Hold on, I have opinions about retcons of Jason’s death
Imo, Sheila Haywood is essential to that story. Without her, Jason is a foolish, impulsive kid who runs into danger even after Bruce specifically told him to wait. He’s impatient, he runs into a warehouse with the Joker inside to confront him, and gets killed
But with her there, Jason is a kid trying to save his mom’s life. He’s not driven by impulse or recklessness, he’s driven by love. He sees Sheila walking into a warehouse that he knows the Joker is inside, and he risks his own safety to protect her. He only just found out he has a mom who’s alive, and he doesn’t want to lose her. He trusts her
And she betrays him. She lures him into the warehouse and delivers him to the Joker. She stands by and watches while Jason is beaten. And when the Joker’s done, when he turns on her and leaves her in the warehouse with the bomb, Jason still tries to save her. She let him get tortured and he still tries to untie her so she can escape. When he realizes there’s no time, he lays down in front of the bomb to try and shield her
So of course, when he comes back as Red Hood, of course Jason doesn’t trust parental figures. Of course he can’t trust Bruce anymore, won’t listen to him when he says he’s wrong. He trusted Sheila, and she sold him out, got him tortured and killed. And Bruce, who he trusted to always be there for him, got there too late. Even if he doesn’t blame Bruce, that trust is shattered
Sheila Haywood is essential to the story of Jason’s death, because removing her changes how you understand Jason, both as Robin and as Red Hood. He wasn’t a reckless child who didn’t listen, he was a kid who just wanted to protect his mom




