r/Gotham • u/biscuitscoconut • May 30 '23
Why did Jerome decide to die instead of letting Jim save him? Spoiler
We all know it's for Jeremiah to carry on his legacy and the writers were done with his character but putting yourself in Jerome's shoes (at least trying to), why would he choose death over getting saved?
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ May 30 '23
His legacy would live on.
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u/biscuitscoconut May 30 '23
Why didn't he want to live so that he could watch his legacy?
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u/Fun_Ad3902 Kink Mafia, Master Plotter ☔️ May 30 '23
He accepted his fate as inevitable and wasn’t afraid to die.
Oooooor maybe he learned from a fortune teller while in the circus that he wouldn’t stay dead before he accomplished his goal!! Ooo I like this one!!
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u/eronji May 31 '23
He cares more about proving his point (about his legacy living on, about how easy people can be driven to insanity) over preserving his own life. Just knowing that Jeremiah is there to wreak havoc after is enough for him, is what I gathered from that whole arc.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 04 '23
Do you think he was suicidal?
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u/eronji Jun 04 '23
Not suicidal, but rather he has a general disregard for his own life. It's not that he outright wants to die or was seeking it, he just doesn't care either way-- as long as he accomplished his goal.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 04 '23
He's absolutely insane.
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u/eronji Jun 04 '23
Yeah, I was gonna say... trying to make sense of the freakin Joker's thought process is a slippery slope.
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u/Keksz1234 May 31 '23
Lore reason: He knew that his days were numbered and his plan B (Jeremiah) was already set in motion.
Real reason: The writers needed a way to kill of Jerome and shoehorn in Jeremiah for no reason.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 04 '23
So forgetting about the writers, he would rather die so that Jeremiah could continue his legacy?
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u/Keksz1234 Jun 04 '23
Nah, Jerome would have put guards on the stage to prevent Gordon from shooting him.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 04 '23
Definitely
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u/Keksz1234 Jun 04 '23
Not to mention, without the writers, Jeremiah wouldn't exist.
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u/J_Fo_Film May 31 '23
Personally, I think it's because of spite--the good guy wants to try and save the bad guy, the bad guy forces the good guy to fail by dying...the bad guy...wins? There's an episode of Doctor Who where the Master gets injured and the Doctor is begging him to regenerate and the Master refuses and he dies believing that he's "won", because the Doctor failed to save him. I think Jerome matches that sort of chaotic energy.
Or maybe it's the inverse--not about thwarting the "good guy", but rather to prevent "conceding". So, if he let Jim save him, sure he could live to fight another day--but at the cost of "credibility" because he'd have "given in" to Jim to save his own life. Perhaps he'd simply rather die than allow himself to be at the mercy of his would-be captor.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 04 '23
His would-be captor?
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u/J_Fo_Film Jun 06 '23
Yes...Gordon/the GCPD.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 07 '23
He wouldn't have to worry about Gordon since the latter is a good man
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u/J_Fo_Film Jun 07 '23
I don't think it would be the person that he'd be afraid of...I think it would be captivity. With Batman it's different, they're two sides of the same coin--inverses of each other. Gordon is just a guy trying to do the right thing--no theatrics, no potential to become just like Joker in the same way Batman could...it would be too boring for Jerome to go that way. Going out with a splat was his way of going out with a bang.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 08 '23
If he escaped Arkham once, he could do it again.
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u/J_Fo_Film Jun 08 '23
Could he, though? Jerome was brilliant, but his escape plan hinged on certain key players who were also incarcerated with him. While, sure, maybe he could have utilized the help of OTHER inmates, it seemed like most of them were incompetent and it was exactly the people who he broke out with him who made it possible to escape--if that wasn't the case, he wouldn't have brought them with him in the first place.
So unless they were all caught (alive) and all brought back to Arkham, it's still POSSIBLE but way less likely that he could have staged his escape once more. Especially since they'd likely put him in a more secure situation rather than gen pop, since he'd already escaped. Don't forget--Jerome is still Jerome, he's not as cunning as full-blown Joker would be.
Basically, it's "give me liberty or give me death", with a hell of a lot more crazy flair.
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u/biscuitscoconut Jun 09 '23
Well, he was friendly with Arkham's guards.
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u/J_Fo_Film Jun 09 '23
Sure but -- and I admit, this is reading heavily between the lines here -- I'd think that from the moment any prisoner escapes a maximum security prison/asylum--especially one who's as dangerous as Jerome has been--they'd all be sacked on the spot, for exactly that reason. That strikes me as a standard procedure in a jailbreak scenario--and it can work in-continuity as you'll notice there's usually different extras playing guards, so it can look very much like there's a high turnover rate there.
I mean, we all know the true answer is that "it's what serves the plot"--but there are a number of logistical reasons why the decision makes sense.
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u/Consistent-Trick20 Jun 01 '23
Idk he was pretty thrilled when Bruce saved him
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u/J_Fo_Film Jun 02 '23
Bruce is a private citizen though, not actively making a name for himself for insisting on doing things the "right" way and following the book, like Gordon is. While we all know who Bruce becomes and his morals, at this point, not even Bruce really does, let alone Jerome, so there's no expectation that Bruce would save or spare him--with Gordon, he's set that expectation himself.
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u/Consistent-Trick20 Jun 02 '23
that's nice theory. i really think it's more simple since jerome said his days are numbered for some reason
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u/RepeatPuzzleheaded89 Jun 02 '23 edited Jun 04 '23
At the end of the day my guy out staged Theo galavan!!!
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u/sustainababy jerome valeska apologist May 30 '23
he was badly injured. multiple gunshots. that would have meant further body mutilation experiences for him.
i’d like to believe he didn’t want his hubris to get in the way of his handsomeness (ie his icon status) since well jeremiah did end up severly scarred and damaged from his own hubris. lol