Why The “Dark Knight” Trilogy Was All A Dream…

Dom Cobb: Well dreams, they feel real while we’re in them, right? It’s only when we wake up that we realize that something was actually strange. Let me ask you a question, you…you never really remember the beginning of a dream, do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what’s going on.
Ariadne: I guess, yeah.
Dom Cobb: So how did we end up here?
Ariadne: Well, we just came from the…uh…
Dom Cobb: Think about it, Ariadne. How did you get here? Where are you right now?
Ariadne: We’re dreaming?! 

I know this idea was thrown into the hat a while ago, but I want to come back to it. Riff for a minute if you will. And, if you don’t believe that Bruce Wayne was, in fact, “Inceptioned” (for lack of a better word) then… I will begin to question my own reality. My theory? That the Batman series is just part of a bigger series, involving both The Prestige and Inception.

Take it or leave it.

My recommendation is that you watch Inception again, though. It’s been a while, I understand. But you really could have–better yet, I could have–figured it out before The Dark Knight Rises. Looking at The Dark Knight Trilogy as if they were three levels to the dream (or like three steps to a Magic Trick) is a good starting point…

Eames: On the top level we open up his relationshp with his father. Say “I will not follow in my father’s footsteps”. Then the next level down feed him, “I will create something for myself.” Then by the time we hit the bottom level we bring out the big guns. 

Nolan is a clever guy, I must say. If you followed my advice and watched Inception again, then you remember the Inception that was preformed involved the breaking up of a massive corporation, by exploiting the relationship between a father and a son i.e. Thomas and Bruce Wayne.

Dom Cobb: We need the heir of a major corporation to dissolve his fathers empire. 
Eames: You see right there you have various political motivations and anti-monopolystic sympticals and so forth, but all of that stuff it’s eh…it’s really at the mercy of your subjects prejudices. What you have to do is start at the absolute basic.
Dom Cobb: Which is what?
Eames: The relationship with the father.

Also, you might remember that Michael Caine (Alfred) is in every one of those movies, including The Prestige and Inception. And I would argue that he is actually the same character in each of these movies. The Voice of Reason. Urging Bruce to give up the Cowl, pleading with Cobb to “wake up” and even attempting to quell a life long feud between two Magicians. Interestingly enough, Caine seems to be the instigator  in all of those situations as well…

Then of course there’s the fact that the entire cast–or damn near–of Inception was recast for The Dark Knight Rises. You’ve got Bane a.k.a. Eames, the “Forger” projecting a dark mirror for Batman. What if Bruce had taken his place as the Leader of the League of Shadows? I would also argue that Bane is the Extractor, intending to break up Wayne Enterprises by any means. Then you’ve got John Blake a.k.a. Aurther, the “point man” who does all the research and bitch work for Batman. Crane in this scenario could be the team “chemist”.

The War at the end? Bruce Wayne’s Subconscious finally rejecting it all. Recognizing the illusion.

Ariadne: Why are they all looking at me?
Dom Cobb: Cause my subconscious feels that someone else is creating this world. The more you change things, the quicker the projections start to converge on you.
Ariadne: Converge?
Dom Cobb: They sense the foreign nature of the dreamer. They attack like white blood cells fighting an infection. 
Ariadne: They’re going to attack us?
Dom Cobb: No. Just you. 

Is it all starting to sink in?

Now, let us move on to The Dark Knight Rises extensive and obvious plot holes. How did Bruce get from the Lazarus Pit in India, to Gotham, seemingly unnoticed? Past two armies. With no money. How did Gotham not suffer massive nuclear fallout? Even if the autopilot was fixed, how was Batman able to escape a 6 mile blast in 5 seconds? John Blake’s real name was Robin? Really? And, of course all of this can be explained away in five words:

IT WAS ALL A DREAM!!!

Cobb said, “Positive reinforcement trumps negative, every time”. So, is this why we got a “Happy Ending”? Even with the seeming certainty that Bruce would die? I also love the clear tribute to Adam West’s Batman. If you don’t remember or haven’t seen it, or just don’t care, the climax of that movie is essentially the same. Batman  disposes of a giant bomb by throwing it into a body of water.

That Nolan.

Thoughts?