Recaps

Gordon learned that Cobblepot was using paid criminal licenses and a 70-percent criminal income tax to organize Gotham’s underworld, and realized the scheme threatened the city’s balance of power. Cobblepot then arrived at the police department with armed gang members but entered alone to speak with the commissioner, leaving the officers wondering why he had come.

• Gordon interrogated the robber and learned that Cobblepot charged criminals for licenses and took 70 percent of their earnings as tax.
• The robber explained that Cobblepot had crushed opposition by wiping out the Wild Wolf Gang, whose backer, Officer Fras, Gordon had sent to prison.
• Gordon recognized that Cobblepot was building a powerful, citywide system for governing Gotham’s criminal organizations but could not see how to stop it.
• Cobblepot arrived at the police department with Butch and a convoy of armed gang members, then ordered them to wait outside while he went in alone.
• Cobblepot introduced himself to the officers and asked to speak with the commissioner, who escorted him to his office.

Gordon challenged Gotham’s crime-license system after the police chief ordered him to release a robber for Cobblepot. Cobblepot killed the robber outside Gotham PD, while Gordon found himself nearly alone in wanting to arrest him.

• The police chief ordered Gordon to release the robber, and Gordon reluctantly removed his handcuffs after arguing against crime licenses.
• Gordon asked whether Scarecrow, Khada Jhin, and the Gotham Beast had crime licenses, leaving Cobblepot speechless before he left with the robber.
• The robber asked Cobblepot for a job, but Cobblepot shot him dead outside Gotham PD.
• Gordon urged the officers to arrest Cobblepot, but they refused, and Harvey offered to go with Gordon alone.
• Gordon condemned the officers for ignoring the killing, while the other detectives defended their inaction.
• Cobblepot returned to the Iceberg Lounge, which he had closed and renamed the Iceberg Club.

Li Wei planned to restore the balance between Gotham’s criminals and law enforcers by launching Jerome’s debut and arranging his release from Arkham Asylum. He recruited Cobblepot to help with the plan, leaving Cobblepot uneasy about why Li Wei had summoned him.

• Li Wei decided Gotham’s growing criminal power was reducing his Soul Essence income, so he planned to strengthen Gordon indirectly by replacing corrupt police officers.
• Li Wei prepared Jerome’s debut as Khada Jhin and chose Theodore Galavan, a billionaire and leader of the Order of Saint Dumas, as a way to arrange Jerome’s removal from Arkham Asylum.
• Li Wei finished and destroyed his written plan, then called Cobblepot to ask him to come to Arkham Asylum and help.
• Cobblepot postponed the crime-permit sales at the Iceberg Club and told Butch to drive him to Arkham, while worrying that Li Wei had discovered the business.

Cobblepot visited Li Wei at Arkham Asylum and agreed to help Theodore Galavan win the mayoral election as part of Li Wei’s elaborate scheme. Li Wei then arranged for the Court of Owls to send criminals from Blackgate Prison to Arkham and prepared Jerome for release, while concealing his true plan to attack the Gotham City Police Department and stage The Joker’s debut.

• Cobblepot went to Arkham Asylum fearing Li Wei had learned about Gordon’s remarks, but Li Wei asked him to support Theodore Galavan’s mayoral campaign.
• Li Wei told Cobblepot to ally with Galavan, help him become mayor, and encourage him to abduct Arkham’s patients and use them in a staged crime-fighting campaign.
• Cobblepot left determined to carry out Li Wei’s instructions so he would stay in Li Wei’s good graces.
• The Miniature Parallax Monster questioned Li Wei’s complicated plan, and Li Wei explained that he was dividing it into parts to hide his true objective.
• Li Wei asked Dr. Hugo to arrange for the Court of Owls to send mentally ill criminals from Blackgate Prison to Arkham and to prepare a Hero Template for Jerome.
• Dr. Hugo secured the Court of Owls’ agreement to deliver the first criminals the next morning and considered how to act on Li Wei’s plan at their gathering next week.

Li Wei granted Jerome Khada Jhin’s Hero Template after Dr. Hugo’s disturbing restraint preparations. Jerome survived the painful transformation and embraced the new abilities as a marvelous performance, leaving the others convinced he had become even more dangerous.

• Dr. Hugo called Li Wei to say Jerome was ready, and Li Wei found Jerome tied to a wheelchair with a mouse wheel in his mouth.
• Li Wei questioned Dr. Hugo’s restraint methods, but Dr. Hugo defended them as medically sound and revealed he had bought over five hundred spare mouse wheels.
• Li Wei summoned Khada Jhin’s Hero Sphere and sent it into Jerome, whose memories of the art at Maroni Plaza stirred as it merged with him.
• Jerome endured the transformation while smiling, broke free of the ropes, and gained Khada Jhin’s appearance, weapon, and knowledge.
• Jerome praised the process as a wonderful performance, while Ian, Dr. Hugo, and Warwick realized he seemed more dangerous than before.

Li Wei fused Jerome with Khada Jhin and laid out a plan for Jerome to build a following and attack the Gotham Police Department. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne and Selina found Reggie, who refused to reveal who sent him to Wayne Manor, and Selina took his drug bag.

• Jerome embraced his new identity as Khada Jhin and agreed to follow Li Wei's orders for his planned debut.
• Li Wei told Jerome to join the incoming mentally ill criminals, escape when Theodore Galavan attacked Arkham Asylum, and lead a massacre at the Gotham Police Department while sparing Gordon and hiding his asylum connection.
• Jerome thanked Dr. Hugo sarcastically before Li Wei took him back to his ward; Warwick then asked Dr. Hugo about his bondage techniques, prompting Ian to tease him about never dating.
• Li Wei observed Bruce Wayne and Selina find Reggie in an unfinished building, where Selina slapped him awake.
• Bruce confronted Reggie about stabbing Alfred and stealing files from Wayne Manor, but Reggie avoided saying who had sent him.
• Selina snatched the cloth bag beside Reggie, and Reggie anxiously demanded it back.

Bruce learned that Marcy and Sid Bondros had arranged Reggie’s attack on Alfred, but Selina kicked Reggie out of a window when Bruce could not bring himself to do it. Meanwhile, Cobblepot approached Theodore Galavan with Li Wei’s plan, and Galavan agreed to pursue the mayor’s office as a way to target the Wayne family.

• Reggie revealed that Marcy and Sid Bondros had sent him to learn what Bruce knew and had coordinated with him.
• Selina dropped Reggie’s bag of flour onto an awning, and Reggie leaned out of the window to retrieve it.
• Bruce hesitated to push Reggie, so Selina kicked him out of the window, killing him.
• Li Wei watched the incident, reflected on Bruce’s refusal to kill, and went to sleep.
• Cobblepot met Theodore Galavan and proposed cooperating to make Galavan Gotham’s mayor.
• Galavan, who wanted revenge against the Wayne family, welcomed Cobblepot’s help and promised benefits for his forces if he became mayor.

Li Wei welcomed a new group of criminals transferred from Blackgate Prison to Arkham Asylum and tested a newly discovered ability that let him subtly influence people through words and actions. Gordon left questioning his suspicions about the asylum, while Li Wei remained in control of the growing situation.

• Cobblepot and Theodore Galavan agreed to raid Arkham Asylum after three days, with Cobblepot supplying the weapons and Galavan planning to use the criminals’ escape to support his mayoral ambitions.
• Cobblepot left with Butch, convinced Galavan was as good as dead, while Galavan watched them go and believed he had gained an ally against the Wayne family.
• The next morning, Li Wei received Gordon and Harvey as they escorted mentally ill criminals from Blackgate Prison to Arkham Asylum.
• Li Wei challenged Gordon’s suspicions and pointed out Jonathan waving from a ward window, causing Gordon to doubt whether Arkham Asylum was involved in the crimes.
• Harvey pulled the unsettled Gordon back onto the bus, and Li Wei watched them leave after testing his new ability to subtly influence others.

Li Wei prepared Arkham Asylum’s new prisoners for Jerome and Ian’s plan, then reviewed his growing Soul Essence and discovered Senna’s Hero Template. He left off eager to use Senna’s Absolution passive ability in what came next.

• Li Wei checked the insect farm’s construction and Wayne Enterprises’ equipment blueprints before returning to his office to inspect the new prisoners’ files.
• After finding no suitable Hero Template vessels among the prisoners, Li Wei ordered Dr. Hugo and Warwick to lock them in the second-floor hall for free activity, leaving Jerome and Ian to blend in and take charge.
• Li Wei reviewed the Soul Essence earned from Jonathan’s crimes and Fear Toxin production, as well as Cobblepot’s crackdown on Gotham’s underworld.
• Li Wei browsed the Hero Mall and found Senna’s Hero Template, whose Absolution passive ability caught his attention.

Li Wei tested Senna’s Hero Template, discovered it changed his sex, and then used its soul-harvesting ability to fire on the dead across Arkham District. He learned Theodore Galavan was preparing to attack Arkham Asylum and saw Jerome gaining influence among the criminal patients.

• Li Wei transformed into Senna, admired her appearance, and quickly changed back after realizing the transformation had removed his male anatomy.
• Li Wei spotted a disguised member of the Order of Saint Dumas investigating Arkham Asylum and followed him to Theodore Galavan.
• The Order member reported that Arkham appeared normal and that Cobblepot’s cooperation should be secure, while Galavan prepared to begin his revenge against the Wayne family.
• Li Wei realized Galavan’s attack on Arkham might be near, checked Jerome’s progress, and saw him standing atop one of the criminal psychiatric patients.
• Li Wei manifested Senna’s gun and fired a faint beam into an empty alley in Arkham District to begin harvesting souls from afar.

Li Wei strengthened Senna’s talent by shooting souls across Arkham and the Upper East Side, while Jerome grew accustomed to tormenting the criminally insane inmates. The Order of Saint Dumas abducted the inmates as planned, including Jerome and Ian, leaving Li Wei to await their next move and bill Cobblepot for the asylum’s destroyed gates.

• Li Wei discovered that shooting souls increased his attack range and power, then spent his time enhancing Senna’s talent by attacking souls around Arkham.
• Dr. Hugo and Warwick returned the criminally insane inmates to their rooms after Jerome’s three-hour activity session, and the inmates learned they would have to endure the same routine every day.
• Over the next two days, Li Wei absorbed nearly all the dead souls in Arkham, expanding his attack range across most of the Upper East Side.
• The Order of Saint Dumas blasted through Arkham Asylum’s entrance gates, then used sedative smoke grenades to incapacitate the inmates gathered in the activity area.
• Jerome and Ian pretended to be unconscious as the Order of Saint Dumas carried them and the other inmates away on a bus.
• Li Wei confirmed that his plan had succeeded and decided to charge Cobblepot for the destroyed gates.

After Li Wei reported the Arkham Asylum breakout to Sheriff Gordon, Galvin gathered the escaped inmates and forced them to join his plan. Jerome used Russian roulette to intimidate Greenwood into accepting him as their boss, leaving Galvin impressed by his nerve and luck.

• Li Wei called Sheriff Gordon to report that attackers had taken every criminally insane inmate from Arkham Asylum, then continued watching Jerome and the others.
• Galvin brought the inmates to a safehouse, offered them a chance to join his plan, and shot a rich kid who tried to leave.
• After Galvin led the inmates to the weapons room, they turned toward Jerome, and Greenwood challenged him for leadership with a chainsaw.
• Galvin proposed Russian roulette to settle who would be boss, and Jerome fired five times without hitting the live round.
• Greenwood refused to take the revolver and conceded that Jerome was boss, while Galvin discovered the final bullet was still in the gun.

Li Wei arranged for Gordon to investigate the Arkham Asylum attack and keep him away from the police department while Jerome led escaped criminals to Wayne Enterprises. Jerome’s gang seized the building and its employees, and he selected one captive as the first audience member for his planned spectacle.

• Li Wei told Gordon and Harvey that the Order of Saint Madu had attacked Arkham Asylum and described the attackers’ monk robes.
• Gordon took Li Wei’s statement and returned to the police department to report the escape, while Li Wei continued watching Jerome.
• Jerome named his gang The Artists, rejected their proposed targets, and led them toward Wayne Enterprises in a hijacked bus.
• Jerome shot a Wayne Enterprises security guard and led the armed criminals into the building, where they captured the employees.
• Jerome addressed the hostages and chose a Black man as the first audience member for his big story.

Jerome revealed himself as Khada Jhin during a live broadcast from the occupied Wayne Enterprises building and staged a bloody performance for Gotham. He ended the show with a riddle that seemed to mock Bruce Wayne’s murdered parents, leaving Bruce and Alfred furious as they hurried toward the building.

• Jerome took over Gotham’s broadcast and announced that The Artists had seized Wayne Enterprises, prompting Gordon and Harvey to race there while Bruce watched from Wayne Manor.
• Jerome transformed into Khada Jhin on camera, shocking Gotham’s viewers and his criminal followers, and Bruce ordered Alfred to drive him to Wayne Enterprises.
• Jerome shot a chocolate bean and turned it into a flower of flesh and blood, confirming that he was Khada Jhin.
• Jerome ordered his followers to arrange captives on the floor, then shot them so their bloody remains spelled “Artists.”
• Jerome ended the broadcast in a Joker mask after asking a riddle that Gotham citizens, Bruce, and Alfred connected to Bruce’s parents.

Jerome led the Artist Gang in a massacre at Wayne Enterprises Tower, then slipped away while disguised among panicked survivors. He visited his blind father, accused him of neglect and favoring Jeremiah, and killed him before leaving.

• Edward Nygma doubted that the Waynes were the answer to Jerome's riddle and kept turning a playing card as he thought.
• Jerome forced survivors and his men to wear identical Joker masks, then escaped Wayne Enterprises Tower by blending into the fleeing crowd.
• Gordon and Harvey found the tower empty, recovered its surveillance footage, and returned to the police station to review it.
• Jerome went alone to his blind father's home and tied him to a chair.
• Jerome accused his father of ignoring his childhood abuse and favoring Jeremiah, then shot him and left.

Gordon and Harvey realized Jerome might target the blind psychic, but arrived too late to stop his murder. Jerome returned to Galavan’s safehouse and prepared to attack the Gotham Police Department, while Galavan obtained weapons from Cobblepot and sent the Order of Saint Dumas to collect them.

• Edward suggested that Gordon and Harvey visit the blind psychic whom Jerome’s father had reported, and they rushed to the man’s address.
• Gordon and Harvey found the psychic murdered in a display of flesh and blood and concluded that Jerome had killed him.
• Jerome returned to Galavan’s safehouse, where Galavan welcomed him and Jerome requested heavy weapons for an operation against the Gotham Police Department.
• Cobblepot agreed to supply Galavan with weapons from a warehouse but insisted that they avoid meeting and that he not be told the purpose of the weapons.
• Galavan sent the Order of Saint Dumas to retrieve the weapons instead of Jerome and the Artist Gang.

Galvin supplied Jerome’s Artist Gang with weapons, while Jerome and Ian prepared a bomb for an attack on Gotham Police Department. The next day, Jerome launched the assault, and the chapter ended as his gang charged inside and he took up a sniper position outside.

• Galvin dismissed his suspicions about Cobblepot’s weapon shipment and gave the weapons to Jerome and the Artist Gang.
• Jerome let Ian take all the explosives, and Ian built a bomb powerful enough to destroy Gotham Police Department.
• Gotham’s media spread Jerome’s riddle, while Bruce failed to suppress it and Gordon’s warning about another attack was dismissed by the Police Commissioner.
• Li Wei watched Gordon leave the department and anticipated Jerome’s planned massacre and the Soul Essence it would yield.
• Jerome hijacked a bus carrying Artist Gang members and Ian’s bomb, then drove it to Gotham Police Department nearly three hours earlier than the previous day.
• Jerome’s men charged into the police department as Jerome took up a sniper position on the bus.

Jerome led the Artist Gang in an assault on Gotham Police Department, where Jonathan Crane’s Fear Gas helped defeat the officers. Jerome and Scarecrow confirmed they were Arkham Asylum alumni through a code phrase and agreed to cooperate, strengthening their plans for Gotham.

• Jerome and the Artist Gang attacked Gotham Police Department, and Jerome’s powerful rifle killed officers hiding behind cover.
• Jonathan Crane released pale green Fear Gas into the station, forcing Jerome’s men to retreat while the gas overwhelmed the officers inside.
• After the criminals formed a defensive line outside the station, Scarecrow emerged from a nearby alley and approached Jerome.
• Jerome asked Scarecrow a dark joke, and Scarecrow gave the answer that served as their Arkham Asylum code phrase.
• Jerome and Scarecrow agreed to cooperate, and Scarecrow joined the criminals’ defensive line.

Jerome and Scarecrow led an assault that wiped out the Gotham Police Department, while reporters gathered outside to capture the unprecedented attack. Jerome discovered the chief and Police Commissioner hiding in a sealed interrogation room, shot through its lock, and greeted them at the open doorway.

• Jerome and Scarecrow entered the Gotham Police Department with their subordinates as reporters filmed from hiding places nearby.
• They found the station filled with dead officers and realized that the chief and Police Commissioner were missing.
• Scarecrow sensed fear near a sealed interrogation room, and Jerome summoned Greenwood to film as they approached it.
• Jerome used Mass Infatuation to see the chief and Black female Police Commissioner hiding behind the metal door, then taunted them to come out.
• The Police Commissioner cursed Jerome through the door and claimed its military-grade steel could not be breached.
• Jerome shot through the door's lock, opened it, and greeted the chief and Police Commissioner.

Jerome forced the Gotham Police Commissioner to choose between his life and death, then staged a deadly riddle for the camera. After Jonathan, Scarecrow stopped Jerome from shooting the commissioner, he claimed the execution for himself and killed him with a crow-shaped shadow.

• Jerome shot the Black female Police Commissioner after she cursed him, then asked the commissioner whether he wanted to live.
• The commissioner chose survival, but Jerome declared his answer of The Waynes wrong when the riddle's answer was a bowling ball and aimed his gun at him.
• Jonathan, Scarecrow blocked Jerome's gun and said he wanted to kill the commissioner himself, so Jerome shot Greenwood and took over filming.
• Scarecrow sent a crow-shaped shadow into the commissioner, who struggled and bled to death as Jerome recorded the scene.
• Scarecrow severed the commissioner's head with his sickle.

Jerome’s gang wiped out the Gotham Police Department and escaped, while a staged school-bus hostage crisis kept Gordon and Harvey away from the station. When they returned, they realized the hostage crisis had been a diversion and the reporters had obtained footage of the attack.

• After the Gotham Police Department was wiped out, Jerome and his gang escaped, leaving behind a camera and videotape of the attack.
• Gordon and Harvey heard a report that the station had been attacked, but turned toward a school bus being doused with gasoline in the Upper East Side.
• Harvey distracted the arsonist while Gordon tackled him and stopped him from igniting the gasoline.
• Reporters collected the camera footage, which showed the attack, the deaths of the police commissioner and chief, Scarecrow’s ability, and the answer to Jerome’s riddle.
• A sniper killed the arsonist as Gordon and Harvey prepared to take him into custody, and the detectives returned to find the station in disarray and recognize the hostage crisis as Jerome’s diversion.

Jerome’s gang destroyed the Gotham City Police Department, leaving Gordon and the surviving officers without a headquarters as the media reported the attack. Back at the gang’s base, Galvin praised Jerome, seeing the massacre as useful to his own plans.

• Gordon gathered the surviving officers, but a timed bomb Ian had made from Cobblepot’s explosives destroyed the police station as reporters watched.
• Gordon declared that the department would survive as long as its officers remained, then sent them home and returned to Leslie.
• Jerome asked Jonathan, the Scarecrow, to return with the gang, but Jonathan declined so Gotham’s fear of him could recover before he struck again.
• Jerome and his men rode a prepared bus back to their base, where Galvin praised their attack and Jerome asked what he meant.

Galvin planned to use Jerome’s crimes to boost his mayoral campaign, while the Gotham Police Department’s destruction sparked widespread crime and fear across the city. At Arkham Asylum, Li Wei benefited from the surge in fear power and watched as Galvin prepared to exploit Jerome, unaware of the danger.

• Galvin told Jerome and the others that he planned to use their criminal notoriety to build his righteous image and run for Gotham mayor.
• News reports detailed Jerome and Scarecrow’s attack on the Gotham Police Department, and Gotham’s weakened police force allowed criminal groups and Jerome’s admirers to spread unrest.
• Cobblepot realized Jerome had been freed from Arkham by Galvin and suspected Li Wei had orchestrated the events, while Gotham’s underworld speculated that Arkham had directed Galvin’s raid.
• Jerome asked Galvin whether they would have to wait until his charity gala, as Galvin continued with his plan to rise by using Jerome.
• Li Wei watched Gotham’s fear power surge through the media coverage and learned that citizens feared Jonathan’s inexplicable black mist even more than Jerome.

Galvin confined Jerome and his gang until the charity gala, while both men secretly planned to use the event for their own purposes. As Gotham edged toward chaos, Bruce was locked inside Wayne Manor for his protection, and Edward Nygma’s darker identity emerged after Jerome revealed the riddle’s answer.

• Galvin ordered Jerome and his men to remain in their hideout until the charity gala, and Jerome agreed despite his gang’s protests.
• Jerome noticed the Order of Saint Dumas waiting outside but accepted Galvin’s terms because his own plan required the gala.
• Gotham citizens turned Jerome’s bowling-ball riddle into jokes about Bruce Wayne’s parents, and Bruce smashed antiques in anger.
• Alfred activated Wayne Manor’s defenses and forbade Bruce from leaving as Gotham’s disorder threatened the Wayne family.
• Edward watched Jerome reveal that the riddle’s answer was a bowling ball, and his green-suited persona beat his honest former self until it vanished.

Edward Nygma embraced his newfound identity as the Riddler while Li Wei continued expanding his power by attacking dead souls. Jerome’s assault on the police triggered a citywide crime wave, which Gordon struggled to contain until Cobblepot intervened to restore order under his crime-permit rules.

• Edward Nygma celebrated his transformation and declared himself the Riddler.
• Li Wei continued attacking dead souls in Gotham, rapidly increasing his power and range.
• New criminal gangs spread across Gotham after Jerome’s attack left the police force weakened and overwhelmed.
• Gordon released some minor offenders and pulled officers back from nighttime patrols as the city’s crime worsened.
• Cobblepot led his men into the streets and imposed his crime-permit rules, bringing the chaos partly under control.