’s head, Is Bruce Wayne ‘really’ dead? And who or what was the Batman-like figure at the end?
Before talking about the True Ending, let us start with the most crucial ‘aspect’ about Batman which makes him what he is, his mystique. Batman isn’t a superhuman like most of the other superheroes; he instead uses his mystique to induce fear in his enemies, this surely being his greatest weapon. Questions like ‘Is he real?’, ‘Can he really fly?’ ‘Can he disappear into nowhere?’ more along this line have plagued Gotham’s thugs from the very first sighting of Batman. What Rocksteady have gone and done in this game is, make Scarecrow shatter this mystique in pieces by making him expose the true identity of Batman to the entire world on live TV. After this point in the game, gliding through Gotham, you can clearly hear the thugs claiming that they could easily take Bruce Wayne down, and that he is nothing without his money and fancy toys. The entire legacy of Batman is torn down to the point where good for nothing thugs claim Bruce to be a ‘crazy billionaire nut’. Bruce predicting this has ‘The Knightfall Protocol’ designed and asks Alfred to make preparations for the same. Alfred reluctantly complies and we see a mask-less Batman land in front of the Wayne Manor, in front of the relatively large number of reporters given that the city is still in considerable chaos. Bruce walks in, and the Wayne Manor is blown to shreds.
Here comes first of the two questions, ‘Is Bruce Wayne really dead?’ the answer to this is a resounding NO, like the Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Bruce faked his death, although for an altogether different reason, to keep The Batman’s legacy intact. This can be explained by answering the second question, ‘Who or what was the Batman-like figure at the end? The answer: Bruce Wayne (Sorry Batman Beyond fans). Bruce knows that to keep the legacy of Batman going, he needs to reinstate the fear associated with him. He can’t be Batman and protect everyone around him at the same time. Look at what Jason Todd, aka The Arkham Knight did to Batman; now imagine every villain and criminal mastermind knowing that Bruce Wayne is indeed Batman. He cannot just fake his death and disappear since that would mean the legacy of Batman to dwindle over short time and crime to return back to what it was before him. He, like the Joker in his mind, have the same fear of being forgotten; so he comes back, as a new Batman, who doesn’t use his theatrics to scare the villains like he used to, but uses a less potent version of Scarecrow’s fear toxin to do the job. This is clear from the last scene where some thugs believing that the Batman is dead, were trying to loot a family of 3 in a narrow alley, (a nostalgic touch indeed) as Batman appeared before them on the top of the adjacent building. The men claiming Batman is dead look to carry on with the job at hand shortly before the figure at the top of the building starts emitting black fumes and jumps only to spread his wings and blast into a huge bat-like creature, causing the troublemakers to scream in fear and pain, almost similar to what Scarecrow saw and how he reacted when Bruce injected him with the fear toxin.
At the start of the game, Batman gets his hand on Crane’s latest fear toxin, sends it to Oracle for further study. Bruce must have used this sample to fashion out a less toxic dose of his own fear toxin. This way the legacy of Batman becomes immortal since Bruce is declared dead, the mystique about him returns and criminals in Gotham again have a reason to not get out after dawn.
He fakes his death and uses Crane’s fear toxin (the latter being something he would have never done) to ensure that no one will exploit his one true weakness by endangering the safety of the people he cared about. This is the ultimate price he paid, a last parting gift of The Joker delivered by the hands of Jason Todd, The Arkham Knight.
But of course, you aren’t forced to accept this as to what happens at the end of the game. If you have some other theories and speculations or hints that have been missed in this article, post them in the comments. Also do tell what you think of this explanation. Loved it? Hated it? Have points to build on this? Share them with the rest of us in the comments!
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