“Why didn’t you just kill me?”
“You don’t fear death. You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.”
“Torture?”
“Yes, but not of your body. Of your soul.”
“Where am I?”
“Home. Where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There’s a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth. Hope. Every man who has rotted here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy, so simple. And, like ship-wrecked men turning to sea water for uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. And in here there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe that they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to stay in the sun. You can watch me torture an entire city. And then when you’ve truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra’s Al Ghul’s destiny, we will destroy Gotham. And then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die.”
