Chapter Summaries

Mr. Freeze ambushed Gotham police at To Alice and held Batman at bay with hostages until Homelander arrived. Homelander seized Mr. Freeze, but Mr. Freeze froze him with his gun and believed he had won.

• Mr. Freeze used freezing bombs and his freeze gun to turn the police officers outside To Alice into ice sculptures.
• Batman confronted Mr. Freeze but was held back when Freeze’s men threatened frozen hostages.
• Catwoman urged Homelander to make his entrance, and Rorschach left her to appear at To Alice.
• Homelander dodged Mr. Freeze’s freeze gun, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him into the air.
• Mr. Freeze fired his freeze gun at Homelander, encasing him in ice and smiling as he believed he had won.

Rorschach, posing as Homelander, defeated Mr. Freeze and his gunmen, rescued the hostages, and won over the gathered reporters. He left the store surrounded by journalists eager to question him.

• Rorschach emerged unharmed after Mr. Freeze froze him, then crushed the freeze gun when Mr. Freeze attacked again.
• Rorschach snapped Mr. Freeze's neck despite the gunmen threatening the hostages.
• Mr. Freeze's two gunmen fired at the hostages, but Rorschach killed them with telekinesis before they could harm anyone.
• Rorschach shattered the ice around the store employees and freed them.
• The reporters praised Homelander for stopping the crime, then crowded around Rorschach as he left the store.

Rorschach reinforced Homelander’s threat to eliminate Gotham’s criminals, then made clear that he would punish anyone who provoked him. When Gotham police tried to arrest him, he swept them aside with telekinesis and continued walking.

• Rorschach told the gathered reporters that anyone who committed a crime in Gotham would die.
• A male host accused Homelander of being a criminal, and Rorschach slapped him, sending him crashing to the ground.
• Rorschach warned the crowd that he was not a good person and would repay anyone who offended him a hundredfold.
• Kevin Conroy and the other officers surrounded Rorschach and ordered him to stop, but he kept walking and flung them aside with telekinesis.

Rorschach’s display of power against Mr. Freeze’s men shocked Gotham and left Batman unable to stop him. After two crime-free weeks, Rorschach decided it was time to collect on Bruce Wayne’s promise and appeared inside Wayne Manor.

• Rorschach sent Gordon and the other officers flying, then walked away while Batman admitted he could not stop him yet.
• Batman vowed to find Rorschach’s weakness and left the scene, while reporters and battered officers remained behind.
• Gotham’s citizens reacted to Rorschach’s powers with awe and concern, and many criminals and supervillains became more cautious.
• Gotham experienced two weeks without a crime as Rorschach’s threat kept criminals in check.
• Rorschach decided Bruce Wayne had to fulfill his promise and appeared inside Wayne Manor.

Bruce Wayne and Alfred investigated reports of people with extraordinary abilities in Smallville and Central City but found no trace of Homelander's past. When Rorschach appeared at Wayne Manor to claim the fragment Bruce had wagered, Bruce refused until Alfred reminded him to honor his promise.

• Alfred told Bruce Wayne that meteor exposure in Smallville and a particle accelerator explosion in Central City had been linked to people developing special abilities.
• Alfred reported that he could find no personal information or records for Homelander, frustrating Bruce's efforts to learn how to counter him.
• Alfred urged Bruce to stop worrying about Homelander, but Bruce insisted that Homelander's presence threatened Gotham and had to be addressed.
• Rorschach suddenly appeared in Wayne Manor and demanded the fragment from Bruce.
• Bruce refused to give Rorschach the fragment, and Rorschach threatened to unleash his wrath on Gotham.
• Alfred returned the fragment to Rorschach, reminding Bruce that he had lost their wager and must honor his promise.

After threatening Gotham, Rorschach forced Bruce Wayne to help find more fragments, and Bruce accepted, hoping the fragments might reveal information about Homelander. Rorschach returned to Catwoman, joined her at a high-society party, and arrived to an excited crowd.

• Rorschach threatened Gotham and gave Bruce Wayne one month to find more fragments before vanishing at superhuman speed.
• Bruce Wayne reluctantly agreed to help, and Alfred suggested the fragments might provide intelligence about Homelander.
• Rorschach monitored Bruce Wayne and Alfred’s conversation and concluded Bruce had compromised as expected.
• Rorschach returned to Catwoman, and after spending time together, he accompanied her to a high-society cocktail party.
• Rorschach and Catwoman arrived at the hotel, where the crowd and reporters erupted at the sight of Homelander.

Rorschach heard an elevator plunging toward the lobby and realized its cables had been sabotaged. He stopped the elevator and protected its passengers, leaving the crowd stunned as he opened the car.

• Rorschach refused a fan’s request for a photo and entered the hotel with Catwoman as fans gathered around him.
• Rorschach heard explosions and cries for help, then used his X-ray vision to discover an elevator falling with six passengers inside.
• Rorschach ordered the crowd and Catwoman to move aside, then ripped off the elevator’s outer doors.
• Rorschach caught the falling elevator and used telekinesis to protect its passengers from the impact.
• Rorschach lowered the elevator and tore open its inner doors, revealing the terrified passengers.

Rorschach rescued passengers from a falling elevator and found a set of riddles challenging Homelander, which he identified as the Riddler’s work. He had already tracked down the Riddler and planned to monitor him so he could expose the next murder and remind Gotham’s criminals that Homelander remained vigilant.

• Rorschach caught the falling elevator and helped rescue its passengers, who thanked him as Homelander.
• Catwoman found an envelope addressed to Homelander containing three riddles, and Rorschach recognized the Riddler’s challenge.
• Rorschach explained that the riddles described the Riddler’s planned victims, though he did not need to solve them to identify the criminal.
• Rorschach revealed that he had heard the Riddler react from five kilometers away when the elevator fell, allowing him to locate and track him.
• Rorschach chose not to arrest or kill the Riddler immediately, intending to use the next crime to show Gotham’s criminals that Homelander’s power remained undiminished.

After Homelander stopped a sabotaged elevator, Batman solved the Riddler’s clues and discovered that Harvey Dent was the next target. Rorschach recognized Dent as the future Two-Face and reflected that he had once been a good man.

• Homelander caught the elevator car at the Winston Hotel, and the police found Riddler cards at the scene but no other useful leads.
• Gordon asked Batman to solve the riddles and told him Homelander had already claimed to know the answer.
• Batman left to investigate, while Gordon hoped he would find the Riddler before the criminal struck again.
• Batman returned to Gordon and identified Harvey Dent as the Riddler’s next target.
• Rorschach recognized Harvey Dent as Two-Face and remembered him as a good man.

Rorschach knew the Riddler planned to attack Harvey Dent at the Bright Foundation opening ceremony and arrived at the Gotham Grand Hotel with Catwoman. He found Harvey dismissing Gordon’s warnings and spotted Bruce Wayne nearby, while the Riddler’s attack had yet to begin.

• Rorschach had already uncovered the Riddler’s identity and learned that he planned to target Harvey Dent at the Gotham Grand Hotel.
• Catwoman asked whether Homelander would act, and Rorschach assured her that the Riddler was no real threat.
• Rorschach and Catwoman attended the Bright Foundation opening ceremony, where Gotham’s prominent figures had gathered.
• Gordon warned Harvey Dent that the Riddler had publicly challenged Homelander, but Harvey dismissed the danger and went to prepare his speech.
• Rorschach spotted Bruce Wayne near Harvey Dent and inferred that Batman was there to protect him.

Bruce Wayne and Rorschach both came to the foundation ceremony expecting the Riddler to appear. The Riddler interrupted Harvey Dent’s speech with a public challenge, and the venue erupted into panic after an explosion blocked his attempt to keep the guests in place.

• Bruce Wayne recognized Rorschach across the crowd and resolved not to let Homelander outdo him again.
• Catwoman asked Rorschach whether the Riddler would appear, and Rorschach said the criminal would not show himself but that this would be his last day of arrogance.
• The host invited Harvey Dent to speak at the ceremony, and the guests applauded as he took the stage.
• The Riddler seized the venue’s sound system and screen, announced a game for Harvey Dent, and displayed a riddle to the guests.
• The guests panicked and rushed for the exits, so the Riddler ordered them to stay and set off an explosion in the venue.

The Riddler used bombs to control a venue full of Gotham elites and challenged Harvey Dent to solve three riddles, threatening to kill everyone if he failed. He drew Rorschach into the confrontation, but Rorschach refused to participate, and the crowd saw his refusal as a defeat.

• The Riddler detonated a bomb above the chandelier to intimidate the crowd and warned that more bombs were planted around the venue.
• The Riddler challenged Harvey Dent to answer three riddles, threatening to kill him if he got any wrong and to detonate every bomb if Harvey refused to play.
• The Riddler spotlighted Rorschach and said that a wrong answer would mean Harvey and everyone in the venue died.
• Harvey Dent urged Rorschach to stay out of the contest, while the frightened crowd also begged him not to participate.
• Rorschach calmly refused the Riddler's challenge, and the crowd interpreted his refusal as a defeat.

Rorschach revealed that he had already located and neutralized the Riddler’s bombs, proving the Riddler had never actually put the guests in danger. The Riddler’s apparent victory collapsed as Rorschach destroyed the explosives and left him defeated.

• The Riddler taunted Rorschach for backing down, while Gordon worried that Gotham’s criminals would take Homelander’s apparent vulnerability as a chance to retaliate.
• Rorschach told the Riddler that he was not participating because the Riddler was unworthy of playing a game with him.
• The Riddler threatened to detonate every bomb in the venue unless Rorschach joined the game.
• Rorschach used telekinesis to expose and gather the hidden bombs, revealing that he had already shielded them from causing casualties.
• Rorschach crushed the bombs into scraps and powder, leaving the Riddler unable to detonate them and utterly defeated.

Rorschach stopped the Riddler’s bomb plot, found him in a nearby apartment, and brought him back to the Gotham Grand Hotel. He killed the Riddler in front of the gathered crowd.

• The Riddler watched Rorschach neutralize his bombs and, despite his fear, insisted he could still win by creating more games.
• The Riddler warned that no one knew his identity, but Rorschach mocked his confidence and vanished at super speed.
• Rorschach appeared in the Riddler’s apartment, startling him by revealing that he had found him.
• Rorschach returned to the Gotham Grand Hotel with the Riddler, stunning the crowd with his speed and capture.
• Rorschach declared that criminals would not be allowed to exist in Gotham and snapped the Riddler’s neck.

After Rorschach publicly killed the Riddler, Gotham’s criminals feared him and his popularity soared, while Bruce Wayne grew more determined to find a way to remove him. Half a month later, Bruce met Wonder Woman Diana at an upscale gallery.

• Rorschach killed the Riddler at the Gotham Grand Hotel, and media reports celebrated his victory across Gotham.
• Gotham’s criminals became increasingly afraid of Rorschach, while Bruce Wayne worried that the city was treating him like a god and intensified his search for Rorschach’s weakness.
• Rorschach watched Bruce’s investigation with satisfaction, then spent his days enjoying Gotham with Catwoman.
• Half a month later, Bruce visited an upscale gallery and said he would buy an abstract painting after seeing its price.
• Wonder Woman Diana approached Bruce at the gallery and remarked that he cared more about the attention than the painting’s artistic value.

Diana confronted Bruce Wayne in Gotham after discovering he had investigated Themyscira and Wonder Woman, then used the Lasso of Truth to learn that Homelander had ordered the investigation. Rorschach arrived as Diana demanded to know why Homelander was investigating her homeland.

• Diana confronted Bruce Wayne about his investigation into Themyscira and Wonder Woman.
• Diana bound Bruce Wayne with the Lasso of Truth, and Bruce admitted Homelander had forced him to investigate.
• Bruce told Diana that Homelander was in Gotham, though his whereabouts and identity were mysterious.
• Rorschach watched news of Diana's arrival with Catwoman and decided to meet her.
• Rorschach appeared before Diana, who asked him why he was investigating Themyscira.

Rorschach explained to Diana that his inquiry into an acquired object had caused a misunderstanding, but he refused to trade it for her Lasso of Truth or Silver Bracelets of Submission. After Diana left, Rorschach reminded Bruce Wayne of his fifteen-day deadline and began watching Diana for a chance to obtain her treasures.

• Rorschach told Diana he had asked Bruce Wayne to investigate an object that seemed connected to her, and Bruce confirmed his account while bound by the Lasso of Truth.
• Diana recognized the object as hers and offered to meet Rorschach's conditions, but he refused to give it up unless she handed over the Lasso of Truth or Silver Bracelets of Submission.
• Diana rejected Rorschach's demand and left, while Bruce Wayne asked Rorschach to confirm that she was Wonder Woman.
• Rorschach told Bruce that the world was more interesting than he imagined, then reminded him that only fifteen days remained to fulfill his promise.
• Back at his apartment, Rorschach reflected on Diana meeting Batman early and began secretly watching her for an opportunity to take her treasures.

Diana stole a safe from Wayne Manor, but Batman and then Homelander confronted her over it. Rorschach took the safe from Diana and struck her, but she recovered unharmed and prepared to fight seriously.

• Diana ripped a safe from the wall of Wayne Manor and escaped into the night.
• Batman confronted Diana, but she bound him with the Lasso of Truth and repeatedly knocked him down.
• Rorschach appeared and demanded that Diana surrender the safe, which she refused to do.
• Rorschach struck Diana and snatched the safe from her, but she landed unharmed and prepared to fight seriously.

Diana fought Rorschach to reclaim her weapons, but he overpowered her and took the Lasso of Truth. She unleashed the Silver Bracelets of Submission’s energy torrent, and Rorschach met it with a telekinetic barrier.

• Diana charged Rorschach, but he struck her down and revealed how much she had underestimated him.
• Diana used the Lasso of Truth, but Rorschach grabbed it barehanded, blasted her with heat vision, and took it.
• Diana warned Batman to leave, but he used his grappling gun to get to safety while staying to watch.
• Diana collided her Silver Bracelets of Submission and sent a destructive torrent of energy toward Rorschach.
• Rorschach released his telekinetic power and formed a barrier as the torrent swept over him.

Rorschach effortlessly defeated Diana in a fight over the Lasso of Truth and took it along with the shield fragments. Back in his apartment, he extracted the lasso for 2,000 Origin Points and left the fragments unabsorbed.

• Diana's ultimate attack failed to harm Rorschach, and he overwhelmed her in a prolonged fight until police sirens prompted her to retreat.
• Rorschach told Batman to find the remaining shield fragments, then vanished with the Lasso of Truth and two fragments.
• Catwoman welcomed Rorschach back to the apartment and noticed the safe he had brought.
• Rorschach checked the system's valuations, found the lasso worth 2,000 Origin Points and the fragments worth 800, and chose to extract only the lasso.
• Rorschach turned the Lasso of Truth to ash through the system and added 2,000 Origin Points to his balance.