Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-47881-20120918132608/@comment-34954086-20130314210551

There was a perfect reason. To make sure no one eagerly waits for him to pull a jason todd. You can fix a little beating with a crowbar and an explosion that has no visible effect but you can't fix tenderizing and a giant sword severing him. (easily.) To make it that he can not come back makes every ounce of brutality worth it's weight in gold.

How is he a progression? Beyond being a bratty, stock anti-hero wannabe with no valid status as a human being?. They've had that going for years. Being a hero's kid?, even longer. Being a bastard?, I think the very first hero comics had that element.