Bane places Bruce in the same pit that he lived throughout his own childhood. Although he does this as a “punishment,” this will of course prove to be exactly what Bruce needs. This now finally emerges as the major theme of the third film, that suffering builds character, It is so often is only after going through our worst that we become our best. Such is the case for any character to have to go through their greatest trials before finding fulfillment. To put it in Biblical terms, it is after one has been crucified that they can come to new life. It borders on stating the obvious to say that this pit Bruce finds himself in is a metaphor. He has been in this pit for a very long time now. The first film opened with Bruce in a dark, dank prison cell somewhere in Asia, and here he is again. Ra’s al Ghul stated that he had found him that cell he was lost. The truth is that he still hasn’t really climbed out of it.
The first time Bruce returned to fight Bane, he was not truly ready. Even now, the fear that his entire city will perish is not enough to get him out of that pit But being here, watching it die, with the threat of everything he fought for, what Rachel and Harvey died for, being destroyed, has to awaken something in him to give him what he needs. Just what is it in Bruce that has to come out? What was it that Ra’s Al Ghul missed in his teaching that left Bruce still so lost, and which only this place can solve? The answer brings us back to the beginning:
Fear.
Thus we finally come full circle. Ra’s Al Ghul instructed Bruce how to use fears against criminals, on how to manipulate their fears only after overcoming his own. He never taught what we learn here: That sometimes, fear is good. Fear is the truest motivator. Especially the fear of death.