Chapter Summaries

The Court of Owls launched a purge of its enemies while mutated beasts overwhelmed Gotham and the police at Ace Chemical Factory. As the beasts advanced toward the city center, Red Hood joined the fight against Shredder while Bruce tried to reach Ra's al Ghul.

• At Ace Chemical Factory, mutated beasts smashed the police barricade, and Commissioner Gordon learned the National Guard would not deploy without orders.
• At Boris Tower, the Court of Owls ordered more than a hundred Talons to attack a list of Gotham opponents, including Bruce Wayne, Grand Justice Ihamesson, Sidney Elliot, and Oswald.
• After the police suffered more than fifty percent casualties, Gordon ordered a retreat, and the beasts began advancing toward the city center.
• Two-Face knocked Nightwing down, but Red Hood arrived and shot the Foot Clan ninjas surrounding him.
• Bruce left Red Hood to hold off Shredder while he pursued Ra's al Ghul, and Shredder turned to fight Red Hood.

A horde of beasts rampaged through Gotham, forcing the Talons and criminal gangs to defend the city while Batman searched for Jude at Ace Chemical Factory. Batman arrived as Jude fought Ra's al Ghul, beginning a confrontation between them.

• Talons heading for Wayne Manor encountered an enormous albatross, other giant creatures, and a giant gorilla.
• Talons attacked Penguin at the Iceberg Lounge, but dinosaurs crashed in and scattered his gang as the beast invasion spread across Gotham.
• The Court of Owls kept the National Guard and military from intervening, leaving the overwhelmed police and Gotham's criminals and Talons to fight the beasts.
• Bruce Wayne tried to locate Jude with a tracker, but Jude had already discarded it in a sewer.
• Jude battled Ra's al Ghul for over ten minutes while trying to destroy the spray device, and Ra's offered him a place in the League of Assassins.
• Batman arrived at Ace Chemical Factory as Jude and Ra's fought.

Bruce Wayne rejected Ra's al Ghul's offer to lead the League of Assassins as they argued over whether Gotham could be saved without destroying it. When Dr. Baxter Stockman announced the spraying device was ready, Ra's ordered the plan launched and Bruce charged toward it.

• Bruce Wayne met Ra's al Ghul, who offered him leadership of the League of Assassins, but Bruce refused.
• Jude argued that Bruce could guide the League toward change and revealed that Ra's had founded it after his family was slaughtered.
• Ra's defended his plan to sacrifice millions to end Gotham's influence on global crime, while Bruce insisted its civilians could not be sacrificed.
• Dr. Baxter Stockman announced that the spraying device was repaired and ready to launch.
• Ra's asked Bruce once more to take over the League, but Bruce charged toward the spraying device, so Ra's ordered the plan launched.

Ivy, Batgirl, and Damian defeated several of their opponents, while Firefly, Nightwing, and Red Hood struggled against theirs. As Shredder rushed deeper into the factory after a signal sounded, Jude froze Bebop and Rocksteady near the spray device, while Batman and Ra's al Ghul continued fighting over Gotham’s fate.

• Ivy destroyed Clayface with plants, Batgirl knocked out Mad Hatter, and Damian wounded Professor Pyg, who injected himself with a drug.
• Firefly succumbed to Scarecrow’s fear toxin, Two-Face pressured Nightwing, and Shredder overwhelmed Red Hood before fending off Ivy, Batgirl, and Damian.
• An airship sounded a signal, prompting Shredder to head toward the factory’s interior as Batman fought Ra's al Ghul outside the spray-device room.
• Jude used his Freeze Gun to freeze Bebop, then evaded Rocksteady’s nail gun and froze him too.

Jude tried to stop Shredder and the escaping airship carrying the spraying device, while Bruce fought Ra's al Ghul and struggled to hold to his convictions. Jude used improved Gravity-Adhesion Shoes to pursue the airship, but Scarecrow hit him with fear toxin, leaving Bruce to catch him as the airship escaped.

• Jude froze and broke Stockman Fly's shield, but Shredder intercepted his shot and helped the airship haul away the spraying device.
• Bruce broke Ra's al Ghul's arms and leg, then stopped himself from killing him and knocked him unconscious before treating his wounds.
• Jude called Bruce over and used upgraded Gravity-Adhesion Shoes to fly after the airship.
• Scarecrow attacked Jude with enhanced fear toxin, flooding his mind with terrifying memories and making him fall from the sky.
• Bruce abandoned his fight with Shredder and caught Jude, while the airship escaped.

Penguin and the Talons fought off attacks by strange beasts while Bruce and Jude tried to stop Shredder’s airship from releasing mutagen over Gotham. Joker and Harley Quinn revealed they had taken control of the airship, and Joker ordered it to Browns Mountain.

• Penguin killed the last Talon at the Iceberg Lounge after beasts and Talons left the area strewn with corpses.
• Two surviving Talons continued toward Wayne Manor to carry out the Court of Owls’ mission against Bruce Wayne.
• Jude and Bruce watched Shredder’s airship slow and turn around, and Jude guessed that someone had taken over its controls.
• Joker and Harley Quinn appeared on the airship’s screen and taunted Bruce, Ra’s al Ghul, and Shredder.
• Joker ordered Harley to steer the airship toward Browns Mountain.

Joker left Gotham with Harley and the mutagen, insisting that only he could defeat Batman, while the Bat Family finished subduing the remaining villains and learned Wayne Manor had been attacked. At the Batcave, Jude challenged Stephanie to a race to create a mutagen antidote, as the group examined two Talon corpses.

• Joker told Harley he had left Batman free because he alone wanted to defeat him, then announced they would use the mutagen to make big news.
• Ra's al Ghul and Shredder retreated from Ace Chemical Factory, while Bruce and Jude helped capture Two-Face and Killer Croc; Scarecrow escaped.
• Huntress told Bruce that Wayne Manor had been attacked, but the Birds of Prey had arrived in time to protect Alfred.
• Jude introduced himself to Huntress and Black Canary in the Batcave, then realized his appearance had aged after merging with Grandpa Rick.
• Stephanie challenged Jude to make a mutagen antidote, and they wagered that she would get his equipment if she won while Jude would receive public recognition if he did.
• The group gathered around a containment tank holding the corpses of two Talons.

Firefly, Poison Ivy, Huntress Helena Bertinelli, Black Canary, and Nightwing identified two dead assassins as Talons and discussed the Court of Owls’ emergence. At a Court gathering, Wells reported the Night of the Owls’ losses and revealed evidence linking Bruce Wayne to Batman, prompting the Court to order an investigation.

• Firefly and Poison Ivy recognized the two corpses as Talons, and Nightwing explained to Huntress Helena Bertinelli that the Court of Owls had appeared.
• At an old Gotham castle, a Court member blamed Ms. Katherine for the failed Night of the Owls.
• Wells reported that 67 of 133 Talons had been killed or lost, 15 recovered, and 51 remained combat-capable; 25 targets were assassinated while 19 attempts failed.
• Wells told the Court that Talons had found a hidden passage beneath Wayne Manor and a Batsuit, though the footage did not prove Bruce Wayne was Batman.
• The old man ordered Wells to investigate Bruce Wayne’s connection to Batman and provide a definite answer within one week.

Jude visited Wayne Tower with Stephanie Brown to collect his reward from Lucius Fox and chose rare materials from Wayne Group’s underground storage. He left with half of the memory nickel alloy crate and continued browsing for more.

• Stephanie brought Jude to Lucius Fox’s office, where Jude asked to collect his reward for helping Bruce.
• Stephanie and Jude argued over a research competition, and Stephanie ordered Lucius to assemble the biological research department for a three-day study of the mutation serum.
• Lucius escorted Jude to Wayne Group’s underground storage, where Jude identified the memory nickel alloy and described a way to improve it.
• Jude pressed Lucius to hand over the rare alloy, and Lucius agreed to split the crate in half after Jude threatened to call Bruce.
• Jude told Lucius they were only getting started and continued searching the storage area for more items.

Jude selected rare materials and radioactive elements from Wayne Group’s underground stores for a secret weapon project, bargaining with Lucius over the costly Californium. After Lucius escorted him out of the storage area, Jude settled into a Wayne Group laboratory to begin work.

• Jude chose Sodium Micro-lattice Purple Gold and several rare elements from Wayne Group’s stores.
• Jude asked Lucius to gather radioactive materials, including Californium, and settled for ten grams after Lucius refused to provide more.
• Lucius ordered Jude out of the underground facility after his selections had reached nearly a billion dollars in value.
• Lucius brought Jude to Wayne Group’s laboratory on the thirty-seventh floor, where Jude dismissed him and prepared to work alone.

Gotham’s monster attack sparked national media coverage and a political fight over the National Guard’s failure to respond. The President defended Governor Jones, while Director Fury and Director Waller were asked to give their views.

• J. Jonah Jameson berated Peter Parker for writing a restrained report, then assigned Eddie Brock to cover the Gotham attack.
• The Daily Bugle published a report blaming Gotham’s police and suggesting Wayne Group’s secret experiments had caused the monster attack.
• At the White House, Speaker McConnell accused Governor Jones and the National Guard of failing to protect Gotham during the attack.
• The President said a drunken communications soldier had accidentally damaged equipment and defended Jones from blame.
• McConnell left angrily, and the President asked Director Fury and Director Waller for their opinions.

Nick Fury and Amanda Waller briefed the President on the forces behind the attack, including the League of Assassins, the Foot Clan, and The Hand, then clashed over their agencies’ intelligence and cooperation. In Gotham, Bruce prepared to confront the Court of Owls over its attacks on reform-minded officials and Alfred.

• Nick Fury told the President that supernatural forces and the League of Assassins were connected to the attack, recalling their attempt to destroy Gotham in the 1980s.
• Amanda Waller revealed that the Foot Clan was also involved and that The Hand operated behind it, surprising Nick Fury with her intelligence.
• The President ended the meeting and ordered Nick Fury and Amanda Waller to submit their investigation reports promptly.
• Nick Fury and Amanda Waller argued over A.R.G.U.S. forming its own superhuman team, and Waller said she would seek S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help if needed.
• Bruce put on the Batsuit and set out to visit Court of Owls members after their attacks on Gotham officials and Alfred.

Stephanie's team discovered the DNA polymerase responsible for mutations and developed a reagent they believed could reverse them. Jude challenged their conclusion after testing their results, leaving Stephanie to question whether his antidote—or her team's—might cause another mutation.

• Stephanie and Dr. Liu confirmed that DNA polymerase in the mutation serum caused genetic mutations, and their team developed a reagent to inhibit it.
• Stephanie confronted Jude at the laboratory, where she found him surrounded by liquor bottles and believed he had made no progress.
• Jude identified the method behind Stephanie's team's reagent, impressing Dr. Liu and unsettling Stephanie.
• Stephanie's team tested Jude's serum and declared that it could not reverse mutations.
• Jude suggested that Stephanie's reagent, rather than his, might cause another genetic mutation.

Jude exposed a flaw in the researchers’ mutation serum and demonstrated that Stephanie’s antidote could trigger dangerous mutations. After stabilizing Two-Face and providing the antidote formula, Jude returned to the laboratory, where Lucius was handling a crystalline object.

• Jude explained that a hidden ligase, not the apparent polymerase, caused the mutations and warned that the antidote could trigger secondary mutations or genetic collapse.
• Jude took the researchers to the Wayne Group’s basement and injected Two-Face with the antidote after Stephanie hesitated.
• Two-Face underwent a secondary mutation, but Jude used a prepared treatment to stabilize him and then restore his original form.
• Stephanie admitted defeat and left, while Jude gave Dr. Liu the antidote formula and told the researchers to continue their work.
• Jude returned to the thirty-seventh-floor laboratory and startled Lucius, causing him to drop a palm-sized crystalline object.

Jude explained his dangerous neutron-based weapon project to Lucius and finished building a compact particle cannon. He left Wayne Tower carrying the miniature weapon, while Lucius stayed behind with only the instructions for the memory nickel alloy.

• Lucius accidentally dropped Jude's crystalline device, and Jude froze it with his Freeze Gun before it could break.
• Jude told Lucius the crystal block was an Ultra-High Composite-Grade Medium-Particle Compressor and explained that it would power a destructive weapon.
• Jude carved circuits into a cannon barrel and said he was building a high-energy weapon that would not spread easily.
• Two days later, Jude emerged from the laboratory and confirmed that he had succeeded.
• Jude showed Lucius the palm-sized purple-and-white pistol at his waist, left the alloy instructions in the laboratory, and departed Wayne Tower.

Jude visited the injured Bruce, who explained that eight Talons ambushed him while he investigated the Court of Owls. Jude warned that the Court might have discovered Batman’s identity and agreed to prepare a healing potion, leaving for Wayne Tower after resting.

• Alfred told Jude that Bruce had been seriously injured, and Jude visited him in the Batcave.
• Jude teased Bruce by photographing his bandaged injuries, then destroyed the exposed film when Jason Todd demanded it.
• Bruce told Jude that he found Court of Owls masks at the Boris Family and Johnson Family residences before eight Talons ambushed him at the Lombardon Family residence.
• Jude warned the Bat Family that the Court of Owls might have tracked Batman to the Batcave, and Bruce promised to be careful.
• Jude agreed to make a healing potion for Bruce after sleeping, then left for Wayne Tower with Alfred.

Jude reflected on his plans to achieve immortality through Operation Phoenix and escape his fictional world, then asked Lucius for substantial support for his experiments. Meanwhile, the Court of Owls identified Bruce Wayne as likely being Batman and launched an attack on Wayne Manor, where the Bat Family and their allies fought back as the villa caught fire.

• Jude returned to Wayne Tower, explained his ambitions to achieve immortality and reach the real world, and asked Lucius to open his warehouse for experimental supplies.
• Wells told the Court of Owls that Batman had attacked several members and that Bruce Wayne was likely Batman, so the Court approved an assault on Wayne Manor.
• Dozens of Talons infiltrated Wayne Manor, triggering its alarm before the Bat Family could retrieve their equipment from the Batcave.
• Damian used Katana to cut grappling hooks, while Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl fought the Talons and Alfred headed to protect Bruce and activate the cold defenses.
• Firefly threw gasoline over the attackers and ignited it, setting the Wayne villa ablaze.

Talons attacked Wayne Manor, setting the mansion ablaze while the Bat Family and Ivy struggled to hold them back. As Bruce realized the Court of Owls had arrived and tried to prepare to fight, an explosion tore through the manor and scattered both sides across the lawn.

• Stephanie discovered that the phone lines had been cut and the signal jammed as Talons set the villa on fire.
• Bridget attacked the burning Talons with her Heat Vision, while Ivy escaped upstairs attackers and used the lawn's vines to bind and poison Talons pursuing her.
• Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, Damian, and Stephanie struggled against the Talons as others searched for Bruce Wayne.
• Jude left Lucius with the recovery potion prepared and said he planned to leave Gotham after Bruce was cured.
• In the Batcave, Bruce recognized Alfred's freezing system as a response to the Talons and pulled out his IV to reach his suit.
• Burned Talons regenerated in the pool, then an explosion blasted the roof apart and hurled the Bat Family and Talons across the lawn.

The Bat Family, Ivy, and Firefly fought the Talons while Bruce Wayne entered the battle in heavy armor to draw the attackers away. Alfred tried to evacuate Ivy and Bridget, but Jude arrived at Wayne Manor and prepared to use the Talons as test subjects.

• A blast badly injured Nightwing, the Bat Family, Ivy, Firefly, and the Talons, but the Talons regenerated and attacked again.
• Bruce emerged from the Batcave in heavy armor, drawing the Talons away from the others and attacking them with powerful punches, Heat Vision, and Gatling guns.
• Alfred tried to evacuate the others, but Damian and the Bat Family joined Bruce in fighting, while Bridget and Ivy climbed into Alfred's car.
• Alfred crashed the Lamborghini after mistaking Jude's approaching vehicle for an ambush, then Ivy recognized Jude and warned him that the Talons were attacking Bruce and the others.
• Jude saw the battle and said he would use the Talons as test subjects.

Jude used his new particle-compression weapon to destroy the attacking Talons and help Bruce and the Bat Family escape. He then unleashed a cannon beam that obliterated Wayne Manor and left a massive crater.

• Jude arrived in the battle and revealed that he knew Bruce was Batman.
• Jude fired his new weapon, blasting Talons into blood mist and killing more than a dozen.
• Jude told Bruce to retreat with the Bat Family, and Ivy shielded their escape with a wall of plants.
• Jude transformed the weapon into a cannon and flew high above the Talons.
• Jude fired a powerful beam that destroyed the villa, blasted the Talons away, and tore up the grounds of Wayne Manor.