"Simply separating Harley from Joker won't do any good."
Batman's words were cruel, but they cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"Her obsession with Joker will cling to Harley's mind like a bone-eating poison, more terrifying than your vines. Arkham's cells can't sever a psychological imprint. Only by rooting it out completely can we give Harley true freedom."
Yes, Batman knew perfectly well that Arkham's walls and cells could only slow those people down for a while. They could never truly eradicate evil.
But one day, a little visitor from another world had arrived in fog-shrouded Gotham, bringing a glimmer of dreamlike light to its dark nights.
Through her efforts and those of the children, Batman had seen a side of Gotham utterly unlike anything he had known before.
Perhaps now, people like Harley, who had not yet fallen completely into the abyss, finally had a chance at true salvation.
Pamela hesitated.
Rationally, she knew full well that Batman was right. Unless they thoroughly addressed Joker's brainwashing of Harley, something like this would happen again sooner or later. One word from Joker, and that ugly bastard would fill Harley's heart and mind again. She would see nothing else and go right back to letting him use her.
But emotionally, Pamela could not convince herself to simply hand Harley over to an enemy of so many years.
Even if Batman's character was countless times better than Joker's... he was still the Old Bat! The same Old Bat they had fought tooth and nail for all these years!
Harley had never held back when clubbing the Old Bat from behind, and Pamela had lost count of how many times her vines had subjected him and those little birds to near-fatal bondage play...
All right, Pamela did feel guilty.
Never mind