Chapter Summaries

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.

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.