You pretty much missed the point of the trilogy. He created a legend to inspire people, either to fear the consequences of their actions or to stand up. The Dark Knight is what rises, not Bruce Wayne/Batman. The man has stepped away from the role and another one is coming to take his place.

He didn't come back to be relevant one last time. That implies that he wants to be Batman or that he wants to be needed. His whole point was trying to get to the point where he was not needed. He wanted to believe that Gotham didn't need him anymore but events forced his hand.


He was also the inspiration and spirit of the resistance. The whole contention between him and his enemies throughout the trilogy was whether or not Gotham and its citizens deserved to survive or whether there was any hope for this pit of iniquity and the people who either made it that bad, or allowed it to sink that low without saving it. The fact that there was a resistance at all is testament to Batman's victory.

If you can't see the intended parallel between his imprisonment recovery & escape and the ordeal Gotham suffers, there is no point in even discussing this movie with you.

You can take any action and reduce it to its basic components and strip it of all meaning. That does not mean it has no meaning. Why does anyone call George Washington "Father of his country"? All he did was tell a bunch of guys where to walk, wear a fancy outfit, make some speeches and do some paperwork. Not very much in the way of accomplishments, when you think about it.

The point was that he was done with it. By this point, Bruce Wayne was as much a disguise as Batman. Bruce Wayne's public persona was to prevent anyone from discovering Batman's identity, and since Batman was officially dead, he didn't need Bruce Wayne any more and could now go do what he wanted with his life. He won, he accomplished what he set out to do, so there was no more need to stay in Gotham with all that baggage.

If you can't see what he did that was so awesome, I pity you. Any fool can beat up a succession of increasingly tough thugs in costumes. That's not a story, that's a video game. Batman changed the paradigm for his city, and proved the value of hope and redemption. He overcame impossible obstacles repeatedly and made created a legend that changed, if not the world, then the corner of it he was trying to protect. Batman won the most decisive victory of any comic book movie ever.