Recaps

Bruce Wayne returned to Wayne Manor to find Alfred missing and a Scarecrow prop, patient uniform, and taunting recording left behind. He identified Arkham Asylum as the enemy’s likely destination and set out to rescue Alfred while forcing his anger back under control.

• Bruce found a straw Scarecrow and a recording revealing that Alfred had been taken and inviting him to a room at an asylum.
• Bruce examined the broken lock and clues around the hall, deducing that one intruder had entered after Bruce left for the gala and had subdued Alfred.
• Bruce suspected the intruder had used a concealed electric weapon and concluded that Alfred had been caught off guard despite gaining the upper hand.
• Bruce found the patient uniform marked 3124 and recognized the recording’s clues as pointing to Arkham Asylum.
• Bruce recalled his parents’ murder and reaffirmed his resolve to fight Gotham’s evil before heading upstairs.

Batman infiltrated Arkham Asylum to investigate Room 3124, but Strange spotted him and triggered a breakout. As patients surrounded Batman and Scarecrow released green smoke, Batman prepared his breathing apparatus.

• Miao Mu and Otis rested at the gym while Batman arrived near Arkham Asylum and slipped inside.
• Strange watched Batman on the asylum’s surveillance cameras and activated a hidden switch.
• Doctor Jeremiah shut off electrical switches, opening the doors to severely ill patients’ rooms.
• Batman searched the lobby for Room 3124, then encountered Kamen Dishi and other patients.
• Strange taunted Batman over the speaker as Scarecrow released green smoke through the vents.
• Batman recognized the chemical threat and deployed a breathing tube from his mask.

Batman fought through the Fear Gas-driven inmates at the asylum while Hugo Strange put on his replica Batman suit and set out to destroy Gotham. After Scarecrow exposed Batman to a new Fear Gas, Batman relived his childhood trauma as Jonathan prepared to strike him down.

• Fear Gas drove Carmendish and the other inmates into a frenzy, but Batman subdued them with punches, joint locks, and transforming handcuffs.
• Hugo Strange revealed a replica Batman suit, put it on, and declared his intention to destroy Gotham as Batman.
• Batman fought his way to the second floor, where Jonathan attacked him with an electric baton.
• Batman disarmed Jonathan and demanded to know where Alfred was, but Jonathan sprayed him with a new Fear Gas that bypassed his air filter.
• The gas made Batman hallucinate bats, the well where he had fallen as a child, and his parents' deaths, while Jonathan raised his baton to strike him.

Batman overcame Scarecrow Jonathan’s Fear Gas and forced Jonathan to inhale it, then followed a sign to Room 3129 in search of Alfred. There he found a transformed Arkham patient instead, and the chapter ended with Batman striking the Werewolf.

• Scarecrow Jonathan incapacitated Batman with his stun baton and taunted him as the Fear Gas filled his mind.
• Batman injected himself with temporary serums and stamina-restoring drugs, then fought through his hallucinations using memories of Thomas Wayne’s recording.
• Batman charged upstairs, defeated Jonathan, and turned Jonathan’s Fear Gas against him.
• Batman followed a sign to Room 3129, where he found a man in a straitjacket marked with Alfred’s name instead of Alfred.
• The Werewolf patient broke free and attacked, but Batman struck him with an exoskeleton gauntlet.

Batman defeated the metal-clawed Werewolf in a darkened hospital corridor, but Hugo Strange ambushed him and dislocated his knee. Strange revealed that he had trained as Batman and that the Assassin League had helped him find Bruce Wayne, then declared that Bruce would die that night.

• Batman fought the Werewolf with his exoskeleton gauntlet, then used a flashbang-tipped Batarang to knock him unconscious.
• Hugo Strange turned on the corridor lights and attacked Batman while his eyes were shut, then dislocated Batman’s right knee with a joint lock.
• Batman kicked Strange away, used Batarangs to create an opening, and tightened the steel wires in his boot to temporarily stabilize his knee.
• Strange revealed that he had not discovered Batman’s identity himself, but had learned it through the Assassin League, and called Bruce Wayne the heir to the Demon’s Head.
• Batman asked Strange whether Alfred was present and why he had been captured, then took a Wing Chun fighting stance.

Batman fought Hugo Strange, who had injected himself with an enhancer, while Jeremiah Arkham endured the Joker’s torture in the underground laboratory. After finding surveillance footage of Batman and Bruce Wayne’s file, the Joker realized someone else had taken his prized role in the game and grew furious.

• Strange injected himself with an enhancer and broke Batman’s already injured leg during their fight.
• Batman darkened the room with Batarangs and disappeared from Strange’s thermal vision.
• Jeremiah Arkham hallucinated the Joker, then woke tied to a table as the Joker tortured him with electricity and removed his facial skin.
• The Joker stapled Jeremiah’s skin to his own face and watched thermal surveillance footage of Batman and another man fighting Strange.
• The Joker found Batman’s symbol on Bruce Wayne’s file and grew enraged that others had taken his role in the game.

Batman beat Strange and learned that Alfred was in Crime Alley, then left to find him. Joker appeared and attacked Strange with a crowbar after Strange thought he had killed him.

• Batman ambushed Strange on the stairs, cuffed him to the railing, and demanded to know where Alfred was.
• Strange said he had left Alfred in Batman’s grave, leading Batman to realize he meant Crime Alley.
• Batman escaped through a window, while Strange remained cuffed to the railing with a broken arm.
• Joker came upstairs and mocked Strange, who grabbed him and snapped his neck.
• Joker rose again, struck Strange in the head with his crowbar, and continued beating him.

Joker’s apparent death at Arkham Asylum was revealed as part of a trick that left Simon Hurt furious and the asylum burning. Jeremiah woke with the Madness Factor in his body, claimed the Joker’s identity, and Arkham’s destruction drew Miao Mu into action.

• Joker jumped from Arkham Asylum’s third floor and appeared to die, but Simon Hurt extracted the Madness Factor from his head and injected it into Jeremiah.
• Simon Hurt placed the torn face skin back on Jeremiah and gave him the Madness Factor, declaring that the city would be destroyed by madness.
• Simon Hurt discovered a hidden explosive beneath Joker’s cape, and the blast ignited gasoline and set Arkham Asylum ablaze.
• Simon Hurt found Strange’s corpse missing, realized Joker had fooled him, and unleashed black skeletal wings as another explosion shook the asylum.
• Jeremiah woke in the underground laboratory, stapled the face skin onto himself, cut the corners of his mouth, and declared himself the Joker.
• Miao Mu woke to the explosions, saw Arkham Asylum burning, and ordered the fire department to respond.

Batman took Alfred home after rescuing him from Crime Alley, while Miao Mu investigated the Arkham Asylum disaster and planned to expand his forces. Meanwhile, Oswald negotiated a smuggling deal in Colombia with Flamingo, who insisted on going to Gotham.

• Alfred woke on Batman's shoulder, and Batman carried him to the Batmobile and drove them home.
• Miao Mu learned that Arkham Asylum had burned and that twenty-seven people, including Hugo Strange, were missing; investigators had found the Scarecrow and Fear Gas.
• Miao Mu kept the Fear Gas and discussed obtaining funds, building a force, and arranging Deadshot's release with Nygma.
• Oswald met Flamingo in Colombia to discuss the Roman's plan to monopolize smuggling routes.
• Flamingo agreed to discuss the deal only if he could go to Gotham, despite Oswald warning that it was the Roman's city.

Miao Mu forced Dr. Milo to work off his debts by improving equipment for food production, promising him a laboratory and more research funding. Outside Zero Bar, which was set to open on Christmas, Miao Mu reunited with a struggling Oswald and quietly slipped him his new wallet.

• Miao Mu itemized Dr. Milo’s expenses and demanded that he work for him instead of paying a steep debt.
• Dr. Milo agreed to tackle Miao Mu’s plans after learning he would get access to a well-equipped chemical laboratory and increased research funding.
• Miao Mu left the apartment building and checked on Zero Bar, whose opening was scheduled for Christmas Day.
• Oswald approached Miao Mu and shared food from the Wayne Winter Charity Organization while declining to help plan the bar’s opening.
• Miao Mu accepted Oswald’s food and secretly slipped his wallet into Oswald’s pocket.

Miao Mu and Oswald discussed Gotham’s circus scene, Oswald’s finances, and Miao Mu’s shortage of funds before Miao Mu left on patrol. Oswald found money Miao Mu had left behind, then saw the Joker appear on a television broadcast.

• Miao Mu and Oswald ate together and discussed the upcoming Zatara Circus, whose leader was Zatanna Zatara.
• Oswald said he was resting, while Miao Mu wondered why he had fallen on hard times; Oswald had spent much of his salary supporting college students from the slums.
• Miao Mu asked Oswald for ways to make money because his community businesses still lacked funds, but Oswald had no suggestions.
• Miao Mu left in a police car, and Oswald found the cash and police-badge wallet Miao Mu had left behind.
• Oswald saw the television switch to a broadcast in which the Joker announced the Joker Party Show.

Alexis Kaye watched Jason Todd at Gotham TV when Joker and his clown gang stormed the station and began a massacre. Joker took the studio hostage, started a live broadcast, and announced a deadly contest with a bomb set to detonate in fifty-nine minutes.

• Alexis Kaye approached Jason Todd at the TV station and questioned him about his fighting.
• When gunfire erupted, Jason pulled Alexis to the floor and sought cover as armed clowns attacked the visiting students.
• Joker and his gang killed people throughout the station and took the studio crew hostage for a live broadcast.
• Joker shot a host on camera, revealed a bomb with a fifty-nine-minute timer, and announced that losing contestants would be drowned.

Joker forced people into a deadly televised spectacle and chose Alexis Kaye to host, while Jason narrowly avoided being selected. Police Commissioner Loeb arrived as officers surrounded the Gotham TV building.

• Joker shot a member who mistreated a terrified woman, then killed the woman after making her say she forgave him.
• Joker announced that he would choose a host at random and threaten to throw anyone who refused off the building.
• Jason prepared to fight Joker when Joker pointed toward him, but Alexis pulled him back and was selected instead.
• Jason tried to take Alexis's place and revealed that Miao Mu was his godfather, but Joker's men threatened him with their guns.
• Alexis told Jason her name and that she was one of his fans before Joker's men dragged her into the studio.
• Police cars gathered around the Gotham TV building, and Police Commissioner Loeb arrived to oversee the response.

Miao Mu armed himself and joined Gotham police preparing to assault the television station, where Joker held hundreds of hostages, including Jason, and threatened them during a livestream. As the police watched helplessly, Joker began a blindfolded knife-throwing game.

• Miao Mu armed himself despite Bullock's warnings and insisted on joining the assault because Jason was inside.
• Gordon and Loeb watched the hostage crisis unfold, with more than two hundred people trapped and a timed bomb showing 43 minutes remaining.
• Miao Mu entered the command post and told Gordon to count him in for the building assault.
• Joker threatened his audience with a bullet if they did not laugh at his joke, then asked Alexis what game to play next.
• Alexis suggested blindfolded knife throwing, and Joker excitedly demanded a knife.

The Joker watched his broadcast from an abandoned warehouse while Mase Curtis, desperate for money and relief from his addiction, adopted a Joker mask and persona. As Gordon and Miao Mu launched an assault on the television station, disguised hostages shot the bomb squad on the rooftop, and the studio lost power.

• The Joker watched the broadcast and kept Hugo Strange chained inside a glass fish tank.
• Mase Curtis, suffering from drug withdrawal and haunted by the Joker, put on a Joker mask, gathered toys and weapons, and left the warehouse in search of money.
• Gordon and Miao Mu led a police assault on the television station while rooftop snipers and the bomb squad moved into position.
• Hostages wearing paper bags pulled out handguns and shot the bomb disposal personnel as they began defusing the rooftop explosives.
• The Joker heard the assault begin, and the studio lights and machines shut down as the crowd started to stir.

Miao Mu’s Rapid Response Unit stormed the television station while Jason and Alexis confronted Joker in the dark studio. Joker escaped the gunfight but was caught by Batman, whom he urged to kill him.

• Miao Mu led the Rapid Response Unit into the station, where they opened fire on Joker’s men while rescuing hostages.
• Jason attacked Joker in the studio, but Joker cut his scalp with a thrown knife and ordered two thugs to fire blindly.
• Alexis tackled Jason behind a desk as bullets shattered the studio’s glass walls.
• Miao Mu shot the two thugs, while Joker escaped through the broken glass and headed for the fire stairs.
• Batman, disguised in a GCPD uniform, caught Joker in the stairwell and beat him after Joker asked about Burning Angel.
• Joker told Batman he had been waiting for him and urged him to kill him.

After the Joker was captured, Miao Mu took the injured Jason to Leslie Thompkins's hospital, where a mysterious woman arrived. Miao Mu praised her looks and was struck from behind by someone whose identity remained unknown.

• Gordon evacuated the hostages, found the unconscious Joker, and arrested him after discovering the bomb timer had stopped at thirty-four minutes.
• Jason thanked Alexis, and she asked him to teach her how to fight; he agreed.
• Miao Mu took Jason to Leslie Thompkins's hospital, where she shaved both sides of his head to stitch his wound.
• A glamorous red-haired woman entered the hospital, and Miao Mu watched her admiringly.
• A woman behind Miao Mu asked whether the visitor was pretty, and Miao Mu answered honestly before turning to punch at the attacker.

Miao Mu fought Helena Bertinelli before they visited Leslie Thompkins, while Bruce Wayne received a Joker card and began considering what it meant. Bruce also learned that Zatanna’s circus would come to Gotham, and decided to see her performance.

• Miao Mu mistook Helena Bertinelli for an attacker, struck her, and pinned her against a wall before recognizing her as the Huntress.
• Miao Mu and Helena argued after he watched a woman leave, then Leslie Thompkins greeted Helena and gave Jason instructions after stitching his wound.
• Miao Mu left with Jason after Leslie asked him to bring Christmas gifts for the children as payment.
• Alfred brought Bruce Wayne an unsigned letter containing a Joker card, which Bruce identified as a gift from the Joker.
• Alfred mentioned Zatanna’s upcoming circus, and Bruce decided to attend her performance himself.

Joker broke into Falcone's penthouse, tortured him, and threatened to destroy his company before escaping after detonating an explosive. Falcone's daughter Sophia found Joker's final gift in a refrigerator, and Falcone collapsed after discovering it contained his mother's urn.

• Falcone woke to find himself tied to his bed while Joker ate roast goose in his bedroom.
• Joker stabbed Falcone's thigh, crushed his leg with a war hammer, and demanded that no one interfere with his plans.
• Joker promised to blow up Falcone's company, then leaped from the penthouse and detonated a truck bomb before opening his parachute.
• Sophia and Falcone's men found Falcone injured and discovered a murdered, frozen bodyguard inside the bedroom refrigerator.
• Sophia revealed the box in the refrigerator was Falcone's mother's urn, and Falcone collapsed after reading Joker's note.

Deadshot Lawton left Blackgate Prison after Miao Mu arranged his parole, returned his gear, and offered him work and help seeking custody of his daughter. At Miao Mu’s home, Jason sparred with Alexis while Miao Mu was away, and Jason blocked her feints and attacks.

• Miao Mu met Lawton outside Blackgate, paid his alimony and parole expenses, returned his combat gear, and gave him documents to help him seek custody of Zoe.
• Miao Mu offered Lawton a job at his shooting range and help finding a school for Zoe, while Lawton recognized that Miao Mu was trying to recruit him but felt unable to refuse after the help he had received.
• Lawton found his firearms had no ammunition and only one of his two wrist guns, then saw Zoe’s photograph in his vest and set off with his belongings.
• Alexis followed Jason into Miao Mu’s cluttered home, where Jason warned her not to touch the dangerous equipment in the study.
• Jason discovered that the Iron Fist Stone Monkey statue was missing, then prepared to spar with Alexis in the training room.
• Alexis attacked Jason with a feint and a kick, but Jason disrupted her balance, avoided her tricks, and stopped a punch just short of her face.

Miao Mu visited the imprisoned Bronze Tiger and offered to teach him Iron Monkey Fist in exchange for helping at his martial arts school. Bronze Tiger remained an Assassin League member and warned that he might still kill Miao Mu, but Miao Mu invited him out of the cell anyway.

• Miao Mu explained that Bronze Tiger was secretly chained and held beneath the Gotham Police Department, with Gordon's officers guarding him.
• Miao Mu brought the Iron Fist Stone Monkey Statue into Bronze Tiger's cell and offered to let him out if he would stay at the martial arts school.
• Bronze Tiger used qi sensing to draw the statue toward himself and asked Miao Mu what martial art he practiced.
• Miao Mu demonstrated Iron Monkey Fist, showing Bronze Tiger how the statue could draw him into a mysterious illusion.
• Miao Mu explained the statue's power and offered Bronze Tiger freedom in exchange for serving as an instructor, even though Bronze Tiger still intended to fulfill his mission to kill him.

Miao Mu showed Bronze Tiger his secluded martial arts gym and tested his fighting skills before leaving for home. Victor Zsasz ambushed him in his police car and forced him to drive to the cannery to meet the Roman.

• Miao Mu showed Bronze Tiger the warehouse gym, and Bronze Tiger gauged Miao Mu's strength with a single strike.
• Bronze Tiger agreed to use the martial arts school's tuition as rent and warned that he would not go easy on its students.
• Miao Mu left the gym and found Victor Zsasz waiting in the back seat of his police car with a gun aimed at him.
• Zsasz said the Roman wanted to see Miao Mu and ordered him to drive out of Arkham District.
• Miao Mu activated the Eye of True Sight with his Golden Hexagram pendant as he drove toward the cannery.

Miao Mu fought off Zsasz after arriving at the cannery, then learned from Falcone that Joker had returned and was ordered to capture him within ten days. Sophia threatened Miao Mu and everyone around him if he failed, while a Joker playing card served as proof of the threat.

• Miao Mu used a seat belt to disarm, restrain, and injure Zsasz inside the police car as the Roman's men surrounded him.
• Sophia led Miao Mu into the cannery and called Falcone, who accused him of letting the real Joker escape.
• Miao Mu insisted the Joker in custody was a copycat and offered to let Falcone's men kill him at Blackgate Prison.
• Falcone told Miao Mu that Joker was back and ordered him to capture Joker and bring him in or die.
• Sophia gave Miao Mu ten days to find Joker and threatened to put bounties on him and the people around him if he failed.
• Miao Mu demanded proof, and Sophia showed him a Joker playing card before ordering him out.

At a Gotham cemetery, Miao Mu investigated the Joker’s apparent return from the dead and discovered a strange clock-shaped treasure buried beneath a tombstone. After black and red lightning struck it, the clock began running, leaving Miao Mu stunned and unsure what it was.

• Miao Mu attended the funeral for the fallen officers and considered how the Joker might have been resurrected, suspecting his body had been switched.
• Miao Mu received an alert that an Adventure Treasure was nearby and found a clock-shaped tombstone buried beneath a pine tree.
• Miao Mu recruited Jerry to help dig up the stone object, joking with him as they uncovered its gears and movable clock face.
• Black lightning struck the grandfather clock, and Miao Mu shoved Jerry into the pit to protect him.
• Red lightning followed, activating the clock’s pendulum and gears as Miao Mu stared at the strange device in disbelief.

Miao Mu used the Time Grandfather Clock and discovered it could stop time for five seconds, though the activation swallowed several hours. After he and Jerry left the cemetery with the clock, The Flash, Barry Allen, fell from the Speed Force into the grave they had just filled.

• Miao Mu pressed the Time Grandfather Clock's button and briefly stopped time, noticing that roughly seven or eight hours had passed during those five seconds.
• Miao Mu checked that the date and world were unchanged, then persuaded Jerry that he had been knocked unconscious and made him carry the clock home.
• Miao Mu filled Jerry's hole with dirt, and the two left the cemetery under the moonlight.
• The Flash fell from the Speed Force and crashed into the freshly filled grave after Miao Mu and Jerry had departed.
• Barry emerged from the crater, found his Speed Force missing, and noticed faint traces of it along a nearby road.