I think a lot of the weirdness surrounding Jasonâs characterization in post-crisis can be explained by the fact that Dick and Tim must be given a piece of the Jason-pie. Jason had a very compelling and dramatic dynamic with Bruce, so of course Dick and Tim needed to get in on the action as well. (Bruce is emotionally affected by Jason so Tim must prove his mettle by being an unimpressed brick wall. Bruce is âhatedâ by Jason so Dickâs specialness is proven by how Jason still likes and admires Dick, etc)
Anyways this is kinda salty but something I like to indulge in sometimes is reading all of Jasonâs appearances in their comics as being solely their perception of Jason, rather than how he really was. The way Jason is used in their stories says something about their characters, but what does it say when the narrative isnât particularly set on propping them up as the protagonists?
Tim thinks Jason is an emotionally unstable reckless idiot whose ideas are wayyyy too extreme, Dick thinks Jason is straight up crazy (literally as well as in the derogatory sense) and they both think that Jason is obsessed with them.
In Titanâs Tower and Brothers in Blood, Jasonâs return ignites a minor identity crisis in both of them. Jason comes to Tim raving about being forgotten. Tim seems to resent Jasonâs memoryâ for being the Robin that died, that failed Batman, and stained the mantle.
Jason comes to Dick as an evil doppelgänger. An image of what Dick mightâve been, or could still become if he lets go of himself. Unlike Timâs Jason who simply is inferior, Dickâs Jason has a whole inferiority complex. Dickâs Jason noticeably lacks any of ârealâ Jasonâs usual pragmatism (a trait that even Timâs Jason has) and is instead just a childish copycat performer⌠what does that say about Dickâs unconscious impression of Jason?
Applying this lens to UTH itself is also interesting. (Of course we canât say the entire comic is just Bruce hallucinating, but we can consider the comic to be the story of the âactualâ events as told by Bruce.)
That UTH is written pretty much entirely from Bruce and Alfredâs perspective, with no thought boxes from Jasonâs POV at all, indicates that Bruce doesnât assume (or canât predict) what Jason is thinking.
Bruce does understand that Jason is a pragmatist, but he also (incorrectly) connects Jasonâs cynicism as Red Hood to Jasonâs attitude as Robin. To Bruce, Jason was not an idealist who was burnedâ he was already a cynic as a child and he only got worse.
The fact that only Jasonâs harshest interactions with criminals are depicted is also interesting, because this is a comic where Bruce straight up calls criminals garbage, and can be quoted as calling them âmalignant scum that ravage the city.â Bruce seems to think that Jasonâs willingness to kill is the result of having the same contempt for ~criminal scum~ but less temperance. Itâs possible/likely that Bruce holds himself responsible for Jasonâs actions; if not his actions then his attitude.
