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Warning: spoilers for DC K.O. Knightfight #4 are ahead. 

Even if you haven't read a lot of DC Comics, you probably know that it ain't easy to take down The Bat. I mean, the dude was able to survive free-falling from space in Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez's Batman run, because, well, he's Batman. He's a guy obsessed with forming contingency plans, and his preparedness was even the subject of a hilarious Key and Peele sketch. So how do you take down Batman?

DC K.O. Knightfight #4 by Joshua Williamson, Dan Mora, and Triona Farrell presents a unique path to victory. Thus far, Batman has been made by the Heart of Apokolips to fight future versions of his Robins (barring Stephanie Brown, sadly) after he was defeated in the first round of the tournament that's taken over the DC Universe. And in issue #4, he goes up against the grown-up version of his son, Damian Wayne, who has managed to turn Gotham City into a safe place for people to live in. Sounds pretty great, right?

As you might imagine, Bruce doesn't exactly want to fight his only biological son, who is raising a child of his own named Alfred, especially when an entity like the Heart of Apokolips is putting him up to it. Even before Damian and Bruce start fighting, the latter was questioning the orders that he was given: "I must do something different to beat the heart. It wants me to compete. It wants me back in the tournament... But why?" 

It turns out that being a fully grown biological child of Batman himself is a surefire path to defeating him. After Damian strikes him down with his sword and tells him to get back up and keep fighting, Bruce says, "I can't. I can't do it. I... I can't win," which is when the Heart of Apokolips pulls him out of this alternate universe, stating, "That was the final test, Batman. To see if you could ever admit defeat." 

Sure, the premise of Knightfight isn't exactly applicable to the typical Batman status quo (personally, I like to keep Batman and Fourth World places and concepts as far apart as possible, unless Orion and Batman are teaming up like in Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola's Cosmic Odyssey), but it does underscore the power that Batman's children have over him. Damian and the other Bat-Kids represent the future beyond Bruce's lifetime, so who is he to get in the way of that? Knightfight has shown us that it's not merely having a plan to take down every possible enemy that makes Batman so unstoppable: it's his will to win. And in fighting against this future Damian, it's clear that this element was missing from Bruce in that moment. 

DC K.O. Knightfight #4 is available now wherever comics are sold. 

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