The Batman has had a massively successful opening weekend with thousands of fans storming to see the caped crusader do some of his best detective work on the big screen to date. Many of those fans are now seeking the answers to Riddler’s secret message at the end of the film, the rataalada.
For those who haven’t seen the movie yet, it is strongly recommended to not continue reading as we will dissect Riddler’s hidden message and his riddles on the rataalada.com website. As it is usual in superhero movies nowadays, the film has a post-credit scene revealing something much more sinister coming up in our hero’s near future. The Riddler, now in jail, is talking to a fellow prison mate whose face mostly remains in the shadows. This hidden figure tells Paul Dano’s Riddler, “Isn’t that just terrible? Him raining on your parade like that? What is it they say? One day you’re on top, the next you’re a clown. Well let me tell ya, there are worse things to be. Hey, Hey! Don’t be sad. You did so well. And ya know, Gotham loves a comeback story” when the mysterious character is asked by the Riddler, “Who are you?” he replies with a riddle, “Well that’s the question, isn’t it? Riddle me this, the less of them you have, the more one is worth.” The Riddler already knows the answer, “A Friend.” After which the two villains start laughing like maniacs in unison. At the very end of the film, the name of the website rataalada.com is revealed.
The word that both Batman and Commissioner Gordon atrociously mispronounce to the point that even the Penguin makes fun of them is actually two words in the Spanish language. “Rataalada” is really “Rata alada” which means winged rat in English. It doesn’t take a genius, billionaire, detective vigilante to figure out that the Riddler means Batman. That codename is used at the end of the movie for the name of the website, rataalada.com, which leads curious fans who dare venture into the website to a series of riddles, hidden messages, codes, and cryptic answers. Here are the three riddles and the three answers to those.
The first riddle looks like this, “What was new, is new again. Rebirth. Restoration. Reformation.” The answer is Renewal, as in the orphanage project the Waynes and the Arkhams had planned for the orphans of Gotham city, among which was Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, as a child.
The second riddle says, “Fear he who hides behind one.” The answer is obviously a mask, as in people should fear Batman. It could also be interpreted as in a metaphorical mask, like the ones Gotham’s politicians and gangsters use to hide their corruption and criminal activities while pretending to be upstanding citizens.
The third and last riddle is a bit harder to figure out as it reads, “I am first a fraud or a trick. Or perhaps a blend of the two. That’s up to your misinterpretation.” The answer is Confusion. A fraud or a trick is also known as a con and a blend of two things is a fusion, together they make confusion.
After the third riddle is solved the website gives a zip file you can download as a reward labeled “What Am I” and contains a password-protected video called “Thomas Wayne’s Lies”. The password to the video is “promise”, which is an anagram of “imposer” which was the answer to last week’s riddle. The video contains Thomas Wayne’s electoral campaign ad which was shown during the movie. When returning to the website after watching the video there is a link to a message written in cipher. When translated after using the key, it reads, “You think I’m finished, but perhaps you don’t know the full truth. Every ending has a new beginning. Something is coming.”
It’s a disappointingly vague message after figuring out all of Riddler’s machinations but it served its marketing purpose very well. We can deduce from this message that Paul Dano’s Riddler is very likely going to make a comeback in future Robert Pattinson Batman movies.
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