#black gate

"How did you get through the Wall?" Jojen demanded as Sam struggled to his feet. "Does the well lead to an underground river, is that where you came from?

You're not even wet ..."

"There's a gate," said fat Sam. "A hidden gate, as old as the Wall itself. The Black Gate, he called it."

The Reeds exchanged a look. "We'll find this gate at the bottom of the well?" asked Jojen.

Sam shook his head. "You won't. I have

to take you."

"Why?" Meera demanded. "If there's a gate ...

"You won't find it. If you did it wouldn't open. Not for you. It's the Black Gate." Sam plucked at the faded black wool of his sleeve. "Only a man of the Night's Watch can open it, he said. A Sworn Brother who has said his words."

The roster is pretty tight as it is, so trying to fit new bad guys without stepping on a pre-existing rogue's niche is kinda hard. The old rogues are fun, we love a classic, but they're also a bit stale. There are only so many times you can re-invent the wheel before you need a break, and since we're shuffling between the same bad guys again and again you don't have enough time to miss them for the most part.

I'm not saying you can't do interesting stuff with the classic rogues, I actually think some of them could make for pretty interesting modern storylines. I just think it comes a point where it's to the detriment of Batman himself. How many times can Joker escape Arkham or Blackgate before you start scratching your head about it. Yes, I actually really like the whole no killing thing. Cassandra Cain is my favorite character, I don't think Batman has to start killing rogues, but he should definitely do something about the constant break outs.

Yes, I know, it's great to bring an old rogue back...but that's only if you're bringing them back from something.

Let Bruce Wayne fix Blackgate penitentiary, let him actually invest in cleaning Arkham and turning it into what's meant to be instead of a torture facility. Now, when he catches a rogue it has stakes. Once most of the old rogues are out, introduce new players taking over the power vacuum. Maybe one of them is in cahoots with police and we need an arc of cleaning the police force (god forbid we make an actual critique of the structure but that's DC for you). Maybe one of them is an anti Bruce Wayne with enough money and resources to keep his criminal and personal lives separate. Give him villains that require detective work to put behind bars! Or just give him villains that fit the new era.

You don't have to keep having the same rogues break out of jail again and again, especially if you're not interested in exploring other philosophies outside of Batman's "Killin is wrong and we can't do anything about how extremely ineffective our jails are nor change society in any meaningful way". The thing is, to keep Batman from stagnating they have to keep jumping the shark which means that Gotham keeps getting worse and worse despite Batman and Bruce's efforts. In fact, it almost seems like he's making things worse.

This post is my answer to that: make things better, give some semi permanent solutions, add new rogues to fill the power vacuum and keep things fresh without needing to have seven active gangs, several meta humans, the mob, ten serial killers, several assassin cults and the Joker all simultaneously active. I know nostalgia sells, but it also makes things worse! Also, I'm only suggesting this because of the direction I perceive DC to be taking with current Batman (which is edgy but a bit more wholesome than the Dark Knight era). If they wanted to go back to noir, super edgy and dark, sure, turn Gotham into a hell hole. But idk, having so many lighthearted issues and comics with way more family stuff (fluff and drama alike) doesn't jibe with the absolutely hopeless state of Gotham.

is when Pippin kills the troll at the Black Gate and it fell on him.

but after we don’t talk at all abt it.

i mean wtf when u r crushed by a huge troll u must be wounded ?

at least, i think he should have broken : shoulders, ribs, and arms or legs ?

in all case that’s awful bc shoulders and ribs are so hard to heal. and it probably got infected omfg-

anyways i just find it kind of weird bc its not a little wound. the guy has litterally been crushed by a troll. and after there is not any consequences

Through the Black Gate

2023

The Men of the West were trapped, and soon, all about the grey mounds where they stood, forces ten times and more than ten times their match would ring them in a sea of enemies. Sauron had taken the proffered bait in jaws of steel. 

-"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien

There are two great, epic battle charges in Return of the King: the Ride of the Rohirrim is the first one, and this is the second. The Fellowship of the Ring, gathered with what little remains of their forces, making one last, defiant stand in what can only be described as the gates of Hell itself. Not for themselves, but for Frodo and his Quest at the heart of the Enemy's land.