Melkay
Civilian
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- Jul 31, 2008
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It worked on many levels beyond simple plot. He did it not only for keeping Harvey's reputation clean, but for getting himself out of the way too.
1. Batman is a vigilante, a guy working for the system outside of the system's boundaries. A necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless. One of the things he was doing was making Gotham too dependant on him, which made Dent use Batman to track down Lau, which made the mob unleash the greatest freak ever as a counter-attack. Now that Batman is the Police number 1 enemy, any counter-attack will be directed at the Batman only, and not to his allies. No more attempts of assasination at the DA and his girlfriend... no more Gordon having to fake his own death to protect his family.
2. No more love from the public, no more the wrong kind of inspiration. He knows that the public should be looking up to the public defenders like Dent, not to criminal vigilantes like him. He's trying to minimize the copycats eventualities, which not only were completely wrong and irresponsible but also received retaliation from the Joker. Now that Batman is bad, less chubby fanboys will want to be like him.
3. No more attitude from the mob. We all know that Maroni was a prick and one with attitude, but telling the guy who is supposed to represent evil, right to his masked face, that people are "wise" about his "ethics"? That's the wrong kind of attitude, man. Batman needed to look scarier right away, and what better way than telling the whole world he didn't longer care about killing? Nothing better than that.
4. His own safety. Getting inside police headquarters and such was fine for a time, but he can't do that forever, what he does is still criminal and he's compromising the ethic of the now Police Commissioner. At some point, Gotham's citizens would have to solve the problem of having a vigilante ("When they don't (need you), they'll cast you out, like a leper.", "One day, the Batman will have to answer for the laws he's broken... but to us"). If they're inevitably going to outcast him and punish him, becoming obstacles for Batman's job, why not do that on a moment of Bats choice. Seeing all the previous reasons, it's better just to do it now and not be caught off guard.
5. And of course, protecting Harvey's reputation and his prosecutions.
Seriously, the ending works on too many levels beyond the fifth reason. The funny thing is not many people notice it.
![[A]](https://superherohype-data.community.forum/avatars/m/70/70800.jpg?1270390582){kind=avatar}
