Even for a famous crimefighter like Batman, mistakes get made. But in DC Comics, those failures have cast a long shadow over Batman's career. Having your back broken by Bane leaves scars, but it's the times he's failed his sidekicks that haunt him the most. So to bring his arch-nemesis down in Batman: Three Jokers #1 the Caped Crusader needs Red Hood and Batgirl... which means facing his two biggest failures.
The death of Jason Todd and the shooting of Barbara Gordon are moments as instrumental to the mythology as the death of Batman's parents or his training with the League of Assassins. In Batman: Three Jokers #1 Batman, Batgirl, and Red Hood come together to investigate the mystery of how there are three Jokers. Tension is palpable between the trio as Jason clashes with Bruce, leaving Barbara to mediate. Eventually, the team's investigation leads them to an Aquarium where they are forced to fight a Joker-ized shark. Things come to a head when they subdue one of the Jokers and Batman leaves to chase down a different one. But captured is exactly where the Joker wants to be.
While Jason and Barbara debate about what to do with the captured Joker, he starts reminiscing about killing Jason. Joker finds some humor in Jason adopting the Joker's old moniker of Red Hood. He reminds the anti-hero of how much he begged for his life as Joker beat him to death, specifically how Jason said he would become Joker's sidekick if he was spared. This crosses the line for Jason. Barbara sees him going to pull the trigger and tries to stop him but ultimately fails. At last, Jason kills the Joker.
Pairing Batman up with Barbara and Jason for these issues makes perfect sense. While most of Batman's other companions such as Dick Grayson or Tim Drake might have been more level-headed against the Joker, Barbara and Jason have a personal stake in defeating him. A notable element of Three Jokers is how emotionally closed off Batman is from the two companions who he failed most. All three of these characters are clearly suffering from PTSD and none of them are willing to talk to each other about it. Three Jokers hints that this could have disastrous consequences for Jason.
While the story isn't finished yet, this first issue clearly shows that Jason will go down an even darker path than he's already on, possibly even becoming the next Joker himself if he doesn't get help. All of this suggests a greater truth about Batman and how he has failed his companions. Batman's greatest failure isn't what happened to Barbara and Jason, it's his inability to talk to them about their shared trauma. If Bruce wants to defeat his arch-nemesis in Batman: Three Jokers he'll need to open up to those he cares most about.