The Worst Plot-hole in The Dark Knight Rises

I do this fun little exercise for my brain that I call "plot stitching". The way it works is, I take any plot hole from any story and I try to explain it in a way that fits that particular story and is not too contrived. I think it's good practice for anyone interested in storytelling. For instance, let's take some of the more notorious plot holes from The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final chapter in the Christopher Nolan Batman saga. How did Bruce Wayne make it from the prison to Gotham? Well, Bruce Wayne is a smart man who's been around the world and has access to many resources. It's not unlikely that he has contacts all over the world, people he's met in his travels, who would be willing to help. Even more likely for someone who spends most of his time dishing out vigilante justice is that he has money stashed throughout the world in various safehouses in case of emergencies. Once he gets to the nearest one and gets his bearings (or would that be batings?), reaching Gotham shouldn't take too long. As for how he got inside Gotham without anyone spotting him - he is (spoilers!) Batman after all. Sneaking into places unseen is kind of his thing. Okay, but why would he waste time setting up and enormous flaming Bat symbol when there's a nuclear bomb hours away from destroying Gotham? Well, what if he didn't? It's far more likely that some of the people trapped in Gotham, who still believe in Batman and hope he will come to their aid in their darkest hour, prepared the symbol either to inspire their fellow citizens or simply to spit in the faces of Bane's followers. Batman stumbled onto them and decided it was too good of a set up to waste. Not the best explanations, but at least they're plausible.
There is, however, one moment in the The Dark Knight Rises that defies any logical explanation. A plot hole that infuriates me beyond compare. Most people harp on the aforementioned seemingly miraculous return to Gotham, but what bugs me a lot more is what happens immediately before it. Bruce Wayne breaks out of the prison in which Bane left him to die. He escapes, achieving both a physical and metaphorical "rise" from the dark, overcoming his fear and weakness so that he can return to his city in its time of need - and then he drops a rope down as he leaves. He drops a rope down so that all the other prisoners can climb out and escape. Let's break this incredibly stupid moment down and see all the various levels in which it makes no sense whatsoever.

Still not as big as this plot-hole. 

Let's start with the prison itself. The entire point of this prison and the reason it doesn't have any guards or security systems is that it is supposed to be impossible to climb out of the pit and escape. Actually managing to do it is a testament to your will and determination. You earn your freedom by achieving the impossible and rising above your physical limitations. This is all fine and good until you realize that as soon as once person manages to get out, he can just drop a rope for the like Bruce, thus completely circumventing the spiritual journey and incredible challenge for everyone else. Maybe it would have been nice to leave at least one guard to make sure that doesn't happen.
More importantly, why would Bruce Wayne of all people drop a rope down to a bunch of, as far as he is aware, hardened criminals sentenced to the deepest, darkest pit? The same pit both of the movie's villains came from? The ones trying to nuke a city? Sure, he met a nice friendly doctor, but we didn't see him interact with the rest of the prisoners. They could be murderous psychopaths for all we know - and at least some, if not most, probably are, because, again, both of the main villains of the movie were from that very prison. That means that even out of the people he knows from the prison, the majority are dangerous criminals. On the one hand, yes, Bruce Wayne values all life, but given the circumstances, wouldn't it make more sense to come back after the crisis is averted and make sure everyone is out, but still kept somewhere secure? As it stands, he just let go hundreds of dangerous criminals out, without any means of controlling them or even keeping track of their location. Not to mention that all of this presumably happening within walking distance of a populated area, since obviously Bruce Wayne made it out okay - unless he survived because of his incredible bat-endurance and simply left everyone else to die a slow, painful death in the harsh desert.
What baffles me most is that him dropping the rope happens in all of two seconds. It's not brought up again, nor does it have any significance. You can blink and miss it completely. Knowing that something so blatantly stupid can be so easily fixed makes it all the more frustrating for me. Now don't get me wrong - just because I can plot stitch some of the bigger problems doesn't mean they don't piss me off, but at least I can think of a way that those could have been explained. Those two seconds of Bruce Wayne dropping a rope, however, just mystify me. The complete lack of logical and common sense, both from a plot and character standpoint hurt my brain more than anything else in the entire movie. For me, this is the absolute worst moment in The Dark Knight Rises.
Bruce leaving Blake to be Gotham's defender even though he's had absolutely none of the years of intense training and of physical and mental preparation, the study of the criminal mind, or any of the wealth of resources that Bruce had at his disposal through Wayne Enterprises is a close second.