An explanation about Bruce Wayne

[Willpower The Gunslinger Find all posts View Profile Close Willpower]

Seems this is an endless discussion, because nobody seems to know for sure. Rather than adding this to the Flash Rebirth thread, I thought I'd make a separate one, just to debate/hear what everyone thinks happened to Bruce Wayne. IMO, this is an awesome mystery and I really get into trying to figure it out.

I read the following on the DCU boards, and wanted to get ppl's thoughts on it here, in the best forum

Q: How is Batman alive in the Stone Age (the Paleolithic Era ) when we saw Superman holding his body?

Q: What did the Omega Sanction actually do?

A: The Omega Sanction sends its victim's essence, the victim's soul, through an endless succession of synthetic lives, each more hopeless than the next. The body doesn't go. The body is left for dead. In this case, Batman's body was found by Superman and brought to the JLA Watchtower .

For all intents and purposes and as far as the heroes of Earth are concerned, Batman is dead.

Bruce Wayne's essence, however, was sent to a series of synthetic lives, created and maintained within the Omega Sanction .

The rocket launched in FINAL CRISIS #7 contained not only the final edition of the Daily Planet , but the body of Batman . It was launched before the Miracle Machine was used and while time was still broken, so it was caught in the time anomalies and ended up on Earth-51 with Anthro .

If you beat the Omega Sanction , you return to your body, the way Shilo did in his mini-series.

The way Batman did.

Which is why he's alive and well and writing on the wall in Earth-51's Stone Age .

So, do you buy into this? Seems well thought-out.

[Guest Close raynersraider]

Seems kind of convoluted, but they obviously put some thought into it.

So....I think I follow it... So, if Batman somehow beat the sanction and returned to his body, which was shot to Earth 51, there is no body to be resurrected during Blackest Night?

Also, just out of curiousity, I'm guessing they cremated the body, since it was halfway there already and it would have been easier to put in a rocket--after all, why would you shoot a corpse out in space in what is essentially a time capsule? But then, why would he be laying his utility belt and wearing his boots and pants in the cave...?

My head is starting to hurt....

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

This is an interesting theory. I honestly have no real clue as to what is going on with Bruce Wayne. I look forward to hearing West's thoughts.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

Too lazy to grab my books right now, so someone remind me when we saw Batman's corpse in the rocket? Did we see the corpse or just the utility belt?

The possibility of the rocket being on Earth 51 is a reasonable one. I just can't understand how that's possible. How is it possible for Bruce to be on Earth 51, that's not a hellish life that Darkseid described the Omega Sanction to be. That's not heaven as the Omega Effect would have brought him to.

Personally, I'm going to treat that epilogue like I never saw it. Not because its riddled with mystery but because we all know it was editorially driven, and I'm hoping that Grant chooses a different path. However, if he does follow up on this epilogue then that's cool too. But as of right now, there's zero way to get anything out of this.

Time distortion would certainly have an affect on the rocket sent off by Lois and the survivors at the Fortress, but it certainly would have no affect on Darkseid's Omega Sanction. He doesn't whip you out of your boots and swings you through air. Its a 5 second process(maximum) that instantly takes you to your first of many Hells.

IF Batman's body was put into the rocket. and IF he somehow beat the Omega Sanction such as Norman, then it would make sense that we see him there will Anthro(IF you believe that time distortion sent a tiny rocket all the way to Earth 51. When most of the time distortion had events taking place at much slower rate when outside of the Earth's atmosphere.)

Let's say Lois sends off of the rocket complete with the last hope message and the charred remains of Batman(keep in mind if they didn't send off that body, where did Black Hand grab that skull from? Retcon???) then it would have taken a very long time for it leave Earth. And when it eventually did, the fight was whining down on Earth. The Heroes are "win" again, and time is restored. Does the little rocket that could chug its way all the way to Earth51 safely? Judging by the epilogue its safe to assume so. But there's just too much assuming and not enough to go on to draw any real conclusion...at least for me.

Oh, one last tidbit. When Shilo Norman returned to his body. He was in tip top shape. Before he was hit with the Omega Sanction, he was damn near handicapped. Bruce Wayne shouldn't have been looking like shit if he had recently been returned to his body. Of course if he's been there a while then he has a better excuse for looking like Anthro's son. lol Keep this in mind as well, its certainly possible that we're seeing Bruce live out one of his hellish lives. Its certainly not something I would be surprised seeing in a book by Grant.

[Willpower The Gunslinger Find all posts View Profile Close Willpower]

Nice, I was waiting for your reply. Well, you're the professor, I'm the student in all this, but after reading that other post more the OP later said he meant Earth-0 not 51. If that makes any difference. I love this mystery, though, and will be a little sad when the ride's over.

First thing I'll do when I get home is look to see if they ever show Bruce's body in the rocket. Or any mention of it.

W. West=John Clayton of DCU

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

well Earth Zero is our Earth. Which would mean that the time distortion sent the rocket back in time...Stretch. BUT, that would allow Batman to be caught up to point in his time(up to the point where Lois sends the rocket off).

[lanternut Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close lanternut]

You know sometime that I've been thinking about, he's fricken 5 steps ahead of everyone else Batman. You never saw him from when he escaped to when he shot Darkseid. I hope when we see Bruce again, I hope they play on the fact he was prepared for Darkseid blasting him.

You only see the costume in the rocket along with the issue of the Daily Planet and the samples.

[Guest Close raynersraider]

For whatever reason, this reminds me of the time I watched one of those old Batman serials from the 1940s...Batman got knocked out a window and fell to his death in a cliffhanger. The next episode, they revealed that some mob thug had knocked out Batman and took his costume and HE was the one who fell out the window.

I would die a happy man if they somehow tried to claim that Kite-Man took Batman's place in getting blasted by Darkseid.

[lanternut Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close lanternut]

It's a better story if Bruce was somehow prepared for Darkseid. Like he had Orion's Mother Box and instead of killing him it transported him in time.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

I don't see that happening nut. I don't think that was what Grant was trying to show us. What I got out of it was that this is the final stance. This is for all the marbles. When Darkseid asks arrogantly whether Batman really thinks he can outrace the Omega Sanction, they both know the answer is no. Darkseid may or may not have believed he can get off his beams before Batman could pull the trigger, but he damn sure knew that they were going to hit regardless. Throughout Grant's run on Batman we were shown why Batman is who he is. Why he has been around for so long. Why he is always one step ahead, or the mastermind of adaptation. That final stance against Darkseid was him adapting to something unexpected. He was ready for the cloning device/The Lump. But he wasn't prepared for Darkseid's beams. You can't prepare for it, but you can adapt to the situation. He went into that final fight to KILL Darkseid, and he was okay with that. When he picked up that gun, he had come full circle. His journey seemed complete. If destroying the highest of Evil on Earth isn't the top of Batman's list then what is? He can't outrun the beams but he can embrace the ideal of destroying evil.

[lanternut Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close lanternut]

I agree but what makes Bruce Batman is he's always prepared to outsmart the Kobayashi Maru if I can through in a Star Trek term. Morrison loves to show Bats as the ultimate outsmarter. I wonder if you'll see signs of this in Red Robin where Tim is connecting Bruces clues as to find him.

[W.West Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close W.West]

From the interview that Chris Yost did with CBR, the first year's worth of issues don't seem like they'll be connected much. Just a long strenuous journey that will lead to no where.

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

Just a long strenuous journey that will lead to no where.

Man, that sounds like an exciting, must read right there.

[Old School Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Old School]

I'll just wait and see. to try and speculate for a year or so until he comes back is just plain silly

[lanternut Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close lanternut]

I'll just wait and see. to try and speculate for a year or so until he comes back is just plain silly

Where's the fun in that?!

I tell ya DC's next Summers epic event is the DCU against new Krypton lol!