Y’know, there’s a reason why I’m such a hardass about pointing out that Dick and Jason were never close in canon.
It’s not because I resent Dick for being preoccupied with his own life and issues with Bruce (how do you possibly blame someone for daring to have their own problems), and it’s not because I have anything against the idea of those two having that kind of relationship.
It’s because I just don’t think Jason would have died the way he did if he’d had someone like Dick Grayson in his life. I don’t think he would have resorted to suicidal behavior (as confirmed by Bruce himself) to the point of being benched because he was lonely and missed his family, or felt desperate enough to hop on a plane without talking to anyone first.
To recap, at the time of Death in the Family, fifteen-year old Jason Todd: teamed up with Babs once or twice (written after his death, mind you), teamed up with Dick once, had difficulty communicating with someone as clumsy with emotions as Bruce, felt like he always fell short of the ideal that Dick presented, had no extracurricular activities in school (including stage crew, which he really wanted to join), had no friends in school, didn’t fight crime alongside any other teenage sidekicks (his original NTT appearances were Pre-Crisis and the later retcon depicted him as being alienated and friendless even within that team), struggled to separate himself from personal crimes he witnessed as Robin (such as rape), had never processed his parents’ deaths, refused to talk to Alfred about why he was crying alone in his room, etc.
In short, Jason was in a pretty miserable, isolated corner at that point. That made him reckless enough to jump at the first chance of finding more family. I’m not saying he wouldn’t rush off to find his biological mother anyway, because it’s clear that Jason wanted a mother in particular, but I am saying that he wouldn’t have resorted to such lengths if he thought he already had a solid family.
But if Dick had been around? If they chatted on the phone sometimes? If they hung out in their downtime? If Dick had been more active in integrating Jason into the NTT, giving Jason the chance to form deeper connections with people like Donna and Kory? If Jason could vent to someone who understood how Bruce worked? If Jason had Dick’s consistent approval as his successor? If Dick taught Jason some of his own tricks of the trade? If Jason just felt comfortable talking to someone when he was low?
I just can’t see Jason running off to Ethiopia if he had Dick as a big brother.
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