1. The Ending is Whatever You Need It To Be
Bruce Wayne once said: "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be." I think a similar thing can be said about the ending of TDKR. Editor Matt Holmes gives his take on the film's ending here, making a good argument that Batman did indeed make the ultimate sacrifice to save Gotham and that Alfred's subsequent encounter with Bruce and Selina was simply the wishes of a heartbroken old man. As ever, Nolan gives us a film with an ambiguous enough ending that you can argue the other way. As we heard, Bruce patched The Bat's auto-pilot software six months before his 'death', so maybe The Bat was on auto-pilot on its one-way journey to nuclear oblivion? Given that Nolan's films have told us Batman is more than just a man, that he is a symbol, plays into this nicely. Bruce can pass on the mantle of the bat and anonymously move on with his life (remember the 'clean slate' Selina sought?) - having finally come to terms with his parents' death and his quest for justice. With Bruce 'dead', he and his loved ones are safe once again, and we still have a Batman to watch over Gotham.