<\/div>Batman hands off the “Gotham’s hospitals have maybe been poisoned by Joker’s toxin blood” plot to him. Which is a shame, since the writers forget all about this plot before the end. Robin will phone Batman up in a few hours for exposition, but this story didn’t need him for that. We already have Alfred and Oracle to deliver different types of exposition.<\/p>\n
Basically, Robin serves no purpose in this story and this scene sets up a character dynamic it never uses. In this scene, Robin is here to bring Batman another Bat-gadget, when the story has already established that Batman has automated delivery systems for exactly this sort of job. None of the other supervillains refer to Robin. Hugo Strange never mentions him. Batman doesn’t request his help, even when he’s screwed and desperately in need of help. It’s like Robin doesn’t exist outside of this scene.<\/p>\n
The most likely explanation I can come up with is that the writers were essentially using this scene to test and see if the audience was open to having Robin around or if they wanted to stick with stoic loner Batman. Perhaps they were wary of building the next game around an idea the audience hated and decided to field-test it first. (If that’s really the case, then I wish they’d done the same sort of testing with the stupid Bat-Tank.)<\/p>\n
<\/div>The other explanation is that they were doing a little worldbuilding in preparation for the sequel, which does indeed feature Robin. Although, this is an odd and perfunctory introduction to him. In Arkham Asylum, Batman dealt with a full-blown escape and never once entertained the possibility of calling for Robin. This led the audience to make the (quite reasonable) assumption that this particular Batman didn’t have a Robin yet. (Or perhaps anymore.) But now this scene makes it clear that there is a Robin, and Batman just didn’t see fit to call him. And here in Arkham City, Batman sends Robin away rather than enlisting his help. <\/p>\n
So what we have is a version of Batman that has teamed up with Robin but never wants Robin to do anything. The subplot involving the toxin in Gotham’s blood supply could easily have been handed off to Commissioner Gordon. Indeed, that would make more sense than giving the job to Robin. What’s Robin going to do? Punch the toxins? Quip the toxins away? This is not a problem that can be solved with acrobatics and banter.<\/p>\n
No matter how you look at it, the Robin in this universe is kind of strange. How long has he been Robin? Through cultural osmosis I’m aware that there have been many Robins. Some have died, others turned evil, and others moved on to solo careers. Which one is thisObviously it’s Tim Drake, but that’s not going to convey much to anyone that doesn’t follow the comics.<\/span>? Where are we in the mythology of Batman? Is this a new Robin that Batman doesn’t yet trust, or an old Robin after they’ve had a falling out?<\/p>\n “But Shamus, this is actually based on the Batman & Robin from The Animated Series \/ The Comics \/ The Brave and the Bold.”<\/p>\n I’m sure there is some version of Batman out there that fits with this and gives us some kind of context. That’s fine. That’s great for fans. But I’m not going to watch hundreds of hours of cartoons or read hundreds of comic to understand how this particular duo works. I’m just saying that if this Robin scene is here for the worldbuilding then it’s not doing it’s job. Telling the audience to go consume other, larger works is not worldbuilding.<\/p>\n I’m not saying this part is bad. I’m saying I could use way more of it. Considering how massively important the Robin legacy is in Arkham Knight<\/i>, it’s really frustrating that he gets so little screen time in this game. Heck, I think he gets fewer lines of dialog than sidequest punching bag Mad Hatter.<\/p>\nUFC Robin<\/h3>\n
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