Terry explains to Max why he is so reluctant to reveal his
secret identity to his loved ones: During an early mission as Batman, he attempted to rescue a young boy named Miguel, who was fearful of his appearance and thought he was a monster. In order to gain the boy's trust, he briefly unmasked himself to reassure him that he was just a human. Unfortunately, this revelation soon causes Miguel to become a target of Kobra.
Tropes:
- Better to Die than Be Killed: The Kobra in charge of this operation jumps into his own snake pit instead of surrendering to Batman, under the belief that he thought he exposed Batman's secret identity.
- Dark Is Not Evil: This was part of why Terry unmasked himself to Miguel. Miguel was frightened by Batman's appearance, and Terry wanted to assure him that he's just a person in a mask.
- Death by Secret Identity: Miguel barely avoided this thanks to Terry. This is why Terry is so reluctant to reveal that he's Batman to anyone else.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Bruce is furious that he revealed his identity, Terry tries to placate him by pointing out that he never gave his real name to Miguel, only his face. Bruce points out that he is more concerned about the safety of Miguel, who has now made himself a target for all of Batman's enemies.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The reason Batman manages to stop a Kobra operation is because one of them was contacting his brother to help him. This did not sit well with his compatriots.
- Impersonating an Officer: Members of Kobra dress up as cops to get Batman to willingly hand over Miguel.
- Irony: One of Miguel’s mother’s friends is disgusted by Miguel’s “aggressive” behaviour (read: playing with a superhero action figure, making it beat up a supervillain action figure) and insists that he should play with kids his age. Smash Cut to kids Miguel’s age aggressively getting into a fistfight with each other, which Miguel avoids.
- Must Make Amends: Once Bruce lets him know he's more or less put a target on Miguel's back, Terry works overtime keeping watch on Miguel.
- Out of the Inferno: Miguel's first glimpse of Batman is when the latter walks out of a fiery blaze to rescue him, which was not certainly a good first impression, especially to a young boy.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Implied. When Terry unmasked himself to reassure Miguel, a kid he was rescuing, Kobra later tracked Miguel down and checked his memories for Batman's true identity. The resulting image was Batman with the head of Miguel's action figure, which Terry takes to mean that Miguel didn't see his face well and subconsciously replaced the image. As proof, he walks over to Miguel's soccer game and mentions to Maxine that he sees Miguel everyday, and he hasn't figured it out. The last shot, however, is Miguel looking back and giving a knowing smile, implying that he does know but kept it secret.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Evil example. The villain hurls himself into the snake-pit, thinking he has unmasked Batman and will be considered a hero to his organization. If only he had checked the screen first...
- Series Continuity Error: The flashback is said to take place during Terry's early days as the second Batman. But the villians are Kobra, who Terry did not encounter for the first time until well after he'd established himself as Batman.
- Would Hurt a Child: Kobra's men are perfectly willing to throw poor Miguel into a snake pit once they're finished with him. Luckily, Batman shows up right on cue (as Batman tends to do).
- What the Hell, Hero?: Bruce chews Terry out for unmasking, regardless of whether it's a little boy or anyone else. Terry brushes it off until Bruce reminds him that this little boy is now a target. Cue Oh, Crap! face from Terry.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The majority of the episode takes place during Terry's early career as Batman.
- You Have Failed Me: A member of Kobra is thrown into a snake pit for simply implying to his brother that Kobra is carrying out an operation.
