Chapter Summaries

Miao Mu visited Blackgate Prison and used news about Deadshot Lawton’s daughter to persuade him to hear a proposal. When Lawton tried to seize him as the cell door opened, Miao Mu struck him and overpowered him.

• Miao Mu bribed a guard to visit Deadshot Lawton in Blackgate Prison’s High-Pressure Cell.
• Miao Mu told Lawton that his daughter Zoe missed him and was struggling with her home life, provoking Lawton’s concern and anger.
• Miao Mu showed Lawton his police identification and said he needed Lawton’s help.
• Miao Mu bribed the guard to open the cell so they could speak alone.
• Lawton reached to take Miao Mu hostage, but Miao Mu hit him with the key and beat him back.

Bruce Wayne left Wayne Manor for a charity gala, and Jonathan the Scarecrow broke into the estate to force Alfred to witness a judgment against Batman. Alfred fought him off at first, but Jonathan used Fear Gas to incapacitate him and dragged him outside.

• Alfred helped Bruce prepare for the charity gala and watched him drive away from Wayne Manor.
• Alfred uncovered a portrait of Bruce with Thomas and his wife before Jonathan entered the manor carrying a scarecrow marked with Batman's image.
• Jonathan announced that Alfred would witness his judgment of Batman, and Alfred knocked the electric baton from his hand and sent him tumbling down the stairs.
• Jonathan sprayed Fear Gas at Alfred, causing him to hallucinate a battlefield and collapse.
• Jonathan recovered, placed a cassette recorder and the scarecrow in the manor, then dragged the unconscious Alfred outside as Alfred's dinner knife fell to the floor.

Bruce Wayne attended a charity gala alone after Talia canceled, then agreed to Cameron van Cleer’s plan to auction off a date with him to raise money for Gotham citizens. The bidding began amid enthusiastic cheers, giving Bruce a way to start his winter-aid effort.

• Bruce Wayne learned that Talia had returned early and spent the gala standing alone by a window.
• Cameron van Cleer introduced himself to Bruce and heard about Bruce’s plan to help Gotham citizens facing winter hardship.
• Cameron proposed auctioning the right to dine with Bruce to raise funds, and Bruce allowed him to proceed.
• Cameron brought Bruce onto the ballroom stage and announced the auction of Bruce Wayne’s dating rights, starting at one hundred dollars.
• The young women at the gala enthusiastically raised their bids, and Cameron told Bruce the funds would help Gotham’s citizens.

Nygma and Jason waited on Trigate Bridge for Talia, but she avoided their trap and escaped in the opposite direction. As they headed back through Gotham, Nygma tested Jason with riddles, then let him defeat a group of street punks with the Question-Mark Cane.

• Nygma watched a silver Porsche speed across Trigate Bridge, then detonated his trap and told Jason their trip had been wasted.
• Nygma realized Talia had chosen a safer route and led Jason toward a cake shop, asking him a riddle about what could not exist at the same time.
• Jason answered that night and day made Gotham different, and Nygma praised him before pointing out the punks blocking their way.
• Jason challenged the punks with a riddle and fought them with the Question-Mark Cane, using its electric shocks to drive them off.
• Nygma hurried away with Jason and criticized his riddle, though he could not hide his smile.

Miao Mu and Otis pursued Talia aboard a cruise ship and forced her into a fight on their speedboat. Miao Mu stabbed her and threw her into the sea, then treated his poisoned arm as he ordered Otis to return.

• Talia traveled in disguise aboard the Tailun Jikang, but Miao Mu and Otis boarded the cruise ship and used Otis's rats to locate her cabin.
• Miao Mu knocked out a sailor and confronted Talia through the cabin door while Harleen Frances Quinzel was inside with her.
• Talia armed herself and searched the corridor, then Miao Mu ambushed her near the rail and knocked them both into the speedboat's cargo hold.
• Miao Mu stabbed Talia in the abdomen, dodged her poisoned wrist arrow, then stabbed her chest and threw her into the sea.
• Miao Mu shot through his poisoned arm, poured alcohol over the wounds, and ordered Otis to take them back.

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.