Chapter Summaries

Dick and Jason discovered that Gotham’s stadium had become an organized work and relief center, while Gordon encountered displaced residents in the ruins of Chinatown. At the command tent, Li Jie prepared a strange ceremony and asked Garfield to transform into a fox.

• Dick finished repairing the communications tower with Jason and Garfield, then learned that work was being gathered at the stadium and received Barbara’s messages.
• Gordon saw Chinatown reduced to rubble, helped an old man and his grandson, and was told to send affected residents to the stadium for work.
• Dick and Jason found the stadium organized into registration, supply, medical, and accommodation zones, where residents received work assignments and daily points.
• Dick and Jason reached the command tent and found banners honoring Kara and Li Jie stuffing cloth into a dead fish.
• Li Jie asked Garfield to turn into a fox so he could teach him a few lines.

Cobblepot’s call for Gotham to handle its own affairs became a viral political symbol, prompting the president to demand a plan to silence him. Meanwhile, Kara defied a federal blockade while delivering supplies to Gotham and disabled a fighter that fired at her cargo.

• Cobblepot told Li Jie that he meant to pressure the Federal Government for a better deal, not pursue Gotham’s independence.
• Kara flew toward Gotham with a shipping container of supplies as federal fighter jets ordered her to turn back.
• A fighter launched a missile at Kara’s cargo, and she used heat vision to sever its wing, forcing its pilot to eject.
• A video of Cobblepot declaring that Gotham’s affairs belonged to Gotham’s people spread across the country and made him a prominent symbol.
• The president demanded a response plan within seventy-two hours to deal with Cobblepot and make him stop speaking.

The federal government debated how to pressure Super Girl and remove Cobblepot from Gotham while avoiding a public backlash. After delivering supplies, Kara faced Batman’s demand that she leave, then used Natalia’s recorded message to make him depart and celebrated with Li Jie’s advice in mind.

• The Chief of Staff and officials considered pressuring Superman, privately offering Cobblepot a position in Washington, and possibly sending Amanda Waller’s metahuman team into Gotham.
• Kara delivered supplies to the Stadium, where the crowd cheered and sang for her, and Li Jie teased her about the growing worship and gave her a tent.
• Batman confronted Kara and demanded that she leave Gotham, accusing her of encouraging religious fanaticism and bringing trouble upon the city.
• Kara gave Batman a Walkman containing Natalia’s message asking him to be forgiving toward her and revealing that Natalia was alive and playing piano again.
• Batman listened to the recording and left without another word, while Kara returned to her tent and gleefully celebrated his retreat.

Danees agreed to help Whelan support Gotham and turned the effort into a calculated publicity opportunity. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller revealed to Rick Flag that Task Force X would serve as a contingency for a plan to remove the president from power, leaving Flag responsible if it failed.

• Danees warned Whelan that helping Gotham could bring fines, suspension, lost sponsorships, and government retaliation, then agreed that the Suns would stand with him after Whelan insisted he had to try.
• Danees privately discussed how Whelan's stand could boost jersey sales and sponsorships, and ordered Kraft to assign him a dedicated public relations team.
• Amanda Waller told Rick Flag to lead Task Force X, but Flag questioned how the imprisoned recruits could survive a confrontation with Super Girl.
• Waller explained that the task force would handle contingencies during an effort to correct the president's decision to blockade Gotham, and that Flag would take the blame if the plan failed.
• Flag agreed to Waller's terms, and she told him to bring her the female intern.

As Gotham rebuilt after the earthquake, Li Jie organized relief while aid convoys entered the city amid a wave of political scandals and a presidential impeachment push. Bruce Wayne questioned Li Jie about the scandals and Gotham’s future, then left after hearing that the city mattered more than either Batman or Li Jie.

• Li Jie and Kara discussed the disposal of bodies and dwindling supplies as Gotham residents cleared roads and rebuilt infrastructure.
• Jack Napier brought Red Cross aid workers into Gotham, and more humanitarian and business supply convoys followed after the National Guard checkpoints let them through.
• Li Jie and Bob read reports of White House scandals, and Congress quickly placed an impeachment motion on its agenda.
• Bruce Wayne visited Li Jie at Gotham Knights Stadium and questioned whether Li Jie or someone he knew had orchestrated the scandals.
• Bruce asked Li Jie who mattered more to Gotham, Batman or Li Jie, and Li Jie answered that neither mattered as much as the city itself and joked that Batman’s donations mattered most.

As Gotham struggled through reconstruction, Li Jie checked in on exhausted Mayor Cobblepot, reunited with Raven, and learned that crime was rising again. Meanwhile, Alfred set out to retrieve Bruce and Talia’s child from the League of Assassins, with Bruce left behind to protect Gotham.

• Li Jie visited Cobblepot, gave him dinner, and learned that Gotham’s crime rates were climbing as gangs took advantage of the earthquake’s aftermath.
• Li Jie told Cobblepot that Rupert Thorne had died in the earthquake, and Cobblepot refused to give up being mayor.
• Dick returned Jason Todd and Garfield to school, and they rushed inside after he warned them Raven was back and could discover their grades.
• Li Jie reunited with Raven, discussed the people and projects rebuilding Gotham, and agreed to have dinner with her.
• Alfred prepared to travel to Oman with a Nanny Robot and a Riot Mech to bring Bruce and Talia’s child home from the League of Assassins.
• Bruce accepted that Alfred was going alone and stayed behind, while Alfred drove toward the airport and contacted Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent.

Leonard Snart and Mick Rory staged a fake bank robbery to confront The Flash, then pressured Barry Allen with Gotham speeding tickets issued in his own name. Barry fled after promising to investigate and catch himself, while Leonard and Mick prepared to continue their work.

• Leonard Snart set off the bank alarm while Mick Rory waited with him for The Flash to arrive.
• The Flash burst into the bank, but Leonard and Mick explained that they had not robbed it and were waiting for his help finding a speedster criminal.
• Leonard showed Barry Allen six Gotham speeding tickets and explained that the fines were unpaid and the violations could be treated as serious offenses.
• Barry denied knowing anyone named Barry Allen, then reluctantly agreed to investigate and catch the alleged criminal.
• Leonard reminded Barry not to exceed Gotham's forty-mile-per-hour speed limit as he sped away, and Leonard told Mick to bring Lisa over so they could get to work.

Li Jie confronted Clown during a hostage crisis in a Gotham office building, while a golden spacecraft crashed near the waterfront and drew rival gangs and Cobblepot's men into a fight. The spacecraft remained contested as gunfire broke out between the Snakehead Gang and the Irish Mob.

• Li Jie learned that Clown had taken at least twenty-five hostages on the twenty-second floor and climbed the stairs to reach them.
• Li Jie confronted Clown, who demanded Batman, and their attempt to exchange Li Jie for the hostages failed when both realized the other had tricked them.
• Li Jie threatened to report Clown to the IRS over his supposed ransom, and Clown revealed that he had recorded the conversation.
• A golden spacecraft streaked across Gotham and crashed halfway into the concrete at the waterfront.
• The Ghost Gang and other groups gathered around the spacecraft, and a biker was thrown back when his axe struck its hull.
• Gabe arrived with Cobblepot's armed men and ordered them to surround the spacecraft, as the Snakehead Gang and the Irish Mob opened fire nearby.

The Titans reached the fallen spaceship and negotiated with Gabe to investigate it, but its hatch opened and a mysterious woman emerged. Elsewhere, Li Jie left Batman and Clown to their confrontation, then received an urgent call; the woman identified herself as Koriand'r after kissing Dick, whose response drew Barbara's furious rebuke.

• Gabe's team secured the docks, and Dick Grayson persuaded Gabe to let the Titans investigate the golden spaceship.
• The ship's hatch burst open, and a badly injured orange-red woman climbed out of the golden mist.
• Batman beat Clown while Clown accused him of never rescuing him, and Li Jie announced that he was taking the hostages away.
• Li Jie received an urgent phone call as he descended the stairs and rushed to respond.
• The woman kissed Dick, shared a surge of emotions and memories with him, and introduced herself as Koriand'r.
• Dick called himself Robin, prompting Barbara to yell at him over his earpiece.

Dick tried to explain his kiss with Starfire to Barbara, but she drove away before he could make amends. Li Jie took charge of Starfire’s asylum request and arranged to find her a place to stay, while warning Dick that Jim would reach the battlefield in about two hours.

• Dick told Barbara that Starfire had kissed him unexpectedly, but Barbara accused him of enjoying it and drove off.
• Li Jie lent Starfire his GCPD vest and accepted her report that she was Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran, a fugitive seeking asylum on Earth.
• Starfire demonstrated that she could fly and fire powerful energy blasts, prompting Li Jie to ask what else she could do.
• Li Jie decided to find Starfire somewhere to stay and explained that she should not kiss men who already had girlfriends.
• Starfire mistook Li Jie for Earth's commander, and Li Jie enjoyed the misunderstanding before telling Dick that Jim would reach the battlefield in about two hours.

Li Jie staged a fake shooting to defuse Gordon’s anger over Dick and Barbara, then hosted a tense reconciliation dinner where Harleen urged Barbara not to depend on Dick. Afterward, Li Jie explained that his advice was also meant to discourage Bruce from getting involved with Barbara, and Harleen made a move on him.

• Dick hid from Jim Gordon at the East End Police Department while Gordon waited outside to confront him.
• Li Jie staged Dick’s shooting with blank cartridges, a bulletproof vest, and blood packs, shocking Gordon before revealing the deception.
• Li Jie arranged a dinner at the Gotham Royal Hotel, where Bruce, Dick, Gordon, Barbara, Harleen, and Li Jie discussed Dick’s failure to properly apologize to Barbara.
• Harleen encouraged Barbara to value her independence and not tie her happiness to Dick, while Li Jie joked that she could become his new mom.
• Li Jie told Harleen he had hoped his remarks would keep Bruce from pursuing Barbara, then discussed establishing a police station near Robinson Park for Harleen’s Gang.
• Harleen stopped the car and climbed over Li Jie, telling him she did not need to wait until tonight to thank him.

Harleen assembled allies to help Dorothy control her dangerous powers and confront the Candle Man, while Gotham’s citizens built a statue and began worshipping the still-living Kara. The Candle Man emerged into a trap, and Diana led the attack as Harleen carried Dorothy to safety.

• Harleen examined Starfire and reassured her about adjusting to Earth, while Starfire explained that Dick had warned her to ask before kissing someone.
• Li Jie discovered Gotham residents had built a statue of Kara and were forming a Kryptonian church around it, then called Kara but learned only that she and Harleen were busy.
• Harleen gathered Diana Prince, Kara, Poison Ivy, Barbara Gordon, and others to help Dorothy, whose emotion-driven power could bring her fears and nightmares to life.
• Harleen explained that Dorothy’s power came from the Candle Man, who could return and kill them if Dorothy lost control again.
• Harleen summoned the Candle Man, who recognized the powerful allies surrounding him and realized he had walked into a trap.
• Diana charged the Candle Man with her sword as Harleen carried Dorothy away and urged everyone to attack together.

Diana and the others destroyed Candle Man, freeing Dorothy but triggering a citywide emergency and a confrontation with Batman. Li Jie learned that Cobblepot had hidden two nuclear warheads beneath a warehouse, while Vandal Savage recruited Amanda Waller to help him retrieve something from Gotham.

• Diana and the others killed Candle Man, whose death released a blast that damaged the clearing and filled survivors with brief, overwhelming fear; Kara evacuated the ordinary people, and Harleen assured Dorothy that the monster was gone.
• Li Jie returned to Gotham amid emergency response efforts and learned from Cobblepot that two nuclear warheads had been hidden beneath a warehouse for years; they agreed to find a way to dispose of them quietly.
• Batman confronted Diana about the battle's risks and the resulting emergency, while Diana defended her decision to save Dorothy and left him alone on Wayne Tower.
• Vandal Savage met with Amanda Waller and asked her to distract Batman and Task Force X while he retrieved something powerful from Gotham; he described the city's unusual growth and promised to contact her with a plan.

Kara destroyed the two nuclear warheads by throwing them into the sun, then returned to Gotham as Li Jie responded to a bank robbery. Li Jie’s rifle grenade and Batman’s intervention stopped the Straight Flush Gang robber, while Batman captured Q of the Straight Flush Gang.

• Kara threw the two warheads into the sun and returned to Earth unharmed apart from singed hair.
• Li Jie and Kara heard an emergency broadcast about an armed robbery at Gotham National Bank, and Li Jie drove to the scene while Kara stayed behind.
• Batman entered the bank as Li Jie arrived and saw officers preparing rifle grenades.
• Q of the Straight Flush Gang threw metal playing cards at Li Jie, cutting a bald patch into his hair, and Li Jie fired a rifle grenade into the bank.
• The blast knocked Q down, and Batman hoisted her into the air with his Grapple Gun as Li Jie entered the bank.

Batman reflected on the Straight Flush Gang’s robbery and suspected someone had entered the Batcave, while Sam Scudder secretly accessed its files and began copying them. Amanda Waller asked Batman to help transfer the gang to federal custody, and he agreed while warning that he would watch her.

• Bruce Wayne returned to the Batcave after the police helped him defeat the Straight Flush Gang and considered the sheriff’s extreme tactics and Li Jie’s disabling of Jack’s laser eye.
• Sam Scudder emerged from a mirror inside the Batmobile, bypassed the Batcomputer’s biometric security, and began copying its files after finding Batman’s contingency plans.
• Bruce noticed an unexplained sense of unease and checked the Batcave’s surveillance and security logs, which showed no signs of intrusion.
• Amanda Waller told Batman that the Straight Flush Gang had been organized by a recruiter called Mentor and that Task Force X would transfer the gang to a federal detention facility.
• Batman agreed to keep Gotham’s police from interfering and support the transfer if Mentor’s people tried to rescue the gang, while telling Waller he would be watching her.

Vandal Savage recruited Star Sapphire, Coben, Doctor Minerva, Mala'fa'ak, and other villains into the Legion of Doom with plans to fracture the Justice League using Batman's contingency files. Hush joined Savage's plot to ruin Bruce Wayne, while Savage sent Mirror Master to investigate Gotham policeman Li Jie, whose contingency file had caught his attention.

• Vandal Savage revealed Batman's contingency plans to the gathered villains and offered them a hundred million dollars for every Justice League member they eliminated, forming the Legion of Doom.
• Batman found no reliable evidence that Amanda Waller's supposed Mentor existed and wondered what her call had distracted him from.
• Hush told Savage he wanted Bruce Wayne to lose his wealth, influence, and place in Gotham, and Savage agreed to support his plan.
• Mirror Master warned Savage that Hush followed only his own agenda, then discussed Batman's extensive contingency plan for Gotham policeman Li Jie.
• Savage ordered Mirror Master to investigate Li Jie and assess whether he could interfere with the Legion of Doom's plans.

Li Jie confronted Mirror Master, who tried to infiltrate the Gotham Police Department and frighten him through a bathroom mirror. Mirror Master escaped back to the Hall of Doom, where he warned Savage that Li Jie was dangerous, and Savage considered sending Hush and his allies or another operative after him.

• Li Jie dragged Wilson into the bathroom to punish him for mocking his shaved head, but a strange figure appeared in the mirror.
• Li Jie punched the mirror, hauled the intruder out by his hair, and slammed his head against the sink until he identified himself as Scudder, Sam Scudder.
• Scudder turned into a reflection and vanished from Li Jie's grasp, leaving Li Jie and Wilson unharmed apart from a cut on Li Jie's palm.
• Mirror Master returned to the Hall of Doom and told Savage that Li Jie had attacked him before he could finish his infiltration.
• Savage questioned Mirror Master's account, then considered having Hush and his allies deal with Li Jie or using another person from the reserve roster.

Hush revealed himself to Bruce Wayne and buried him in an empty grave, while Metallo shot Superman with a kryptonite bullet and sent him falling from the Daily Planet rooftop. In Gotham, Li Jie and Bob rushed to stage the East End Police Department as a rundown precinct before Bruce Wayne arrived to discuss a donation.

• At Gotham Cemetery, Thomas Elliot revealed that he had become Hush, admitted he had caused his parents' deaths, and blamed Bruce Wayne for his resentment before having him thrown into an empty grave.
• Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen identified former White House correspondent Henry Anderson on the Daily Planet rooftop, and Superman arrived to talk him down from threatening suicide.
• After Anderson lowered his gun, he shot Superman with a kryptonite bullet, revealed himself as Metallo, exposed his Kryptonite Heart, and caused Superman to fall from the roof.
• A Gotham officer told Li Jie that Bruce Wayne planned to visit the East End Police Department and discuss a donation, prompting Li Jie to question his motives.
• Li Jie and Bob ordered officers to make the department and a battered police car look poorer for Bruce Wayne's reporters, then assigned Li Jie to welcome him.

After Superman was shot with a special bullet and left critically wounded, Li Jie and Nygma prepared a Kryptonite scalpel for an emergency operation. Harleen and her companions arrived at Cobblepot’s workshop, where Nygma was assigned to travel to Metropolis with Starfire.

• Li Jie and Nygma suspected that Bruce Wayne’s polite behavior meant he had lost his memory or was a double, and Nygma sent Otis and Turner to investigate.
• A news report announced that Superman had been shot in Metropolis and was critically wounded, while doctors could not cut through his skin with a scalpel.
• Li Jie retrieved Kryptonite bullets, and Nygma directed him to Cobblepot’s workshop to have one ground into a blade.
• Nygma supervised the workers as they shaped a Kryptonite blade, while Li Jie offered them extra pay to finish quickly.
• Harleen arrived with Kara and the others, and Nygma attached the finished blade to a scalpel for a single operation.
• Li Jie ordered Starfire to take Nygma to Metropolis to operate on Superman, while warning Kara not to go.

Diana pursued Cheetah but was poisoned and trapped in an illusion where she fought a merciless copy of herself until Kara, Harleen, and Ivy found her attacking empty air. Meanwhile, Li Jie told Dick that Bruce Wayne might be an impostor and that the real Bruce could be imprisoned in the Wayne family cemetery, and Dick chose to pursue the fake.

• Cheetah poisoned Diana, escaped from the cruise ship, and lured her into an illusion of a golden-sand dock where Diana fought a mirror image of herself.
• Diana's body began to fail from the relentless fight, while Kara and Harleen arrived and found her battling empty air amid the wreckage; Ivy joined them, and Harleen said they needed to calm Diana before she collapsed.
• Dick arrived on his motorcycle and asked Li Jie about the heavily armed police vehicles.
• Li Jie told Dick that the current Bruce Wayne might be an impostor and that his people suspected the real Bruce was imprisoned in the Wayne family cemetery.
• Dick chose to help catch the impostor while Li Jie went to rescue Bruce.