wedge isn't that far afield. 3 part story arcs (a common device these days and before) have part 2 end on a downbeat. here's what i posted before, elsewhere:
lastly, i see joker around for next movie, and dent as villain to be dispatched in this one. think bats will have to save dent from joker (not that hokey 'arrest me,' bit in TLH). dent has limited use. bale said in some foreign press that the movie is about the toll of doing what he does, and how he might sustain the motivation without crossing lines into criminality. dent will be the mirror to hold up to bats. dent's been at it longer, with less resources (humble beginnings scene), more to lose (loving family still alive and imperiled scene; no wife as holiday) and 'one bad day' pushes him over the line. saving dent will be bats' motivation, as it is attempt to save himself. he won't. we might even have gordon get some damage (daughter?) and teeter on the edge (so in next film, the two draw closer). this is the empire strikes back of batman, where the bad guys (joker, riddler, a third) end on top. the 'freaks' will rule gotham at the end.
(my wish: bats at the end does cross the line and kill someone and it won't be justified away in the third movie, but used for conflict w/ gordon in act 2 of movie 3; act one being bats and gordon licking wounds and growing closer)
also:
'jeremiah fits thematically with what i suppose to this film to be: the toll of fighting crime. and 'escalation.'
for bats, he is pushed to cross lines he'd rather not, especially as the mob pushes lines it would rather not (using 'freaks' and burning harvey [outfit rules prohibit harming prosecutors, made-men]); both sides ratchet up the stakes.
gordon is the everyman, a law-and-order cop who loses sleep, time with family, a marriage in his pursuit of justice, but not his humanity.
dent is the zealot/true-believer, a mirror of batman and gordon; everyman humble beginnings who gets power (as DA; like bats gets training and has $ for his power) and loses sleep, time with family, a marriage in his pursuit of justice. however, he will lose his humanity, sanity (though who is to say his 'justice is insane???) and half his face.
jeremiah [arkham]is the do-gooder; wealthy (like bruce), who gets power (control of arkham; which he razes after the breakout to replace with a new asylum designed for special criminals with the help of wayne enterprises). he will also lose, not in a twist revealed by his character name, but in plot, when at the end, all the inmates he thought he could rehabilitate, escape, destroy most or all of the mob lords, and become the new crime families of gotham.
bats will face the costs of his war, the escalation: gordon's personal life in shambles (maybe barabara paralyzed), dent scarred and insane, jeremiah powerless and crazy. All those who fight alongside him lose something. What has bruce lost?
This is no longer about bruce's vengance, it has begun to cost dearly to those who help him. the war has escalated and both sides now stand to lose more than their freedom; anyone involved must now risk their sanity, their lives and the lives of those they love.
to back me up: who was the criminal put away in BB early scene? answer: Zsasz'
so the last scene will be of petty crime run rampant, like in the days when thomas and martha were killed, but worse. bats questioning whether he has made gotham better or worse.
lastly, i see joker around for next movie, and dent as villain to be dispatched in this one. think bats will have to save dent from joker (not that hokey 'arrest me,' bit in TLH). dent has limited use. bale said in some foreign press that the movie is about the toll of doing what he does, and how he might sustain the motivation without crossing lines into criminality. dent will be the mirror to hold up to bats. dent's been at it longer, with less resources (humble beginnings scene), more to lose (loving family still alive and imperiled scene; no wife as holiday) and 'one bad day' pushes him over the line. saving dent will be bats' motivation, as it is attempt to save himself. he won't. we might even have gordon get some damage (daughter?) and teeter on the edge (so in next film, the two draw closer). this is the empire strikes back of batman, where the bad guys (joker, riddler, a third) end on top. the 'freaks' will rule gotham at the end.
(my wish: bats at the end does cross the line and kill someone and it won't be justified away in the third movie, but used for conflict w/ gordon in act 2 of movie 3; act one being bats and gordon licking wounds and growing closer)
also:
'jeremiah fits thematically with what i suppose to this film to be: the toll of fighting crime. and 'escalation.'
for bats, he is pushed to cross lines he'd rather not, especially as the mob pushes lines it would rather not (using 'freaks' and burning harvey [outfit rules prohibit harming prosecutors, made-men]); both sides ratchet up the stakes.
gordon is the everyman, a law-and-order cop who loses sleep, time with family, a marriage in his pursuit of justice, but not his humanity.
dent is the zealot/true-believer, a mirror of batman and gordon; everyman humble beginnings who gets power (as DA; like bats gets training and has $ for his power) and loses sleep, time with family, a marriage in his pursuit of justice. however, he will lose his humanity, sanity (though who is to say his 'justice is insane???) and half his face.
jeremiah [arkham]is the do-gooder; wealthy (like bruce), who gets power (control of arkham; which he razes after the breakout to replace with a new asylum designed for special criminals with the help of wayne enterprises). he will also lose, not in a twist revealed by his character name, but in plot, when at the end, all the inmates he thought he could rehabilitate, escape, destroy most or all of the mob lords, and become the new crime families of gotham.
bats will face the costs of his war, the escalation: gordon's personal life in shambles (maybe barabara paralyzed), dent scarred and insane, jeremiah powerless and crazy. All those who fight alongside him lose something. What has bruce lost?
This is no longer about bruce's vengance, it has begun to cost dearly to those who help him. the war has escalated and both sides now stand to lose more than their freedom; anyone involved must now risk their sanity, their lives and the lives of those they love.
to back me up: who was the criminal put away in BB early scene? answer: Zsasz'
so the last scene will be of petty crime run rampant, like in the days when thomas and martha were killed, but worse. bats questioning whether he has made gotham better or worse.
t: 
