Headscratchers / Justice League Unlimited S2E13 "Epilogue"

• The idea that Batman is a matter of being In the Blood goes against the very core of Batman's mythos: Batman is a self-made hero, an ordinary man whose life did not bestow upon him any special powers or other fantastical elements that would differentiate him from others. Instead, he chose to be a hero, and uses human training, detective smarts and high-tech weaponry to facilitate his war on crime. The idea that a reasonably-intelligent individual such as Amanda Waller (especially considering how much she'd have to know about genetics from her involvement with Cadmus) would think that Lamarck Was Right is rather mind-boggling. And let's not even touch how Terry was expected to become Batman without ever meeting Bruce Wayne.
  • Waller was trying to recreate Batman in all ways, and being extremely savvy about it. Bruce Wayne's phenotype clearly helped; she knew there was nothing in his genes preventing the physical development of Batman, and what was there worked well for a strong, agile, durable man. Also, remember that Bruce has a habit of taking in youngsters whose parents are killed right in front of them, and Terry's father worked for Wayne-Powers, which gives him that connection. Waller may have expected/intended for Wayne to take on Terry as a ward, as he did for Tim and Dick before, and let it run its natural course. If history has shown us anything in comics, it's that if you are a young man in the Wayne household for any stretch of time, you will accidentally find the Batcave and find yourself wearing a super suit in short order.
    • But Waller never anticipated the two of them meeting each-other and even if she did, it's still a Gambit Roulette that discounts the possibility of just walking up to Bruce and suggesting that he train a replacement.
    • Again: Terry's dad worked for Wayne-Powers. You think Bruce isn't going to hear about one of his employees and his wife being murdered and leaving an 8-year-old orphan boy behind?
  • I'm pretty sure that Terry's parents were selected to be personality/behavior matches for Bruce's parents. She did not just pick a random couple and hope for the best; so she had nature and nurture pretty much covered.
    • The above was actually confirmed in-universe; Waller explicitly states that she was looking for a couple that fit the psychological profile of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Remember, Waller was being very savvy, and had been around Cadmus enough to take psychology into account.
  • I doubt that Waller's plan was as simple as 1. Screw with DNA, 2. Murder Parents, 3. ??? 4. BATMAN!. Given how much effort she'd put into it, and was willing to put into it, it's probably safe to say there were steps in the plan post parent-murder to nudge/guide/shove him toward being Batman. But since the plan was derailed at that second step and then abandoned, Waller just didn't bother to tell Terry what the rest of her plan was because it was irrelevant. If step 2 of your plan is where it fell apart, no sense in summing up steps 3-10.
    
    As to why not just talking to Bruce? He's just not the sort of guy you can talk into things like that. He's stubborn. Plus, after the thing with Drake, he would be understandably opposed to training another kid like that.
  • It's not Lamarck Was Right, Bruce Wayne was obviously well suited from a genetic standpoint to be Batman. Look at his height, physical build, good looks, and intelligence; these are all things that are determined in large part before you are even born. They are like base stats; sure, you can get some bonuses by training, but you are not gonna be able to completely remake your body and mind as if they are made out of legos.
    • Bruce Wayne's heart problems suggest his genes are inferior. Men who work out and exercise generally experience far less age-related physical decline than their peers. Given the sheer amount of effort and training he put into being Batman, he should have been in better shape even in his 50's and 60's than men half his age, unless there were other factors predisposing him to a weak heart.
    • Batman is fictional character. His heart problems has nothing to do with problems per se. In "real life" genetics pre-determine of what you are on 93%. Without appropriate genetics, no matter how much person exercise, they won't be able to achieve certain results more, than they actually can without suited for that purpose genes. Person is born smart or dumb. Person born strong or weak. Everywhere is genetics and absolutely nothing else. Will to train is also part of genetics respectively. Batman as fictional character not bound by actuality.
    • Bruce Wayne didn't just "work out and exercise", he overexerted himself almost constantly for the majority of his adult life. It has little, if anything, to do with genes, and more to do with burning himself out doing constant all-nighters, and keeping up with literal superhumans, and getting knocked around, quite frequently, by same. Batman or not, he's only human.
    • "It has little, if anything, to do with genes". That could be true, except, it is not. Explanation will be in next sentence. "and more to do with burning himself out doing constant all-nighters". "Burning himself out" and "doing constant all-nighters" both are bacically will and determination that comes from genetics. To build muscle mass, person need appropriate genes. Saying that genetics don't play or almost don't play a role in it, is just nonsense.
    • But he's still—Batman! You don't maintain your Charles Atlas Superpower figure by neglecting little things like your long term health and Batman being Crazy-Prepared would keep up with regular checkups to ensure he was not chipping away at his own wellness. Granted, the events of ROTJ might have contributed to a long-downward spiral on his overall spiritual fortitude and Batman-ness but still; it's strange that he dismisses his heart problems as an absolute obstacle rather than just another challenge to overcome.
    • He did try to find ways to overcome it, one of those was the Mecha-Batsuit that ended up causing him even more heartstrain, the Suit that Terry wears is almost certainly a response itself to his health problems. Trouble is, even for Batman, there comes a point where the human body has to give way to age. There is a point where it is an absolute obstacle, and that is one that even Bruce couldn't outgambit.
    • I'm sure he had checkups and such, but a lifestyle like Bruce's is going to be "chipping away at his own wellness" no matter what he does. He's still human. He still ages. It's not like his heart just gave out when he was in his prime; look at the first scene in Rebirth, Part 1. Bruce is at least 20 years older than he was in his own series or Justice League (the woman he's rescuing is the full grown daughter of the woman he dated through a lot of his series), and he's still pushing himself as hard as he did while he was in his prime. That's going to wear on you; plus I believe he said the suit itself put strain on his heart.
    • For years Batman was fighting the Joker, the Scarecrow and Poison Ivy to name just some of the most prominent enemies that used chemicals. Think about what kind of hazardous gases and liquids he must have been exposed to at least once a month by them. Then there's the many hits from opponents who range from human levels of strength to near-Superman. On top of that is his tendency to not wait till he's fully healed before he gets into combat. Combine that with the incredible amount of stress he must be experiencing on a daily basis. The fact that he managed to survive long enough to retire and still help in Batman Beyond is a minor miracle.
    • He wasn't talking about the normal Batsuit there, but about the Powered Armor one, but his health was not the entire reason for his quitting. The Problem was, that it forced him to use a gun to threaten a bad guy. Even if he had been fully healed the next day he would not have taken up the cape and cowl again, because he had violated his one rule, which made him unfit to be Batman in his own eyes.
    • The fact that he was alone toward the end (Alfred presumably dead, Dick gone independent as Nightwing, Tim retired from heroics after the events of Return of the Joker, Barbara going into normal police work) probably contributed, both by increasing his emotional dysfunctions and by depriving him of the people who might have been able to get through to him and convince him to take better care of himself.
  • The episode actually mentions that she chose Terry's parents specifically because they matched the Waynes' psychological profiles. As for how she was planning to get Terry under Bruce's tutelage: it's possible that her plan was that after the McGinnises were assassinated, Waller would call in a favor with some local official to have Gotham's social services administration contact Bruce Wayne about taking in young Terry. Or it's possible that Waller was planning to literally bring Terry to Wayne Manor, and confess her role in the matter, not caring that Bruce would send her to jail, because in her view her job would already be done: Bruce wouldn't have the heart to send the orphan Terry away, and would end up raising him; Waller seems like the type who'd view her own potential arrest as a perfectly acceptable loss, in exchange for ensuring the continued legacy of Batman.
  • Most of this can be explained by the fact that the episode incorporates story ideas from a planned sequel to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker where Selina Kyle would have been the one who created Terry.

• If Ace had Reality Warper powers, why couldn't she just use them to get rid of her brain tumor?
  • Maybe the tumors were somehow related to her powers? A Reality Warper warping their own brain that warps reality sounds like a very sketchy idea. Given that Ace could read minds and Batman would likely have thought of Ace using her powers to cure herself, it could be that trying it is exactly what would create the "Psychic Backlash" Waller warned Batman about. Plus, Ace was pretty much suicidal by that point anyway.
  • Ace didn't have a brain tumor, she had an aneurysm. That means one or more blood vessels inside her brain swelled up with blood and then ruptured. And since using her powers is what caused it, using her powers on her brain to try and stop it would probably have only accelerated the damage.

• Why does Terry want to break off his relationship with Dana? The idea that dating Batman would put her in danger makes a lot less sense if he's already decided to hang up the suit. I'll grant that super villains aren't known for being entirely rational about the grudges they hold, but none have apparently figured out his identity yet. If he's no longer active they're very unlikely to get any new clues.