Chapter Summaries

After the officers’ party, Li Jie carried Raven to bed and reassured her that he would not abandon her, while she struggled with her feelings about him and Harleen. At the Manor, Bruce began secretly preparing contingency plans for the alliance, including a concealed, nonlethal Watchtower design and countermeasures for its members.

• Li Jie saw Raven asleep after the party, carried her to her dorm room, and tucked her into bed.
• Raven admitted she had watched Li Jie and Harleen together and asked whether he liked Harleen; Li Jie said Harleen needed a trustworthy team more than a romantic partner and promised Raven he would not abandon her.
• Bruce went to the Batcave, put on the Batsuit, and began drafting emergency countermeasures for the prospective alliance members.
• Bruce instructed Alfred to assess sites for a Watchtower within his surveillance range, expedite testing of the Anti-Superman Armor prototype, and gather reports on metahumans worldwide.
• Bruce designed hidden, nonlethal, reversible security systems for the Watchtower, then briefly felt he had met someone before but could not remember who.

Li Jie and Harleen discussed Harvey Dent’s retreat into philosophy and the danger it posed, while Jeremiah Arkham uncovered his family’s history of supernatural madness in a hidden room beneath Arkham Asylum. The chapter left Jeremiah alone in the dark with a mysterious mirror and the glowing symbols on the walls.

• Li Jie spoke with Gordon about Gotham, Cobblepot, and Harvey Dent’s abandonment of law for philosophy.
• Harleen warned Li Jie that Harvey might turn to nihilism and use philosophy to justify dangerous actions, while Li Jie proposed withholding his meals.
• Jeremiah Arkham found a concealed room and read Amadeus Arkham’s diary describing Elizabeth Arkham’s visions and the threat of an entity seeking a door into their world.
• Amadeus’s diary revealed that he had killed his mother, hidden the occult materials, and warned future Arkhams not to study the symbols or heed the whispers.
• Jeremiah found a blackened silver mirror and Amadeus’s note, then stood in darkness as the symbols began to glow.

Li Jie investigated an assassination attempt on Cobblepot and warned him against using it to launch a political purge. Cobblepot revealed that Maxie Zeus had hired the attackers, and Li Jie ended the conversation by mocking Maxie’s grand ambitions.

• Li Jie visited the armory, then answered Oz’s call and rushed with Harleen to City Hall after hearing someone had tried to assassinate Cobblepot.
• Li Jie found two attackers dead and a third restrained, and stopped Cobblepot’s men from beating the survivor.
• Li Jie reasoned that only an idiot would stage such an attack in broad daylight and told Cobblepot that exploiting it for a political purge would damage his standing.
• Cobblepot admitted that he had contacted Maxie Zeus, who hired the attackers because he needed money to ship his excrement to Africa.
• Li Jie learned that Maxie believed his feces could turn deserts fertile and mocked Cobblepot for laughing at the scheme.

Li Jie interrogated Maxie Zeus, who insisted his plot to contaminate Cobblepot was a sacred purification, and sent him to Arkham Asylum. There, an unseen presence stole a cracked Blackwood Mask and hid it in Jeremiah Arkham’s office, leaving Jeremiah to suspect that someone had been acting through his body.

• Li Jie questioned Maxie Zeus, who claimed his followers had tried to purify Cobblepot and that his bodily waste could restore the desert.
• Li Jie ordered Wilson to clean Maxie Zeus and place him in a well-ventilated cell, then asked Arkham to accommodate him.
• An unseen presence broke into Arkham’s records room and took a cracked Blackwood Mask from Hugo Strange’s abandoned belongings.
• The presence hid the mask in Jeremiah Arkham’s office and promised that they would soon reveal true madness to Gotham.
• Jeremiah woke with gaps in his memory, found a Brass Key in his coat, and feared that someone had been using his body.

A hulking stranger arrived in Gotham intending to challenge Batman, but the East End’s unexpected order caught his attention. He postponed his challenge and decided to find the person behind the district’s system, whom he might either defeat or recruit.

• The stranger explored the East End and observed clean streets, organized community services, and a discreet surveillance network.
• A Community Service Team member warned him away from Blackgate after he falsely claimed he wanted to visit the prison.
• The stranger learned that Wayne Enterprises was building a statue and displaying toys at Winslow Children's Park, then continued into the West District.
• At a bar, the stranger overheard locals argue about Congressman Cobblepot’s East End system and fought off a thief who reached for his suitcase.
• The stranger concluded that an unknown figure had established order in the East End and decided to investigate before confronting Batman.

Li Jie learned that Gotham residents had lined up overnight to buy expensive mecha toys, while Bane captured Scarecrow and questioned him about who controlled the East End. Scarecrow revealed that an East End cop was immune to Fear Toxin, and Bane recruited him to continue his research as Bane declared himself Gotham’s future king.

• Li Jie discovered that officers had skipped work to queue for the new Legendary Heroes Squad mecha toys and regretted not being invited.
• Bane ambushed Scarecrow in the sewers and demanded information about who controlled the East End.
• Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin had no effect on Bane, whose sealed mask and control over his body’s chemistry protected him.
• Scarecrow told Bane that an East End cop had resisted his Fear Toxin and nearly killed him while Gordon was hallucinating.
• Bane forced Scarecrow to lead him to his laboratory and ordered him to keep developing Fear Toxin under Bane’s protection.
• Bane introduced himself as Gotham’s future king.

After a bank attack by Joker imitators, Li Jie investigated their message and witnessed one suspect kill himself, while laughter from Arkham suggested the real Joker was stirring. Elsewhere, Bruce Wayne and Alfred reacted to Dick Grayson’s new Robin suit.

• Li Jie and Harleen found a looted bank marked with a clown image and arrested the sole surviving attacker, who called himself Mr. Punchline.
• Mr. Punchline claimed Joker had sent a message about reclaiming Gotham, then cut his own throat before officers could take him away.
• Li Jie ordered tests for drugs or mind control and a trace of Mr. Punchline’s recent activities while Harleen helped steady him.
• At midnight, a straitjacketed figure in Arkham began laughing, alarming Jeremiah Arkham.
• Dick Grayson showed Bruce Wayne his new suit, and Bruce asked Alfred to send its design to Mr. Short.

Gordon asked Harvey Bullock to return to the GCPD, but Harvey refused and reminded him that Cobblepot had helped bring Penguin into City Hall. Cobblepot pitched a tightly controlled drug-licensing scheme to city officials, won their tentative support, and Bob warned him to discuss the plan with Jay because Gotham could make it collapse.

• Gordon drank coffee with Harvey Bullock and asked him to come back and help, but Harvey refused.
• Harvey told Gordon that Cobblepot had brought Penguin into City Hall and was now pushing a drug-regulation bill.
• Cobblepot proposed licensing a few operators to sell drugs in restricted zones, with strict penalties if substances reached the streets.
• Moretti agreed to support Cobblepot's plan, while Whitley demanded a public health assessment and secrecy about his involvement.
• After the others left, Bob warned Cobblepot that Gotham would not follow the plan as intended and told him to discuss it with Jay.

Bane analyzed Gotham’s power structure and suspected that the East End’s hidden influence lay with Kara Danvers or Jian/Chu. Meanwhile, Li Jie gave Harleen a rare Batman Mecha toy, oblivious to her disappointment when he mistook her expectations for a chance to show it off.

• Bane reviewed possible threats and crossed out several figures, including Li Jie and Bob McGinnis, as likely controllers of the East End.
• Bane focused on Kara Danvers and Jian/Chu as possible sources of the East End’s unusual stability, then headed east toward Gotham’s cleaner, more orderly district.
• Harleen asked Li Jie to help carry her two Shortt Creative Workshop Mecha toys, and she told him that one was meant for him.
• Li Jie brought Harleen to his room and revealed a unique, highly detailed Batman Mecha he had obtained from Winslow Schott.
• Li Jie gave Harleen the Batman Mecha and activated its lights and voice, while Harleen’s anger gave way to surprise.

Sofia Falcone, Rupert Thorne, and Sully “Shark” Hardwick debated joining forces to seek a shared franchise license under Cobblepot’s new rules, while each maneuvered for advantage. At Arkham, Bane encountered a strange version of Jeremiah, who offered to show him the asylum’s inmates and their stories.

• Sofia, Thorne, and Shark discussed Cobblepot’s franchise proposal and the costs of refusing it.
• Thorne proposed that their three organizations apply together for one license, share the deposit, and rotate leadership; Sofia and Shark agreed to the plan in principle.
• Shark privately decided to seek Cobblepot’s favor and claim Gotham’s drug profits for himself.
• Sofia and Thorne agreed to present the shared-license proposal to Cobblepot, while Thorne said they would eventually remove Shark if necessary.
• Bane entered Arkham Island seeking men and chaos, then met a fearless man wearing Director Jeremiah’s face.
• Jeremiah invited Bane inside, offering information about every ward and inmate in Arkham.

A laughing-gas outbreak spread across Gotham, sending Batman and Dick to investigate while police struggled with citywide chaos. As Li Jie’s fatal shootings rose amid overflowing prisons and growing Clown copycats, he worried about what the violence was turning him into, while Nygma concealed the trend in his report.

• Alfred inhaled laughing gas and mocked Batman and Dick until Dick sedated him; Batman traced the spreading gas to the Gotham Canal District.
• Batman warned Gordon that the outbreak was caused by poison gas, and he and Dick prepared to respond across Gotham.
• Li Jie and Bushnell cleared an alley after another fatal shooting, and Li Jie found a flip phone whose only contact was “Mr. J.”
• Li Jie told Harleen that he was using lethal force to protect his officers as Arkham and Blackgate refused more prisoners; she warned him that shortcuts could become his only path.
• Li Jie asked Harleen to tell him if he ever became like the people he hunted, and she leaned against him as they drove across Canal Bridge.
• Nygma deleted his report showing Li Jie’s rising fatal-shooting count and began fabricating a replacement.

Batman captured Clown at the canal junkyard and helped stop the laughing gas, while Li Jie rushed to a steelworks where someone had kidnapped babies. The chapter left Li Jie realizing that the voice threatening the babies belonged to someone other than the captured Clown.

• Batman found Clown beside a laughing-gas apparatus, broke his wrist, beat him, and cuffed him to a container ladder.
• Dick shut off the junkyard gas valve, and Batman told him to alert the police and get Clown an ambulance.
• Gordon told Li Jie that someone had injured two nurses, kidnapped four babies, and taken them to Kane Industries' abandoned Number Three steelmaking shop.
• Li Jie joined Sarah Essen at the steelworks, where a caller demanded that he enter alone and threatened to drop the babies into molten steel.
• Gordon called to report that Batman had captured the real Clown, leaving Li Jie wondering who was speaking from the steelworks.

Li Jie entered the steelworks to confront the person who had lured him there, while Superman confirmed the threatened children were safe. Meanwhile, Bane broke into Blackgate Penitentiary, freed its prisoners, and escaped after questioning several inmates about Batman.

• Li Jie armed himself, left Harleen in the car, and convinced Sarah to stay outside with the officers as he entered the steelworks alone.
• A voice in the factory threatened children, but Superman told Li Jie he had rescued them, and Li Jie challenged the hidden culprit to come out.
• Bane tore open Blackgate Penitentiary's entrance, disabled its power and security systems, and released hundreds of prisoners.
• Gordon arrived to find the prison overrun and watched Bane emerge from the ruins before heading deeper into the prison.
• Bane asked Garfield Lynns and Drew Walker how Batman had captured them, then left questioning his understanding of Batman's strength.

Li Jie confronted Clown at the Steelworks, killed him, and confirmed that the hostages were safe. The victory was interrupted by news that Blackgate Penitentiary had been overrun, prompting Li Jie to order an emergency response.

• Li Jie found Clown in the smelting workshop and asked how he was still alive after Li Jie had killed him before.
• Clown claimed that he was an idea that could not be killed and said he had wanted to test whether Li Jie would keep fighting despite believing he could not win.
• Clown put a revolver beneath his chin, but Li Jie shot him before he could fire and then emptied another magazine into his body.
• Sarah Essen and Harleen Quizzle arrived with officers, and Li Jie reported that the hostages were safe and left the scene to them.
• The police dispatcher reported that Blackgate Penitentiary had been overrun, and Li Jie warned Harleen to stay away from Wilson.
• Li Jie called Ed and ordered Blackgate sealed, the East End placed under curfew, leave canceled, and criminals arrested.

Li Jie responded to the Blackgate breakout while Wilson and his companions faced an armed gang at Eleventh Street. At Arkham, Bane discovered that the patients were so absorbed in their own delusions that they had no interest in being freed, and he left to try the other blocks.

• Li Jie sent Harleen back to the station to meet Anna and go to the school, then drove toward Blackgate.
• Hunter told Li Jie that he had repelled four armed men at the bridge while Wilson had taken a team to Eleventh Street.
• Wilson, Harkness, and Turner spotted at least twenty gang members emerging from an abandoned freight car and charging their position.
• Bane found that the Arkham patients ignored his offer of freedom, so he ordered them to leave and create chaos.
• Napoleon led a mock army of patients against Bane, who easily defeated the charge and realized the patients preferred their own delusions.
• Bane abandoned Block A and headed for the other blocks as Napoleon promised to fight him again tomorrow.

Bane toured Arkham’s Special Containment Unit with a masked man posing as Jeremiah Arkham and considered whether its inmates could help destabilize Gotham. In the East End, Li Jie’s machine-gun attack ended a gang assault, and he tried to recruit Harkness and Turner while they stalled Amanda Waller for more time.

• Bane met a masked man in Arkham, who led him through the Special Containment Unit and showed him several inmates he could release.
• Li Jie fired a full belt from the Patrol Van’s machine gun, killing many attackers and forcing the survivors to surrender.
• Li Jie ordered Wilson, Harkness, and Turner to check for survivors and leave the crime scene untouched until curfew ended.
• Li Jie explained to Wilson that he had used overwhelming force because the East End lacked the resources to contain hundreds of criminals.
• Li Jie invited Harkness and Turner to join his group, but Harkness refused because of the bomb Amanda Waller had planted in his head.
• Harkness told Li Jie that Otis had only reached the second year of his imprisonment in his information exchange with Waller.

After the Blackgate riot subsided, Gotham’s leaders and citizens debated whether Li Jie’s lethal defense of the East End was justified. As public scrutiny mounted, Gordon chose to frame the killings as self-defense, while Edward Nygma persuaded prosecutors to delay formally questioning Li Jie.

• Bane learned that the East End’s bloody warning line had restrained rioters and decided its order could be useful after he defeated Batman.
• Sarah and Gordon discussed City Hall’s refusal to authorize a curfew, and Cobblepot relayed Li Jie’s suggestion for how Gordon could obtain room to act.
• After the riot ended, Mayor O’Brien faced questions about Li Jie’s actions, while public opinion split sharply over whether he was a protector or an executioner.
• Gordon admitted that he had used a machine gun to stop rioters and decided that Li Jie’s actions constituted legitimate self-defense.
• Bruce and Alfred reviewed the public reaction to the Eleventh Street killings, with Bruce warning that Li Jie’s rule by terror could make him a dictator.
• Nygma persuaded the prosecutors to postpone summoning Li Jie and suggest in their report that the police had used proportionate force in an emergency.

Li Jie accepted two months of paid administrative leave as officials faced scrutiny over the Eleventh Street incident, and Harleen visited him before he left Gotham. The chapter ended with Harleen and Li Jie beginning an intimate relationship.

• Bob told Li Jie that federal investigators and public pressure had made the Eleventh Street incident a political liability, so Li Jie would take two months of paid leave.
• Li Jie agreed to the leave, and Bob directed Nygma to organize sensitive records while Cobblepot worked to establish a commission that could slow the investigation.
• Harleen visited Li Jie with a sedative and asked where he planned to go during his leave.
• Harleen kissed Li Jie, and they became intimate before his departure.

After spending the night with Harleen, Li Jie left Gotham with Wilson, but Bane blocked their road and tried to recruit him to rule the city. Li Jie challenged Bane to explain what he would actually do as Gotham’s ruler.

• Li Jie woke beside Harleen, and she joked that their night together did not mean he had to take responsibility for her.
• Harleen said she and Poison Ivy had considered being with Li Jie together, but Poison Ivy’s physiology would poison him.
• As Wilson drove Li Jie away, he teased him about Harleen, and Li Jie denied that anything had happened.
• Bane stopped the Patrol Van, praised Li Jie’s work in the East End, and offered him the role of chief enforcer in a new Gotham.
• Li Jie sent Wilson to start the engine and questioned Bane about his enhancement agent, his funding, and his reasons for wanting to rule Gotham.
• Li Jie asked Bane what he planned to do after defeating Batman and taking control of the city.

Li Jie challenged Bane to explain how he would govern Gotham after conquering it, exposing how little Bane had considered the city's practical needs. Bane let Li Jie leave and was left questioning his plans for the first time.

• Bane said he wanted to replace Gotham's false balance with an efficient system built on strength and a clear hierarchy.
• Li Jie questioned how Bane would fund and administer the city, citing unemployment, poverty, failing infrastructure, and other civic problems.
• Bane admitted he had never considered how to solve those problems and agreed that his real goal was to defeat Batman and prove his strength.
• Li Jie offered to discuss joining Bane if he prepared a municipal budget and five-year development plan, then gave him a business card and left with Wilson.
• Bane watched Li Jie's car depart and was left confused by questions about Gotham's future.