Warning, this article contains spoilers for Batman #100 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Guillem March, and Carlo Pagulayan.
The Joker in the final issue of the Joker War arc thanks to the combined strength of the Bat-Family. Bruce has won the final battle, but did he really win the war? If the war was for control of Gotham City then Batman is technically victorious. But like most of Joker's plans, the war had a much more sinister purpose than originally considered. The Joker War was never about having power over Gotham City, it was about the spirit of Gotham's citizens.
How do you defeat Batman? Bane has broken his body before. Some of DC's most intelligent villains have pushed his mind to its limits. Joker War broke Batman's spirit. Bruce wasn't the only one who lost hope. For better or worse, Batman has been Gotham's unyielding protector, their Dark Knight. Criminals feared him. Authorities like Commissioner Gordon respected his efforts. Bruce was the shield that would endure any attack on the city and its civilians. Gothamites did not live safe lives, but they could count on Batman to bring criminals to justice...until Joker War.
Through the chaos of James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez's Joker War, one thing was made crystal clear: no one is safe. Not civilians, nor clowns, as Gotham became Joker's idealistic free-for-all battle royale. He recreated the city to suit his twisted perception of the world. A city so twisted even supervillains like Penguin and The Riddler took shelter. Joker was able to steal the entirety of the Wayne fortune but never wanted money. He made sure Batman was entirely isolated yet the larger goal was never to physically harm Bruce. It was to break his spirit, along with the spirits of everyone who once believed in him.
Joker's ultimate goal was to create a Gotham that had no faith in heroes. The city was divided into those with power and those without. Clownhunter became its champion by killing and becoming powerful. The clowns used the resources they were provided to rule the city without fear of Batman. Joker didn't want Batman dead, he wanted his presence to be unimportant in Gotham. The creation of characters like Punchline and Clownhunter proves that Joker won his war. Punchline ed The Joker because she felt like the world has already gone crazy. Clownhunter became a vigilante because he saw that Batman would never permanently stop Joker.
Bruce was not there when his city needed him the most. His own selfish moral code enabled Joker to siege the city in the first place. It was his own resources that funded the destruction of Gotham. His errors caused the rise of vigilantes like Clownhunter and criminals like Punchline. Batman's presence in Gotham should be a deterrent to crime and provide hope for the innocent, but those days are long gone. Allowing Joker to live has created a space for criminals and vigilantes to stake their own claims to Gotham. Hope was extinguished and chaos was inspired by the events of The Joker War. So did Batman really win? It seems there's no definitive answer.
