Silicon Soul is a great example of why btas is still Kevin Conroys best portrayal of the character. It really allowed him to display a full range of emotions. While he’s allows great, I’ll admit I think he’s portrayed as to stoic in subsequent content that doesn’t take full advantage of the actor
Agreed; it seems like everything after B:TAS (TNBA, DCAU, etc.) portrays Batman as a dumbed down, one dimensional caricature of his former self from B:TAS. Gone was the fully-fleshed out human being and replaced with a scowling stump of wood.
Kevin is batman to me. Arkham is what made me fall in love with batman. And growing up I loved noticing his range, like how his bruice Wayne voice is so calm and basic, as any billionaire CEO would be but his batman voice is so deep and serious. It's a better more realistic way of disguising his voicevs Christian Bale sounding like he gargles gravel (I do love Christian Bale batman but even as a kid I thought his voice was ridiculous.) I was so happy to hear that him and Mark hamil would be doing the killing joke movie, and while yeah the first half is well... The actual killing joke part is excellent and glad that I was able to witness it. Rip Kevin Conroy. Gotham needed a savior and it was you. Without you crime has no punchline.
Honestly, Im just glad they took these things down the horror angle, and NOT the other way. I always hate when writers resirt to using duplicates or doubles for the sake of ruining a character's reputation. Horror is much more up my alley!
I think a better analogue for HARDAC's single red eye is HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But I agree; it's a terrific episode that really brings a sense of paranoia.
@@SerumLake Hal 9000, the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, Venjix from Power Rangers RPM, and Tankor from Transformers: Beast Machines* not only share glowing red eyes (or an eye) with Hardac; they also share a corruption of purpose, a twisting of benevolent intentions into evil. And that context certainly applies to Sauron, whose One Ring's greatest and most insidious power is to do exactly that. (*I singled Tankor out because he was actually the heroic Rhinox, twisted to villainy by his transformation. The Vehicons en masse were created for evil to start with, and the other corrupted individuals--Jetstorm/Silverbolt by forced programming, Obsidian and Strika by their own warped sense of loyalty to Cybertron above all else--don't share the glowing red eye.) 😊
On the DVD extras, somebody points out that the red light has a smiley face drawn on it, as if its cover were reflective, in an effort to personify HARDAC.
I can kinda see how it might be evocative of Sauron's Eye in its size and overall vibe, but it's pretty clear that HAL 9000 was the main inspiration for HARDAC.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the very likely reason this was approved for them to make. This episode was released not long after Terminator 2 was in theaters and they wanted to capitalize on it's popularity. No kid at the time wasn't thinking the duplicates aren't Terminators. And we wanted to see one of Batman.
Love Hardac's design; it's like the dark deco come to life. I'd be interested if you ever decide to tackle the mobsters. The Bat Bible said to not be shy about using them over the super criminals & mobster-oriented episodes are some of my favorites.
@@SerumLake And that just makes it even better ! Although we associate 'robots' these days with the metal variety, Rossum's robots were biological in nature - very much like the replicants of Blade Runner - put together on a fleshy assembly line. Great stuff !
I decided to watch the show again like a year ago again abd when I got to hardac all I could think Is how everything they say and do in it is so relevant today
Seeing the storyboards in addition to your normal work made for a fantastic addition to the channel. Thanks for all the hard work of putting this together!
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. As I said in the live chat, the storyboard section went through four different versions before I settled on the final version.
These episodes are among my absolute favorites from BTAS. The writing, the animation, the voice acting, it all comes together to form something truly special. I'm kind of amazed that HARDAC hasn't made any appearance outside of these episodes. It feels like something that would fit right in with the comics, or at the very least make a reappearance in Batman Beyond.
You know I think they should have used HARDAC more often because if he could made robot copy of the Justice league and was in Batman Beyond like the DCAU Ultron
Silicone Soul was an episode that stuck with me for YEARS after seeing it as a kid. It was one of the big reasons I tracked down the dvd collection as an adult to rewatch the series
This whole episode felt quite different. Special even. As a kid this show had a unique tone and approach to how things were done in action cartoons and superhero shows in general. I think what felt scary to me is how helpless they made Batman look at times. Batman was always in control to some extent, but here, it feels like he's lucky. Hardac also was super intimidating to me. Robots are frightening things in BTAS, just look at Captain Clown. Actually, looking back at it all, I wonder if CC was a Duplicant?
duplicants by their nature are mimicking other people CC was a robot right through and also use a different covering method more akin to ceramics a then the skin suits the dups got
Something I’ve just noticed watching the alt ending of Heart of Steel Part 2: HARDAC’s design, the rounded head with the two pylons resembles Batman’s cowl. Coincidence or intentional. I have to say, this alt ending is pretty awesome, but they definitely chose right in saving it for an incredible follow-up episode. Thank you for sharing!
What an episode "Heart of Steel" was! I love that shadowy image of Randa Duane that makes her look like Marilyn Monroe in a trench coat and fedora. And I remember being genuinely terrified when I saw the scene of HARDAC almost effortlessly electrocuting Rossum. And the perfect topper was Randa's latex face getting half blown off, destroying her beauty and revealing her as a sort of Skynet android monstrosity. "His Silicon Soul," on the other hand, made me very sad. I've always felt there was a tragic element to androids with artificial intelligence. To FEEL that you have a soul, then learn that you're actually a machine - psychologically devastating.
Awesome video, as always. The duplicants had a sense of uncomfortable dread when they started acting as their targets, but without the emotional nuances. Then this really ramps up in heart of steel when they start doing very inhuman things such as walking on all fours and rotating their heads. Brrr!! Also very happy to see more screen time for one of BTAS’ star characters, Woobie. The way Gordon blushes when he admits he took the bear with him when he was picking up Barbara is adorable. “Well… he knows the way better than I.” What a sweetheart dad.
One thing that makes me glad that the original fight with the Duplicate Batman was scrapped is how silly the end was storyboarded, it feels more like something from the Looney Tunes than BtAS. Also, we got a small hint of HSS in The Batman; D.A.V.E., the antagonist of the Season 3 finale, has a mental breakdown when they realize that they have no origin (because their entire personality is made up of the psychological profiles of the Bat-Villains in Arkham, with a heavy dose of Hugo Strange as well) that reminds me of the Duplicate Batman not understanding that it's a machine.
I rather liked the silliness of the ending. I especially like the T-Batman stepping out of the truck-inferno, ready to continue the fight, and is crushed by a giant rock, and THEN (literally "putting a fork in it") stabbed by a shrapnel-girder. I smile every time I see that.
Did you ever see Darwyn Cooke’s Batman Beyond short that was released for the Batman 75th Anniversary, with all the robot Batmen from different eras? Maybe they were Duplicants…
yeah i could see an aliternate take where. Bruce is killed and alfred repairs the duplicant batman and has him take over the role not knowign again that he is the fake
I felt nothing but sadness for this Machine fighting for its unknowing 'self', confused and alone. This show really pushed the boundaries for kids media and still holds so much to this day
I dunno if anyone has brought this up, but Dr Rossum's name is itself a reference to the 1927 play "Rossum's Universal Robots" (RUR) which is the source OF the word "robot" in our modern lexicon. the Robots in the play are effectively human duplicates in their own right, and some of the themes of the play also explore the question of manufactured artificial beings having a soul. the design of HARDAC's core processor also, to me at least, brings to mind the "Moloch Machine" from Fritz Lang's 1927 Sci-Fi classic "Metropolis" also famous for the presence of a robot impersonating a human.
Holy smokes, that storyboard! All kinds of horror movie substance for a kids show that would've been legal because "he's a robot". I watched the episodes again after this to see if there was anything that could have been cut to make space for it, but while the first episode was kind of light on action it was all very important to the set up and allowing the story to flow at a natural pace across the two parts. However, the trade off between getting that sequence and losing Silicon Soul wouldn't have been worth it. It's the episode I reference the most when praising Kevin Conroy's performance as an actor. It's not just "use your Batman voice, but evil", robot Batman activates thinking he's the real Batman horrified that he's inside a robot body, so in his performance there's fear, anxiety and frustration. Then as the episode continues and Hardac's influence kicks in, he becomes more robotic and empty. The gamut of this amazing performance is during the fight in the Batcave where the duplicant and Batman debate each others' interpretations on a world free of crime. The dichotomy between these two characters and their personalities had to be conveyed entirely on Conroy's performance as the same base character, and he knocked it out of the park
Even the robot deaths in the final product are brutal. Just keep telling the censors "they're robots!" When Robo-Rossum grabs the live grenade or the elevator falls on Randa Dwayne.
this silicon soul, feat of clay and two face part 1 scared the shit out of me when I was 8 I still remember how dark this show was compared to pretty much everything else at the time there is something really special about those 90s WB cartoons
I remember the Heart of Steel episode. It was really sad for the robot. Imagine being synthetic, but having all of the memories of the original. It would be terrible.
I remember watching this as a kid and getting a pit in my stomach- that feeling of being lied to- ticked- just something slightly off while something looking back at you assuring you that everything is fine is so dystopian at the least and terrifying at the most.
Great video, Luke. I really like the way you narrated/described the storyboard of Bat-Terminator fight sequence. I've never watched "His Silicon Soul"; now I must!
Pays to be a DCAU completionist (apart from The Zeta Project, Batman Beyond S3E52 - "Countdown", Lobo, and mayhaps even Static Shock S4E45 - "Hoop Squad"; you won't miss much by skipping them). Anyhow, did you finally see it?
I never experienced solipsism, I was too busy suffering from disassociation due to years of abuse and neglect. Sort of an inverse situation, which is why Silicon Soul sticks out to me more as an episode. Self-discovery and definition are topics that I feel a great attachment to. Synthetic people stories only get my attention when they use this as the plot instead of a paranoid disbelief in other people's humanity.
I feel like a shorter version of the Batman vs. Duplicate Batman fight could've been used at the end of Heart of Steel Part II and then the duplicate given a more ambiguous fate at the end, leaving things open for the events of His Silicon Soul. Having watched HHS again last year, I felt like the pacing was much too quick for the impact it was going for. Maybe some of the fight sequences could've been moved over to that episode for filler. Regardless, all three episodes are still good as things stand. The duplicate Batman must've left a strong impression on Karl Rossum as he would later make a smaller, friendlier Batmite robot briefly seen when Batman and Robin go to question him regarding the robot that kidnapped Victor Fries in the episode Deep Freeze.
When I heard the name Rossum I immediately recognized, that this epizode is somewhat of an adaptation of the 19th century drama R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots). To keep it short a man named Rossum found a way to make artificial humans (from organic matter), but he wanted to make them as human as possible, which seemed redundant to his cousin or brother if i remember. He was an engineer i think who gave them the the most needed parts to function and to serve. The term "robot" was meant as a human looking creature who only works, not a metal thing like today. It was the first instance of the world robot was ever used. The writter got the inspiration from his brother who suggested it from an other word "robota", which meant working for no money. Fast foward a couple tens of years a girl gets married to the man who owns the factory for making the robots and convinces some people to give the robots feelings and when the robots start to feel something, they get angry and decide to kill every human ever. I won't spoil any more of it, since it's a good story I suggest you should check out. Theres a book version of it too if you don't like dramas.
Given that it, as well as references to 2001 A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, are very well known I just glossed over them. I’m now thinking I should’ve at least casually mentioned them.
His Silicon Soul not only greatly surpasses Heart of Steel, it ends up being one of the best episodes of the series. You know a show is genius when it takes a played out idea and does something wonderful for it.
I suffer from face blindness and generalized socialization difficulties. Doppelgangers are one of the scariest monster archetypes to me because even people I know closely, I'd have a hard time telling from an imitator. This is a staple of my nightmares (alongside loss of my teeth, overly steep and narrow roads to drive on, and throwing a punch at a threat but the air taking on the texture of Jello to resist me)
Just imagine if Brainiac had managed to acquire HARDAC's tech, he'd have taken the duplicants to new levels, possibly causing future copies to be like duplicate Batman; thinking they're the originals. While something like that kind of happened when Brainiac had fused with Luthor, those were more or less just generic robot clones, and also meant to resemble the Justice Lords more than the Justice League. Still, seeing HARCAC interact with Brainiac could have been interesting, with the latter convincing the former that there's more to just ruling the universe, or possibly quashing the earth made AI for being so simple.
Silicone Soul was such an interesting take on the clone/duplicate cliche that we see with super heroes. It's one thing to see a clone actively deny that they're a clone, because the writers can always retcon it so either of them is the "real" one, just like they originally intended to do with the Scarlet Spider if he didn't prove to be popular with the fans. But watching a robot find any reason for them being the "real" one is a lot sadder because there's an extra layer of desperation. If you're a clone then at least you still have your physical body and presumably a soul, but as a machine, you've lost a lot more than just an identity, you've lost your life.
Man, I loved the duplicants. I'm a big fan of dealing with cloning issues. Is the Duplicant Batman real? It's not clear if Batman thought so, as his plan hinged on faking his own death so Duplicant Batman would freak out over taking a life. But watching them switch from human-like behavior to inhuman but highly efficient robots is quite a trip. Randa Dwayne is basically a Terminator, down to her grabbing Batman just like Arnie did, and dying to a hydraulic press (an elevator press instead of an industrial press, of course.) Plus the animators had a lot of fun killing human-like robots on children's TV.
A lot of this episode is pretty good for those who enjoy Sci-Fi Media, From HARDAC being a reference to Computers like HAL9000, To the Duplicants being a nod to movies where Machines disguised as humans in things like Westworld (1973) or The Terminator, To the company name Cybertron Industries being named after an An experimental learning machine from Raytheon Company in the 1960s, Though A part of me wants to believe it could also be a small nod to a Certain Giant Robot Franchise that aired 8 years prior to BTAS,.
I think The Batman handled Hugo Strange spectacularly. You can feel a sense of menacing intellect as well as his invention prowess coming through. Not to mention the Arkham City game is heavily inspired by the Comics both in his appearance and his personality being obsessed with Batman.
I feel like H.A.R.D.A.C and D.A.V.E. (From The Batman) would make a good team. I imagine either when H.A.R.D.A.C starts replacing people it realizes Batman is its greatest threat and finds the Digitally Advanced Villain Emulator in Arkam breaks it out does a bit of tweaking and makes Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind to deal with Batman while it replaces people throwing replicates D.A.V.E.'s way to act as henchmen. Or less interestingly D.A.V.E escapes like he did in The Batman and hacking into H.A.R.D.A.C to control Gotham becomes his master plan. Or something in between Hardac frees and creates Dave, Dave betrays Hardac and tries to take over Gotham with the full army of replicants. The Batreplicant could also come into play as D.A.V.E's partner/H.A.R.D.A.C's mouthpiece and when D.A.V.E betrays H.A.R.D.A.C H.A.R.D.A.C frees the Batreplicant making both bats free to beat D.A.V.E and his army
I loved "His Silicone Soul" so I'm glad they dropped those scenes from "Heart of Steel". Although I wish they'd been animated as they would have been really good to watch.
I know it would have been during a dramatic fight scene, but if the Duplicate Batman *had* fought at the end of Heart of Steel, getting the ears of the Batsuit stuck on the wall it'd charged like a bull would have been too funny to be scary.
Something I wonder. What did Bruce do with the duplicate. He obviously didn’t throw it away. It’s probably somewhere in the bat cave. Maybe we will one day see it again. I can dream tho.
Love every episode of this show never a bad episode all of them were at least good it was great and kevin conroy was the greatest! he will be missed may he rest in peace
Couple of things, I love your videos by the way, so don't take this as criticism. Two references that I think they are making here which I didn't see anyone else reference: 1) The eye is the eye of Hal in 2001 A Space Odyssey, not Sauron. In the books, Sauron is actually not a giant eyeball. 2) The replicants seem very reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
No worries, these are valid points. Regarding the eye, it’s the height of it that reminded me of the eye of Sauron (and the cracking energy/fire that builds up around the antenna) Good call-out on Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Kevin McCarthy, who started in the original film, played Dr Long in Nothing To Fear, so I’m sure they had that in mind.
@@SerumLake Wow, I never knew that was Kevin McCarthy! Your wealth of information never fails! I love the original Body Snatchers. One of my favorite movies, and I always loved this episode. I need to go rewatch it now. :) I think they got the idea in the movies for Sauron being a giant eye because of the Eye of Sauron motif. But, I have actually never thought about the concept outside of that and it does seem sci-fi in a way.
The Duplicants remind me a lot of Snatchers, which were in turn based on the Replicants from Blade Runner, as well as Terminators. This sort of conspiracy idea to secretly replace people with robots that looked, sounded, and acted the same ways as the originals. And with Snatcher being released in 1988, it doesn't feel entirely impossible that BTAS taking inspiration from it...or maybe just from the same movies.
Rossum. I didn’t catch that as a kid. A reference to the Czech play “Rossum’s Universal Robots”, in which robot servants eventually overthrow humanity.
I still prefer His Silicon Soul over alternative ending to Heart of Steal Part 2…plus we got that awesome figure from DC Collectibles I never expected, I guess we still could have got it with alternate ending but still like the exploration in His Silicone Soul of what it means to be human, instead of just a terminator like fight
I really can't relate to having a thought or a phase like "what if I'm the only real person." Taken on a much less literal level though, the phrase "what if people aren't what they seem" is one that still hits me hard, because fairly often they aren't. It may not always be as dramatic as the difference between Bruce Wayne and Batman, but most people have some part of themselves, some thoughts or feelings, some internal process or external activities that they don't share with everyone, or maybe anyone. Sometimes it isn't really a bad thing. But sometimes you deeply trust someone, only to find out at the worst time and in the worst way that you shouldn't have, and that's when you really start to wonder who else "isn't what they seem."
His silicon soul was such a good episode i didn't even mind the gaping plothole of the original duplicates not having the memories of the original people. I think maybe while it was on its own it may have filled in the gaps itself, convinced itself that the data surrounding Bruce and Batman had more substance to it, but the only way the climax makes sense, with the duplicate having Bruce's internalized and very personal conviction about killing is if it was an actual mental duplicate of Bruce's mind as well as his body. If the duplicates had this ability then theres no reason for them to have been discovered so easily in the first place.
The story board sequence, was intersting, a Terminator reference towards the end, thou one thing about Hardac, its not the Eye of Sauron as a reference, its the computer from 2001, a Space odyssey
His Silicon Soul also brings to mind the question of legacy; I write and say my name every day but as Shakespeare said, what's in a name? I'm only 29 as of writing but when I do go, I want my name to mean something when someone writes, reads, hears, says or thinks it. Hopefully, my name will mean something of benefit to mankind and people will say "Without him, we wouldn't have the advances we have today" or "If it wasn't for that man, the world would be vastly different...." Slightly big headed of me, but that is my dream for my future children, my Grandchildren and Humanity as a whole...
Interesting while the alternate ending with fighting duplicant Batman was cool fight. I'm happier we got the episode where he doesn't know he's a robot at first. Very compelling storyline overall. Nowadays, it makes you wonder if they would do an AI Kevin Conroy voice and if that would be a good or bad thing to do.
0:37 Prolly just Adjective Adjective Adjective Adjective Noun. So a Computer that is Digital (as opposed to analog), reciprocating (outputs resemble provided inputs), analytical (can analyze some stuff ever), and holographic (can create holographic graphic effects, could mean anything from foil trading card rainbows to Hatsune Miku concert performance).
I know I'm a year late, but I'm surprised Serum Lake didn't mention the Batman Beyond short made for the 75 years of Batman. It actually features a fight between Terry-Batman and a BTAS-Batman Duplicant. It even ends with him and Old Bruce taking on seven other Batmen Duplicants, each taking a form of another universe's Batman.
Still holding out hope that HARDAC can re-appear as a multiversal threat somewhere in the DCU. That thing was too 'Fallout Tech Cool' to just have two episodes.
I like to believe Batman didn’t leave his robotic clone. I think he may have had him rebuilt hidden somewhere in the Batcave to be used only in emergency., his robot clone may have , inspiration for creating robot Batman
*The duplicate Batman gets crushed by a rock*
Killer Croc: "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
Hahaha!
Would have been better, had it come from a careless Killer Croc duplicant.
That would be hillarious
@@SerumLakesaron eye , more like hal eye, glados or a2 ( ato from wally) eye 😂
Silicon Soul is a great example of why btas is still Kevin Conroys best portrayal of the character. It really allowed him to display a full range of emotions. While he’s allows great, I’ll admit I think he’s portrayed as to stoic in subsequent content that doesn’t take full advantage of the actor
Batman vs Lord Batman in Justice League is another great Conroy vs Conroy argument.
Love him
Agreed; it seems like everything after B:TAS (TNBA, DCAU, etc.) portrays Batman as a dumbed down, one dimensional caricature of his former self from B:TAS. Gone was the fully-fleshed out human being and replaced with a scowling stump of wood.
Kevin is batman to me. Arkham is what made me fall in love with batman. And growing up I loved noticing his range, like how his bruice Wayne voice is so calm and basic, as any billionaire CEO would be but his batman voice is so deep and serious. It's a better more realistic way of disguising his voicevs Christian Bale sounding like he gargles gravel (I do love Christian Bale batman but even as a kid I thought his voice was ridiculous.)
I was so happy to hear that him and Mark hamil would be doing the killing joke movie, and while yeah the first half is well... The actual killing joke part is excellent and glad that I was able to witness it.
Rip Kevin Conroy. Gotham needed a savior and it was you. Without you crime has no punchline.
Honestly, Im just glad they took these things down the horror angle, and NOT the other way. I always hate when writers resirt to using duplicates or doubles for the sake of ruining a character's reputation. Horror is much more up my alley!
His Silicon Soul is absolute favorite, so I've got no issues with how it turned out in the end!
Yeah, it's hard to be too sad about it when we got a top 10 caliber episode out of it.
I think a better analogue for HARDAC's single red eye is HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But I agree; it's a terrific episode that really brings a sense of paranoia.
Yes, that’s very true, but there was something about the height of his eye that reminded me of Sauron
@@SerumLake Hal 9000, the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, Venjix from Power Rangers RPM, and Tankor from Transformers: Beast Machines* not only share glowing red eyes (or an eye) with Hardac; they also share a corruption of purpose, a twisting of benevolent intentions into evil. And that context certainly applies to Sauron, whose One Ring's greatest and most insidious power is to do exactly that.
(*I singled Tankor out because he was actually the heroic Rhinox, twisted to villainy by his transformation. The Vehicons en masse were created for evil to start with, and the other corrupted individuals--Jetstorm/Silverbolt by forced programming, Obsidian and Strika by their own warped sense of loyalty to Cybertron above all else--don't share the glowing red eye.)
😊
On the DVD extras, somebody points out that the red light has a smiley face drawn on it, as if its cover were reflective, in an effort to personify HARDAC.
I can kinda see how it might be evocative of Sauron's Eye in its size and overall vibe, but it's pretty clear that HAL 9000 was the main inspiration for HARDAC.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the very likely reason this was approved for them to make. This episode was released not long after Terminator 2 was in theaters and they wanted to capitalize on it's popularity. No kid at the time wasn't thinking the duplicates aren't Terminators. And we wanted to see one of Batman.
@2:05 the single glowing red eye is probably more HAL from 2001 than LotR
These were my favorite episodes as a kid. Thank you for making this!
I also thought of HAL 9000 when HARDAC first appeared in the episode.
Love Hardac's design; it's like the dark deco come to life. I'd be interested if you ever decide to tackle the mobsters. The Bat Bible said to not be shy about using them over the super criminals & mobster-oriented episodes are some of my favorites.
I always liked "Gritty Detective Batman" better than "Superhero Batman".
Rossum, as in 'Rossum's Universal Robots', by Karel Capek I take it.
BTAS is a class act, referencing 1920s sci-fi classics.
That’s right! The character of Rossum was played by William Sanderson, who played the creator of the replicants in Blade Runner.
@@SerumLake And that just makes it even better ! Although we associate 'robots' these days with the metal variety, Rossum's robots were biological in nature - very much like the replicants of Blade Runner - put together on a fleshy assembly line. Great stuff !
I was excited to see Randa's car had a license plate reading "RUR"
I kinda am glad they did not have a Duplcant Fight and saved it for the masterful followup episode.
I feel very conflicted about the whole thing
It goes to show that no good idea ever gets thrown away. However, I do wish that the Duplicant had the abilities shown in the cut fight.
Considering we're in an era where entertainment is being swallowed up by AI, this feels oddly appropriate to examine.
Especially when companies want to use it to copy actual live-action actors, whether dead or alive. That's a whole new level of terrifying.
I decided to watch the show again like a year ago again abd when I got to hardac all I could think Is how everything they say and do in it is so relevant today
Seeing the storyboards in addition to your normal work made for a fantastic addition to the channel. Thanks for all the hard work of putting this together!
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. As I said in the live chat, the storyboard section went through four different versions before I settled on the final version.
Thank you for listening to my request.😊
No problem, I had planned on doing this in a few weeks but figured I’d just bump it up the schedule 👍
I think I'm happy we got Silicon Soul; but it would have been cool seeing this explored on top of it!
These episodes are among my absolute favorites from BTAS. The writing, the animation, the voice acting, it all comes together to form something truly special. I'm kind of amazed that HARDAC hasn't made any appearance outside of these episodes. It feels like something that would fit right in with the comics, or at the very least make a reappearance in Batman Beyond.
Funny you mentioned Batman Beyond, because I know another character who can be a part of this, one word "Zeta".
You know I think they should have used HARDAC more often because if he could made robot copy of the Justice league and was in Batman Beyond like the DCAU Ultron
Silicone Soul was an episode that stuck with me for YEARS after seeing it as a kid. It was one of the big reasons I tracked down the dvd collection as an adult to rewatch the series
They missed an opportunity in Beyond to have someone resurrect some part of it. Feels like an interesting place to bring it back.
They did. It was a short, but Bruce and Terry team up to fight an army of duplicant Batmen.
th-cam.com/video/z65aq1EVGhs/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
From the first episode, watching as an adult I realized this show makes accessible horror stories for adults and children alike
This whole episode felt quite different. Special even. As a kid this show had a unique tone and approach to how things were done in action cartoons and superhero shows in general. I think what felt scary to me is how helpless they made Batman look at times. Batman was always in control to some extent, but here, it feels like he's lucky. Hardac also was super intimidating to me. Robots are frightening things in BTAS, just look at Captain Clown. Actually, looking back at it all, I wonder if CC was a Duplicant?
duplicants by their nature are mimicking other people CC was a robot right through and also use a different covering method more akin to ceramics a then the skin suits the dups got
@@erubianwarlord8208 one of Grant Walker's theme park animatronics?
Something I’ve just noticed watching the alt ending of Heart of Steel Part 2: HARDAC’s design, the rounded head with the two pylons resembles Batman’s cowl. Coincidence or intentional.
I have to say, this alt ending is pretty awesome, but they definitely chose right in saving it for an incredible follow-up episode. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your observation, I hadn’t noticed that!
What an episode "Heart of Steel" was! I love that shadowy image of Randa Duane that makes her look like Marilyn Monroe in a trench coat and fedora. And I remember being genuinely terrified when I saw the scene of HARDAC almost effortlessly electrocuting Rossum. And the perfect topper was Randa's latex face getting half blown off, destroying her beauty and revealing her as a sort of Skynet android monstrosity.
"His Silicon Soul," on the other hand, made me very sad. I've always felt there was a tragic element to androids with artificial intelligence. To FEEL that you have a soul, then learn that you're actually a machine - psychologically devastating.
Awesome video, as always. The duplicants had a sense of uncomfortable dread when they started acting as their targets, but without the emotional nuances. Then this really ramps up in heart of steel when they start doing very inhuman things such as walking on all fours and rotating their heads. Brrr!!
Also very happy to see more screen time for one of BTAS’ star characters, Woobie. The way Gordon blushes when he admits he took the bear with him when he was picking up Barbara is adorable. “Well… he knows the way better than I.” What a sweetheart dad.
One thing that makes me glad that the original fight with the Duplicate Batman was scrapped is how silly the end was storyboarded, it feels more like something from the Looney Tunes than BtAS. Also, we got a small hint of HSS in The Batman; D.A.V.E., the antagonist of the Season 3 finale, has a mental breakdown when they realize that they have no origin (because their entire personality is made up of the psychological profiles of the Bat-Villains in Arkham, with a heavy dose of Hugo Strange as well) that reminds me of the Duplicate Batman not understanding that it's a machine.
I rather liked the silliness of the ending. I especially like the T-Batman stepping out of the truck-inferno, ready to continue the fight, and is crushed by a giant rock, and THEN (literally "putting a fork in it") stabbed by a shrapnel-girder. I smile every time I see that.
DAVE was so cool, and I loved how Batman defeated him.
I love seeing these storyboards. I recently bought the series on dvd and was sorely dissappinted by the lack extras
Thank you for supplying this
You’re welcome!
I'd like to see the Duplicant Batman revived in the far future to serve as "The Batman"
Did you ever see Darwyn Cooke’s Batman Beyond short that was released for the Batman 75th Anniversary, with all the robot Batmen from different eras? Maybe they were Duplicants…
Just how and why were those Batrobots made by Wayne?
yeah i could see an aliternate take where. Bruce is killed and alfred repairs the duplicant batman and has him take over the role not knowign again that he is the fake
I felt nothing but sadness for this Machine fighting for its unknowing 'self', confused and alone. This show really pushed the boundaries for kids media and still holds so much to this day
Awesome to see those storyboards.
Silicon Soul was the episode that really made the "no-killing" rule a key part of Batman's character in my mind.
I dunno if anyone has brought this up, but Dr Rossum's name is itself a reference to the 1927 play "Rossum's Universal Robots" (RUR) which is the source OF the word "robot" in our modern lexicon. the Robots in the play are effectively human duplicates in their own right, and some of the themes of the play also explore the question of manufactured artificial beings having a soul.
the design of HARDAC's core processor also, to me at least, brings to mind the "Moloch Machine" from Fritz Lang's 1927 Sci-Fi classic "Metropolis" also famous for the presence of a robot impersonating a human.
Holy smokes, that storyboard! All kinds of horror movie substance for a kids show that would've been legal because "he's a robot". I watched the episodes again after this to see if there was anything that could have been cut to make space for it, but while the first episode was kind of light on action it was all very important to the set up and allowing the story to flow at a natural pace across the two parts.
However, the trade off between getting that sequence and losing Silicon Soul wouldn't have been worth it. It's the episode I reference the most when praising Kevin Conroy's performance as an actor. It's not just "use your Batman voice, but evil", robot Batman activates thinking he's the real Batman horrified that he's inside a robot body, so in his performance there's fear, anxiety and frustration. Then as the episode continues and Hardac's influence kicks in, he becomes more robotic and empty. The gamut of this amazing performance is during the fight in the Batcave where the duplicant and Batman debate each others' interpretations on a world free of crime. The dichotomy between these two characters and their personalities had to be conveyed entirely on Conroy's performance as the same base character, and he knocked it out of the park
Even the robot deaths in the final product are brutal. Just keep telling the censors "they're robots!" When Robo-Rossum grabs the live grenade or the elevator falls on Randa Dwayne.
11:45 that was an overkill Looney Tunes style death.
You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was for me to make a decision on including the comical falling object sound effect - I almost didn’t do it 😂
@@SerumLake I'm so glad you did.
this silicon soul, feat of clay and two face part 1 scared the shit out of me when I was 8
I still remember how dark this show was compared to pretty much everything else at the time
there is something really special about those 90s WB cartoons
Amazing to see these storyboards!
I remember the Heart of Steel episode. It was really sad for the robot. Imagine being synthetic, but having all of the memories of the original. It would be terrible.
Even though I know I'm gonna miss this stream it'll still be interesting to hear your opinion on this villain personally I never cared for him
I remember watching this as a kid and getting a pit in my stomach- that feeling of being lied to- ticked- just something slightly off while something looking back at you assuring you that everything is fine is so dystopian at the least and terrifying at the most.
I like how Hardaak, A robot. Still has ties to Batman on a personal level. Which shows that all of his villains represent Batman one way or another.
Indeed, though I think DAVE played the role better.
Hello just found your channel a few days ago and just wanta say really been enjoying these batas videos and also those storyboard where great^^
Thank you, and welcome aboard!
Any plans to do a video about Harvey Bullock? He's certainly an outstanding support character, for various reasons
He is definitely on the list
I still think he completely overshadows Renee Montoya, so a notch of favoritism is cut down in my eyes.
I loved it. To me this was Batman with Terminators in it.
2:09 The redeye looks closer to Hal from a space Odyssey
Great video, Luke. I really like the way you narrated/described the storyboard of Bat-Terminator fight sequence. I've never watched "His Silicon Soul"; now I must!
Thanks a ton, I really couldn't have done it without your support!
Pays to be a DCAU completionist (apart from The Zeta Project, Batman Beyond S3E52 - "Countdown", Lobo, and mayhaps even Static Shock S4E45 - "Hoop Squad"; you won't miss much by skipping them).
Anyhow, did you finally see it?
I never experienced solipsism, I was too busy suffering from disassociation due to years of abuse and neglect. Sort of an inverse situation, which is why Silicon Soul sticks out to me more as an episode. Self-discovery and definition are topics that I feel a great attachment to. Synthetic people stories only get my attention when they use this as the plot instead of a paranoid disbelief in other people's humanity.
I feel like a shorter version of the Batman vs. Duplicate Batman fight could've been used at the end of Heart of Steel Part II and then the duplicate given a more ambiguous fate at the end, leaving things open for the events of His Silicon Soul.
Having watched HHS again last year, I felt like the pacing was much too quick for the impact it was going for. Maybe some of the fight sequences could've been moved over to that episode for filler. Regardless, all three episodes are still good as things stand.
The duplicate Batman must've left a strong impression on Karl Rossum as he would later make a smaller, friendlier Batmite robot briefly seen when Batman and Robin go to question him regarding the robot that kidnapped Victor Fries in the episode Deep Freeze.
When I heard the name Rossum I immediately recognized, that this epizode is somewhat of an adaptation of the 19th century drama R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots). To keep it short a man named Rossum found a way to make artificial humans (from organic matter), but he wanted to make them as human as possible, which seemed redundant to his cousin or brother if i remember. He was an engineer i think who gave them the the most needed parts to function and to serve. The term "robot" was meant as a human looking creature who only works, not a metal thing like today. It was the first instance of the world robot was ever used. The writter got the inspiration from his brother who suggested it from an other word "robota", which meant working for no money. Fast foward a couple tens of years a girl gets married to the man who owns the factory for making the robots and convinces some people to give the robots feelings and when the robots start to feel something, they get angry and decide to kill every human ever. I won't spoil any more of it, since it's a good story I suggest you should check out. Theres a book version of it too if you don't like dramas.
I’m not sure if any of the writers intended to do this, but I love how they named HARDAC’s assistant Randa Duane - or: R & D
Little bit surprised there was no mention of Rossum's Universal Robots in the video tbh
Given that it, as well as references to 2001 A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, are very well known I just glossed over them. I’m now thinking I should’ve at least casually mentioned them.
His Silicon Soul not only greatly surpasses Heart of Steel, it ends up being one of the best episodes of the series. You know a show is genius when it takes a played out idea and does something wonderful for it.
" ...singular glowing red eye, reminscient of Sauron in LOTR...."
HAL would like a word
BTAS X Blade Runner, love it! Cherry on top having an actor fron the movie voicing Rossum
I suffer from face blindness and generalized socialization difficulties. Doppelgangers are one of the scariest monster archetypes to me because even people I know closely, I'd have a hard time telling from an imitator. This is a staple of my nightmares (alongside loss of my teeth, overly steep and narrow roads to drive on, and throwing a punch at a threat but the air taking on the texture of Jello to resist me)
Just imagine if Brainiac had managed to acquire HARDAC's tech, he'd have taken the duplicants to new levels, possibly causing future copies to be like duplicate Batman; thinking they're the originals. While something like that kind of happened when Brainiac had fused with Luthor, those were more or less just generic robot clones, and also meant to resemble the Justice Lords more than the Justice League. Still, seeing HARCAC interact with Brainiac could have been interesting, with the latter convincing the former that there's more to just ruling the universe, or possibly quashing the earth made AI for being so simple.
The guy who created Hardac was voiced by Sebastian from blade runner the designer of the Replicants it was a cool detail
Silicone Soul was such an interesting take on the clone/duplicate cliche that we see with super heroes. It's one thing to see a clone actively deny that they're a clone, because the writers can always retcon it so either of them is the "real" one, just like they originally intended to do with the Scarlet Spider if he didn't prove to be popular with the fans. But watching a robot find any reason for them being the "real" one is a lot sadder because there's an extra layer of desperation. If you're a clone then at least you still have your physical body and presumably a soul, but as a machine, you've lost a lot more than just an identity, you've lost your life.
By far my favorite, and personally most memorable episodes
Hardac reminds me of Venjix
His eye, his commands over robots, his calm and horrifying manor, his hatred of humanity.
Man the battle would have been amazing. The explosion and flames is almost Terminator like. Love it.
"A heart broken engineer".... so... an engineer.
Love all the terminator 2 and blade runner Easter eggs in this episode one of the best ! Thank you for another great video!
Man, I loved the duplicants. I'm a big fan of dealing with cloning issues. Is the Duplicant Batman real? It's not clear if Batman thought so, as his plan hinged on faking his own death so Duplicant Batman would freak out over taking a life. But watching them switch from human-like behavior to inhuman but highly efficient robots is quite a trip.
Randa Dwayne is basically a Terminator, down to her grabbing Batman just like Arnie did, and dying to a hydraulic press (an elevator press instead of an industrial press, of course.) Plus the animators had a lot of fun killing human-like robots on children's TV.
A lot of this episode is pretty good for those who enjoy Sci-Fi Media, From HARDAC being a reference to Computers like HAL9000, To the Duplicants being a nod to movies where Machines disguised as humans in things like Westworld (1973) or The Terminator, To the company name Cybertron Industries being named after an An experimental learning machine from Raytheon Company in the 1960s, Though A part of me wants to believe it could also be a small nod to a Certain Giant Robot Franchise that aired 8 years prior to BTAS,.
I do want more content like that, but mostly the missing character designs. Maxie, Candice, Scar-face, Lock-Up, Captain Clown and so on.
Man!! That alternate ending would’ve been SO DOPE!!! I already love the 2-part episode but MAN!!! That would’ve been awesome!!
"A heartbroken engineer named Carl Rossum."
I get it. I understood that reference.
I think The Batman handled Hugo Strange spectacularly. You can feel a sense of menacing intellect as well as his invention prowess coming through. Not to mention the Arkham City game is heavily inspired by the Comics both in his appearance and his personality being obsessed with Batman.
The Duplicants would make a great plot for DC Universe Online
I feel like H.A.R.D.A.C and D.A.V.E. (From The Batman) would make a good team. I imagine either when H.A.R.D.A.C starts replacing people it realizes Batman is its greatest threat and finds the Digitally Advanced Villain Emulator in Arkam breaks it out does a bit of tweaking and makes Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind to deal with Batman while it replaces people throwing replicates D.A.V.E.'s way to act as henchmen. Or less interestingly D.A.V.E escapes like he did in The Batman and hacking into H.A.R.D.A.C to control Gotham becomes his master plan. Or something in between Hardac frees and creates Dave, Dave betrays Hardac and tries to take over Gotham with the full army of replicants. The Batreplicant could also come into play as D.A.V.E's partner/H.A.R.D.A.C's mouthpiece and when D.A.V.E betrays H.A.R.D.A.C H.A.R.D.A.C frees the Batreplicant making both bats free to beat D.A.V.E and his army
I loved "His Silicone Soul" so I'm glad they dropped those scenes from "Heart of Steel". Although I wish they'd been animated as they would have been really good to watch.
I know it would have been during a dramatic fight scene, but if the Duplicate Batman *had* fought at the end of Heart of Steel, getting the ears of the Batsuit stuck on the wall it'd charged like a bull would have been too funny to be scary.
This may be off topic but may I ask, what made you chose the name serum lake
It’s an anagram of my name 👍
That deleted scene looks really awesome
Especially if it means no His Silicon Soul I am really glad that scene got cut.
Something I wonder. What did Bruce do with the duplicate. He obviously didn’t throw it away. It’s probably somewhere in the bat cave. Maybe we will one day see it again. I can dream tho.
I imagine he keeps the duplicant in a display cabinet in the Batcave!
@@SerumLakeHe keeps it next to the giant penny
Love every episode of this show never a bad episode all of them were at least good it was great and kevin conroy was the greatest! he will be missed may he rest in peace
Couple of things, I love your videos by the way, so don't take this as criticism. Two references that I think they are making here which I didn't see anyone else reference: 1) The eye is the eye of Hal in 2001 A Space Odyssey, not Sauron. In the books, Sauron is actually not a giant eyeball. 2) The replicants seem very reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
No worries, these are valid points. Regarding the eye, it’s the height of it that reminded me of the eye of Sauron (and the cracking energy/fire that builds up around the antenna)
Good call-out on Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Kevin McCarthy, who started in the original film, played Dr Long in Nothing To Fear, so I’m sure they had that in mind.
@@SerumLake Wow, I never knew that was Kevin McCarthy! Your wealth of information never fails! I love the original Body Snatchers. One of my favorite movies, and I always loved this episode. I need to go rewatch it now. :)
I think they got the idea in the movies for Sauron being a giant eye because of the Eye of Sauron motif. But, I have actually never thought about the concept outside of that and it does seem sci-fi in a way.
The Duplicants remind me a lot of Snatchers, which were in turn based on the Replicants from Blade Runner, as well as Terminators. This sort of conspiracy idea to secretly replace people with robots that looked, sounded, and acted the same ways as the originals. And with Snatcher being released in 1988, it doesn't feel entirely impossible that BTAS taking inspiration from it...or maybe just from the same movies.
The way one of the dupes crawled on the ground is based on a demon from Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend. Definitely NSFW!
The singular, glowing eye of HARDAC, was more thinking as a reference to HAL from 2001; A Space Odyssey
Rossum. I didn’t catch that as a kid. A reference to the Czech play “Rossum’s Universal Robots”, in which robot servants eventually overthrow humanity.
2:10 it’s also probably inspired by HAL From 2001: A Space Odyssey
100%, it's just the height of it and the electricity/fire from the antenna reminds me of Sauron.
@@SerumLake thats a great point too!
I still prefer His Silicon Soul over alternative ending to Heart of Steal Part 2…plus we got that awesome figure from DC Collectibles I never expected, I guess we still could have got it with alternate ending but still like the exploration in His Silicone Soul of what it means to be human, instead of just a terminator like fight
Did you see the Mondo action figure that comes with the duplicant head? I couldn't resist that.
Thanks for the insight, Brad.
I really can't relate to having a thought or a phase like "what if I'm the only real person." Taken on a much less literal level though, the phrase "what if people aren't what they seem" is one that still hits me hard, because fairly often they aren't. It may not always be as dramatic as the difference between Bruce Wayne and Batman, but most people have some part of themselves, some thoughts or feelings, some internal process or external activities that they don't share with everyone, or maybe anyone. Sometimes it isn't really a bad thing. But sometimes you deeply trust someone, only to find out at the worst time and in the worst way that you shouldn't have, and that's when you really start to wonder who else "isn't what they seem."
Wow that's another dark batman wow
His silicon soul was such a good episode i didn't even mind the gaping plothole of the original duplicates not having the memories of the original people.
I think maybe while it was on its own it may have filled in the gaps itself, convinced itself that the data surrounding Bruce and Batman had more substance to it, but the only way the climax makes sense, with the duplicate having Bruce's internalized and very personal conviction about killing is if it was an actual mental duplicate of Bruce's mind as well as his body. If the duplicates had this ability then theres no reason for them to have been discovered so easily in the first place.
The story board sequence, was intersting, a Terminator reference towards the end, thou one thing about Hardac, its not the Eye of Sauron as a reference, its the computer from 2001, a Space odyssey
2:08 I thought it was more a nod to other evil robot characters, like HAL9000
His Silicon Soul also brings to mind the question of legacy; I write and say my name every day but as Shakespeare said, what's in a name? I'm only 29 as of writing but when I do go, I want my name to mean something when someone writes, reads, hears, says or thinks it.
Hopefully, my name will mean something of benefit to mankind and people will say "Without him, we wouldn't have the advances we have today" or "If it wasn't for that man, the world would be vastly different...."
Slightly big headed of me, but that is my dream for my future children, my Grandchildren and Humanity as a whole...
Interesting while the alternate ending with fighting duplicant Batman was cool fight. I'm happier we got the episode where he doesn't know he's a robot at first. Very compelling storyline overall. Nowadays, it makes you wonder if they would do an AI Kevin Conroy voice and if that would be a good or bad thing to do.
0:37 Prolly just Adjective Adjective Adjective Adjective Noun.
So a Computer that is Digital (as opposed to analog), reciprocating (outputs resemble provided inputs), analytical (can analyze some stuff ever), and holographic (can create holographic graphic effects, could mean anything from foil trading card rainbows to Hatsune Miku concert performance).
I know I'm a year late, but I'm surprised Serum Lake didn't mention the Batman Beyond short made for the 75 years of Batman. It actually features a fight between Terry-Batman and a BTAS-Batman Duplicant. It even ends with him and Old Bruce taking on seven other Batmen Duplicants, each taking a form of another universe's Batman.
th-cam.com/video/z65aq1EVGhs/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
For anyone looking for the short
Wasn't there a 75th anniversary short that also featured the duplicant batman fighting Terry McGinnis.
Thank you, Brad!
Thanks, Brad
Just realized HARDAC looks like the Thinker from Bioshock 2
5:29 great choice to have J.F. Sebastian here
Still holding out hope that HARDAC can re-appear as a multiversal threat somewhere in the DCU. That thing was too 'Fallout Tech Cool' to just have two episodes.
I like to believe Batman didn’t leave his robotic clone. I think he may have had him rebuilt hidden somewhere in the Batcave to be used only in emergency., his robot clone may have , inspiration for creating robot Batman
Meanwhile Batman: “Clark? Can you swing by Gotham for a bit.”
Clark: “Aight bet.”
Why Woobie didn’t get his own series is still a mystery to this day. 🐻
Hardacs episodes feels like old school sci-fi and horror