@anjales said:
My guess is Lincoln March. There are several subtle clues about it. And he seems the only one that's left who's capable of all this.
What sort of clues, may I ask?
Well Let's look back at the very first issue of BE. We see Batman at his worst, strapped to the Batsignal, his city in ruins, and then the mastermind is taunting him with the fact that everything he cares about is gone and now he is forced to watch his beloved city in ruins. These taunts tell me that whoever did this, isn't after money or world domination, the purpose here to inflict pain on Batman and strip him of everything he cares about. Believe or not, since this seems like more of a personal attack, that actually narrows down the list of suspects, considering the vast amount of resources that are used to execute this master plan. Those that, I feel are capable of such a feat are Lincoln March, Hush, Doctor Hurt, Joker and Talia Al Ghul. Hush is removed from the equation since he was pawn. Joker is ruled out because he just made his return to Gotham post Etenal in Endgame (and ironically he is executing a personal attack but in a different way), Talia Al Ghul is dead and even if they decide to bring her back, it seems like that will take place in Batman & Robin, so that rules her out as well. We are down to March and Hurt, both of which have the motivation and resources to execute this plan, but since there has been very little indication that Hurt is make his New 52 debut, and add to the fact that this is a story written by Snyder, I'm leaning more toward March (a character made by Snyder).
Then there are the signs. The Batsgiving teaser that was released last year featured all of BE's main players. In that teaser, there is an owl that is suspiciously perched up on a tree watching everyone. The owl, obviously is a reference to the Court of Owls (made by Snyder), and since there was no mention of the Owls throughout the entire story, it's safe to assume that the mastermind is connected with the court, and who more fitting than March?
Additionally, at one point during the early issues of BE, Batman was wondering who is behind all of this, and was repeadetly asking, "who", and then there was big caption "WHO?!?" and in that pannel there was a shadowiy figure, who may be the mastermind. "who" is the sound Owls make, and it could be another implication that the court is involved.
Also, a recent issue of Etenal had an owl on the cover with Riddler hiding behind a tree watching it. Now, there was no indication of owls in that issue, but Riddler gives Batman a Riddle "You are Echo" when he asked him who's behind it. If we analyze "You are Echo", the expression can be read as "You're Echo", which is heard as "Your Echo", as in Batman's Echo, as in Bruce Wayne's Echo. Echo can also mean reflection, as in Bruce Wayne's dark reflection, as in someone who had a similar, or even the same life but then it took a dark turn, and that person may harbor some bitterness towards Bruce Wayne. This could imply towards Lincoln March, aka Thomas Wayne Jr., Bruce Wayne's alleged younger brother who was presumed to have lived one day before dying from brain damage.
March believes that he survived that night and was placed in an orphanage where he was always visited by Bruce's mother, which March assumed was his own mother. Years later, March now perceives Bruce as his privileged brother who had the life he should have had, having been able to be with his parents, and so we can assumed that Thomas is Bruce's dark reflection, as in his "Echo". Although for this to work, Riddler needs to know Batman's secret ID, and there's no indication to that, but he did know Pre-New 52.
I donno maybe I'm over-analyzing it, but that's how I see it, and I'll be really surprised if it turns out to be someone other than March.
I should note that Hurt is still a possibility. During the same issue Riddler gives Batman the "You are Echo" riddle, he also gave him another one, "Dads Old News I Place My Bet On Daughters". While Batman solved that riddle to locate Riddler, he mentions that the riddle has more layer to it, and seemed to think that it had something to do with either Talia or Joker's Daughter, but seems mistaken and Nygma never gave him an answer. Since that one is about Fathers and Daughters, and Hurt did claim to be a twisted version of Batman's father, he's still a possibility.
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