The finale of Christopher Nolan's trilogy sees Bruce Wayne come face-to-face with all of the aspects of the franchise at once. His new adversary, Bane (Tom Hardy), pulls out all the stops to challenge him on every front. He begins by breaking his back, overcoming the older and broken-down bat, and placing him in the world's deepest and most spirit-breaking prison. Then, he allows Bruce to watch as he plunges Gotham into darkness, completing the total breakdown of Batman physically and emotionally.
What follows is Wayne's journey from a completely broken man to one of resolve and redemption. He recovers from his physical injuries and becomes stronger while working through the emotional damage of his past failures and embracing the fear he used against his enemies. His physical climb from the depths of the prison mirrors his ascent from the depths of despair and failure, allowing him to rise up to face Bane and defeat him once and for all.
Nolan presented his theme for all three movies in one simple phrase uttered by a character doomed to die in the beginning moments of the franchise. He then commenced putting Batman through physical and emotional turmoil so he could learn to pick himself back up. His repeated need to do so came to good use when he was forced to climb out of injury, defeat, and a literal hole in the ground to save Gotham City when he was at his lowest.
