padreglcc wrote:"DC pretty much gave me the ability to kill anybody I wanted...I thought about taking off a finger here or there but then backed away from that. But at the end of the day, the story was about Joker saying 'I am your family. The Royal Court of Arkham is your family.'" That relationship with Joker is what really died at the end of the arc as Batman played the same joke on the villain he was trying to play on the Dark Knight.
After reading this while here, I understand the ending and with my new understanding comes me seeing the ending in a new light and in this new light I think the ending works. However without the explanation I completely agreed with all of you that the ending didn't live up to the build.