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Okay, first thing. I don't think Leslie Thompkins *should* have killed Stephanie "Robin IV" Brown as some sort of warped point to Bruce about the dangers of costumed vigilantes.
I think she should have done it and NOT have it retconned away. I think this should be a VERY painful thing for Bruce, Tim, Alfred, Dick, Barbara and pretty much everyone in the Bat-family who knew, respected and trusted.
Tim, most of all, should say things like "I want to wave a magic wand so this never happened... but I can't."
Basically, Leslie killing Stephanie through deliberate lack of treatment is a bad thing. And bad things happen. And, time travel and Infinite Crisis notwithstanding, they can't un-happen. Leslie killing Stephanie should stay one of those things *because* of the rage it caused us all as fans.
They can really go somewhere with this, especially in Robin's book. What if Leslie is captured or turns herself in? How will the Bat-family react to that? How will Stephanie's father, the Cluemaster, react to that? I'm pretty sure I know how the Joker will react: "How DARE someone else kill Robin? *I* kill Robin! IT'S MY THING!!!"
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Getting an appalled reaction from readers isn't that hard or difficult. Anyone can do it, if they're willing to ignore logic and reason. The best example would be the OYL Robin arc that saw Cassandra Cain turn evil. People were rightly appalled by that because it was a terrible story on every level.
Making Leslie responsible drags down the Bat books as a whole. Yes, the books need a dark tone. But there must be some light within that darkness, some hope so as to not make the narrative sufficating. Leslie was part of that light, part of that hope.
No longer. As Icon put it so long ago, paraphrasing, there is no hope in Crime Alley anymore.
(especially when you consider the message behind Cass' recently reconned defection, but that's another thread entirely)
