Before he was Robin, Damian Wayne was one of the world’s worst villains, and not even Batman knew about it. Damian Wayne has come a long way from being an assassin. However, Robin can’t fully escape his past, even the parts very few people know about. While he’s mostly open about his past to his family, friends, and teammates, there’s one part of his life he keeps hidden.
Damian Wayne always planned to keep one part of his life as an al Ghul secret, as explored in the first volume of Robin: Son of Batman by Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz. He thinks no one who knows him as Robin or Damian Wayne — including his own father — is aware of the worst part of his life: the so-called “Year of Blood.” He is wrong.
One person knows who he is now and what Robin did as Damian al Ghul. While the sins he committed and the atrocities he took part in are in his past, they continue to haunt him. Especially as one of the people that Damian hurt threatens to reveal what he did to Batman and the Justice League.
Robin commits some of his darkest acts during the Year of Blood, which is a test by Talia al Ghul, Damian’s mother, and Ra’s al Ghul, his grandfather. The goal of the test is to not only examine his prowess as an assassin, but to prepare him to one day become the Demon’s Head as his grandfather’s heir. The method of testing him involves having him do one task each day, usually some sort of atrocity. This constant pressure not only desensitizes him to killing, but makes killing something Damian is proud of.
While Damian al Ghul was proud of the atrocities he committed, Robin is not. Damian clearly fears his father finding out the truth, even though Batman knows he was an assassin. This fear shows how evil Robin’s crimes were when compared to other despicable acts like murder. In Robin: Son of Batman, he’s referred to as “the demon child” by those he hurt during his Year of Blood. After all, for most of his life, Damian Wayne wasn’t human: he was a demon or a weapon. Despite this tragic past, Damian wasn’t born evil; instead, he was forced to become evil.
Even though Damian Wayne regrets his past actions, he feels that he will never fully be absolved of the horrors he caused. The guilt caused by his Year of Blood is a lot for a child to cope with, but it will always remind him of why he’s Robin. Damian doesn’t want another Year of Blood. Now, Robin can help people get through suffering — or he can prevent suffering rather than cause it. Despite his past, Damian Wayne is ready to create a new future for himself by Batman’s side as Robin.
Robin: Son of Batman vol. 1 is available now from DC Comics.