No one had expected an ordinary child to have the courage to strike at Gotham's nightmare.
Even little Jason himself hadn't expected his blow to land on Batman, the man whose very name struck terror into countless criminals!
After taking a hit from a crowbar, Batman didn't get angry. Instead, he burst out laughing. In this boy, he saw the courage to charge ahead without hesitation, the spirit to never surrender even against an opponent he knew he couldn't beat.
If he hadn't lived in Crime Alley, if he hadn't been an orphan, a boy with his character would surely have amounted to something. But his talent and aggression could also lead him down a life of crime.
Batman didn't hold little Jason accountable for stealing the Batmobile's tires. Instead, after investigating his background, he sent him to a boarding school. He believed this was the best arrangement for Jason.
But Batman wasn't all-knowing, either.
That boarding school was actually a "training camp" that supplied recruits to the criminal underworld. It trained its orphans to commit crimes for profit. Jason had merely gone from one hell to another.
Fortunately, little Jason never resigned himself to his fate.
Fortunately, Batman still had the boy on his mind.
Together, they rooted out the malignant operation masquerading as a boarding school. After that, Batman couldn't stop worrying about Jason and decided to adopt him as Bruce Wayne.
By then, as he grew older and their ideals diverged, Robin, Dick Grayson, had argued with his father several times before deciding to strike out on his own, becoming Blüdhaven's superhero, Nightwing. Without Robin, Batman found himself stretched thin.
But Bruce had no intention of making Jason the next Robin and kept his other identity secret.
The truth couldn't stay hidden forever, especially from someone as