Re: In which I describe my one false note in detail... But at the same time I'm sort of glad there isn't right now, for fear that that perspective would be yet further unquestioned Damian-worship
I think that's what any other perspective would be (unless it was a more untrustworthy voice to be corrected by Alfred, for instance). I feel like the main reason is that GM has stated outright how taken he is with the idea of the boy Alfred describes in the canon. So it seems like he'd see Alfred and Dick's behavior as completely logical. Damian is obviously a hero at heart because his dad is Batman, so that should be trusted by both of them. Dick would naturally stumble in trying to recreate his own relationship with Bruce at first, before he adjusted his methods to the way Damian really is--and thus bring out the true Damian. Alfred sees all these qualities in Damian because they're actually there, even if it's unclear where he saw them.
And as I think you said elsewhere, that's an interesting arc for Dick and goes along well with his figuring out how to be his own Batman. The stumbling block is in thinking that either Dick or Alfred, with all the experience they have as heroes and with kids, would relate to this kid that way, with the only explanation being that Damian may be related to Bruce. It's like they're not reacting to the kid they know so much as the character as conceived. Which is especially strange given that these comics tend to always stress how nobody's essential goodness or even more their future development is set in stone. The characters keep assuring me to sit back and any minute I'll be watching him grow into a hero. But everything I've seen in Gotham would suggest that this was a decision that could potentially lead to disaster. (The lessons of Jason Todd especially can no longer apply.)