I have seen a lot of you Big Guys talk about the qualities of the Plane Scene, yet I have not seen too much of you talk about it's actual meaning. I personally believe that the Plane Scene holds a deep meaning and revelations that our great propeth Noal has left for us about the place of humanity, God, chaos and order, as well as many societal issues. The full message wasn't conveyed, perhaps because the current powers do not wish for the people to awaken from their slumber and go past their established beliefs about the world. Let me explain what I think. First and foremost, the Plane Scene talks about rebirth. Death of a God and the eventual coming of the Nietzschesian Ubermensch. But how is it represented in the masterpiece of the plane scene? That's simple, it's through CIA. CIA stands for >Central >Intelligence >Agency Central as in center of all things that exist, intelligence meaning as the only one that is, a higher reason in control of the world, and Agency as "The one with the agency to chose". CIA has been through the entire scene in control of the entire situation, until Bane reveals himself. He has created almost religious dogmas such as shooting a man before throwing him out of the plane, without any particular reason, merely with the promise of reason, perhaps after death. >First one to talk... gets to stay on the aircraft! Is an obvious allusion to afterlife, one who shall follow my teachings will be granted the stay on the aircraft. CIA is obviously supposed to represent authority, not only God, but state and meaning in general. He is in control of the situation, rules over the plane representing society and its responsibilities. He is the final arbiter of justice and has absolute control over the life and death, being seemingly cruel, but also merciful. He is the archetype of a just God, just judge, a just state. Therefore he represents objective order and meaning. Therefore, Bane must be the satanic archetype, the devil which rebels against God. Is then the Plane scene a Christian story of good vs evil? Of a devil archetype against the godly CIA? I don't think it is so easy... after all, Bane isn't shown as an agent of evil. His motives seem almost mysterious, and kind of insane. He refuses to talk about himself, saying "It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan". Bane himself seems almost like a Godly figure, one with a grand plan and design for the world. CIA even gives him respect by calling him a "Big Guy". He is not a villain representing evil, he is something more complex. To understand what Bane is, we have to go into the accursed territory of the extended universe. A horrible story that has been manipulated by Nolan's superiors so that his message wouldn't come completely to light... and yet, I think he still left us clues about Bane, as well as CIA under the guise of some Bat guy and some random girl at the end of the extended universe. First Bane, one of the most common theme of Bane's character is his suffering. He talks about how taking off the mask would be extremelly painful, he speaks about being raised in the darkness which in my opinion represents the internal absurd chaos of man, he talks about breaking the bat guy and the suffering of climbing out of the prison. I believe this is the core of his character, Bane isn't so much a devil archetype but an archetype of a human who has found the meaning in his life through suffering. Something like the Nietzschesian overman... but not quite, which we will talk about later. Bat guy himself is a bad replacement for another character, of whom, you will see later. But first we have to look at Bane himself. One of the most interesting parts of the Plane Scene is that when Bane speaks, he immediately questions CIA. >Or perhaps he is wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane. This is no easy thing, as Bane basically points out the hypocrisy of God and society himself. He mocks CIA, and questions his motives, surprisingly gaining CIA's respect. CIA has grown stagnant, the social order of the Plane constricting, and a proof of that is Dr. Pavel. Dr. Pavel represents human reason, which works alongside CIA, working alongside society, God, religion for its betterment. Yet something is wrong. Dr Pavel is presented to us as a captive of Bane's followers, and yet his behavior seems to signify that he is as much a captive of CIA as he was of Bane's followers. This is basically a struggle of human reason against the absurdity of the world, but also absurdity of religion. He tries to help CIA but at the end of the day, he has to work with Bane yelling "NOTHING, I SAID NOTHING!", despairing at the fact that he wasn't able to truly prove the existence of God. Therefore, Bane is a breath of fresh air, a piece of chaos which comes to dismantle the order of CIA. He kills God and destroys the social boundaries of the plane, freeing both reason as well as humanity... so is the Plane scene a story about the overman? About overcoming the shadow of God and creating new meaning, by sacrificing morals and constraints of society? "The fire rises!" he says, proclaiming the ultimate death of God. Almost, but not quite... after all, Bane is not the ubermensch. Bane is merely trying to create a new environment for the creation of the overman. He understands the idea, yet he cannot live up to it. Now, at the end of extended universe we can see that Bane was actually working for some random girl, which seems quite controversial, until you realise what Nolan actually meant by it. It is corporate meddling that destroyed this beautiful story... because both Bat Guy and the random girl were actually supposed to be the same character at first. And that character would be... CIA. How do I know this? Why does Bane tell his comrade that they expect one of them in the wreckage? What is the point of that exactly? We were talking about how CIA didn't fly so good and perhaps survived the crash. We talked about CIA the God, CIA the state, but we did not talk about CIA the human. Because after all, that's what he is, he might be representative of those powers at first, but when those are destroyed by the chaos of Bane... the only thing that is left is a human. He was wrong in thinking that Bane is his enemy... because Bane is actually his mentor. The reason why he ordered one of his comrades to stay in the plane, was to help CIA out of the wreckage and aid him... but why? Because Bane believes that CIA can become the overman. The entire story alongside the extended universe begins to make sense once you view it by the lens of CIA as the protagonist. It follows the traditional hero's journey formula. >Call to adventure and refusal of call "You don't get to bring friends" >Supernatural aid/mentor In this case it being Bane >Crossing the treshold Boarding the plane >Test, allies and enemies His talks to the people on the plane >Approach of the abyss Revealing Bane's mask >Abyss & rebirth Him dying in the plane and then raising from it like a messianic figure The extended universe is a message from Nolan to us about what the movie was actually supposed to be. It was supposed to be a story of loss of faith, and eventual ascension into an ubermensch by CIA, overcoming his mentor at the very end. CIA would raise out of the wreckage as a new man, no longer a man of God or state, but his own man. One that affirms his life and loves humanity, ready to guide it to the next state of being. No longer a servant of order or chaos, surpassing all dualities, creating his own meaning in life by his own hands.