*Author’s Note: Please be forewarned that the article contains a discussion about a rumored spoiler for the game. If you do not want the game’s plot to be spoiled, you are reading this article at your own risk.*
It appears that what could be a major plot spoiler for Batman Arkham Knight was leaked online. The issue did not come from Reddit, but rather from a mis-timed reveal by Amazon UK. The listing was for the Batman Arkham Knight Collector’s Edition box set for the PlayStation 4. The collector’s edition comes with a special Batman Arkham Knight Limited Edition statue with a rather telling message that is inscribed on its base. The statue is of the caped crusader in his suit from the story for the video game. However, the message on the base of the statue reads as follows: “From a Grateful City In Memory of the Gotham Knight.”
That is quite a huge and inadvertent reveal for the merchandise from Amazon. If the developers at Rocksteady and Warner Bros. Interactive really wanted to avoid spoilers and reveals for the game, they should have thought about not putting a blatant spoiler for an item that comes with the collector’s edition set. The image has since been removed and replaced by an apparently spoiler-free image of the statue, in which the base just has the inscription that reads, “Gotham Knight,” referring to Batman. Obviously, since the image was changed, that lends credence that a major spoiler was inadvertently revealed by Amazon. Videogamer.com still has the spoiler image of the statue available.
The obvious implication here is that the Dark Knight will somehow meet his end in the game. It would not be a far-fetched idea for the story. Rocksteady has been clear that this will be developer’s last foray into the Batman mythos. The company has also mentioned that they are ending the storyline and concluding the Arkham Trilogy with the game. It is similar to the direction that director Christopher Nolan took with The Dark Knight Rises. Rather than leave a story open-ended for more adventures of Batman, Nolan and his crew completed the story of his trilogy. He created an ending for Bruce Wayne as Batman where he retired, but he passed on his legacy to someone else. The memorial statue that Arkham Knight hints at is actually somewhat reminiscent of the ending of The Dark Knight Rises. In the ending for the film, Batman saves Gotham City, but he is believed dead. A grateful Gotham then memorializes Batman with a statue.
In short, it is possible that Batman or Bruce Wayne will not actually “die.” However, it could get to a point where he is believed dead and receives a memorial statue in his honor. At the same time, in Batman Arkham City, Batman encountered Azrael. In the game, Azrael prophesized that not only would Gotham City “burn,” but that Batman would burn too.
I hope the plot does not go in the direction of killing Batman or a fakeout of his death. I was never a big fan of the ending or direction taken in The Dark Knight Rises. Obviously, Rocksteady wants to end their story and to go out with a bang. Well, a story that sees some sort of “end” for Batman would possibly do that. However, as a fan of the Batman and Bruce Wayne character, I always liked the idea of the hero surviving and living to fight another day. Ultimately, Rocksteady will go in the direction it sees fit.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what comes of this development. Batman Arkham Knight is due out on June 2 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
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