I'm tired and haven't slept at all last night and am currently under the vice at work, but I'll play.
All I really wanna say is yeah, the ending bugged me too. The outcome is great and is what I wanted. But it is poorly edited.
Basically, a writer or director is responsible for presenting the audience with the necessary elements to get their point across. If they falter in doing that, than yes, it is okay to consider things outside their perspective, because they didn't succeed in presenting enough. I'm not talking spoon-feeding, but when you show Batman's face in the cockpit seconds before an atomic explosion then there's little to go on to disprove theories contrary to what the director wanted. Nolan didn't provide enough there. It's a mis-step.
I will say, yes, I don't believe for a second that Alfred was daydreaming, because Raas conveniently faded away earlier to let us know he was a dream apparition, and something similar would've happened at the end, too.
...But I don't blame people for having their own interpretation.
