After Terry takes Bruce to a showing of
Batman: The Musical for his birthday, Bruce begins to lament his old age and what could have been. He then receives a surprise visit from an old flame, Talia al Ghul, who informs him that she has since taken control of her late father's
Lazarus Pit and has altered the procedure to the point where it’s now "safe" for use. She offers Bruce the chance to become young again, but he’s initially reluctant. However, a subsequent
mugging episode which nearly leaves him and a bystander dead causes him to reconsider the idea...
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Terry pronounces Ra's name as "Raz" and is corrected by Talia. Terry continues to mispronounce the name, apparently as a deliberate show of disrespect.
- All Musicals Are Adaptations: Batman: The Musical.
- Ambiguous Situation: While Ra's says that he called upon Talia to aid in his Familial Body Snatcher plot, it isn't made clear if her participation was willing or more akin to Bruce's situation.
- Back in the Saddle: Bruce's rejuvenation makes him almost as strong as he was decades earlier.
- Bash Brothers: Young!Bruce and Terry fight side-by-side for the first time ever, taking out several mooks together.
- Batman Gambit:
- Bruce gets one performed on him by a villain for a change. The "mugging" that occurs at the beginning of the episode turns out to be a setup by Ra's al Ghul, done to give Bruce a Moment of Weakness and convince him of his own feebleness in order to encourage him to accept "Talia's" offer to use the Lazarus Pit.
- The "thoughtless" gift of food Bruce had once enjoyed but can't eat anymore at his age was probably a similar ploy to chip away at his resistance to the idea.
- Birthday Hater: Bruce has become one in his old age as it serves to only remind him of the fact that he’s well past his prime.
Terry: Lighten up, it's your birthday!
Bruce: Don't remind me.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bruce learns that Talia had been murdered by her father and he begins to revert back to his normal age after leaving the Lazarus Pit. However, he succeeds in defeating Ra's once and for all, is now satisfied and content with his elderly age, and is finally able to provide closure for Talia's memory.
- The Cameo: Bruce's slideshow of his old flames.
- Cowardice Callout: Bruce scornfully calls out Ra's al Ghul on the sheer lengths the latter has gone to to save himself from death with his familial body-snatch and current efforts to possess Bruce.
"You don't cheat death. You whimper in fear of it!"
- Crosscast Role: In Universe. Much like many young male roles in theatre, Robin in "Batman: The Musical" is clearly being played by a woman, and wearing the original bare-legged Robin costume from the comics, no less.
- Cryptic Background Reference: The "Near Apocalypse of '09," which was apparently a major crisis during which Bruce had defeated Ra's al Ghul for good.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Terry is left momentarily wordless upon seeing "Talia".
- Double-Meaning Title: "Talia" returns from Bruce's past. At the same time, Bruce learns that he can't allow himself to constantly wish for the days that he was more capable and has to get his head "out of the past".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Well, for a given definition of "early" since Batman Beyond aired before Justice League was ever in production, but upon re-watch the absence of Diana from Bruce's files on his old flames is pretty glaring.
- Excuse Me, Coming Through!: After exhausting what little tolerance he has for "Batman: The Musical", Bruce walks out, getting steadily more exasperated and rude as he pushes his way past the people between him and the exit.
- Familial Body Snatcher: This was Ra's last-ditch attempt to save himself, with it left unknown if Talia was willing or not.
- Foil: Bruce and Ra's are both contrasts in how they handle their aging.
- For the most part, Bruce has always been unafraid to die for the sake of his mission, with his one exception being considered an Old Shame. The process of aging and being unable to live as Batman anymore, however, is something he never expected to have to deal with. After immersing himself in the Lazarus Pit, he finds himself revolted at how unnatural the process was and has to make peace with changing times.
- Ra's, in contrast, has always been shown as a somewhat elderly man, but is absolutely terrified of death. Using the Lazarus Pit and other magical means, he has done everything within his power to keep himself alive at any cost. In the end, he ultimately opts to steal the body of his own daughter in order to prolong his life, intent on doing the same to Bruce.
- Foreshadowing:
- The portraits of Ra's all over Talia's compound. It seems at first as if it's Talia, as a daughter, genuinely missing and mourning her father in spite of his crimes. In reality, it's a clue Ra's is still very much alive, present, and glorifying himself.
- Ra's, by his own admission, underestimates Terry during the final battle, being more fixated on Bruce and less on the boy. The reborn Joker will make the exact same mistake with Terry in Return of the Joker.
- Fans have noticed that this Talia walks with a more noticeable exaggerated sway in her step, as if Ra's is overcompensating.
- Talia tells Bruce that she left some gray in Bruce’s hair because it looks distinguished. Bruce then points out that it looks like Ra’s’s hair.
- Gender Bender: The episode's twist, is that Ra's is now inhabiting the body of his daughter Talia.
- Gilded Cage: After becoming young again, Bruce quickly realises that Talia's offer of eternal youth is this, and decides to return to Gotham. Her mooks however have other orders.
- Grand Theft Me: Ra's al Ghul performed this on his own daughter. And now he plans to do it to Bruce, plotting to return to Gotham as the "long-lost son" of Bruce and Talia.
- Grand Finale: Not a traditional version of the trope, but this episode marks the conclusion of Batman and Ra's Al Ghul's longstanding enmity which had begun way, way back in "Off Balance".
- Happier Home Movie: One scene has old Bruce looking over photos of happier times he spent with his past romantic partners, including Zatanna, Lois Lane, Catwoman, Batgirl, and one with Talia at the end.
- Karmic Death: Ra's al Ghul finally meets his maker at long last in this episode, and it's all thanks to a damaged live cable falling into his own Lazarus Pit, causing a chain-reaction that takes Ra's with it and transforms his headquarters into a funeral pyre.
- Keeping the Handicap: At the end, Bruce decides to return to his natural age rather than the relatively young form the Lazarus Pit granted him. The reasoning is twofold; the implication is if Bruce has the ability to be Batman, he has to be Batman.note In his own words, if he stayed there and kept his youth, he'd "be weaker than ever" due to not being able to be Batman despite being physically capable of it. Secondly, it's also implied that Bruce is starting to come to terms with Terry being the new Batman.
- Killed Off for Real: The DCAU Ra's finally dies for good (while the DCAU Talia was effectively killed decades earlier when Ra's stole her body).
- Laser-Guided Karma: The mook who'd been gloating about how he watches people get chomped on by crocodiles gets thrown in there himself. Subverted when he escapes a Karmic Death, presumably because he has been paying attention to how the crocodiles act.
- Leitmotif: Shirley Walker's Batman theme returns during Bruce and Terry's fight with Talia's goons (and in a glorious rock rendition from composer Kristopher Carter).
- My Grandson, Myself: Ra's al Ghul's plan is to transfer his mind into Bruce's rejuvenated body and return to Gotham as the son of Bruce and Talia in order to get control of Bruce's assets.
- Mythology Gag:
- The line "Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot" is from Detective Comics #33.
- In the musical scene, Two-Face's deformed side is magenta, much like in Batman Forever.
- Not Quite Dead: Ra's al Ghul was considered dead and gone during the above incident. He survived, but his body was too broken even for the Lazarus Pits to heal.
- Offhand Backhand: Even the Batman character in the musical is able to pull off the Dark Knight's signature move.
- Offing the Offspring: After the Near Apocalypse of '09, Ra's al Ghul's body had been so badly damaged that even the Lazarus Pit was unable to repair it. In order to survive, he then used a computer to transfer his own consciousness onto Talia's body, in effect overwriting her mind and killing her. Although not directly stated, it’s implied that he may have done this against her will. At the very least, he guilted/coerced her into it by playing on her filial loyalty.
- Other Me Annoys Me: Terry loves the Batman stage adaptation with its lighthearted and catchy musical numbers. Bruce considers it an insult to his legacy and everything he stood for. An added bonus is the fact that the stage Batman was also voiced by Kevin Conroy, who started his career in theater.
Bruce: You hate me, don't you?
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Bruce delivers a fairly brutal one to Ra's after learning his full plan:
Bruce: Sure, Ra's, why not? Anything to hold off the Grim Reaper a few more seconds. I take it back. You don't cheat death; you whimper in fear of it.
Ra's: (slaps Bruce) Silence!
- Rewatch Bonus:
- Other than reacting negatively whenever there’s misgivings about her father, Talia doesn't look too distraught about her father's death. That's because he isn't dead.
- Talia looks noticeably paler compared to the last time we saw her. That's because Ra’s is walking in a dead body.
- Save the Villain: Averted; Bruce stops Terry from running back to save Ra's. "Whatever was in there died years ago."
- Shark Pool: Two mooks try to throw Terry into a crocodile pond, but he overpowers them and throws one of them in instead. The mook fights off the crocs with his machete and escapes.
- Shout-Out: Talia's fate is identical to Asenath Waite Derby's in H. P. Lovecraft's short story, "The Thing on the Doorstep."
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Ra's points out that it really didn't take much for Bruce to jump at the idea of eternal youth, although Bruce counters by conceding that he was as weak as Ra's "for a moment".
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Bruce, after becoming younger again having used the Lazarus Pit.
- Terry as well in this episode. His extensive knowledge of Gotham's history and past events, which he displays when first meeting Talia, noticeably impresses Bruce.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Ra´s is noticeably more villainous here than he was originally; Back in TAS he was willing to Face Death with Dignity and Talia was his Morality Pet. Here, he has long since killed her in a desperate gambit to stave off death.
- Underestimating Badassery: Ra's concedes that he underestimated Terry when the new Batman manages to escape execution and get back into the compound while retrieving his Batsuit.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Both Terry and Bruce are horrified once they learn that Talia is actually Ra's al Ghul, who transferred his mind into his daughter's body.
Terry: Lady, that is the sickest thing I've ever seen. You're creeping me out!
Bruce: You? She kissed me.
- Villain Respect: When confronting Terry in the climax, Ra's admits (albeit condescendingly) that he underestimated Bruce's newest apprentice.
- Voices Are Mental: Played with. At first, Ra's uses Talia's normal voice in her body as a disguise. However, after his cover is blown to Bruce and Terry, he begins speaking with his own voice again. According to Season 3's DVD features, they were going to explain this by way of transplanted vocal chords, but it was cut. It still sort of works if it's assumed to be from Bruce's point of view, since as soon as Ra's stops pretending to be Talia, his normal voice comes out.
- Wham Line:
Bruce: I heard him, Talia! Where's Ra's?!
Talia: I did not want you to find out this way, but I suppose what is done is done... [in Ra's voice] Detective!
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Bruce's pictures of former loves noticeably doesn't include Andrea Beaumont. Paul Dini explained that Bruce deliberately left her out due to being a murderer.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Similarities can be drawn between this episode and the H. P. Lovecraft story The Thing on the Doorstep, where a protagonist had to contend with his former lover, whose father had long since stolen her body and plans to take his.
