When his father discovered his secret identity, Tim was told to hang up his cape, and he did. He was forced to live a normal life for a time. During one day after school, Stephanie attempted to surprise Tim with a visit. Unfortunately as she arrived, she caught a female classmate of Tim's attempting to put the moves on him. Assuming yet again that Tim was being unfaithful, Steph broke off ties with Tim and angrily decided to put her attention elsewhere.

Creating a homemade Robin costume, Stephanie snuck into the Batcave and demanded that Batman train her as the new Robin. Despite his past belief that Stephanie was an inept crime fighter, Batman accepted her, put her through several months of intensive training and made her a costume with the same modifications as Tim's. As Robin she patrolled with Batman, and for a time seemed like a capable replacement for Tim. Unfortunately, for disobeying his orders on two missions, Batman later stripped her of the costume and told her that she was done being a hero because he couldn't trust her in the field.

In an effort to prove her worth to Batman, Stephanie stole one of his long-range plans for dealing with the entirety of Gotham's criminal underworld. Since this plan was predicated on the involvement of "Matches Malone" (who she did not know was actually one of Batman's alter egos), it quickly spun out of control.[6] The result was a citywide gang war (Batman: War Games), in which Stephanie was captured by the Black Mask, who tortured her to get information about Batman. Although she escaped and made her way to Leslie Thompkins' clinic, she had been severely injured by the villain, and died in a hospital bed as Batman sat beside her.

Batman later found evidence that vital medical treatment that could have saved Spoiler's life had been denied by his longtime trusted ally, Leslie Thompkins, who had fled to Africa in shame. When confronted by Batman, Thompkins, in tears, claimed that she willfully withheld treatment to Spoiler in the hopes that Batman would see the violence he caused and give up his mantle. Batman has personally exiled Leslie from the United States, informing her that if she ever returns he will make sure she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.