In the end, Zero Year wasn't a story filled with twists and stunning revelations that knock the reader sideways. Instead, it gave us a rip-roaring adventure, that elevated a few minor villains to top tier status, paid faithful homage to previous works while also differentiating itself completely and gave the reader a keener understanding of what makes Batman tick. That's a winning formula in our book. But there was one reveal of a dark moment in Bruce Wayne's past that has never been seen before and it is heartbreaking but yet inspiring all at once. At the conclusion of the final issue of Savage City, Alfred tries to get Bruce to go for a drink with an old flame, Julie Madison. He desperately wants Bruce to see that he can have happiness and a semblance of normality in his life, that he doesn't need to be defined and consumed by Batman. Bruce tells Alfred a story of how, not long after his parents were murdered, he simply couldn't live with their memories. He saw them in every face he looked at, saying the world was "like some nightmare hall of mirrors". He wanted to remove their memories from his head, to reboot himself and start over, so he almost went through with a procedure to use electroshock therapy, to deaden his brain until he wasn't Bruce Wayne any more. The only thing that stopped him from going through with it was realising that he had to find some way to fight through, to find a crazy thing that would keep him from going crazy. This is what being Batman does for Bruce, it gives him a reason to live and is the only thing that makes him happy. Alfred is deeply saddened by this, as he believes Bruce can find another level of happiness, but tells Julie Madison that Bruce won't go for that drink, as he is "spoken for". This is seemingly a melancholy way to end the story but it also hits right to the heart of the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman. In order for him to live his life, he needs to be Batman, to show the people of Gotham that they don't have to be afraid. It is truly his only way of making sense of this tragic world and the only way he knows how to be happy.
