Hello and welcome to Wasted Plotential, where we discuss the wasted potential of our favourite
plotlines.
My disdain for the tendency for alternate timeline and universe stories to be dark and
edgy for the sake of being dark and edgy is well documented at this point. And DC's Flashpoint
event - well, the second one - is a good example of this. I mean, if you're going to have Billy
Batson get murdered by a superhero in your story, you're not allowed to call it mature
anymore. It's edgy trash that appeals to fourteen-year-olds.
But, there is one thing I did like in Flashpoint and that relates to Batman.
Quick summary: Flashpoint is the story of Barry Allen going back in time to save his
mother from being murdered by the Reverse Flash when Barry was a child. The problem
is that this incident is what led to Barry being in the right time and place to become
the Flash, who then inspired the Reverse Flash in the future, who then killed Nora. In breaking
up this stable timeloop, Barry causes a paradox that changes the DCU for the worse. Barry's
allies are now evil, ruined or dead.
Barry goes to get help from Bruce, only to find a vengeful, gun-toting Thomas Wayne operating
as Batman in the wake of his son's death in Crime Alley. And he's none too pleased to
hear this stranger talking about Bruce.
Batman: "Why did you say that name!?"
Parallel Plots: BVS Batman= Flashpoint Batman?
After finally giving Barry a chance to explain that this timeline is wrong and that, in the
true reality, Bruce lived instead of his parents, Thomas is immediately onboard with setting
things right and saving his son.
This is my absolute favourite time travel trope. Pretty much the only one I like after
MK ruined time travel for me forever... I love the idea of a character knowing that
they will be dead or worse when reality is put right, but placing the needs of others
before their own. We saw this in JLA/Avengers with the likes of Wanda and Vision, Janet
and Hank, and Hal and Barry, and it was one of the absolute highlights of that story.
Hell, we even get that kind of scene with Nora in this very story.
But, I do think that Thomas' version of this is missing something. It's missing a personal
cost. His son is dead, his wife turned into The Joker, and Alfred was unrelated to the
Waynes before being retconned to be their butler who was killed by Martha just this
year. Sure, he took in Selina Kyle, but she only appears in a single Batman tie-in issue,
so Thomas really has nothing to lose here. His decision to help Barry restore the old
timeline carries no personal cost to Thomas outside of his own ruined life, and I think
it could easily have carried one with a few tweaks.
I have four different ways this can work, all centring on the same basic concept: Martha
Wayne is alive.
For the record, when I wrote this, I hadn't read the Batman tie-in, since I thought it
was set before the main miniseries, and thus I believed that Joker Martha was already dead
before Thomas learned about the other timeline. In actuality, he goes after Martha one last
time during the miniseries and talks with her about changing the timeline. The revelation
that Bruce will be Batman leads her to her death, clearing Thomas' conscience very easily
and piling on more loss to make his decision easier. I think it's better if we don't do
that.
In the first scenario, Martha was not broken by her son's death, or at least not permanently.
She instead joined her husband's mission to honour their son, operating as Batwoman. The
second is similar, but Martha was shot and paralysed that night. If you want to go for
maximum edge, you can say that the bullet that killed Bruce also penetrated Martha's
spine, either going through Bruce into her, or through her as she tried to shield him.
Either way, she now operates as Oracle in place of Selina. Thomas discusses the decision
with Martha, who is quick to tell him that, of course she agrees. She either joins him
in the finale, possibly dying in the battle, or they spend one last night together before
Thomas departs and Martha assists over comms. If the latter, she can appear alongside him
in The Button, cheering on her son and husband, before telling her son how proud she is of
him and being erased alongside her husband.
Scenario 3 sees Martha still being broken by Bruce's death, but not becoming The Joker.
Instead, she becomes catatonic. She hasn't responded to anything in the thirty or so
years since Bruce died. She is looked after by Alfred while Thomas goes out at night as
Batman. Before he and Barry head out to fix reality, Thomas sits down with his wife and
takes her hand in his. He tells her what Barry told him: that this timeline is wrong and
that there's a way to set things right - to save Bruce. But, Thomas isn't sure if doing
that is right. After all, Martha will be dead too, and there's still hope she could one
day recover in this timeline and be her old self again; a chance that will no longer exist
in the other reality. He expresses sorrow that he's willing to sacrifice his wife to
save Bruce. For the first time in decades, Martha squeezes her husband's hand, letting
him know that, on some level, she understands and wants him to go and save their son. Thomas
asks Alfred to look after her until the end. Alfred makes it clear there's nothing Thomas
could possibly do to stop him from doing so. Thomas thanks Alfred for his decades of service
and friendship, and Alfred promises to do the same for Bruce in the other timeline.
And in the end, as Alfred and Martha watch out the window as the wall of oblivion rushes
towards them, Martha utters her son's name one final time before she ceases to be.
The fourth is somewhat similar, but with Martha still becoming The Joker. Rather than killing
herself upon learning that Bruce is supposed to be Batman, she is instead locked up in
Arkham after her mental state deteriorates further, maybe from learning that the man
she tried to kill so many times was her own husband. She's a gibbering wreck now and Thomas
visits when he can. He tells her about the other timeline and expresses the same concerns
as in the previous scenario. Again, Martha has a moment of lucidity, but it's more pronounced
here, allowing her to perhaps give her first genuine smile since her son died. Thomas leaves
her with Dr. Quinzel and heads off to save Bruce.
With any of these scenarios, Thomas has something of value to lose, and Martha gets to encourage
her husband and play a part in the narrative. That sounds like an improvement to me.
And one more thing: For the love of God, DC, let Flashpoint Thomas rest. His appearance
in The Button was a bit contrived, but I'll allow it because it let Thomas and Bruce team
up before Thomas was erased, and I love Bruce getting to team up with his dad. But bringing
him back again for City of Bane was just stupid. At least use the Earth-2 version who didn't
get a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of a Bruce after his own Bruce disowned him.
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Today's recommended video is Everything Wrong With CinemaSins: The Flashpoint Paradox in
16 Minutes or Less by Th3Birdman. Shockingly enough, there's not a lot of other Flashpoint-focused
content out there, so have some Birdman.