The Ending (SPOILERS)

[BatmAngelus]

Let's talk about the ending...

Did you think this was a good end to Bruce Wayne's journey as Batman?

I personally had issues with it.  I was hoping for something unique and poetic.

Why did Bruce Wayne let people believe that he was dead and stop being Batman?  I realize that he wanted to inspire people, but he didn't have to fake his death to do that.  People could've seen the bomb explode and believe Batman died, but Bruce could've washed ashore, reunited with Fox/Gordon/Catwoman, and remained in Gotham to help clean up the city as Bruce Wayne.

Also, I'm curious how he was able to fake his death at all since he was shown in The Bat seconds before the explosion.  Was he actually in an escape pod?  Is there an escape pod on that thing?  How was he able to escape far enough to avoid the nuclear blast?

Since everyone saw Batman "die" and Bruce Wayne isn't around anymore, shouldn't people know by now that Bruce is Batman, ala The Dark Knight Returns?  It would've been nice to see the people of Gotham discover that the truth and that the vapid rich playboy was actually their hero all along (and restored the honor of the Wayne family name that Bruce had to tarnish in order to keep his secret identity at the end of Batman Begins).

I'm also uneasy about him ending up with Selina Kyle at the end.  I found their relationship rushed.  She was a criminal, she stole his mother's pearls (which have a huge personal connection to him), and she gave him up to Bane.  Sure, she redeemed herself by helping him out at the end, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Bruce/Batman would consider being with her.  It's odd that in this trilogy, Batman has been in love with a woman who's actively fighting crime in the D.A.'s office, but ends up with a criminal who betrayed him.

The restaurant scene was predictable, in my opinion, due to how much they telegraphed it in the beginning.  Even if you didn't expect a follow-up to Alfred's speech, I thought it was pretty obvious what was going to happen when we saw Alfred sitting at the restaurant again.

And since Bruce was revealed to be alive at the end and left the map for Blake, it felt to me as if Bruce quit being Batman so he could hook up with Selina in another country and left the responsibility of being Batman to Blake- a man who hasn't had nearly the amount of training that Bruce needed to survive as Batman.  Wasn't the point of the Batman copycats in The Dark Knight that not anyone could be Batman?  I understand that Blake is a detective, but other than that, I don't think he was much more skilled or more passionate about fighting crime than the Bat-copycats were in the previous movie.  Is the main difference here that he's got Bruce's blessing?

I think the ending would've been more poetic and beautiful if we saw how Batman's sacrifice changed and inspired people in different ways, tying better into Bruce's talk in the first two films that he wants to become a symbol.  He wouldn't just inspire Blake, but also Selina, Gordon, Lucius, Alfred, and the surviving citizens of Gotham.

[Silver Nemesis]

It was essentially the same ending Alan Moore gave to Superman in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

I didn't have a problem with it personally. I think Bruce knew Blake was different from the Batman imitators in TDK because he was motivated by an innate desire to help others and had already demonstrated himself to be an intelligent, capable crime fighter; not some inept fanboy out to imitate his idol. He figured out Bruce was Batman, but didn't try to take advantage of that knowledge, thereby proving himself to be of high moral character. He connected with Bruce on an emotional/psychological level. And just as Blake recognised his own vulnerabilities in Bruce, I think Bruce in turn saw his own strength and courage in Blake. By leaving him the coordinates of the Batcave, Bruce wasn't necessarily burdening him with the responsibility of becoming Batman. Rather he was offering Blake the option of pursuing that path in the event Batman was ever needed again, furnishing him with the resources he would need should those circumstances arise.

I also think that while Bruce Wayne may have survived, Batman was very much sacrificed at the end of the movie. To all intents and purposes the Dark Knight was dead. And in death he become a symbol (remember the unveiling of the statue) - embodying the same healing virtues that Dent had falsely personified, but with a degree of truth and permanence that the Dent-myth had lacked. So I thought it was a good ending. But I get why you don't like it.

The only real problem for me is explaining how Bruce escaped the blast radius of the explosion. Ok, he'd fixed the autopilot. But we saw him in the cockpit just seconds before it detonated. The only explanation I can think of is that he had an old 1950s-style fridge onboard and managed to climb inside before the explosion went off. He could then have opened the fridge door and used it as a raft to row back to shore.

Of course some people are offering a different explanation – that Bruce did die in the explosion and that Alfred was merely fantasising/dreaming/hallucinating at the end.

[Paul (ral)]

About "The Bat" - how did they recover it if it was nuked?

The only thing I can think of is that The Bat dropped the bomb off over water and got far enough away to be safely recovered.

But then, why would everyone believe that Batman was dead in that case?

[riddler]

Lucious and Bruce have at least 2 conversations about auto pilot on the bat. At no point in the film COULD the existence or lack thereof of autopilot on the bat have any relevance other than the ending.

I don't see the need to fake his death either. Think about what happens between films
-between Batman beings and the dark knight (roughly a year) Batman is showing the true colours of the mob, making them up the stakes, giving gotham hope and somewhat cleaning up the city. Seems the events of the dark knight including the terror of the joker showing what the extreme of their events would cause. The joker and two face take out most of the thugs and while Maroni may or may not survive, even he realizes it's too much and they take things too far
-between the dark knight and the dark knight rises, batman does not appear but it seems gotham basically cleans itself up after all the chaos and transforms into a peaceful place. So at the beginning of the film it's clearly proven batman is no longer needed. Bane shows up but as far as we can tell, it's because of Bruce Wayne and the league of shadows. So from what we can assume, after he is taken out things should go back to normal

I found this unbelievably selfish of Bruce to do. After all Alfred has done for him and his PARENTS and after Alfred clearly indicates he is worried about Bruce and has no interest burying another Wayne family members, he puts Alfred through the terrible emotion of grieving his death.

Now as i mentioned above, gotham cleaned itself up without Batman between the 2nd and 3rd films but it's possible/likely that the bad guys knew that while he wasn't showing up, Batman was still alive and still out there. If anything maybe they were more scared of him having believed he killed Harvey Dent and took down the Joker. There was probably the belief that he was still out there. But now he's gone completely.

hasn't it been revealed to the public that Bruce Wayne is batman? So there's no chance of a comeback here. Had he say faked 'batmans' death but came to shore and returned as Bruce Wayne, he wouldn't have put Alfred, Fox, Gordon, etc through the grieving process and had them keep a lid on his identity. He could live his life but still keep the small window open of returning as Batman if needed.

[BatmAngelus]

About "The Bat" - how did they recover it if it was nuked?

Great point.  Unless The Bat at Wayne Enterprises at the end was another version, but I don't think we were ever presented with a second Bat and just because autopilot was on one Bat doesn't mean it'd be on the other.

I think Bruce knew Blake was different from the Batman imitators in TDK because he was motivated by an innate desire to help others and had already demonstrated himself to be an intelligent, capable crime fighter; not some inept fanboy out to imitate his idol. He figured out Bruce was Batman, but didn't try to take advantage of that knowledge, thereby proving himself to be of high moral character. He connected with Bruce on an emotional/psychological level. And just as Blake recognised his own vulnerabilities in Bruce, I think Bruce in turn saw his own strength and courage in Blake.

This is true and the only part of the ending that I like is Blake's venture into the Batcave. 

I'd say he's the most worthy successor out of the characters in the films, but I think my uneasiness with Blake inheriting it and comparing him against the copycats is simply because Batman hadn't trained him like he did with Dick Grayson in the comics, where it's easier to swallow that Grayson would be able to replace him after years in the field and getting to know Bruce's methods.  Plus, Blake's fighting skills weren't exactly on par with Bruce's in the opening of Batman Begins.

It also forces me to look at TDK in a different way, since I always felt that the Batman copycats and Harvey Dent's downfall showed that Bruce Wayne was the only one incorruptible and capable enough of saving Gotham and he'd have to continue being Batman for the long term for the sake of the city. So the fact that TDKR has Batman quitting (twice- in fact my nickname for this film is Batman Quits Twice) and passing the mantle onto this new cop character is something I'm still digesting.

By leaving him the coordinates of the Batcave, Bruce wasn't necessarily burdening him with the responsibility of becoming Batman. Rather he was offering Blake the option of pursuing that path in the event Batman was ever needed again, furnishing him with the resources he would need should those circumstances arise.

While I see what you mean, I still don't understand why Bruce had to give up being Batman or fake his death in the first place for him to grant Blake this offer.

Batman didn't have to "die" like Harvey Dent did in order to be an inspirational symbol.  He could've remained active, as evident by how his flaming Bat signal inspired Foley to march against Bane and his actions inspired Blake to keep fighting.

With Superman in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Superman stripped his own powers away because he took a life. 
In The Dark Knight Returns, Bruce retired after Jason Todd died and probably gave it up because he felt responsible for the boy's death. 
Then, after he returns and fights Superman, he faked his death so that he could go underground and have a more covert way of fighting crime with the cops and the government off his back. 
In Batman Beyond, he hung up the cowl because he came close to shooting a criminal and destroying his principles. 
In Knightfall, he gave the cowl to Jean-Paul because he was physically incapable of doing it anymore.

What caused Bruce to hang up the Batman cowl in Dark Knight Rises?   And why did he let people think he was dead?  I haven't been able to find a discernible reason.

The fact that he left the map to the cave behind for Blake while he was chilling out with Selina in Europe didn't sit right with me because it just felt like Bruce quit Batman to have a normal life, with no reason to do so.  As riddler said, it comes across as being selfish, rather than heroic.

The only explanation I can think of is that he had an old 1950s-style fridge onboard and managed to climb inside before the explosion went off. He could then have opened the fridge door and used it as a raft to row back to shore.

GENIUS!

[Paul (ral)]

I think he quit because he knew Alfred was right. He would never find peace if he stayed in Gotham.

[Gotham Knight]

I think he quit because he knew Alfred was right. He would never find peace if he stayed in Gotham.

Didn't he knowingly, and willfully, give up on that selfish notion with a certain pledge he made a long time ago?

[Paul (ral)]

I think he quit because he knew Alfred was right. He would never find peace if he stayed in Gotham.

Didn't he knowingly, and willfully, give up on that selfish notion with a certain pledge he made a long time ago?

Not in the Nolan-verse. He was looking for a way out even in TDK.

[Silver Nemesis]

I think he was just fed up playing Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Batman were complimentary performances. Without one, the other became pointless. The MacGuffin Selina pursued throughout the film was the chance for a clean slate and a fresh start. I think this must have been what Bruce wanted too.

It was inconsiderate of him to let Alfred think he'd died. But maybe he was mad at the old butler for walking out on him or for burning Rachel's letter. Either way, he made up for it in the end by tracking down the cafe Alfred frequented and acknowledging the dream he'd confided in him about earlier in the film. Bruce made that dream a reality, giving Alfred what he wanted most and finally freeing them both from the shadow that had hung over the Wayne family since Thomas and Martha were murdered. He stopped being Bruce Wayne and became a new man. And he finally had a chance for a happy normal life.

Did he really need to fake his own death to get that fresh start? I'm not sure. I need to see the film again. But based on a first viewing, I'm inclined to think it was justified.

Though I doubt the Bruce in the comics would have done the same thing.

[Gotham Knight]

I think he quit because he knew Alfred was right. He would never find peace if he stayed in Gotham.

Didn't he knowingly, and willfully, give up on that selfish notion with a certain pledge he made a long time ago?

Not in the Nolan-verse. He was looking for a way out even in TDK.

Yeah, you're right. It always seemed to be directed toward an 'end game.' Still...