Batman and Robin are finally reunited in The Shadow War, only for the Dark Knight to make things worse instead of sorting out the situation with his estranged son.
In the new DC Comics Shadow War event, Batman finally has the chance to become a better father and reconcile with his estranged son Robin… only to make matters worse. Following the death of Alfred Pennyworth at the City of Bane event in 2019, Bruce and Damian Wayne subsequently split. Rather than being around his son, who was also grieving, the Dark Knight was too focused on his own pain and darkness, prompting Robin to leave Gotham for a while. With Damian back, Batman has made matters worse by proving his status as one of the DC universe’s most terrible fathers.
In recent releases, Damian has been abroad in his own series Robin, where he battles his inner demons to decide whether he is the son of a detective or the heir to a demon. While he has previously admitted that he would be willing to meet his father, he does believe that Batman will have to do most of the talking (a point that seems correct). In doing so, Robin #12 saw Damian accompany his mother Talia on her journey to rebuild her empire, promising to treat him like a son and not a weapon, as she and Damian’s grandfather, Ras al Ghul, had in the past. done.
Batman is the greatest detective in the world. His comment about Alfred was misunderstood. Damian was tied up by Bane and had to watch the villainous kill Alfred, unable to save one of the few members of the bat family who truly understood and loved him the most. Batman’s claim that he could have saved Alfred had he been there implies that Damian wasn’t good enough, but only helped make the rift between father and son even bigger than it was. Although Robin seemed ready to handle the situation, he is no longer interested.
As a father, Batman has royally screwed up beyond what seemed possible. Now his son has left alone again, obsessed with killing Detstroke because he apparently killed his grandfather. While it’s unlikely the Dark Knight will be able to fix everything anytime soon, it would be nice to see Batman try at least once to do the right thing with his son as the Shadow War continues. While the darkness of losing his parents may be related to some of the issues he’s faced as a father, the last thing Batman has to come to terms with is knowing his son is lonely and in pain, and that no one can support him. It’s time for Batman to become a successful father to Robin and not let him down all the time.
