8 Mysteries Even Batman Couldn't Solve

3. He Couldn't Save Alfred - City Of Bane

Batman City of Bane Alfred Pennyworth
DC Comics

Not a mystery in the same sense of one of the Riddler's infamous riddles or in the same sense as the secret identity of a new rogue, but here it was more Batman fell foul of a conundrum. And by fell foul, that shockingly meant the very real, very permanent (at least so far) death of Alfred Pennyworth.

The puzzle presented to the Caped Crusader here was that if the Bat-family remained in Gotham, Alfred would be murdered.

So, Bruce Wayne headed off to Paris with Selina Kyle, while the rest of our heroes all kept out of sight. As for who had made this threat, that was the Flashpoint timeline's Thomas Wayne, aka that world's iteration of Batman. With Bane at his side, Thomas had taken over Gotham City, handed Bruce a beating, and threatened to take the life of Alfred should any heroes refuse to leave Gotham.

For our regular Batman, readers saw him ponder how he could 'win', how he could return to Gotham yet keep Pennyworth safe. That was the mystery, that was the puzzle, that was the poser - all while Bruce contemplated retiring for a quiet life with Selina.

It would be Alfred who forced Batman's hand here, sending him a coded message to assure Bats that he'd managed to escape and get himself out of Gotham. Of course, he hadn't, and the resurfacing of Damian Wayne's Robin in Gotham resulted in Bane snapping the neck of Alfred - which the iconic butler had intended to happen, so that it would give Batman the motivation to return and take down these rogues.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.