So, I got sidetracked by War Games on my Batgirl (2000) read and I'm now writing up my thoughts, feelings, and analysis about War Games. This is the second half of my comments about the prelude, War Drums.
First, a short summary. Tim has quit Robin on his father's orders. Steph sees Darla Aquista kiss Tim, and believes (mistakenly) that he's cheating. Angry, she sews her own Robin costume, goes to the Batcave, and informs Bruce that she's his new Robin. Bruce accepts, despite Alfred's disapproval. Bruce briefly trains Steph, and then she's out on the streets. Batman and Robin catch Victor Zsasz and then take down a gang and Tiger Moth (a villain who can mess with your perceptions so you struggle to land a hit on her) who are working for Darla Aquista's father. Then, they fight Scarab (you may recognize her from Red Robin), an assassin killing Robin candidates. On Day 49, Steph defies orders to jump into the fight and help Bruce when she thinks he's in danger, but ends up caught as a hostage, forcing Bruce to let Scarab escape. Bruce is injured and Steph goes off duty. Three weeks later, Bruce has recovered. On Day 71, he fires Steph for disobeying orders. Steph's time as Robin lasts either 49 or 71 days, depending on how you count.
Steph is really enthusiastic about being Robin. She genuinely loves the job, doing Robin-worthy compulsive acrobatics when Bruce agrees. She's spunky and fun, and she gets Bruce to banter with her. She wants his approval, and she cares about this job.
Something that's glossed over a lot (both in-comic and in the fandom) is how isolated Steph is at this point. Her Dad is dead, so she's at least safe at home, but other than that, she's got her mom and little else. She's studying for her GED and patrolling during the day, so she's presumably school, even online. Meanwhile, she doesn't really have any civilian friends. Cass is her friend, but Bruce has gotten in their way a lot, and they don't interact a ton. Tim hasn't talked to her in three weeks.
Steph has her daylight patrols, her tenuous friendship with Cass, her mom, her secret GED studying, and...that's about it. It's no wonder that she latches onto being Robin so much.
In Detective Comics #790, Bruce compares Steph to Jason: Steph is the one that Bruce might not be too late to save. So, we're already primed to compare Steph's time as Robin to Jason's.
Starting with the similarities:
Stephbin's enthusiasm is very similar to Jaybin's (and very different from Tim and Damian's more serious, "thank you for this opportunity"-style enthusiasm). She's even got the happy handstands.
Steph is fascinated by the Batmobile and constantly asking to drive it. This is actually similar to Damian too, but I did want to note this, because it's adorable.
Steph's behavior as Robin is almost childlike, similar to pre-crisis and early post-crisis Jason. I don't mean in a bad way. But she is very different at 16 from Jason at 14/15, Tim at 16, and even Dick at 16. It's remarkable, in fact, how much humor and, like, bounciness that she still has. Good for you, Steph.
The No-Kill Rule. Okay, yes, I'm going there. Now, Steph lacks Jaybin's more...philosophical objections to the no-kill rule (yes, Jason had argued against the rule as Robin, although he was still willing to accept it). In Detective Comics #794, Steph uses a potentially-lethal punch on Zsasz. Bruce chastises her for this, and Steph is like, "but he's a horrible person, and I was just trying to stop him and save you!" Steph doesn't necessarily believe in killing here, but she does believe that if he died accidentally while she was trying to stop him, it would be fine. Basically, she thinks Batman needs to get his priorities in order. I'm honestly a little surprised that we escaped Steph being the "violent Robin," because clearly her enthusiasm and bounciness isn't enough to prevent that.
They were both fired at least partially for impulsivity/disobeying orders. After they were fired, Bruce repeatedly proclaimed that they were reckless and unsuited/not ready for the role of Robin.
But there's a major difference: Steph, for the most part, followed orders.
Steph was fired for not following orders, but her "not following orders" was jumping into one fight after Bruce told her not to. For Jason, this was a constant occurrence. Jason did not stay out of fights, in pre- or post-crisis. Steph, meanwhile, lasted 49 days without breaking a single order. She argued, sure, like when she wheedled Batman into letting her on the Zsasz case, but she always deferred to him. She wanted to be Robin, and she disobeyed orders once because she thought Bruce needed help, and then she was fired. None of the other Robins had to deal with her "probation" period and such high stakes for a single disobeyed order.
Why does Bruce make Steph Robin?
Bruce, despite actively trying to stop Steph from even being Spoiler and going so far as forbidding Cass from patrolling with her, immediately accepts Steph as Robin. Bruce claims that he is unable to make Steph quit, and therefore she's got the determination necessary. He also states that he can train and supervise her if she's Robin. Combining multiple panels throughout Robin #126, there's also the implication that he can best protect her this way.
Alfred, however, has his own theory:
Bruce doesn't deny it. And one rule of Batman comics is that Alfred is usually right. Alfred wouldn't bring up this possibility if the writers didn't want us to seriously consider it. Bruce is not happy that Tim quit, and there's definitely some resentment there, as well as a desire for Tim to return. He's done similar schemes before.
On a more positive note, though, Bruce seems genuinely impressed by Steph's grit—the same thing that impressed Cass, and so many others.
So, why did Bruce make Steph Robin? I think a lot of column A, and a little of column B. Bruce wants to keep Steph safe, and he does think she may have what it takes to be Robin if he can supervise her, and he is grudgingly impressed by her...but yeah, he very much does think this might lure Tim back. I think that second possibility is just too clearly stated to ignore. I also think there's a chance that Bruce was intending to fire Steph from the beginning. Her "probation" period is unlike any other Robin's, and her disobeying an order was pretty much inevitable. All the other Robins have done it, and there are plenty of situations where it's necessary. This might have been a way to give her a "chance" and then fire her, discouraging her and giving weight to his attempts to keep her from being Spoiler. Which, of course, would be a kind-of twisted attempt to keep her safe.
However, this doesn't mean that Bruce isn't genuinely fond of Steph. Because he clearly cares about her. He banters with her, lets her help on the Zsasz case, etc. He also takes out a large portion of his time during the gang war to search for Steph even as people die all around Gotham, and comforts her as she dies. In fact, I think by the end of her time as Robin, Bruce even loves her. But that didn't save Jason, and it won't save Steph either.
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