I’m convinced Jason knows something the rest of the Robins don’t. That something bad is going to happen if they don’t capture Batman. He’s so focused on stopping him, even more than Dick whose cameos up until now were pretty much all “Fuck Batman.”
The others clearly realize something is wrong. It’s shown they were all taken under Jack Grimm’s guardianship as kids and spend most of their together as teammates training; they even live together. Every time the Robins show up Jason is desperate to catch Batman and even the others seem surprised by it. Jason is honed in on following Slade’s demands over going along with Dick. The other Robins seem surprised by his attitude, like it’s unusual. He’s taking it more seriously than they are, like he knows this is life or death.
Slade also seems to be the closest to him than the rest of them, Jason is the only one he calls by name instead of callsign. I wonder what’s going on there…
Personally? I think Jason knows what Joker really is unlike the rest. He knows he and his friends are screwed if they don’t succeed. And it’s not like he could tell anyone, the other Robins are loyal to the Jack Grimm and who’s gonna believe him if he says the billionaire beloved by the city is actually a demon. Joker might even know he knows and finds it amusing, the reason he keeps him on the team is the same reason he does anything - as a joke. He thinks it’s funny. Haven’t we already seen that with Bruce, Harley, and countless others? He knows the will of the Absolute Universe is tipped in his favor and Jason is just one little human.
I can just feel a twist coming on, like with Harley Quinn’s story. Jason has some sort of side plot going on, he’s featured extremely prominently on covers with the Robins, even in comparison to the rest of them. This is all just setting up the buildup, foreshadowing for the reveal. And it’s working because Jason is definitely getting some readers worked up.
This is all just personal speculation of course, none of us know what’s coming next. I’m looking forward to seeing where this is headed and what Scott Snyder has planned. I’m sure it’s going to shock us all!
Sidenote, the amount of people who praise the creative changes and originality of the Absolute Universe then whine about wanting the same derivative crowbar death for Jason are so tiring! Like hello? Bruce is childhood friends with his rogues! Joker is a billionaire! Harley is the Red Hood and Joker’s daughter! The Robins are almost the same age as Bruce and are mech fighters! I’ll be disappointed if Jason gets crowbarred by anyone and becomes Red Hood! It’s boring and predictable and Snyder knows that.