WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia and Tom Napolitano, available now.
During the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal #1, the Batman Who Laughs was seemingly killed by Wonder Woman using her newly constructed invisible chainsaw. But while the villain seems to have plans for restoring himself, his kingdom will be soon ruled over by one of his most faithful followers: the Robin King.
Although his origins have yet to be revealed, we already know a fair amount about the Robin King. Now, here's everything we know about the Metalverse's next tyrant.
On his world, the Batman who would become the Batman Who Laughs was forced to watch as hordes of children were captured and corrupted by the Joker of his world. After he himself was transformed, the Batman Who Laughs kept many of the children as his servants, demented Robins that followed his every command, even corrupting his son Damien. This extended to other Robins from other realities, with the Grim Knight at one point unleashing a pack of feral Robins that were all versions of James Gordon Jr. from different realities.
However, there seems to be one Robin that the Batman Who Laughs values above all others and leaves in a position of power when he's gone. Through preview artwork, it seems like this Robin King is set to take his place, seemingly as the heir to his throne lording over the ruins of the DC Metalverse.
Snyder describes the most horrifying aspect of the Batman Who Laughs is that he's a once heroic figure who "is now wholly evil… and the horror of that transition being so final and deadly is what makes him so scary. He’s Batman gone evil at the peak of his career." But for the Robin King, there was no such transition. He's just a child who has been consumed by his darker side. This version of Robin never had to be broken by the Joker to become a monster, and he came fully formed to the Batman Who Laughs. He's described as having spent his young life dreaming of ways to kill the heroes of his reality, even ending up with a utility belt that is likely full of dangerous and destructive weapons. He's clearly a more brilliant Robin than most of the others, and he seems to have his own plans to deal with DC's heroes.
And as Snyder says, "The Robin King is evil in the way the Batman Who Laughs is, but he’s almost scarier to me because he was always that way; he’s never been anything else."
This implies that this Robin is thoughtful and intentional, or at least one that's used to making plans like the Batman Who Laughs. He's even shown speaking to the Batman Who Laughs in the preview images for Dark Nights: Death Metal #2, whispering something to him that makes the villain seem genuinely proud and pleased of his sidekick. The idea of a child so dedicated to figuring out ways to defeat and kill heroes is genuinely terrifying. This level of forethought could suggest that the Robin King is a version of Tim Drake who the Batman Who Laughs took under his wing. It would explain his apparent intelligence and thoughtful nature, and his dark self becoming the one and only Robin King poses a sharp contrast to Tim Drake's ever-shifting role in the Post-Flashpoint DC Universe.
The mysteries surrounding the Robin King will likely be explored later in Dark Nights: Death Metal, as his role is potentially vital to whatever plans the Batman Who Laughs has. If he trusts the young villain enough to leave him in charge after his apparent death, then the Batman Who Laughs clearly has plans for the Robin King, which can't be good for the heroes.