Batman: The Animated Series (TV Series) His Silicon Soul (1992) User Reviews

Another gem in a show that often glittered!

[garrard · 9/10 · 9 August 2008]

This sequel to the two-parter "Heart of Steel," presented earlier in the series' first season has an intriguing premise: a robot replacement for Batman becomes activated and seeks out the "imposter" that has taken over his life. Kevin Conroy has a field day as both the real Batman/Bruce Wayne and the robot facsimile.

William Sanderson returns as the voice of inventor Carl Rossem and his easily recognizable voice, formerly heard as one of the trio of brothers on "Newhart, is a welcome addition to the stellar line of performers that have lent credibility to the Emmy-winning show.

Like most installments in the show's history, the writers always did an outstanding job of crafting stories that appealed to all age groups, never condescending to children and written literate enough to appeal to an older audience.

Batman vs RoboBatman!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 19 August 2020]

Always really loved the title of this episode, it's cool and enigmatic but there's a slight poignant note there too.. So the story begins with a trio of hoodlums rummaging through a disused warehouse full of old tech and military equipment looking for stuff to steal, and when one of them opens up a sealed crate and finds what bizarrely appears to be Batman just waiting inside, the unexpected Dark Knight quickly subdues two of them and the third opens fire, revealing that this 'Batman' is actually some kind of machine! Soon after the confused mechanical man who still believes himself to be the real Batman, learns that it is in fact the last link to the dangerous computer artificial intelligence known as H.A.R.D.A.C. and is soon corrupted and controlled by the malevolent cyber brain to carry on its mission to eventually eliminate and replace all of humanity with robots!! I like this episode, it might not be perfect but I think the old themes of a robot turning out to have been more human than it seemed was explored very well and I thought the best part was the sequence near the end when Batman, unable to defeat his metal doppelgänger in hand to hand combat, realises that the creation was made to act and feel things just as he would and that despite its malevolent reprogramming it still possesses the most noble aspects of Bruce Wayne's soul as a part of it, and so he appeals to it to fight against its primary orders, and when it thinks it's taken a life, the grief tears it apart and gives it the strength to break through HARDAC's control and avert a looming disaster right at the last second, sadly destroying itself in the process... I wish the story would have lingered on the mystery of the false Batman a little longer and more slowly uncovered the truth about what it really was, it would have worked better and been more satisfying if it had been another two parter with the end of part one being the big reveal that it was actually a robot. Probably not one of the show's very greatest but it's definitely a fun and thrilling episode that is a great continuation of Heart of Steel, and it's another solid and thoughtful tale in a most superb series, one that's well worth checking out! X

Gotham Cyberpunk

[Mr-Fusion · 10/10 · 17 January 2017]

All of the remarkable themes from 'Heart of Steel' are back in full force with 'His Silicon Soul', only this time with a sobering Philip K. Dick streak. Replacing people with robot copies is one thing, but a fully capable Batman with no idea he's a cyborg takes it to a whole new level. This is amazingly dark for a kids show; Batman's evenly matched, the threat of hijacked global defense systems is über-serious and the measure of a man looms large over all of it.

For its venue, the ideas presented here are refreshingly all-ages and this stands as an episode that I've found greater appreciation for as an adult. It's great-looking, bears surprising depth and as entertaining as they come.

10/0