The whole issue is a conversation between Batman and Alfred. All the different comic stories of Batman being integrated into a single narrative continuum, with all the different incarnations of the Batman being taken as part of a whole, which gives Morrison and Batman the opportunity to comment on the different incarnations (re:Joker "He was killing people 3 months ago and today he had a laugh contest with Dick") and come up with a bit of an explanation of Gotham's attraction to freaks (as Secret Invasion #8, I read through it rather quickly and will read it again later today when I go back home).

Then Batman realises Alfred is not really Alfred, just in time for a reality change where Batman's parents never died ... The whole conversation with "Alfred" is happenning in his head while Batman is a prisoner of Darkseid (as seen in Final Crisis) ... they are using him to distill his bad-assness to use for their army ...

Loved it!