Vent: Spent 3 hours trying to fix the ending for 'The Dark Knight Rises' before I gave up

I was trying to write a version where Bruce Wayne actually dies in the bomb blast, and Alfred's scene at the cafe is just him imagining a happy ending because he can't accept the loss. The problem was making it feel earned and not just a cheap 'it was all a dream' twist. I kept rewriting the final Alfred scene for way too long, trying to drop subtle hints earlier in the movie that he was an unreliable narrator about Bruce's fate. Has anyone else tried to rework a famously 'happy' ending into something more bittersweet and actually pulled it off?

3 comments

3 Comments

lane.kim19d ago

Honestly the unreliable narrator angle is too obvious. The real gut punch would be if Bruce did survive, but Alfred's vision was right and he just never comes back. He chooses to let Batman die for good, leaving Alfred with that quiet hope forever. That's way sadder than a fake out death.

the_angela6d ago

Man, that's the kind of thinking that ruins a good night's sleep. Alfred just waiting, maybe seeing a tall guy with dark hair in a crowd every few years and his heart stops. Bruce is out there drinking mai tais or whatever, and Alfred's still buying his favorite tea biscuits just in case. I'd probably be the Bruce in that situation, honestly, too scared to face the mess I left behind.

stellabennett19d ago

Wow, I always figured he was dead for sure. But @lane.kim's idea about Bruce choosing to stay gone is way more brutal. That quiet hope would just slowly kill Alfred.