Just listening to White Blank Page by Mumford and Sons and a lot of the lyrics are really making me think of Bruce and Steph, like my brain is cooking something up.
Right, so here are my thoughts:
"Confess your love as well as your folly."
- It's clear Bruce has some fondness for Steph, he actively seeks out her company when lonely in one of the pre War Games comics.
He cares about her. But he will never let her know that. He's made countless mistakes with her through his neglect, emotional abuse, pushing her away, cutting her off, messing with her relationships with Tim and Cass– the list is genuinely endless. And he will never own those mistakes. He will never truly own that he signed her death warrant with every mistake.
"Can you kneel before the king and say I'm clean?"
- I remember this panel after Steph's death when Crystal is standing at her grave and Bruce is standing there beside her offering consolation as if he's not the reason her daughter died. Like he didn't sit by Steph's side and watch the light go out her eyes. If she asked, could Bruce actually look at Steph's mother and say his hands are clean? If he did, would he even believe it?
"Tell me now it was my fault in loving you with my whole heart."
- This encapsulates the constant victim blaming Steph is subject to both in comics and outside of them. She trusted Bruce - no, she trusted Batman, as a hero, the man she saw flying across the night sky when she sat on the rooftop as a child. She trusted him, and I think in some way, she did love him. She was a child who put her trust in an adult, a vigilante who trusted an established hero, a protege who wanted to prove herself to the mentor who turned his back on her after giving her Robin only to rip it away. And she reacted. And it led to her death, which everyone blames her for in some way. When all she did was trust someone, get hurt for it and try to earn back love that was never truly there.
"White blank page and a swelling rage."
- Steph writes a lot. Her panel thoughts are styled like a diary in a lot of comics she's in. It shows how she writes down each thought, experience and emotion. It shows her fears and insecurities, how she's always left to wonder and how she can't go to the person who's supposed to be her mentor in case he kicks her out.
After her death, I could imagine her venting out her anger, sadness and rage about how Bruce's actions essentially led her there, even as she slowly convinces herself that it was more her responsibility than his despite him being the adult.
"You did not think when you sent me to the brink."
- This is so Bruce-Steph coded. Bruce was careless with her, I'd argue he was actively callous. When he trained her as Robin, he didn't encourage or support her, he belittled her gender and said she "hit like a girl." He constantly told her that she wasn't good enough, not smart enough, not talented enough etc. constantly chipping away at a teenagers self worth and her support system with others, all because of his own arrogance and belief that he knew best.
He likely thought he was pushing her in a tough love way some at the time, maybe even protecting her, and he didn't think past that. He told those she was close with - Tim, Cass and Barbara - that she was off the team, to cut her off because she wasn't made to do this. He kept his identity from her in a way he never did with any other Robin or Batgirl, and had everyone else do it too. He pushed her to the brink and didn't think for a second about the consequences of it until the city was falling apart and she was dead. Even then, he put the responsibility on her, though part of him knew it was his fault. In one of the comics, he writes about how he didn't handle Steph well, in a very roundabout way, but still something he admits.
"You desired my attention, but denied my affections."
- Again, with Bruce seeking Steph out when he's lonely. Then making her Robin after Tim leaves because he doesn't want to be alone. He likes her, enough to have her around when he wants to and only then. He took her in because he wanted company and companionship, but he didn't want to return that outside of when he wanted it. He wanted the benefits of Steph's presence but not the responsibility.
And think of it from Steph's point of view, the hero who's respect she's been trying to earn finally acknowledges her by giving her Robin, she finally has a mentor, a support system, only to find out she's the crutch, the placeholder and to be thrown out before she's even settled in the role.
"Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life."
- And this is the tragedy of Bruce and Steph. His lies killed her. Just one bit of honesty could have changed everything. Truth and openness could have made their partnership iconic as Batman and Robin. Steph was and is so loyal, she will do almost anything for people she loves because she loves so strongly and with her whole heart. If Bruce had nurtured that loyalty and love with truth and support, she would have been one of the best sidekicks, and later partner (like Dick became after Robin) that Bruce ever had. More so, Steph embodies the parts of Gotham Bruce could never truly understand, if he had been kind about that rather than treating her like a burden, they could have balanced each other out and taught one another to be better heroes. That's the tragic part, it could have been so good, and it all would have started with just a bit of honesty.
