Batman: Arkham City (Video Game) - Why did Ra's al Ghul do what he did at the end? (Spoilers, obviously)

Question

(Sorry about the title, trying to avoid spoilers.)

So near the end of the Arkham City video game...

Hugo Strange initiates a bomb countdown in Wonder Tower, Batman jumps out with Ra's al Ghul. As they are falling, Ra's takes his sword and stabs himself through, presumably attempting to kill Batman as well. Of course he fails and ends up just killing himself.

My question is, what reason(s) did he have for doing that? If I remember correctly, he mentions plans for taking over Gotham, etc.

Also,

Talia is still alive, and (although he might not have known this) being held hostage by the Joker at the time.

So why would he do that?

Answer 1

Ra's Al Ghul is an insane criminal mastermind, willing to do whatever it takes to win the day, up to and including killing himself to get to you.

• But he has an ace in the hole. He will likely not stay dead thanks to the efforts of his ley-lined powered, magically life-sustaining and even resurrecting technology of the Lazarus Pit.

Lazarus Pits were accidentally discovered by Ra's al Ghul in an effort to cure a dying son of the sultan he worked for. Ra's al Ghul dug a pit where he discovered the restorative chemical pools that he dubbed Lazarus Pits for their abilities to heal those at death's door. After using the pit to save the life of the prince, a side effect of the pit's restorative abilities revealed itself as the prince went mad and killed Ra's al Ghul's wife, Sora. Blamed for his wife's murder, Ra's al Ghul was left to die, buried in the desert, but was soon rescued by his own tribe and a boy named Huwe. Afterward, he used the tribe to gain vengeance for what happened to him and proceeded to call himself the "Head of the Demon." REF: Wikipedia: Lazarus Pit

• Capable of bringing the dead back to life, Ra's depends on his loyal minions to steal his body, ferry him back to the nearest Lazarus Pit and return him to life, a tiny bit more insane than the last time.

Though Lazarus Pits are undeniably powerful and useful, they come with side effects, both of which happen immediately after the user emerges. The user both becomes temporarily insane (although when it was used on the Joker, it temporarily rendered him sane[4]) and gains increased strength for a brief period. Each pit can only be used once per person.

While it may have looked like the act of a madman, (rest easy, it was) his plan was to kill his enemy and himself and then later return to life, sans enemy. It's genius once you get past the dying and returning to life part.