Recaps

Cobblepot seized control of Gotham’s underworld, but Li Wei ordered him to spare Falcone and drive him out of the city. Li Wei then lured Bruce Wayne to Arkham Asylum with a clue about his parents’ murder, and Bruce arrived with Alfred and Selina Kyle.

• Li Wei urged Gordon to accept Cobblepot as Gotham’s next underworld king and arrange a meeting with Bruce Wayne.
• Cobblepot called Li Wei after capturing Falcone, who offered Arkham Asylum five hundred million dollars to save his life.
• Li Wei refused Falcone’s offer but told Cobblepot to let Falcone leave Gotham, and Cobblepot complied.
• Li Wei asked Gordon to tell Bruce Wayne he might learn who killed his parents, prompting Bruce to agree to visit.
• Bruce Wayne arrived at Arkham Asylum with Alfred and Selina Kyle, and Li Wei greeted him in his office.

Li Wei told Bruce Wayne that the Court of Owls had arranged his parents’ deaths, then traded the information for Wayne Enterprises’ help building an insect farm and ownership of Arkham Asylum. Bruce left to investigate the Court, while Li Wei accepted Cobblepot’s promise of a five-hundred-million donation and hinted at a surprise for him.

• Bruce Wayne pressed Li Wei for information about his parents’ deaths, and Li Wei revealed that the Court of Owls had ordered the killing to protect its plans in Gotham.
• Bruce agreed to compensate Li Wei with custom insect-farming equipment and Arkham Asylum, and Li Wei offered to help him once if the Court became too difficult to handle.
• Alfred urged Bruce to leave, and Gordon warned him against further contact with Li Wei as Bruce departed with Selina.
• Gordon returned to Arkham Asylum, conflicted about whether to seek help from Bruce to reclaim his police position.
• Cobblepot told Li Wei that Falcone had left Gotham with Victor and promised to cover Falcone’s five-hundred-million donation.
• Li Wei accepted Cobblepot’s delayed payment and promised him a surprise when he next visited Arkham Asylum.

Li Wei discovered that the Fiddlesticks Hero Template had unlocked a trial requiring Jonathan Crane to spread fear throughout Gotham. Meanwhile, Gordon accepted his situation at Arkham Asylum and began considering how to use his unusual powers, leaving Li Wei eager for a chance to help him return to the police department.

• Cobblepot became Gotham's dominant crime boss and reluctantly agreed to pay Li Wei five hundred million dollars.
• A killer hanged nearly fifty Gotham citizens and cut openings into their bodies, leaving the Police Commissioner desperate for a detective who could solve the case.
• Harvey admitted he could not crack the murders without Gordon, while the Police Commissioner considered bringing Gordon back to the department.
• Leslie comforted Gordon as he described his suspicions about Arkham Asylum and his history with Barbara, then persuaded him to accept his situation and discuss using his powers.
• Li Wei saw that the Fiddlesticks Hero Template now required 4,800 Soul Essence and completion of a trial using Jonathan Crane to spread fear throughout Gotham.

Li Wei discovered that Jonathan Crane was being driven toward becoming Scarecrow by his murderous father, and planned to give Jonathan the Ancient Fear Fiddlesticks Hero Template while using the crimes to restore Gordon’s career. Gordon was recalled to the Gotham Police Department on the condition that he solve the mass hanging case.

• Li Wei searched Gotham, found a police report about victims whose Fear Glands had been removed, and traced the killer to an Arkham district home.
• Li Wei discovered that the killer was Jonathan’s father, who was experimenting on Jonathan to cure their family’s supposed hereditary phobia.
• Li Wei decided to purchase the Ancient Fear Fiddlesticks Hero Template for Jonathan and designed a plan to make Gordon a Gotham hero and replace the Police Commissioner.
• Gordon arrived at Arkham Asylum with Leslie and answered a call from the Police Commissioner, who offered to restore his detective status if he solved the mass hanging case.
• Gordon accepted the condition and said he would return to the Gotham Police Department that day.

Gordon returned to the Gotham City Police Department after the mayor ordered his reinstatement, and Li Wei gave him an address connected to the mass hangings and organ thefts. Li Wei also secured ownership of Arkham Asylum and arranged Leslie’s departure, while Gordon remained unaware that Li Wei had shaped both their paths.

• The mayor ordered the Police Commissioner to reinstate Gordon, and Gordon told Li Wei he was leaving Arkham Asylum.
• Li Wei asked Gordon a dark riddle, then gave him an address and suggested he bring Harvey to investigate the case.
• Li Wei signed Wayne Enterprises’ documents transferring ownership of Arkham Asylum to him.
• Leslie resigned from Arkham Asylum to take a coroner position at the Gotham City Police Department, a move Li Wei had arranged.
• Gordon returned to the police department and was welcomed by its staff, who hoped he could solve the hanging and organ theft case.

Gordon and Harvey found evidence identifying Professor Gidro Klein as the killer who harvested his victims’ Fear Glands, rescued his son Jonathan, and later recovered Gordon’s detective status after Gidro died during an arrest. At Arkham Asylum, Li Wei prepared to bring Jonathan in as a trainee and assigned researchers to complete his Fear Gas, while Harvey asked Gordon to explain his recent experiences.

• Gordon showed Harvey Li Wei’s address, and they found stolen Fear Glands, evidence against Professor Gidro Klein, and his terrified son Jonathan in a locked storage room.
• Gordon and Harvey took Jonathan to the police station, then searched for Gidro; Li Wei watched them and arranged for Arkham Asylum researchers to develop Fear Gas from Gidro’s recorded experiments.
• Gordon and Harvey caught Gidro while he was gathering victims, and Gidro died after accidentally hanging himself during the struggle.
• Leslie began her onboarding at the Gotham Police Department, while Li Wei prepared to receive Jonathan at Arkham Asylum and tasked Dr. Hugo, Warwick, and Ian with completing the Fear Gas.
• The Police Commissioner restored Gordon’s badge, identification, and service pistol, and Harvey asked him to explain what had happened at Arkham Asylum.

Gordon accepted that Jonathan would be sent to Arkham Asylum after learning Leslie had joined the Gotham Police Department as its new forensic examiner. At Arkham, Li Wei bought Fiddlesticks’s Hero Template and tested its frightening abilities, including a powerful crowstorm.

• Gordon told Harvey how Li Wei had helped him and agreed that they should focus on their jobs unless they found evidence against Li Wei.
• Gordon objected to the Police Commissioner’s plan to send Jonathan to Arkham Asylum, but discovered that Leslie was the precinct’s new forensic examiner.
• Leslie defended her medical recommendation and explained that Arkham Asylum was the only institution eligible for City Hall funding, so Gordon agreed to send Jonathan there.
• Li Wei saw Jonathan being brought to Arkham Asylum and spent most of his Soul Essence buying Fiddlesticks’s Hero Template.
• Li Wei gained Fiddlesticks’s abilities, created a lifelike Scarecrow’s Effigy, and tested his skills, including Crowstorm.

Li Wei had Jonathan Klein brought to Arkham Asylum, then rejected Gordon’s demand to keep Jonathan there until the police approved his recovery. Li Wei secretly transferred Jonathan to the underground Indian Hill Hospital and prepared to load the Fiddlesticks Hero Template, declaring that Jonathan would become fear itself.

• Gordon and Harvey delivered the still-unconscious, struggling Jonathan to Arkham Asylum, where Dr. Hugo and Warwick restrained him.
• Gordon warned Li Wei not to use Jonathan for anything beyond treatment and said he would act as Jonathan’s guardian, but Li Wei argued that the police had no authority to keep a noncriminal from leaving once recovered.
• Gordon and Harvey left after Li Wei refused to accept Gordon’s conditions, and Li Wei asked who would pay Jonathan’s treatment fees.
• Li Wei took Jonathan to the underground Indian Hill Hospital, where Dr. Hugo, Warwick, and Ian were waiting for the template ritual.
• Li Wei told Jonathan he would soon have no fear because he was fear itself, then summoned the powerful Fiddlesticks Hero Template sphere.

Li Wei fused the Fiddlesticks Hero Template into Jonathan, curing his fear-induced insanity and transforming him into the Scarecrow. After arranging a legal-looking recovery assessment, Li Wei sent Jonathan to advanced training so he could spread fear more effectively in Gotham.

• Fiddlesticks' orb briefly stirred fear across Gotham, gathering the city's dark haze into a cloud vortex before thunder scattered it.
• Li Wei fused the Fiddlesticks Template into Jonathan, clearing his mind and transforming his body into a scarecrow.
• Jonathan tested his new form and sickle, then eagerly asked Li Wei to let him spread fear in Gotham.
• Li Wei arranged a recorded psychological recovery assessment with Dr. Hugo to prepare for Jonathan's eventual release and avoid trouble with Gordon.
• Dr. Hugo taught Jonathan about fear and how to spread it, while Li Wei left him to train; meanwhile, Bruce Wayne signed a Wayne Enterprises document about custom insect-breeding equipment for Li Wei.

Bruce Wayne agreed to fund custom equipment for Li Wei and continued investigating the Court of Owls, while Cobblepot tried to raise the five hundred million dollars he had promised Arkham Asylum. The chapter left Bruce hosting Alfred’s old comrade Reggie and Cobblepot still far short of the money he needed.

• Bruce told Alfred he had agreed to fund Li Wei’s equipment partly because Arkham Asylum might help if the Court of Owls proved too powerful to confront.
• Alfred answered a knock at Wayne Manor and introduced his Royal Special Forces comrade Reggie, whom Bruce invited to stay the night.
• Cobblepot waited for his mother’s opera performance to end, then ordered Butch’s men to interrogate two punks who had mocked her.
• Cobblepot told Butch to sell the punks’ houses and kept their valuables for Arkham Asylum’s donation, but the money was nowhere near the five hundred million dollars he owed.

Jonathan’s Fear Gas was manufactured, and Li Wei ordered him not to unleash it across Gotham. Gordon and Cobblepot both arrived at Arkham Asylum, where Li Wei let them enter and led them to Jonathan’s room.

• Jonathan’s Fear Gas research advanced, and the first batch was manufactured with a stronger effect that could drive frightened people to attack others.
• Gordon announced a Wayne Enterprises-funded Anti-Corruption Fund at the police station, but officers reacted in silence, and Harvey warned him that they might distrust his motives.
• Gordon asked Harvey for advice, then agreed to visit Jonathan at Arkham Asylum.
• Li Wei ordered Jonathan not to disperse Fear Gas across Gotham on a large scale, and Jonathan accepted the restriction.
• Gordon and Cobblepot arrived at Arkham Asylum at the same time; Li Wei told both groups to leave their companions outside and brought the two men to Jonathan’s room.

Gordon visited Arkham Asylum, where Jonathan had rapidly recovered after receiving Li Wei’s Hero Template, and sought Li Wei’s advice about the police resisting his Anti-Corruption Fund. Cobblepot donated five hundred million dollars to the asylum, then revealed that the mob’s businesses had run out of cash and began asking Li Wei for help.

• Gordon was shocked to find Jonathan alert after only a day of treatment, while Li Wei credited a proprietary formula for his recovery.
• Gordon warned Jonathan indirectly to be wary of Li Wei, but Jonathan remained loyal to Li Wei, and Cobblepot held back from rebuking Gordon when Li Wei stopped him.
• In Li Wei’s office, Gordon explained that Gotham police officers were resisting his Anti-Corruption Fund, and Li Wei advised him to find evidence of their crimes and arrest them.
• Cobblepot donated a five-hundred-million-dollar check to Arkham Asylum, prompting Gordon to leave rather than watch another apparent protection payment.
• After Gordon left, Cobblepot told Li Wei that the mob’s business cash flow had been cut off and began asking for a way forward.

Li Wei advised Cobblepot to turn Gotham’s criminal underworld into a heavily taxed licensing scheme, then sent Jonathan out of Arkham Asylum with Fear Gas to spread terror across Gotham. The chapter ended as Jonathan’s first victim began hallucinating a nightmare of crows and grotesque visions.

• Li Wei taught Cobblepot how to monopolize criminal industries, issue licenses, and tax criminals, and Cobblepot left eager to put the plan into action.
• Cobblepot offered Li Wei half the profits, but Li Wei refused and accepted Cobblepot’s promise to donate again.
• Li Wei released Jonathan from Arkham Asylum with Fear Gas and had Warwick and Dr. Hugo teach him how to make more.
• After completing his discharge paperwork, Jonathan went into Gotham at night to find a place to stay.
• Jonathan cornered a punk in a dark alley, transformed into a scarecrow, and sprayed him with Fear Gas.
• The punk’s vision warped into a nightmare as crows and grotesque scenes surrounded him.

Jonathan spread fear through Gotham’s wealthy district, strengthening Li Wei’s Fiddlesticks template at Arkham Asylum. A Yellow Lantern Ring arrived to choose Li Wei, but he rejected it and attacked the ring and Parallax’s avatar.

• Jonathan used Fear Gas on a thug and his accomplices, then made the thug’s home his base.
• Jonathan posed as a neighbor to enter a wealthy couple’s home and terrorize them, and fear spread through Gotham as victims attacked passersby.
• Li Wei sensed that Jonathan’s crimes had more than doubled the strength of his Fiddlesticks template.
• A Yellow Lantern Ring flew from space to Arkham Asylum and urged Li Wei to wear it.
• Li Wei refused the ring, struck it with his scythe, and then kept hacking at Parallax’s miniature avatar as it tried to persuade him.

Gordon investigated a string of murders in the Upper East Side after a police officer died and two others went insane, while the evidence pointed to a moving scarecrow using an unknown gas. The chapter ended as Gordon and Harvey watched footage of the scarecrow attacking a couple.

• Gordon learned that Jerome had murdered his mother and that Leslie recommended sending him to Arkham Asylum.
• Gordon agreed to take Jerome to Arkham the next morning, then learned that a new case had killed one officer and driven two others insane.
• Gordon and Harvey drove to the Upper East Side and wondered whether the crimes were connected to Arkham Asylum or Li Wei.
• Edward Nygma showed Gordon and Harvey straw evidence and explained that the killer appeared to be a moving scarecrow.
• Gordon and Harvey watched surveillance footage of the scarecrow threatening a couple with a sickle and spraying them with an unknown gas.

Gordon and Harvey identified the Scarecrow as a genuine supernatural being and decided to escort Jerome to Arkham Asylum, suspecting the killer was connected to it. At the asylum, Li Wei battered the Miniature Parallax Monster until it surrendered and agreed to answer his questions.

• Surveillance footage showed the Scarecrow terrorizing two victims before leaving a piece of straw as evidence, convincing the officers that it was real.
• Gordon and Harvey linked the Scarecrow case to Arkham Asylum but realized they lacked evidence and could not safely tell the public.
• Gordon decided to escort Jerome to Arkham Asylum and watch anyone who was not there, and Harvey joined him.
• Li Wei kept striking the Miniature Parallax Monster with his scythe until it became afraid and surrendered.
• Li Wei paused his attack and questioned the Miniature Parallax Monster, which cooperated with him.

Li Wei discovered that the Miniature Parallax Monster had become an independent being and struck a deal to trade fear power with it, strengthening Fiddlesticks in the process. As Little Parallax began absorbing its share, Li Wei asked if he could buy on credit, but car horns outside Arkham Asylum interrupted him.

• Li Wei learned that Parallax had sent the Fear Yellow Lantern to Earth to exploit his fear power, but Fiddlesticks' power had caused the miniature creature to develop its own will and fear.
• Li Wei proposed giving the Miniature Parallax Monster one share of fear power in exchange for two shares drawn from its true body.
• The Miniature Parallax Monster accepted the deal, fearing death at the hands of its true body and hoping to surpass it.
• Li Wei gave it fear power while keeping Veigar's Energy Blast ready, and the creature returned twice as much fear power for him to absorb.
• The Miniature Parallax Monster began devouring its share, and Li Wei asked whether he could buy on credit before car horns sounded outside Arkham Asylum.

Li Wei admitted Jerome Valeska to Arkham Asylum while Gordon searched the facility for Jonathan, whom he suspected of becoming the Scarecrow behind the Upper East District murders. After Gordon left to pursue Jonathan, Li Wei began writing a script to shape Jerome into the Joker.

• Li Wei concealed the Miniature Parallax Monster in the Fear Lantern Ring and went downstairs when Gordon and Harvey arrived with Jerome.
• Gordon inspected Arkham Asylum and discovered that Jonathan was missing; Li Wei said Jonathan had recovered and provided discharge paperwork and a recovery recording.
• Gordon left with the documents to search for Jonathan, while Harvey handed Jerome over to Li Wei.
• Li Wei brought Jerome to his ward, then began writing a script intended to give him the experience he needed to become the Joker.

Li Wei planned Jerome’s future as a vessel for Khada Jhin while waiting for outside forces to enter Gotham. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s Scarecrow spread fear across the Upper East Side, and Gordon returned to the police station to face reporters as the city learned of the murders.

• Li Wei burned Jerome’s script after deciding to wait for outside forces before beginning the plan to break him out of Arkham Asylum.
• Gordon and Harvey returned to the Upper East Side, where the Gotham police officers had retreated and Jonathan watched them from a house where he had killed the homeowner.
• Jonathan reflected that spreading fear had made him more than five times stronger, and he stopped killing for the night as daylight approached.
• Gordon and Harvey discussed how to answer the media, and Gordon considered Li Wei’s remark that he was only a detective.
• Reporters swarmed Gordon and Harvey’s car at the police station and questioned Gordon about the Upper East Side murders and the killer’s identity.

Sheriff Gordon and Harvey revealed footage proving that a scarecrow had murdered people at random, spreading fear throughout Gotham. Jonathan discovered that the public panic generated vast, continuing fear energy, while Li Wei took a large share of it for the Miniature Parallax Monster in exchange for its cooperation.

• Sheriff Gordon showed reporters the Upper East Side crime footage and a strand of straw, convincing them that the moving scarecrow was real.
• Gotham Police issued a wanted notice warning that the scarecrow killed at random, and the news sparked widespread panic across the city.
• Jonathan watched the reports at home and felt fear energy surge as Gotham residents became afraid of the scarecrow.
• Jonathan's newly generated fear energy was mysteriously drained, then returned in a quantity twice as large, delighting him.
• Li Wei withdrew Fiddlesticks' scythe from the Miniature Parallax Monster and let it absorb a huge amount of fear energy under their deal.

Li Wei increased his power of fear and began training Jerome with a dark joke, while Gordon maneuvered against the police chief and searched for Jonathan. Cobblepot put Li Wei’s proposed underworld rules into effect, and Gordon and Harvey ended the day without finding Scarecrow.

• Li Wei forced the Miniature Parallax Monster to give him double the power of fear, then went to Jerome’s ward to tell him a dark joke as his first lesson.
• Jerome laughed at Li Wei’s joke, praised him, and wrote it in a notebook after Li Wei left.
• Gordon defended showing the crime-scene footage and issuing a warrant for Scarecrow, then left the chief’s office and joined Harvey to search for Jonathan.
• Cobblepot ordered Butch to distribute new rules for Gotham’s gangs and said most gang members would support them.
• Gordon and Harvey searched for Jonathan throughout the day, found no trace of him, and stopped their car to rest.

Gordon and Harvey kept patrolling for the Scarecrow while Cobblepot offered Gordon a partnership to target Gotham’s gangs and corrupt police. As Jonathan planned his next attack and Li Wei taught Jerome dark jokes at Arkham Asylum, Gordon realized how dangerous the asylum’s criminals could be.

• Cobblepot approached Gordon and Harvey with an offer to provide evidence against rival gangs in exchange for police cooperation.
• Gordon asked Cobblepot about the Scarecrow and Arkham patient Jonathan, prompting Cobblepot to flee rather than risk involvement with Arkham.
• Gordon accepted Cobblepot’s offer but demanded evidence of police officers’ ties to gangs and other crimes.
• Gordon and Harvey patrolled Gotham night after night, while Jonathan secretly watched them and planned to strike again after the city recovered from fear.
• Gordon concluded that Arkham’s criminals could potentially destroy Gotham if they turned their attacks on civilians.
• Li Wei taught Jerome dark jokes at Arkham Asylum, and Dr. Hugo once sat in to observe a lesson.

After Alfred was stabbed by Reggie, Bruce Wayne resolved to pursue the Court of Owls and protect Alfred himself. He traveled to Arkham to find Selina, where two intimidating men confronted him and Selina dropped into the alley.

• Dr. Hugo studied Li Wei and Jerome’s mental states after Jerome began following Li Wei’s hell jokes.
• Alfred woke in the hospital and tried to leave to recover documents Reggie had stolen, but Bruce ordered him to rest and promised to handle the matter.
• Bruce decided to track Reggie himself, believing the Court of Owls had sent him to steal the documents and target Alfred.
• Bruce went to the Arkham district to find Selina, passing through its impoverished streets and construction sites.
• Two tattooed men in an alley turned toward Bruce, and Selina dropped down from above and landed nearby.

Bruce Wayne recruited Selina to help find Reggie, while Li Wei directed Dr. Hugo to infiltrate the Court of Owls and plotted to draw Ra's al Ghul out. Meanwhile, Cobblepot's crime-license and tax plan met resistance from gangs with powerful backers, leaving their allegiance uncertain.

• Bruce told Selina that Alfred had been stabbed by Reggie and asked her to help locate the shooting range.
• Selina agreed to accompany Bruce and revealed that the supposed shooting range was actually a drug den.
• Li Wei ordered Dr. Hugo to rise within the Court of Owls and wait for Bruce, hoping to use the Court to draw out Ra's al Ghul and find the Lazarus Pit.
• Cobblepot learned that gangs backed by influential officials were resisting his Gotham Crime Business Reform Plan, while other gangs stalled and waited to see what happened.

Cobblepot used evidence against Detective Flass to help Gordon arrest him and seize his territory, but Gordon’s efforts to clean up Gotham’s police force took a troubling turn when a robber showed him a permit signed by Cobblepot. Gordon realized Cobblepot might be openly authorizing crimes, and he had the robber taken in for questioning.

• Cobblepot gave Butch evidence implicating Flass in drug dealing and sent him to deliver it to Gordon.
• Gordon and Harvey investigated the warehouse named in the files, found Flass conducting business, and arrested him after a shootout killed his gang lackeys.
• Gordon considered using Cobblepot’s help to expose corruption in the police department.
• Gordon caught a robber who presented a seemingly official robbery permit signed by Oswald Cobblepot.
• Gordon ordered Harvey to take the robber to the station for interrogation, while the robber continued insisting on his permit.