Light at the End of the tunnel
The Knights saga has always had mixed reviews. From Bane breaking Batman to the rise of Azrael. It was a 90's gimmick to get sales up. Superman died and Batman was crippled. Jean-Paul as Batman represented the hyperviolent Image comic anti-heroes that was popular. It was all supposed to stress how important Batman was, a character who didn't kill or have an extreme costume with infinite pouches and tiny feet.
This issue is important in that Bruce Wayne reclaims the cowl from Jean-Paul Valley. It couldn't have been handled better than by Denny O'Neil and Barry Kitson. Barry Kitson provides some of the strongest pencils I've seen. His artwork is like a cross between Jim Lee and Ivan Reis. It's the most naturalistic and realistic from the other eclectic and more expressive artists on the KnightsEnd arc. Honestly for the climax, the art just worked for the story. For what it was, Kitson was perfect in presenting this minimalistic story. The one-page panels with Azrael climbing through the narrow cave was well done.
Most of the credit has to do with Denny O'Neil. It only makes sense that the legendary writer be the one to write Bruce reclaiming the Bat mantle. He uses his "The Man Who Falls" story in the perfect way. It's where Bruce discovers the Batcave as a child and its where he reclaims his right to be Batman.
While there is fighting, O'Neil crafts a cerebral climax where Bruce outwits, out thinks, and defeats Jean-Paul into submission without really laying a hand on him. Allegorically, it's a showdown between an Image Comic pastiche and a Golden Age pulp hero, and we see how Batman as a character has so much more substance. As a calculated and non-lethal crime fighter, he ultimately wins out using his mind over Azrael's ferocity and strength. It was satisfying and was just well done in using it's characters and resolving the arc intelligently. Arguably the best issue in the arc and the most memorable and important in terms of changes aside from KnightFall arc. The issue ends in bright daylight, jarring but it works. We see Bruce reclaim the mantle but realizing from Jean-Paul's mistakes that he doesn't need to be as extreme or violent to be effective.