Warning! Spoilers ahead for Robins #6
In the final issue of DC Comics' Robins, the former and current sidekicks of Batman finally learn the truth about Bruce Wayne's first child sidekick and "Robin" before Dick Grayson officially stepped into the role. Batman and the Robins have been manipulated since the miniseries' first issue, but the Dark Knight has finally come clean about his tragic history with a young girl named Anita Jane (otherwise known as Jenny Wren). While Bruce may have failed her, it seems as though she was foundational to the formation of the official Robins that followed in the DC Universe.
In previous issues of Robins, Dick Grayson gathered Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne, all of whom had been or still are Robins under Batman, operating as his partner in his fight against Gotham's criminal elements. While they attempt to decide if becoming Robin was actually a good thing or not, it turns out the entire meeting and the events that followed are all part of a revenge quest by Jenny Wren. This dangerous young woman claims to be the first Robin, looking to prove the lie that Batman has only ever used Robins as weapons before discarding them.
Forced to play Jenny Wren's game against deadly hard light holograms wielding dangerous data taken from the Batcomputer, the Robins have no choice but to look back at their first defining missions as Robins (what Batman calls their gauntlets). They're also shown Batman's predictions for what their lives would be if they'd never become Robin (determining that joining Batman was just as much to help them as it was for the Dark Knight himself). Having done so, the Robins learn about Gauntlet Zero and Anita Jane's history as Batman's first sidekick in Robins #6 from Tim Seely and Baldemar Rivas. AJ was a ward of the villain known as the Escape Artist whom Batman ultimately failed by using her in his battle to take the villain down. Batman was focused only on a mission of revenge without giving the young girl what she needed in return (a father). As such, the girl who eventually took the name Jenny Wren (taken from the popular poem about robins) used a gun on the Escape Artist, thinking that it would make Batman happy.
For years Batman believed Jenny Wren to have died the same night as the Escape Artist. Regardless, she served as a tragic reminder for Bruce Wayne to never again fail anyone as he'd failed her. This was evident when Dick Grayson came along and began his training. Choosing the name Robin, the coincidence was not lost on Batman as a sign to make sure he'd give his Robins what they needed. Although Jenny Wren is eventually defeated by the Robins, her secret role in their lives is huge. While the actual Robin name came from Dick, the name itself and its connection to AJ was why Batman knew he could successfully bring Dick into his crusade (and those that followed).
In the present, Nightwing says that Batman offers a perch for the Robins, which was sadly something Jenny Wren never got to see. Jenny wrongly believed that Batman treated all of Robins the same way he'd treated her (as nothing more than a weapon to be used). In truth, his failure with AJ is what made the concept of Batman and Robin so successful going forward, contradicting the criticisms that claim Batman's Robins are nothing more than child soldiers. While Robin is meant to keep Batman balanced between the light and dark, Batman offers them what they need in return as their father by acting as a perch for them to be supported.