Stephanie will, unfortunately, get an Adaptational Angst Upgrade
Let's review: her father tries to kill her, her mother tries to kill her, her friend's house is blown up, and finally, it's pretty much just the kind of thing we should be expecting from DC at this point because they practically have a fetish for drowning all their characters in angst now.- To offer an argument here, Steph was CREATED as something of an angsty teenager. In her first appearance Batman had to do a lot to talk her down from killing her father. She didn't try to get along with Batman and Robin and her motivations were strictly based on revenge. In other words, the original Stephanie was VERY different from the one we came to love, but she eventually became her anyway. I say why not explore that a little before we get the Steph we love most back.
- As of #24, evidently not. She's pretty much grinning ear-to-ear in a typical Steph Brown manner after facing down her father.
Stephanie will go through Character Development to overcome her anger at her father following the closing of this event (or even during the latter half of it)
As the previous WMG's response noted, Steph didn't start off as the bundle of hope that made people like her; rather, she grew into that person during her appearances in Robin (1993). Wherever Steph appears after this series, she'll undergo similar development and once more be the happy-go-lucky girl we remember. Alternatively, with Harper set to become Batman's new partner later on in the series going by the flash forward, its possible that, after her confrontation with Cluemaster in #24, she'll get paired with Tim Drake and recreate their classic dynamic, which was a key component in her development Cluemaster will receive a similar facial scar to the one from his pre-52 appearances
Stephanie, Hush, some unseen Man Behind the Man (BEHIND THE MAN), who knows who he'll get it from, but I'll bet he will. There will be a spinoff book about Harper, Tim, and Steph (and possibly others) following this
DC recently announced a new Spectre series spinning from this, and they previously announced two others as well, Gotham Acadamy and Arkham Manor. If not solo ongoings, it'd make sense to have some kind of book focusing on them following this event, and can be used to reintroduce other fan favourite characters like Cassandra Cain and possibly Azrael as well.- Possibly after Convergence ends? Eternal would be over at that point...
Bane and Alfred's team up will feature the most epic Vitriolic Best Buds moment in all of Gotham's history.
Because c'mon, that would be awesome. That wasn't Hush that attacked Alfred
It was the REAL Joker, back to kill his faceless imposter and get his life back! All while being funny.- What's more, this Joker will actually be Lighter and Softer compared to the rest of the New 52,note as a huge Take That! toward DC.
- Jossed, with the release of Batman Endgame.
Tim Drake and Stephanie will have some Ship Tease
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease???- They do....at the very end, in their last scene together. Still a good moment though.
Once Harper starts working with Batman, Steph and Tim will be forced to team up
And during which, Steph helps to make Tim Drake grow out of his insufferable tendencies in the New 52 and become more like his nicer pre-boot counterpart. They'll also hookup, for the same reason as the above noted needed ship teasing. The Evil Plan will be derailed by other villains.
Croc and Catwoman are both examples of Even Evil Has Standards, and Bane has issues with other people trying to kill Batman and destroy Gotham. Hush and Bard may have covered every contingency for the Bat-family, but it's unlikely anybody would actually calculate Croc being ticked off at his people being caught in zombie crossfire, or Leo Calabrese both being alive and having his daughter Selina take over the underworld, and Bane's just too badass for Hush to have prepared for. "Spoiler alert" will be Spoiler's New 52 Catchphrase
You know you want it to happen. Tim knows Dick is alive
In the one scene they shared so far, Tim appeared to be mad at Bruce over something, and in the unnused interiors for Nightwing #30 that was originally going to be used to explore Dick's relationship with his family and friends, its shown that Tim looked pissed at Bruce over something after he sees Dick's body. As there's no text, while it could be that he blames Bruce for Dick's death, given its Tim, its more likely he figured that the body was fake and caught on with what Bruce is doing. Jason Bard is Hush
We've never actually seen them together or talking so far, and given Hush's general nature of changing his face, its perfectly possible for him to alter his appearance to that of a young police detective. It'd also explain why the young police detective recruited from out of town by Gordon would be such a skilful Magnificent Bastard out to destroy Gotham: Hush killed and replaced the real Bard after he was recruited to Gotham.- At the end of issue 26 we see Hush out of his costume and without his bandages and he's classic Eliot (no Bruce face or anything). And I don't think even Hush is willing to take elaborate schemes to the point of alternating between THREE personas if he could just as easily hire a mole.
- Disproven in Issue 32; Bard is shown taking orders from Hush.
Alfred gets cured
He seems perfectly fine in the Endgame and Robin Rises arcs. Presumably, those arcs don't happen several years later.- Confirmed. Though he seems to still have a few lingering effects.
Dick shows up towards the end with a Big Damn Heroes moment
When asked if Dick will ever re-join the Bat family, the writers said "Keep reading".
They also mentioned that it'll be a "big moment" when the family comes back together. Julia is the Big Bad behind everything
Julia dislikes Alfred's career choice, and if she is the mastermind, could've learned about Bruce being Batman from Hush. Also, the entire operation has a military feel, which would fit with her skills. In addition, the Big Bad gave the Gotham rogues Bruce's old equipment, which Julia had access to and could remove before Hush blew up his bunkers. Finally, Riddler makes a reference to daughters, and Joker's Daughter and Steph are ruled out pretty early on, and Selina is an unlikely option as well.- Seems unlikely, given that Endgame occurs after Eternal, and if she was the Big Bad, it's doubtful she would appear on friendly terms with the Bat-family... unless she wasn't caught, granted.
The Big Bad is Prometheus
So here's what the series' hidden main villain has shown us so far that supports this:- He does not like cops, to the point of imprisioning Gordon and letting Hush slaughter them in explosions. Prometheus's parents were killed by law enforcement.
- The villain's notecards hint he is Faux Affably Evil, one of Prometheus's notable traits.
- He stole from Batman, who is a godly figure in Gotham, and gave to those without, much like how the mythological Prometheus for whom the villain is named.
- Batman is shown bound to the Bat-signal at story's end, another parallel to mythological Prometheus being bound for his hubris.
- Gotham burns. What was mythological Prometheus's gift to the world? Fire.
- DC Universe Prometheus is a master of the Long Game and has huge amounts of wealth, power and is extremely charismatic.
- He has connections all over the world, including to Brazil where we saw one story participant lives.
- Prometheus has a hideout in the "Ghost Zone" and is thus capable of inter-dimensional travel, explaining how he could get Blackfire in on the plan.
- Prometheus is one of the most literal examples of Shadow Archetype in Batman's history, making him a good choice for the final boss of a Milestone Celebration.
The Big Bad is the Earth-0 Owlman/Thomas Wayne Jr/Lincoln March
The revelation that Steph thinks that Bruce Wayne is behind everything brings up the idea that there was no confirmation on March's fate at the end of the Court of Owls arc. The mystery villain is shown to know that Bruce is Batman, or at least hate both Bruce and Batman equally, is capable of obtaining information/Bat-Tech behind the scenes without Batman knowing, and is the most likely (save for perhaps the above WMG) "reflection" that Riddler hints at during the Bullseye scuffle.- Confirmed, though it's not clear if this was all his plan from the beginning or the plot was Hijacked by Ganon.
Cluemaster designed Spoiler's costume and Steph stole it from one of his warehouses
Now that we know Cluemaster was the big bad and he made his We Can Rule Together offering to Steph in their fight in issue 24, it's possible he designed her costume in the hopes of bringing her into his ranks.- This would actually explain why she was so skilled for someone without Bat-training; he likely saw to it that she at least had some martial arts training so she'd be able to defend herself.
