"I lost you," Bruce blurted. "And then I received a chance few are granted. You came back, but you were still lost."
"No, I wasn't," Jason said, and if he had been bitter before, now he was caustic. "You don't want to look at me, at the person that I am now. That's not the same thing."
So good! And so true, I can see Bruce clutching his memories of the boy Jason was. If there’s one thing Bruce is good at, it’s adhering to a singular vision and refusing to acknowledge anything else.
Had that dead boy Bruce was looking for ever existed? Jason knew how Bruce had used his death as a cudgel to beat himself and his Robins into obedience. A good soldier, but also reckless, too young, too angry. Out of control, and yet perfectly ready to fall in line when called. Bruce had forgotten, in his anger and his grief, who Jason had been, and so he had made Jason into whoever he needed Jason to be at the moment.
But Jason remembered. He had been a kid. He had been excited about seeing Superman, and he had been worried about his history test, and he had been helplessly furious at the way Gotham crumbled under his fingers every night. Jason remembered, and he didn't want to see that look on Bruce's face anymore. So he did the only thing he could think of to wipe it off. "Go check on your son," he said, and stalked from the cave.
thank you so much!! I am always thinking about the ways that Jason's memory is used as a tool and a warning and also something that gets wholly swallowed up in Bruce's grief. part of the tragedy of losing someone is that they're not around to correct you about how they want to be remembered! and then Jason comes back and finds that not only is HE no longer the person he used to be but Bruce doesn't remember that person anymore either. because in death Jason became a symbol and not a son. kills me!
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Jerslix Sat 29 Mar 2025 02:07AM UTC
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