Recaps

Joker disrupted Killer Croc’s live broadcast, but Roland subdued the rampaging Croc while Batman arrested Joker. Commissioner Gordon then realized the police had stayed away because Commissioner Rob’s department ignored calls about the attack, following a staged crisis-response plan.

• Joker arrived at Killer Croc’s broadcast and attacked him with a rocket and a perfume bottle, but Croc transformed and began rampaging.
• Roland lured Croc into an equipment room, exploited his weak spots, and knocked him out.
• Batman arrested Joker after the venue’s traps helped subdue him, while police officers watched.
• Commissioner Gordon questioned why no other officers had arrived, and Roland asked whether the plan had gone as intended.
• An hour earlier, Gotham’s dispatcher had dismissed callers’ reports of the attack, following a sticky note that instructed the department to deny the crisis, avoid action, and claim it was too late.

Francesca Hamilton lied about responding to an emergency call while celebrating Batman’s supposed death, helping Commissioner Gordon explain his unauthorized deployment and capture of Joker. Joker escaped during transport and planned a revenge gift for Batman on April Fools’ Day, while Dick Grayson confronted Batman in the Batcave.

• Francesca Hamilton ignored emergency calls and celebrated the news that Batman had supposedly been killed, while claiming to Commissioner Rob that she had carried out his assignment.
• Commissioner Gordon told Commissioner Rob that Francesca had informed him of the attack on Gotham TV, crediting her response for helping him catch Joker.
• Harley rescued Joker after a tire explosion overturned the police vehicle, and Joker revealed that Killer Croc’s capture attempt had been a ruse to draw him out.
• Joker announced that he would give Batman a gift on April Fools’ Day, leaving Batman worried as he listened from the Batcave.
• Dick Grayson pushed past Alfred to confront Batman, and Batman asked why Dick was in Gotham City.

Roland confronted Joker during the gas attack on Gotham and pursued him through a series of traps. After Joker challenged him to save people suspended from a hotel, Roland rescued them all.

• Joker released gas across Gotham, causing citizens to laugh and move uncontrollably, while Roland sent his crew to the sewers and rode out to find Joker.
• Roland intercepted Joker’s pickup truck, endured an electric shock, and struck Joker hard enough to shatter his jaw.
• Joker escaped while Harley attacked Roland with disguised grenades, but Roland knocked her unconscious, tied her to his motorcycle, and continued the chase.
• Joker challenged Roland to save people hanging from a hotel, but Roland climbed the wall and rescued everyone by tossing them onto the air cushion.

Roland pursued Joker through a laughing-gas outbreak, rescuing people and collecting a large reward before confronting Joker at a square where Batman was bound. Roland defeated Joker’s laughing citizens and broke free of a robot’s mechanical arms, leaving Joker’s next move unresolved.

• Roland forced a wealthy man to pay him three million dollars for saving his life, then bought cigars and continued chasing the laughing gas.
• Harley asked Roland why he was pursuing Joker, and the two argued about her attachment to Joker as they reached a square filled with gas-poisoned citizens.
• Roland found Batman bound to a cross while Joker mocked him, and Roland insulted Joker’s comedy until Joker sent the crowd after him.
• Roland subdued the citizens without killing them and challenged Joker to use another trick.
• Joker sent a masked robot to fight Roland, but Roland shook off its mechanical arms and named the move “Mabo Sun Tree.”

Roland defeated Joker, helped return him and Harley Quinn to Arkham Asylum, and then hosted a free party in Gotham. The chapter left Harley and Poison Ivy sharing a room and Harley asking what their relationship was.

• Roland and Batman captured Joker after Joker's surrender turned out to be a trick, and Batman took Joker and Harley to Arkham Asylum.
• Batman arranged for Harley to share a room with Poison Ivy, who told Harley that Joker was manipulating her and knocked her unconscious with venom.
• Roland hosted a free party in a square, while a nearby mob discussed taking him out because of the money and supplies he was giving away.
• Jason told Roland he had met Tim Drake at the party, and Roland recognized the name.
• Masked men attacked Roland, who defeated them and received Goodwill Value and Redemption Value.
• Harley asked Poison Ivy what they were now, and Ivy told her to keep eating.

Roland discovered Clayface impersonating Harvey Dent and drove him off, but Clayface escaped through a sewer. That night, Roland, Harvey, Gordon, and Batman discussed the plot against Harvey and considered ways to counter it.

• Roland and Jason heard Harvey Dent reciting German lines, but Roland realized the figure was Clayface in disguise.
• Clayface attacked Roland, who battered him and tried electricity and Red Letters, but Clayface shed his outer layer and escaped into a sewer.
• Roland called Harvey, and that night Harvey, Gordon, Roland, and Batman worked together to catch Gotham's criminals while discussing the scheme targeting Harvey.
• Roland proposed exposing dirt on city officials or burying the Harvey story with a major celebrity scandal, and Batman doubted he could manage the latter.

Roland learned that Sal Maroni was funding Hugo Strange’s genetic experiments and wanted Batman’s DNA, so he abducted Strange to keep the Maroni Family occupied. The chapter ended with Maroni ordering his men to search all of Gotham for Strange.

• Roland suggested targeting the Maroni Family after Harvey suspected Sal Maroni was behind the attack, then headed to Maroni’s mansion.
• Roland overheard Maroni threaten Hugo Strange over his debt and demand results from his genetic research, which Strange claimed required Batman’s DNA.
• Roland disguised himself in an ape costume, knocked out the guards at Strange’s basement, and abducted him.
• Roland told Strange that his disappearance would keep the Maroni Family busy, then silenced him with mud when he protested.
• Maroni discovered Strange was missing and ordered his men to search all of Gotham for him.

Roland heard Victor Zsasz confess that he had become a serial killer after losing his fortune and deciding his victims needed to be freed. He beat Zsasz and left him locked in the Church basement, where Hugo Strange was already being held.

• Roland's subordinate told him that a visitor had paid to confess, so Roland went to the confessional.
• Victor Zsasz confessed that he had killed a homeless man after losing his fortune gambling, then claimed he killed people to release them from meaningless lives.
• Roland shattered the confessional and fought Zsasz when he continued defending his murders.
• Roland knocked Zsasz unconscious with an Iron Mountain Lean and dragged him into the basement.

Roland prepared a sensory deprivation experiment to torment Victor Zsasz, while Gordon was ordered to capture the escaped killer within a week. The chapter ended with Roland stripping Zsasz of several senses and asking Professor Hugo how long he would endure.

• Commissioner Rob learned Victor Zsasz had escaped Arkham through a tunnel and ordered Gordon to capture him within a week.
• Commissioner Rob accused Gordon's report of reading like a love letter to Batman and ordered him to rewrite it.
• Gordon confronted Captain Phoebe Fisher over his alleged corruption, then returned to his office to search for Zsasz.
• At the abandoned church, Victor Zsasz insisted Roland would not kill him, while Professor Hugo suspected Roland had killed the Mad Hatter.
• Roland explained sensory deprivation to Zsasz, then blinded him, pierced his eardrums, and deprived him of other senses.

Commissioner Gordon found Victor Zsasz dead in the Abandoned Church basement, where Roland claimed the killer had clawed himself to death. Roland helped Gordon devise a more believable account and gave a newspaper publisher an exclusive story, leaving Thomas ready to report Gordon’s heroic rescue.

• Commissioner Gordon followed a witness’s directions to the Abandoned Church after learning Victor Zsasz had been seen near homeless children.
• Roland told Gordon that Victor Zsasz was dead, then led him to the basement, where Professor Hugo testified that Zsasz had clawed himself to death.
• Gordon accepted the suicide explanation but worried that no one would believe his report, so Roland proposed a story about Zsasz escaping, taking hostages, and dying when explosives detonated.
• Thomas arrived at the Church, photographed Victor Zsasz’s body, and prepared to publish the death as an exclusive.
• Roland began telling Thomas how Commissioner Gordon had heroically rescued two children from Zsasz.

Roland helped Commissioner Gordon avoid an interview by having the rescued children describe Gordon as their heroic rescuer, then used Professor Hugo to lure the Maroni Family's men on a chase. After a lottery draw wrecked the church, Batman questioned Roland about his dealings with Gordon.

• Thomas interviewed the children about the attack, and they credited Commissioner Gordon with saving them from the scarred man and his bomb threat.
• Roland drove Professor Hugo around Gotham in his gorilla costume, lost the Maroni Family's pursuers, and returned to the church for dinner.
• Roland spent his remaining goodwill and redemption value on draws, obtained the Star Platinum DISC and Blood Rage, and accidentally destroyed his room when he used the DISC.
• Roland told Batman the church would need rebuilding and suggested he and the children would sleep outdoors for the night.
• Batman confronted Roland about Gordon's strange behavior, and Roland explained that he had used Zsasz's remains to help Gordon satisfy his superiors' orders.

Batman confronted Commissioner Rob over his plans for Gordon’s family and threatened Carmine Falcone, while Catwoman interrupted their call from Falcone’s home. Meanwhile, Roland struggled to find a reliable contractor for the church and decided to use Penguin’s construction connections.

• Batman overheard Commissioner Rob discussing Gordon’s family with an ally, then dislocated Rob’s arm and confronted Carmine Falcone over the phone.
• Catwoman attacked Falcone and spoke with Batman before his bodyguards arrived.
• Gotham City Topics reported Gordon’s rescue of the children and killing of Victor Zsasz; Rob took a week’s leave, and the police department’s efficiency improved.
• The Maroni Family found Professor Hugo’s laboratory, where Hugo’s clone and a giant test subject killed more than a dozen men, while Penguin left prison and focused on the Iceberg Lounge.
• Roland criticized the incompetent worker building the church, learned that Gotham’s major mob families controlled construction, and chose to work with Penguin.

Roland took Jason to Wayne Auction House to sell valuables and help pay for rebuilding the church. After appraisers authenticated a rare pearl, he joined the auction, where Mario Falcone recognized him.

• Roland chose a Romanesque design for the church and left the construction plans to the designer.
• Roland and Jason went to Wayne Auction House, where Bruce Wayne helped them get inside.
• Roland offered several items for appraisal, and the appraisers authenticated his Bible as bearing Albert Einstein and Elsa’s signatures.
• The appraisers identified Roland’s pearl as the 50.56-carat Wanderer Pearl, and Roland agreed to auction it.
• Roland and Jason took seats near Bruce Wayne, and Mario Falcone introduced himself to Roland.

Roland attended an auction with Bruce Wayne, where Bruce bought an ancient blade and Roland revealed that he had put the Wanderer Pearl up for sale. Clayface attacked the auction to steal the Pearl, and the chapter ended with the Pearl rolling across the floor as Roland fought him.

• Roland watched Bruce Wayne buy Rembrandt's Supper at Emmaus and an ancient Arabian blade during the auction.
• Bruce bid ten million dollars for the blade after competing with a veiled young woman.
• The Auctioneer introduced the Wanderer Pearl, and Roland told Bruce that he had put it up for auction.
• Clayface rushed the stage and attacked the Auctioneer to steal the Pearl, but Roland intercepted him.
• Clayface shattered Roland's Wooden Table, striking the display and sending the Wanderer Pearl rolling across the floor.

Roland recovered the pearl after Batman froze Clayface, then was ambushed by a group led by a girl who admitted she had tried to kidnap him. After Roland and the girl were taken to the police station, she entered his interview room and proposed having children, just as Gordon burst in.

• Roland restrained Clayface with Entangling force, and Batman froze him with liquid nitrogen and carried him away.
• Roland returned the pearl to the auctioneer, collected the cash from his Bible sale, and left with Jason.
• A girl from the auction sent masked fighters to capture Roland, but he defeated them and knocked her unconscious.
• Sergeant Li arrived, heard the girl confirm Roland's account of the attempted kidnapping, and took them to the police station.
• After Roland gave his statement, the girl entered his interview room and proposed having children, and Gordon broke through the door to check on him.

Commissioner Gordon found Roland talking with Talia al Ghul, who wanted a child with him, and initially dismissed Roland’s account as a fantasy. Roland explained that his dragon blood made having children risky, but Talia suggested IVF and offering him spellcasting material instead.

• Sergeant Li told Commissioner Gordon that Father Roland had fought off Talia and her relatives after she pursued him.
• Gordon confronted Roland at the police station and doubted his claim that Talia was Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter and wanted his child.
• Gordon and Roland agreed the captured League of Assassins members would have to be released for lack of grounds to hold them.
• Roland realized his mixed-blood genes could make having a child dangerous and asked Talia to wait until he resolved the problem.
• Roland demonstrated that his blood could destroy his sleeve, then flirted with Talia, who said she had planned to use IVF and might provide spellcasting material.

Roland returned to the church, learned Bruce Wayne had probably paid for the construction, and heard that Carmine Falcone planned to kidnap Commissioner Gordon’s wife and newborn. He warned Gordon and offered to help with the police workload, but Gordon refused, leaving his family and department under strain.

• Roland found construction underway at the church and learned that an unknown person posing as Jason’s finance officer had paid the workers and bought materials, probably Bruce Wayne.
• A sewer-dwelling kid told Roland that Carmine Falcone and Johnny Vitti planned to kidnap Barbara Gordon and her newborn baby that night.
• Roland warned the kid to keep the information secret, then rode to Gordon’s home wearing a Batman mask.
• Gordon let Roland inside, where Roland saw Barbara with James Gordon Jr. and learned Gordon was struggling to balance family life with his duties at the police station.
• After hearing Gordon handle calls about cases and police misconduct, Roland offered to take over some work so Gordon could spend time with his family, but Gordon refused.

Carmine Falcone tried to recruit Commissioner Gordon, who refused, while Roland stayed at Gordon’s house and played music as the family slept. As Johnny Vitti and armed Mob members broke into the apparently empty house, the speakers began playing “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

• Carmine Falcone called Gordon and offered the friendship of the Falcone family, but Gordon refused and hung up.
• Roland admired Gordon’s Nautilus speakers, got permission to use them, and played rock music loud enough to upset Barbara.
• Gordon joked with Roland about comforting wives, while Harvey prepared a romantic dinner for Gilda and later reflected on his friends’ relationships.
• Johnny Vitti led armed Mob members into Gordon’s house, warned them not to underestimate Gordon, and found it seemingly empty.
• The speakers switched to “Never Gonna Give You Up” as the Mob members entered.

Roland and Gordon captured Johnny Vitti and planned to take him to the Police Station, while Carmine Falcone learned the operation had failed and ordered Mario to silence Johnny. The chapter left Bruce at Falcone’s dinner as Falcone turned to an outside organization for help.

• Roland used the darkness to incapacitate Johnny Vitti and his armed men, then argued with Johnny about whether the attack could be justified as self-defense.
• Gordon arrived and said he had called for help and would take Johnny to the Police Station as an eyewitness.
• At a dinner, Carmine Falcone told Bruce how Doctor Thomas Wayne had saved his life and said he owed Bruce’s father a debt.
• A lackey told Carmine that Batman had ambushed Johnny and the others and sent them to the Gotham Police Station.
• Carmine told Mario that Johnny could not be allowed to implicate him, and Mario agreed to arrange Johnny’s death.
• Carmine directed Mario to contact an organization through the information in his desk.

Bruce Wayne opposed the Gotham Bank shareholders' plan to do business with Carmine Falcone, then visited Clayface in the Batcave and realized the Holiday Killer might strike on Administrative Professionals' Day. Meanwhile, Fiona, secretary to Mayor Hamilton Hill, was murdered, and the police learned of it only after a caller reached Commissioner Rob in person.

• Roland slept at Gordon's home, ate breakfast from his fridge, and returned to the construction site, where workers said the church basement was finished and stone columns were underway.
• Bruce argued against Gotham Bank doing business with Carmine Falcone, threatened that the shareholders would regret their decision, and left the meeting.
• Bruce visited Clayface in the Batcave, promised to find a way to restore Mark, and later wondered whether the Holiday Killer would strike on Administrative Professionals' Day.
• Francesca Hamilton failed to take a murder report over the phone, so the caller went to Commissioner Rob and reported that Fiona, Mayor Hamilton Hill's secretary, had been shot dead.

Harvey Bullock investigated Fiona’s murder and found surveillance footage showing Gilda at the café before the killing. After calling Harvey Dent, he destroyed the footage and told Mayor Hamilton that the investigation had made a major breakthrough.

• Harvey Bullock and George examined Fiona’s murder scene and discussed blaming a copycat if they could not catch the Holiday Killer.
• Harvey Bullock collected the bookstore’s surveillance tapes and reviewed them at the station.
• Harvey Bullock spotted Gilda entering the café before the murder and called Harvey Dent about the footage.
• Harvey Bullock destroyed the videotape and computer, then asked the Logistics Department for a replacement.
• Mayor Hamilton called Bullock, who claimed he had found key evidence and was close to bringing in the killer.

Harvey Bullock learned that a witness had named Alberto Falcone as the Holiday Killer, but Father Roland told him Alberto had already died. The two went to Alberto’s funeral to investigate, where Roland suggested the heavily guarded estate might be undefended inside.

• A witness told Harvey Bullock that Alberto Falcone had committed the murder, and Bullock set out alone to question him.
• On the way, Bullock met Father Roland, who told him Alberto had been assassinated by the Holiday Killer.
• Roland listened to Bullock’s account and suggested they attend Alberto’s funeral to investigate both Alberto and the witness.
• Bullock and Roland reached the crowded Falcone estate, where guards confiscated their weapons and other guests’ arms.
• Roland proposed that the estate’s heavy outside security meant its interior might be undefended.

At Alberto Falcone’s funeral, Roland and Harvey Bullock learned that Carmine Falcone and Maroni had agreed to hunt the Holiday Killer together. They searched Alberto’s bedroom, where Roland found a listening bug, and he concluded that Batman had not planted it.

• Roland and Harvey Bullock attended Alberto Falcone’s funeral, where Roland pretended to know the deceased and focused on the buffet.
• Carmine Falcone asked who had targeted his family, and Maroni proposed that they join forces against the Holiday Killer; Falcone agreed.
• Roland told Harvey Bullock that Falcone and Maroni had teamed up, and the two later asked Mario to search Alberto’s bedroom.
• Roland used his Kamaitachi to locate a listening bug beneath Alberto’s bed, then claimed that Batman’s bugs were more advanced.

Roland, Harvey Bullock, and Batman investigated Alberto Falcone’s disappearance and considered whether he had faked his death. Harvey found evidence that someone rescued Alberto from the river and helped him enter Gotham’s sewer system, leaving the group to search for where he was hiding.

• Roland and Harvey searched Alberto’s room, found his computer history wiped, and joked that the clean records suggested he had faked his death.
• Batman joined them and reflected on the missing body, Carmine Falcone’s grief, and the unanswered question of how Alberto could have vanished.
• Batman told Roland and Harvey that Johnny Vitti had been killed by the assassin Deathstroke, whom Roland identified as a formidable super-soldier.
• Roland and Harvey went to the river where Alberto fell, and Harvey dived underwater to search for clues.
• Harvey discovered that someone had pulled Alberto from the water and entered Gotham City’s Sewer System with him, so Roland and Harvey planned to find his hiding place.

Harvey Bullock solved Fiona’s murder by arresting a drug addict as a scapegoat, while Harvey Dent survived an attack by Irishmen hired through Carmine Falcone’s men. Falcone collected his daughter Sofia from prison and planned to retrieve Edward Nygma from Arkham to identify the Holiday Killer.

• Harvey Bullock drove Roland away, then returned to the police department, where he found Johnny Vitti had been shot dead.
• Harvey Bullock subdued a drug-addicted mugger in the East End, and the next day the police credited the addict with Fiona’s murder and sent him to Arkham Asylum.
• Harvey Dent’s home was attacked by Irishmen hired by Falcone’s men, and Harvey called emergency services after warning the survivors to implicate Falcone.
• Carmine Falcone learned Mario had outsourced the attack to the Irishmen and told him to prepare for a trip to Blackgate Penitentiary and Arkham Asylum.
• Carmine Falcone picked up Sofia from Blackgate, told her Alberto had been killed by the Holiday Killer, and asked her to find the killer.