[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Spoiler!

Yeah, it kind of cheapens the ending of TDK. I suppose in universe you could reference The Dent Act allowing Gordon to have the power to clean up the streets. But I agree with you.

Spoiler!

Not only does it cheapen the ending of TDK but it also cheapens the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman. One of the defining moments in that film for Wayne was during the Joker killings where Alfred says:

Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman, he can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make, the right choice.

So at the end of the film he chooses to take the blame for those cop killings and that is totally fine. But for Bruce to just sit around for 8 years doing nothing after that point is really strange. It would have made sense for Batman to still be out there fighting crime despite Gotham's hatred towards him. It's especially weird given that all it takes for him to get back out there is to throw that thing on his leg. Yes he gets beat down by Bane but after a short training montage he's back in form and better than ever.