Chapter Summaries

Cobblepot withdrew the East End redevelopment plan, while the Court of Owls decided to leave the injured sheriff alive for now and target Dick Grayson as a potential new Talon. Dick, unaware of the Court's plans, prepared to return to the East End school.

• Cobblepot apologized to city officials and agreed to suspend the East End Revival Plan.
• The Court of Owls learned that the East End sheriff was badly injured and debated whether to have him killed, but their leader argued that killing him could destabilize the district.
• The Court decided to keep Cobblepot in office as an informant and to find someone else to replace the sheriff as the East End's symbol.
• The Court discussed recruiting Dick Grayson, using his circus background and age to shape him into a Talon, and ordered its members to find a chance to approach him alone.
• Dick stood at Wayne Manor's window, unaware that the Court was targeting him, and thought about returning to the school to teach children somersaults and disco dancing.

Li Jie made progress standing without support while Harleen encouraged him. James Gordon called him after an attack on Saint Agnes Orphanage left two children dead, one seriously injured, and a girl missing, and asked him to contact Superman because witnesses said aliens had taken her.

• Li Jie stood without holding his cane for twelve seconds before returning to his wheelchair, and Harleen kissed his forehead.
• A faceless figure fell from a purple sky, entered Saint Agnes Orphanage, and engulfed Alisa in purple light as she clutched her Superman picture book.
• James Gordon searched the ruined orphanage, found two children dead, and learned one girl was missing and another was hospitalized with serious injuries.
• James Gordon called Li Jie about the attack, and Li Jie offered to send East End people to help.
• James Gordon asked Li Jie to contact Superman after witnesses reported that aliens had taken the missing child.

Li Jie joined Gordon’s investigation into the attack on Saint Agnes Orphanage, where children had reported a glowing figure abducting Alisa. Nygma’s evidence pointed to an unknown weapon and a possible connection to Superman, so Li Jie agreed to contact him and urged Gordon to warn his friend.

• Li Jie called Wilson to drive him to the ruined orphanage, where Gordon told him two children had died, one was critically injured, and Alisa was missing.
• Gordon explained that several children had seen a glowing figure take Alisa, and Li Jie agreed to help contact Superman after they gathered evidence.
• Nygma and Anna examined the ruins, while Wilson helped Li Jie back to the car.
• Nygma presented evidence that a directed energy beam from outside had killed the children and that the weapon used materials unknown on Earth.
• Nygma reported that the children consistently described a tall, faceless, glowing figure that engulfed Alisa in purple light, and that Alisa was a Superman fan.
• Li Jie ruled out the Brazilian, agreed to contact Superman, and told Gordon to warn his friend.

Li Jie urged Clark to make his own choice about searching for Alisa, while warning that he personally thought Clark should stay. Later, Li Jie began training to walk again because he believed Clark would leave, and he tried to enlist Harleen’s help in preparing to protect Gotham.

• Clark told Li Jie that Alisa believed Superman would save her and said he wanted to find her.
• Li Jie told Clark that no one else could decide for him, though Li Jie advised him not to go because he could offer no backup.
• Clark admitted he did not know what to do, and Li Jie stayed beside him in the hospital corridor.
• Li Jie tried to stand and bear weight on his injured leg at the gym, despite the pain and the doctor’s advice to wait.
• Li Jie told Harleen he expected Clark to choose the difficult path and leave to search for Alisa, so he needed to recover quickly.
• Harleen teased Li Jie about loving her, and he agreed before asking her to move a bench so he could try bench presses.

Clark decided to leave Earth to search for the missing girl from a Gotham orphanage after talking with Jonathan, Martha, and Lois. He promised Lois he would return, then flew into the sky while she prepared to report the story.

• Clark told Jonathan and Martha that a missing girl might have been taken by aliens and that his friends in space had no leads yet.
• Jonathan reminded Clark that he did not have to carry the world's problems alone and urged him to go only if he believed the girl was waiting for him.
• Lois met Clark on the rooftop, gave him a voice recorder, and asked him to promise he would not die.
• Clark kissed Lois, promised he would come back, and flew beyond the clouds to search for the girl.
• Lois watched Clark disappear, then called Perry and said she had a big story for the next day's front page.

After Superman left to search for a missing child, Li Jie arranged for Dick Grayson to lead a new team protecting Gotham. Dick named the group the Teen Titans.

• Li Jie worried that Kara had been left to guard Metropolis and Gotham, then went to find Cliff.
• Cliff told Li Jie that Larry and Rita wanted to leave the manor but feared people would reject them, and Li Jie invited them to stay in the police dormitory.
• Li Jie told Dick that Superman had left and offered him authority to lead a Gotham protection team with support from the East End police and others.
• Dick accepted the offer to lead the team, and he and Li Jie settled on the name Teen Titans.

Li Jie coached Dick Grayson on recruiting members and leading the Teen Titans, then agreed to pay him for future police missions so he could fund the team. Dick left eager to recruit, while Li Jie joked that he had taught him to make empty promises.

• Dick reviewed Li Jie’s proposed roster and learned that potential members would need to agree to join, with some recruits too young or not yet available.
• Li Jie told Dick that recruiting strong, independent people such as Bronze Tiger would require persuasion, and advised him to keep children away from dangerous missions.
• Li Jie explained that experienced recruits might expect benefits, prompting Dick to worry about how he would fund the team.
• Dick awkwardly asked Li Jie for paid work, and Li Jie agreed to have Harleen contact him about future missions and calculate his pay by time and difficulty.
• Dick left excited to recruit team members, and Li Jie told Harleen that Dick had found and used the wheelchair on his own.

Dick recruited Cliff for the Teen Titans after Winslow agreed to build him a combat-model body, while Bruce and Alfred discussed the Court of Owls’ interest in Dick and the Sheriff’s influence over his new team. Bruce decided Dick needed the opportunity to grow, but warned he would intervene if the Sheriff tried to control him.

• Dick visited Winslow’s laboratory and asked Cliff to join the Teen Titans, offering to help him get a stronger body.
• Winslow agreed to build Cliff a combat-model body if he joined Dick’s team and revealed that he knew Bruce Wayne was Batman.
• Alfred told Bruce that the Court of Owls existed and might target Dick to make him a Talon.
• Alfred reported that Dick was recruiting from the Sheriff’s list and could earn team funds through East End Police Department missions.
• Bruce described the Sheriff’s guidance as a kite string and decided to let Dick grow while remaining ready to cut the string if necessary.
• Alfred told Bruce that Selina had called about his recovery, and Bruce asked him to save the security footage of the Sheriff wiggling his backside.

Dick Grayson recruited members for the team Li Jie had arranged, facing rejections and negotiating conditional support as he tried to build the Teen Titans. He accepted Jason Todd as a reserve and founding member, while Li Jie explained that the team was meant to teach Dick responsibility and keep him from facing danger alone.

• Dick invited Ben Turner to join his team, but Turner refused and warned that his lethal approach to fighting conflicted with Dick's rules.
• Dick recruited Harkness, who agreed to join after setting conditions about pay, insurance, and keeping the team's work outside his police shifts.
• Raven declined to join as a field member but offered to advise the team on magical matters if Dick changed the name and set a good example.
• Jason Todd asked to join, learned he was listed as a reserve member, and was told he counted as a founding member of the Teen Titans.
• Jason tried to demonstrate his boomerang skill, broke a school window, and begged Raven for mercy instead of running away.
• Li Jie told Harleen that he had Dick recruit teammates so Dick would learn to lead, rely on others, and avoid charging into danger alone.

Theodore Galloway approached Dick Grayson with a funding offer and a warning that his parents’ deaths might have involved more than Tony Zucco. Dick and Barbara agreed to investigate the Galloway Foundation together, with Dick promising to seek help if they uncovered something dangerous.

• Theodore Galloway offered to fund Dick’s young team and gave him a photograph of his parents, hinting that their accident might not have been an accident.
• Dick told Barbara about Galloway’s visit and said he wanted to uncover the truth about his family without relying on the Sheriff.
• Barbara checked the Galloway Foundation’s public records and found its accounts and reports unusually spotless.
• Barbara agreed to investigate the foundation’s finances with Dick, and Dick promised they would go to the Sheriff if the investigation became dangerous.

Li Jie and Nygma discussed the Galloway Foundation, Dick’s investigation, and the risks of exposing the powerful people behind it, while the Rats monitored Theodore Galloway. Meanwhile, Winslow revealed Cliff’s new, more human-looking body, which was less suited for combat than his metal one.

• Nygma told Li Jie that Theodore Galloway appeared to be a carefully protected intermediary for a larger network and warned that confronting its leaders could require an illegal Special Purge Operation with severe consequences.
• Nygma revealed that Otis and the Rats were surveilling Galloway, while Barbara’s investigation had triggered alarms; he intended to let her continue so the Court of Owls would underestimate them.
• Li Jie admitted he was unsure whether to continue pursuing the network and decided to leave the question for later.
• Winslow showed Dick and Cliff a body built with bionic muscle tissue and synthetic skin, modeled on Cliff’s former appearance, and demonstrated its adjustable voice unit.
• Cliff celebrated his new face and asked Winslow for an external attachment, while Winslow warned that the body was less combat-ready, though it could still withstand small-caliber bullets.

Li Jie learned that Lex Luthor had blamed Kara for Metropolis’s destruction and turned public opinion against her, while Nygma suspected Luthor had engineered the incident. On patrol in Gotham, Dick and Cliff were mistaken for revolutionaries, and Cliff found comfort in being treated like a person.

• Li Jie watched footage of Metropolis’s destruction and heard Lex Luthor accuse Supergirl of causing it while promising compensation.
• Nygma told Li Jie that Kara was wanted by the police and suspected Luthor had used her as bait to build support for controlling metahumans.
• Li Jie decided to modify the wheelchair, implying he would go to Metropolis to help Kara.
• During their first night patrol, Dick and Cliff were mistaken for Che Guevara by six homeless men who rallied around Cliff.
• Dick called himself Cliff’s messenger and led them away, while the homeless men cheered for revolution.
• Cliff said he did not mind being mistaken for Guevara because it was better than being seen as a monster, and he continued patrolling with Dick.

Li Jie asked Bruce Wayne to help repair Kara’s public image, but Bruce agreed only after Li Jie admitted he feared Kara could threaten humanity. Bruce set conditions for Kryptonians’ oversight and barred them from Gotham without his permission, while Li Jie agreed to speak with Kara and then began hinting at another request.

• Li Jie visited Bruce Wayne and asked him to use Wayne Enterprises’ media resources to improve public opinion of Kara, but Bruce refused.
• Li Jie tried several arguments and even threatened to reveal Bruce’s connection to Batman, but Bruce warned that he could discredit Li Jie and expose an embarrassing video.
• Bruce demanded Li Jie explain his true reason for helping Kara, and Li Jie admitted he feared humanity could be wiped out if Kara stopped caring about the consequences.
• Bruce agreed to help on the conditions that Kryptonians report plans for war to the Justice League and stay out of Gotham without his permission.
• Li Jie agreed to talk to Kara about Bruce’s conditions, then raised the Police Department’s lack of funds.

Li Jie and Harleen persuaded Kara to abandon her plan to watch over Gotham, and Kara left on friendly terms with Harleen. At the children’s home, Harkness spotted a Talon stalking Jason and charged it to protect him.

• Harleen caught Kara’s attention by pretending to fall off the dock, and the two quickly became friends.
• Kara agreed to leave Gotham alone because Clark had asked her to keep an eye on the city and Batman did not want her there.
• Harkness noticed a pale, owl-eyed figure perched in the old tree and recognized it as a Talon.
• Jason went to dig beneath the tree, and Harkness shouted for him to run.
• The Talon pursued Jason, but Harkness struck it with a boomerang and then slammed into its side.

Harkness survived a Talon’s attack thanks to his Blood Pouches, while Raven subdued the assassin. After Harkness passed out, Li Jie questioned Jason about the night’s events and promised him a present, but Raven confronted Jason for sneaking out to dig for bugs.

• Jason tried to close Harkness’s eyes, mistook him for an Open-Eyed Corpse, and discovered Harkness was still alive.
• Harkness explained that his Blood Pouches had kept him alive after the Talon slashed his chest, while Raven’s purple-black mist restrained the Talon.
• Nygma asked to take the captured Talon for identification and study, and Li Jie checked that Raven was unharmed.
• Jason recounted sneaking out, seeing Harkness fight the Talon, and watching Raven arrive to help.
• Li Jie praised Jason’s loyalty and promised him a present, but Raven confronted him about sneaking out after bedtime to dig for bugs.

Nygma explained how Talons could be stopped and showed Li Jie how Wayne Enterprises was shifting public attention away from Kara’s case and toward Lex Luthor. Li Jie noticed a strangely dressed figure in a supposed World War I photograph, then left to buy Jason gifts, only to find Nygma had prepared difficult test papers for him.

• Nygma told Li Jie that Talon cells remained active after separation but were vulnerable to extreme heat and cold, and he recommended large-caliber weapons to stop them.
• Li Jie and Nygma agreed the Police Department should ask Bruce Wayne for cryogenic equipment, and Nygma reported that Harkness had only minor bruises.
• Nygma showed Li Jie fabricated online stories that Wayne Enterprises was using to distract the public from Kara’s case and draw scrutiny toward Lex Luthor.
• Nygma said Lex Luthor was unlikely to back down, though the shifting public debate favored their side.
• Li Jie spotted an oddly dressed figure in a supposed World War I photograph, then remembered he needed gifts for Jason.
• Nygma revealed he had already prepared unusually difficult test papers for Jason.

Li Jie returned to the Eastern District Precinct and learned how Gotham’s drug franchise was reshaping police work and local politics. Meanwhile, Nygma reported that their hidden enemies had gone to ground, and Bruce Wayne continued his painful rehabilitation, determined to train again the next day.

• Li Jie returned to the precinct, found his office filled with flowers and Harleen Quinzel’s nameplate, and moved into Bob’s old office instead.
• Bob told Li Jie that Sofia Falcone and Rupert Thorne were using violence against independent drug dealers, while James Gordon faced accusations that the police were failing to enforce the law.
• Oswald Cobblepot accepted expensive cufflinks from the vice chairman of the City Planning Commission and wondered why the man was approaching him without discussing the East End Revival Plan or the vacant City Finance Committee seat.
• Nygma told Li Jie that Talons’ disappearance had frightened their enemies into retreating and that Galloway had died in what was reported as an accident.
• Harleen told Li Jie that Anna had asked how she had won him over, and that she had advised Anna to kiss Ed and take her clothes off.
• Bruce Wayne trained through pain in the Batcave, and Alfred urged him to stay alive; Bruce laughed, took a sandwich, and promised to continue training tomorrow.

Li Jie and Wilson returned to patrol in a Gotham where crime had declined, leaving them bored with minor complaints. Dick learned that Theodore Galloway had died and the foundation had frozen his sponsorship, so he and Cliff considered how to move forward and whether Galloway had truly meant to help them.

• Wilson took Li Jie on patrol through the East End, where safer streets and routine complaints made them miss their old, more dangerous work.
• Dick visited the Galloway Foundation and learned that Theodore Galloway had died in a fall and that his proposed project was frozen pending review by a new chairman.
• Cliff asked Dick whether Galloway's death had been an accident, and Dick recalled Galloway's offer to tell him about his parents.
• Dick and Cliff discussed finding another way to earn money, but Cliff said transforming into his car body made him dizzy and nauseous.
• Dick told Cliff that if Galloway had wanted to hurt him, his death had come at a convenient time, then joked that he was becoming more like the sheriff.

Li Jie reflected on Gotham’s quiet streets and Clark’s unexplained absence while Cobblepot recruited a frustrated municipal official by promising support for people kept down by the city’s power structure. Cobblepot left Valls with his private number and considered how those he called pawns might eventually replace the players.

• Li Jie read a newspaper story about Bruce Wayne’s recovery and romance, then wondered how Clark was doing after more than a month without contact.
• Li Jie noted that his colleagues were away or occupied and that the East End Police Department would likely be quiet around Halloween.
• Cobblepot met Municipal Planning Department employee Valls and pointed to his long career without promotion as evidence that he lacked connections.
• Cobblepot invoked the East End Sheriff’s courage and influence to persuade Valls that low-ranking officials could find another path.
• Valls accepted Cobblepot’s private number, and Cobblepot later told Gabe that Gotham’s struggling people needed hope.
• Cobblepot imagined that when the powerful ran out of pawns, someone else could take their seats at the board.

Li Jie spotted a Halloween fair in Robinson Park that seemed connected to the Mad Hatter, but his search found no sign of hypnosis or Jervis Tetch. The chapter ended with Li Jie convinced that the apparently ordinary crowd concealed something.

• Li Jie watched Gordon wait for Batman, then was startled when Batman appeared beside him before gliding to GCPD headquarters.
• Batman and Gordon discussed Gotham’s worsening crime, the limits of the police, and their hopes of improving the city.
• Li Jie read a report about Batman’s return, then began Halloween patrol and stopped at a crowded fair in Robinson Park.
• Li Jie recognized the fair’s Wonderland costumes as a possible sign of the Mad Hatter’s return and carefully checked the attendees for signs of hypnosis.
• Li Jie found no suspicious behavior among the crowd, but remained certain that Jervis Tetch was involved.