The Robins from the prime universe are shocked, but not too shocked, at the return of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. They've had their fill of shock during this period. After continual strong emotions, people often enter a numb state where they don't experience strong emotional fluctuations towards anything happening before them. This is the state the Robins currently find themselves in.
Nightwing is studying the divine artifacts obtained from Mount Olympus and practicing integrating them into his usual combat strategies. Red Hood is still reminiscing about his experiences and observations while following Shiller, immersing himself in psychology books these past few days. Red Robin is healing from his wounds, taken daily by Alfred into the courtyard for sunbathing at specific times.
Martha feels deep sympathy for what the Robins have been through, so she does her best to play the role of the caring elder female in the large family. She takes care of their daily needs, shows compassion, and provides gentle solutions to the dilemmas in their hearts.
In fact, there are disagreements between Thomas and Martha on how to educate their children. Because of the personality hardening caused by the incessant torture they had endured for many years, the extent of their differences can be described as: thank goodness Bruce passed away early.
Thomas is a traditionally strict father. His method of parenting involves asserting his authority and motivating his children to learn essential knowledge and skills for survival. Martha, on the other hand, is the traditionally nurturing mother, who takes care of the children, letting them feel loved and helping to develop their characters.
Theoretically, this family structure is perfect, but inevitably, Thomas feels Martha spoils the children too much, while Martha thinks Thomas puts too much pressure on them. This is a problem nearly all families with a strict father and nurturing mother face.
Once they clash on this issue, their children naturally take sides based on the parents' different attitudes towards education. This is precisely what happens with the Robins.
Nightwing and Red Hood both prefer Martha. They enjoy her gentle care and meticulous attention, and are resistant towards Thomas's aggressive and oppressive educational methods.
Aisha and Damian have better relationships with Thomas. Aisha prefers Thomas, purely because younger children are more accustomed to relying on authority. They find it comforting to have someone continuously telling them what to do.
The case of Damian needs no further explanation; he thinks of himself as the chosen successor, the absolute best. Throughout his time with the Batman family, because he was the youngest, everyone treated him as a child. Now that he finally has a chance to show his worth, of course, he prefers to stay with Thomas and learns about the operations of Wayne Enterprises.
Red Robin, however, takes more interest in Bruce. He finds an infinite number of secrets in the Batman of this universe waiting to be uncovered. Therefore, despite not fully healed, he spends every day sticking with Bruce, engaging in research together.
The other younger Robins can be roughly divided into the following categories: "I'm exhausted from ballet and culture classes, and you're not getting out of it," the "drag others down into the same misery" type; "Even though we are the same person, I insist on making a different choice to you," the rebellious type; "If our idol is Batman, we would be invincible if we unite," the super-fan club type; and Harley, who enjoys chaos and drama, falls under the "the more chaos, the better" type.
Logically speaking, it wouldn't be a problem for a manor as big as this in Gotham to accommodate over ten people. There should be no issue of overcrowding. But somehow, the complex overlapping relationships among these individuals make Wayne Manor feel bustling.
Although many people refer to Batman and his companions as the "Batman Family," in reality, they don't fit the definition of a family, because the hierarchy in the Batman Family is not clear.
The structure of the Batman Family can essentially be described as "one super, many strong." Batman is a supreme leader, his power and prestige exceed everyone else's. The power of the remaining members is leveled, plain and simple, it's so-called "family love."
Even though Nightwing and Red Hood joined before Damian and are older, they don't have the full authority to discipline Damian when he throws tantrums or causes trouble. Because they're still considered his peers in terms of siblings, not superior or inferior.
What unites this family is love, not interest, therefore the resulting structure naturally does not involve hierarchy and absolute power.
The Batman Family is like a utopia, with a truly omnipotent and omniscient patriarch who can convince everyone. Other members are united and mutually respectful, their union based solely on shared beliefs.
However, the major problem with this structure is that the Batman Family lacks adequate social education for teenagers and children. Such communities, united under these conditions, are rare in society, and therefore cannot provide their members with any experience of normal human social interaction.
Every place where humans live has hierarchy, explicit or implicit. This is an indispensable stage in the evolution of intelligent races. How to accept influence from others and how to influence others is a compulsory subject for every teenager before they step into society, it's called "social education."
Once this kind of education is lacking, it can lead to social skill deficiencies, like being too influenced by others or powerless to influence others, which may result in dangerous situations of being controlled by others or of withdrawing from society.
Artificially leveling all the ranks in a group is not beneficial, it does not eradicate hierarchy fundamentally, but only dodges socialization, it is an attitude of evasion.
For example, in the Batman Family, Nightwing, who is the oldest, most mature, and most trusted by Batman, and Damian, who is younger and joined the group later, have no differences in power. This could lead to situations where Damian causes trouble, Nightwing can't stop him, has to clean up his mess, but Damian doesn't learn his lesson and would dare to repeat it.
In the long run, their relationship won't become more harmonious because one party in a relationship is continuously tolerant and retreating, which consumes their feelings and is unhealthy.
Learning to obey authoritative individuals in a group, and learning to establish one's own authority in the group are equally important. These are social genes ensuring the normal operation of a group, refined over generations of social species.
In the process of doing these two things, humans learn to read others' emotions, and to show their social signals to others by expressing emotions, thereby receiving emotional feedback from others, and providing them with the same. This is an essential social requirement for human survival.
A large family with multiple layers is the perfect place for social education. If the Batman Family in the prime universe is similar to a high school where only the teacher has authority, then Wayne Manor at this moment is more like a university.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne undoubtedly occupy the highest rank within this large family. They are both older and of greater seniority, bearing the cost of the family's livelihood and possessing the greatest power to distribute wealth and resources.
Next are Bruce and Alfred. Bruce has earned the trust of everyone through his capabilities, while Alfred has been entrusted by the family to manage and take care of the household.
The children also form multiple groups, roughly divided into older children and younger children, newcomers and original inhabitants, father's side and mother's side. They can even be subdivided into study-oriented and sports-oriented, day-active and night-active groups.
This forms an incredibly complex web of interpersonal relationships, transforming Wayne Manor into a social structure just as complicated as the real world, in which everyone needs to learn how to find their place.
Judging oneself based on the assessment of others, and assessing others based on one's own position, is a valuable skill. This is because viewing others' criticisms impartially requires a stable personality, consistent logic, and controlled emotions.
When such a large family gathers together, no matter what they do, they are undergoing countless instances of social reinforcement training.
Take the simplest example, the first time everyone at Wayne Manor gathered for a meal was quite a test for the Robins.
Thomas and Martha, having received aristocratic upbringing and possessing some educational skills, deliberately slowed down when they approached the dining table, observing how the children chose their seats.
Bruce, without a thought, took the eldest son's place on the right and continued to calculate the research data in his head. But in doing so, Nightwing, who originally sat in the eldest son's place, now lacked a seat.
Nightwing seemed somewhat at a loss because he wasn't sure who the seat opposite Bruce was for. If he sat there, would Martha have nowhere to sit?
If he took her place, causing embarrassment for Martha who was kind to everyone, it would be like repaying kindness with unkindness. If he made such a mistake, would it incite public anger?
Nightwing slowed his pace, his demeanor becoming more cautious. Red Hood, who seemingly robust but was actually an acute observer, also noticed the problem. If Nightwing wasn't sure of his seat, then he could not be certain of his either. What if he made the wrong decision after helping Nightwing decide?
Red Robin then coughed lightly, and instantly Nightwing and Red Hood turned towards him with pleading eyes, knowing that Tim had received aristocratic education and would certainly know what to do.
At this point, Red Robin turned to look at Alfred, who was pushing his wheelchair towards a seat on the same side as Bruce but one seat away. He moved the chair and then wheeled himself in.
Nightwing and Red Hood sighed in relief because it meant that their initial indecision was correct, the seat opposite Bruce was indeed reserved for Martha.
Then Nightwing took a seat next to Bruce and Red Hood sat across from him.
Now it was time for the younger generation to select their seats. Another problem arose. They and the newcomers weren't in the same group. So, should Dick sit across from Red Robin or start a new row so that he and Jason could sit across from each other?
After a moment's hesitation, Dick chose to sit across from Red Robin, a social signal of his openness and acceptance.
When the three younger Robins also took their seats one by one, Harley, who came out later, took a seat across from Tim. Normally, Damian and Aisha, who were left, should be sitting across from each other, but Damian seemed very unhappy about sitting so far away.
After some etiquette training over a period of time, Damian also knew that the seat opposite to Bruce was Martha's. So, as he had done numerous times in the Batman Family, he said to Nightwing, "Let's swap seats, Dick. You can hold Aisha. You said you liked her, didn't you?"
Nightwing instinctively stood up to give his seat to Damian. In his view, it didn't matter where he ate. But Thomas cleared his throat loudly, and Bruce also glanced up at Nightwing.
In the end, Nightwing, thinking he had done something wrong, stood there awkwardly, unsure whether to sit or stand.
"Damian, go sit in the back," Thomas motioned with his chin for Damian to sit across from Aisha.
Damian was about to say something when Red Hood said, "Go on, who's fault is it that you got up late? If you want to sit up front next time, get up earlier."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Thomas, Martha, and Bruce all frowned.