WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #96 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey, & Clayton Cowles, on sale now
Every person has their own mental limits, even someone as strong-willed as Batman. But while most heroes would crumble under a certain amount of pressure, Batman actually has a back-up personality that could bring some real chaos to Gotham.
Batman is being pushed to his absolute limit by the Joker War - and coupled with the hallucinations he's been experiencing, it might be a sign that he's reverting to his Batman of Zur-En-Arrh persona.
PUSHED TO THE EDGE
The Joker War has just begun, and it has already taken a huge toll on Bruce Wayne: his fortune has been pillaged by the Joker, and all the advanced technology has been stolen. It's ended up in the hands of the Joker and his chaotic followers, who lash out across the entire city and leave a massive path of destruction in their wake. Lucius Fox has been captured, Nightwing has been corrupted, and Batgirl has been attacked. Batman has even been unconscious for days. He's only alive thanks to the intervention of Harley Quinn (who herself had a close call with death while confronting Punchline for the first time).
More than anything though, it appears that Batman is hallucinating. He can hear Alfred's voice in his ear, despite the fact that his oldest and most loyal ally died at the hands of Bane during the City of Bane story-arc. Alfred offers advice and encouragement, and Batman is fully aware that this is all in his mind. But he's still listening to the voice, reasoning that he can deal with the ramifications that come with that after he's figured out how to save Gotham. This isn't the first time Batman has been pushed to the edge and began seeing visions of beings who weren't there, either - and if that last event was any indication, we might be seeing a far different Batman soon.
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THE BATMAN OF ZUR-EN-ARRH
When the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh debuted in France Herron and Dick Sprang's Batman #113, he was a more comical and outlandish Silver Age alien hero who recruited Batman for help. But in Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel's Batman: RIP - the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is revealed to be a backup personality Batman designed for himself in Batman #678. Although the words had been trained into him as a post-hypnotic trigger to dismantle Bruce's psyche, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is designed to kick in as a backup Batman.
Without any of Bruce's fears or restraints, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is pure id, beating suspects with ease and breaking down the city in strangely simple ways. During this period, Batman was followed by a vision of Bat-Mite, who gave him advice in a similar manner to how "Alfred" has been communicating with Batman. Even though he was open and frank about Batman's delusions, the hallucination Bat-Mite still did its best to help Batman keep control of himself. The Joker War may be pushing Batman to that edge again and could force him to embrace that wilder side of himself.
It's important to remember that even as the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, he was eventually able to regain full control of himself after a point. It's possible that Batman is being forced down the path to becoming the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh once more. This would have him leaving his more logical side behind to confront Joker. Becoming more of a force of nature than a man who can be tricked or defeated. With the Joker seemingly preparing to reveal Batman's identity to Gotham, it might be time for Batman to bust out the most unpredictable version of himself if he wants any chance of defeating the Joker.