As hoped, this is an improvement on the first volume. The characters playing well off of each other, but in addition, the plot now feels like it packs some force, with Batman's secret inner struggle with his influence on the Robins the pivotal emotional lynchpin. The finale does become the typical usual large-scale actionfest without any real cost to anyone but the bad guys, but it is engagingly written, and the final confrontation is quite satisfactory. I'm also genuinely emotionally engaged throughout this volume, especially in Cassandra Cain in the present and Bruce Wayne in the flashbacks. And the final pages, though perhaps a bit heavy-handed, were really quite touching to me.

All in all, a good read, but in my book it doesn't hold a candle to "Batman Eternal", which was the natural bar I couldn't help but measure it against, having the same main writers and sharing the 'Eternal' title. ( )

As much as I love all the scenes with the Bat kids working together (and I really enjoy those) this timeline and this backstory and this plot do not really make sense. Also the artwork is really inconsistent?? ( )