WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Detective Comics #981 by James Tynion IV, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Adriano Lucas , on sale now


What started as an attempt to create a more efficient and well-coordinated Batman became the nightmare of a future after Bruce Wayne was murdered by Batwoman. The system Tim Drake had put into place would one day be used to establish a fascist state in Gotham City, and it was done by a future version of himself. Thankfully, that very dark and tragic future has been averted in Detective Comics #981, all thanks to the truth finally being revealed.

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As it turns out, Batwoman didn't actually murder Batman like Tim Drake had originally believed. In reality, Kate was sent by the US government to apprehend the Dark Knight, but with the hero in her sights, she couldn't betray her own family. That's when Bruce Wayne pleaded with her to take his life and put the legacy of Batman to rest. In the end, the truth sets Tim Drake free, and he is able to stop Ulysses Armstrong and Brother Eye from taking over the world.

The Truth About Batman's Legacy

All throughout this run on Detective Comics, James Tynion IV has maintained that Tim has something of a boyhood fascination with everything that Batman can become. Since he was a kid, he believed that there would always need to be a Batman to give hope to the people of Gotham City. Tim developed the Gotham Knights protocols to ensure that there would never have to be just one man behind the cape and cowl. In this way, Batman could be eternal.

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However, it is discovered that Brother Eye had actually doctored the video of Batwoman killing Batman in order to manipulate the events of the future. Tim didn't just get half the story, he didn't even get the right one. The real video footage showed that Bruce Wayne was dying of radiation poisoning, having paid the price for building Brother Eye with radiation poisoning. Instead of worrying about Batman's continuing legacy, Bruce was preparing for a world without Batman.

All of Bruce's efforts to ensure the future's safety had just brought the inevitable end closer than he was ready for. In a last ditch effort to fix the world, Batman used Brother Eye to do as much as he could before it was too late. However, he also determined that it was already too much. He had seen that his fight had gone on for too long, had touched too many lives, and he was prepared to bring it all to an end. This, along with the fact that he was already dying, is ultimately why Batwoman shot him.

Though Batman had brought so many skilled crimefighters into the fold, his legacy was what was holding them back. He recognized that having them try and live up to what he left behind would not be the best course for them. Bruce wanted them to go off and do good in their own way, wherever and however they can do it. If that meant giving up the cape and cowl, going to college, or helping in other more legal ways, so be it.

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Batman didn't want Brother Eye to secure the legacy of Batman, like Tim Drake was led to believe. The artificial intelligence was simply pulling the strings in order to make its own existence meaningful. It was built to fight a war, and it used Tim to do it. If anything, the satellite was damaging Batman's legacy.

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Tim Drake has been so focused on life with Batman, that he's never actually took the time to think about how there is a life after Batman as well. That's the lesson James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, Eddy Barrows and Marcio Takara's work on Detective Comics has always been working toward. The story may have followed Tim Drake's attempts to build a better Batman, but the final lesson is that you can't. You can't duplicate someone else's trauma and pain, or how they use it to help others.

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In the wake of everything that has happened, the team once known as the Gotham Knights go their separate ways. Out from under the shadow of the bat, each member finds that they can stand on their own. Lucas Fox can continue doing good outside of the Batwing armor, Azrael goes in search of a higher purpose, Cassandra Cain learns to stand on her own, and Batwoman gets back to basics. They all have a journey to go on, even after the journey is over.

Now that Tim knows the experiences of Bruce Wayne as Batman are unique, he can finally stop worrying about what the future holds, for him as well as the rest of the DC Universe. Detective Comics leaves Tim and Stephanie on the verge of another adventure, but he's learned a valuable lesson this time. He's done worrying about what could happen because he has more than enough questions about everything that is taking place in front of him. Tim is left with an uncertain future here, but that's the point. We don't always need to know what the future holds.