Batwoman: Every Clue To Batman's Arrowverse Disappearance
Here are all the clues Batwoman and the Arrowverse have offered so far regarding the mystery of Batman's disappearance. When Kate Kane returned to Gotham City, she discovered it was in a state of crisis. The Dark Knight had mysteriously disappeared three years ago, and while some had attempted to step into his shoes, they had all failed. As a result Gotham had become a very bleak place indeed.
Although Batwoman season 1 avoided focusing on Batman's mysterious disappearance - more interested in Kate Kane's unsuccessful attempts to redeem her sister Alice - it nevertheless dropped a lot of clues. Luke Fox, for example, appeared to believe Bruce Wayne could return anytime he chose, and yet not even the brief theft of Martha Wayne's pearl necklace prompted the Dark Knight to head back to Gotham. It all looks most disturbing, and frankly rather suspicious. This is Gotham City, after all, where madmen and monsters lurk in the shadows, and where crime bosses and corrupt police officers conspire to undermine the cause of justice.
The mystery is set to deepen in Batwoman season 2, which must also deal with Kate Kane's disappearance as well. It's too soon to say whether they'll be connected, although that would certainly make sense. Here are all the clues that have been dropped to date.
Batman disappeared from Gotham City three years before the beginning of Batwoman season 1, and subtle clues have allowed viewers to reconstruct the precise sequence of events and place them in the context of the Arrowverse timeline. Three years ago Oliver Queen successfully killed Ra's al Ghul at the end of Arrow season 3. According to Lucius Fox's journal, Batman learned Ra's al Ghul had been resurrected using the Lazarus Pit. This must have been shortly before Lucius' death, and Batman's subsequent disappearance. Interestingly, a throwaway comment in Batwoman season 1, episode 1 suggested Batman stopped patrolling the streets a short while before Bruce Wayne left Gotham, because he was said to have headed out of the city "a little under" three years ago.
Several key members of the wider Bat-Family have been confirmed to exist in the Arrowverse - most notably Oracle (previously referenced in Arrow) and at least one Robin. But where are all these other characters, and why haven't they intervened to prevent Gotham's descent into chaos? There are two dark possibilities. The first is that Batman's disappearance is part of a wider conspiracy, one that has removed all the key protectors of Gotham from the board. The second, potentially even more disturbing, is that these heroes actually tried to fill the void left by Gotham, and failed; that they were some of the "pretenders" briefly referenced by Vesper Fairchild in one of her radio broadcasts.
Supporting the conspiracy theory, Batwoman confirmed Commissioner Gordon isn't in charge of the GCPD any more; instead, it's run by Commissioner Forbes. Jack Forbes is a relatively deep cut into Batman lore. He was a corrupt cop who was initially head of the GCPD's Internal Affairs department in the comics. Forbes was on the payroll of the Falcone crime syndicate, and he took over when Gordon was framed with responsibility for a horrific subway accident. There's got to be a reason the Arrowverse chose to make this particular character head of their version of the GCPD.
Batwoman season 1, episode 17 revealed the Arrowverse's Batman had descended into a very dark place prior to his disappearance. It seems to have begun around 2015, when Batman killed the Joker, breaking his famous "no killing" rule. Interestingly, looking closely at the timeline, it's possible Bruce Wayne had taken to wearing something called the "Suit of Sorrows" at that time. This legendary armor is known to corrupt anyone whose heart and soul is not pure, and according to Lucius Fox's journal, Batman began exhibiting "aggressive behavior" while on patrols wearing it. The experience apparently taught Batman a harsh lesson: that he "must be ever vigilant not only in his crusade against crime, but also himself."
Luke Fox suggested Bruce Wayne became increasingly disillusioned with life in Gotham. "He was miserable," he explained in one conversation with Kate. Apparently Batman became frustrated at living the lie of a life that was playboy Bruce Wayne, with none of it - the wealth or the women - bringing him any true satisfaction. In those last few months in Gotham, he found it easier to be Batman than to be Bruce Wayne. In the comics, this kind of pattern of behavior has traditionally been exhibited at times when Batman has lost his way, and needs someone to help bring him back. Unfortunately it looks as though he didn't have anybody to serve that purpose in the Arrowverse.
One final clue was offered in the aftermath of "Crisis on Infinite Earths," which saw Kate Kane encounter an alternate-reality duplicate of her sister who had never become Alice. Beth's Earth seemed to be almost identical to Earth-Prime, with all the changes arising from the fact she had been rescued from that fateful car accident when she was just a child, and had never been lost. Crucially, in this timeline it looks as though Batman and Bruce Wayne never went missing.
This may indicate Alice is somehow connected to Batman's disappearance. On Earth-Prime, Batman is known to have remained obsessed with the fate of Beth Kane; he never believed the planted evidence indicating she had died. When Kate entered the Batcave, she found Bruce Wayne still had newspaper clippings pinned to one wall, reminding him of Beth's apparent death. The interesting question is whether Alice is herself somehow responsible - it seems unlikely, because she's never alluded to it - or if Batman's investigation led him to stumble upon something else. Gotham City is a place of infinite darkness, whether in the Arrowverse or any other incarnation, and it's entirely possible one cold case led Batman to discover an even greater darkness.