This is my take on Frank Miller's Batman universe, which takes place in 1976 if the continuity is to be believed, and since I have terrible firearms knowledge, I'll just refer to the most common WW2 weapons just so they fit into the time period
All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by when I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others, and then...end him
No! God almighty, no... what am I thinking? it'd be too damned easy! just one life for the price of millions, though it might not mean saving everybody, it's still better than saving nobody... but if I do that, if I allow myself to go down that place…I'll never come back
To kill the Joker would mean disregarding that promise I made to my parents all those years ago in this exact same room and dishonouring their memory. But what good is the memory of my parents when it comes at the cost of justice?
If I kill him, I would be no better than Harvey, Scarecrow or Cobblepot, if I don't, I would be no better than Ra's, Bane or Freeze: no more than a man fighting for himself, and no less than a monster contributing to the problem instead of solving it
Do I really want to do this? do I want to divide the League over my actions? do I want vengeance or justice? either option would involve me breaking a handful of laws anyway...who am I kidding? since when did the law ever work? why else would Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Prison, two of the most esteemed institutions for the criminally insane, look like cheap motels?
What was the point of my training if all I'm going to do is let criminals sneak past my grasp just to continue their shenanigans late at night? I don't do this kind of stupid shit for the attention, and above all else: I don't do this because I enjoy it, I'm 45! I can't persist with this kind of shit for the rest of my life
Besides, in order to really make Gotham a better place, there needs to be investments and sacrifice, it's time to fulfill the latter
He dies tonight, for Jason, for Barbara, and for the thousands he killed in cold blood