Chapter Summaries

Jason searched an exploded bus for Joker’s hidden treasure clue and encountered a stealthy attacker in a black bodysuit. He identified the clue as an “E” and continued fighting the interloper in the snow.

• Jason found the fourth bus, where a gunfight and explosion had killed the passengers and left the scene strewn with wreckage and corpses.
• Jason boarded the bus to search its ceiling and found a capital “E” painted there.
• Jason spotted a motionless man in a black bodysuit, who attacked him with a Hidden Blade before escaping through a window.
• A throwing dart flew at Jason as he tried to call Qin Wei, and Jason returned fire before moving toward the Batmobile.
• Jason anticipated the attacker’s silent approach through his own footprints, turned, and fired as the man ducked and struck toward his legs.

Jason defeated a mysterious, corpse-cold attacker, but the man resurrected and attacked again. Jason tried to escape in the Batmobile, only for his opponent to regenerate and stop him.

• Jason used a feint and a powerful kick to smash the dark figure into a wrecked bus, then shot him before inspecting his strange outfit and corpse-cold face.
• Qin Wei called Jason and ordered him to leave, while Oswald reassured Qin Wei as they drove toward the Municipal District.
• The dark figure revived and began pulling his broken body from the bus, so Jason shot him repeatedly and ran for the Batmobile.
• As Jason tried to seal the Batmobile's canopy, the figure grabbed the cockpit and regenerated his ruined face.

Jason fought the resurrected Talon William Cobb, whose speed and strength increased as his body warmed, and tried to escape after learning William was vulnerable to low temperatures. William caught up with Jason and pinned him against a wall, pressing his Hidden Blade toward Jason’s throat.

• William Cobb attacked Jason on the Batmobile, but Jason closed the canopy on William’s hand and flung him off the hood.
• Jason used the Batmobile’s Gatling Guns to drive William toward nearby houses, then stopped firing to avoid harming civilians.
• Jason called Qin Wei and shouted that William was afraid of low temperatures, but William destroyed the Batmobile’s radiator and engine, forcing Jason to eject.
• Jason escaped the burning Batmobile and dodged William’s throwing knives, then fought him on a slippery rooftop and slid down to the ground.
• William appeared in front of Jason, blocked his escape, and pinned him against a wall with his Hidden Blade at Jason’s throat.

Jason fought William Cobb in a seaside cottage while William tried to kill him and the witnesses who had seen him. As William was about to finish Jason, an unseen attacker intervened, and William realized the newcomer shared his blood and was his descendant, Gotham’s Grey Son.

• Jason let William cut his back, then grabbed him and threw him through the cottage window before attacking him inside.
• A resident appeared on the stairs, and William threatened to kill the family after he killed Jason.
• Jason pointed out that cameras and cloud storage could expose William, but William destroyed a security camera and decided he would kill everyone in Gotham.
• William pressed his attack, wounded Jason, and nearly struck his neck with a concealed blade.
• William sensed danger, knocked down an incoming projectile, and recognized the scent of the League of Assassins.
• William backed away from Jason and realized the newcomer shared his blood and was his descendant, Gotham’s Grey Son.

Jason and Dick fought off the Talons sent by the Court of Owls, using teamwork to turn a dangerous ambush in their favor. The battle continued as Jason faced a hulking Talon and Dick forced a female Talon into a corner.

• William Cobb fled upstairs after Jason struck him and an elderly couple shot him, then escaped through a window.
• Jason spotted three more Talons outside, and Dick arrived to explain their electrum weakness and say Mr. Will was preparing supplies.
• The Talons attacked through the walls, floor, and window, splitting Jason and Dick apart.
• Jason and Dick traded places mid-fight, and Jason knocked one Talon unconscious with a powerful punch.
• Dick drove a female Talon back with his Arnis sticks while Jason pressed his attack against a hulking Talon.

Jason and Dick discovered that electrum hidden in the Talons’ bodies sustained their healing, but a female Talon became overwhelmingly powerful after swallowing an electrum tooth. The brothers fled and fought her in an alley, where she wounded Jason and blocked Dick’s attack.

• Jason spotted the Talon’s weakness and threw Dick toward him, allowing Dick to cut through the electrum in the Talon’s waist.
• Dick hesitated to kill the wounded Talon, so Jason shot him in the head; the female Talon swallowed an electrum tooth from her injured companion and rapidly healed.
• Jason grabbed Dick and escaped with him through a window, but the female Talon caught up with them in a snowy alley.
• The female Talon shattered Jason’s baton and slashed his chest, but Dick struck her wrist with an Arnis stick and then attacked her with a knee strike.
• The female Talon blocked Dick’s knee strike with her palm.

Jason and Dick fought a female Talon but were overwhelmed until Qin Wei arrived and used his preparations against her. Qin Wei froze and severed the Talon's arm, leaving her at his mercy.

• The female Talon injured Dick and threw him against a wall, while Jason's attacks failed to slow her.
• Mary Turner recognized Bronze Tiger's insignia and attacked Dick, but a blade from the darkness broke her Hidden Blade before she struck him in the chest.
• Jason fought through his injuries to draw the Talon away from Dick, even as she nearly defeated him.
• Qin Wei dropped in and caught the Talon's blade barehanded, then threw her to the ground.
• The Talon tried to stab Qin Wei's exposed neck, but his Liquid Nitrogen Sprayer froze and severed her arm.

Qin Wei defeated Mary with liquid nitrogen and took the Talons’ bodies for research, while Talia watched and fled. On the way back to help Gordon stop the bus bombings, Qin Wei realized Joker may have manipulated the Prophecy Comic and every move he had made, leaving him to prepare a plan to disrupt Joker’s scheme.

• Mary tried to escape, but Qin Wei and Oswald trapped her and froze her limbs until she could no longer fight.
• Talia watched Qin Wei defeat Mary, grew impressed by his abilities, and left while worrying about his conflict with the Court of Owls.
• Qin Wei kept Mary frozen and collected the other Talons’ bodies to study electrum and their self-healing ability.
• Qin Wei and Oswald learned that eight buses had exploded despite rescue efforts, and Qin Wei suspected that more Talons were active.
• Qin Wei concluded that Joker may have engineered the Prophecy Comic or possessed one himself, and rejected Mr. Hacker’s lead on Joker’s supposed location.
• Qin Wei decided to return to Gordon, address the bus bombings, and gather his people to disrupt Joker’s plan.

The chapter recounts the Court of Owls’ rise, its bloody feud with the Wayne Family, and Thomas Wayne’s revenge against the Court. After killing Joseph Powers, Thomas heard Joker’s demand that he target Will by hurting Selina Kyle.

• The Court of Owls began as a group of Jewish merchants and used owl-masked Talons to massacre a Native American settlement during Westward Expansion.
• The Court gained wealth through railroads and secured control of Gotham, but Charles Wayne’s sudden death severed its plans to control the Wayne Family.
• After years of conflict, the Court killed Thomas and Martha Wayne and their son, then cured the surviving Thomas with electrum and took over the family’s businesses.
• Thomas killed Joseph Powers at the Court’s stronghold while the Talons were away, avenging his family after lying low for twenty years.
• Joker asked Thomas to target Will and suggested harming Selina Kyle, Falcone’s illegitimate daughter.

Joker tried to recruit Thomas Wayne, but Bane sided with Joker and urged Thomas to choose between joining them and opposing the Court of Owls. Thomas rejected their offer and escaped Wayne Tower into the blizzard, vowing vengeance as Owlman.

• Joker demanded that Thomas Wayne honor their agreement, but Thomas dismissed him and Bane arrived.
• Bane protected Joker when Thomas attacked, revealing that he would not let Thomas kill him.
• Joker taunted Thomas about his lack of feelings and offered him a place in a new future against the Court of Owls.
• Thomas pretended to consider the offer, then fled for the door, surprising Joker and Bane.
• Bane charged after Thomas, who distracted him with darts and smashed through the tower’s glass wall to escape into the blizzard.
• Thomas warned that Owlman was never prey and promised vengeance in the darkness.

Qin Wei solved Joker’s Wayne-themed riddle and traced the missing school buses and the gangs’ prize to Robinson Park, then tried to keep the uneasy alliance together. When gang members turned their guns on him, the Croc Boss Gang intervened and defended him.

• Bullock gathered the gang members to decipher the letters on the Bomb Buses, but their guesses drifted into a discussion of their university backgrounds.
• Qin Wei arrived, explained that E, T, and M stood for Manor, Tower, and Enterprises, and helped Gordon defuse two more bombs.
• Qin Wei connected the locations of Wayne Manor, Wayne Enterprises, and Wayne Tower on a map, forming a triangle that pointed to Robinson Park as the likely hiding place of the missing school buses and Joker’s prize.
• Qin Wei asked the gangs to set aside their grudges, but a tall, thin man and hundreds of gang members aimed their guns at him.
• A gang member grabbed the tall, thin man’s gun and knocked him down, while the Croc Boss Gang vouched for Qin Wei and urged the others to question the deeds of their dead comrades.

After the Croc Boss Gang came to protect the Judgment Knight, the gang members recognized him as Matches Malone, whom they blamed for Killer Croc Wei Lun’s death. Qin Wei explained that he had adopted the Judgment Knight identity to unite the gangs under a new order, leaving the crowd to consider his plan.

• Hans declared that the Croc Boss Gang would protect the Judgment Knight on behalf of the Encampment, despite a man’s warning that Qin Wei was dangerous.
• Gang members recognized Qin Wei as Matches Malone, and Gordon and Bullock discussed his secret identity.
• Qin Wei proved he was Matches Malone by recalling personal stories about Lajir, Jacob, and Mikael.
• Hans accused Qin Wei of murdering Killer Croc Wei Lun, and the Croc Boss Gang and Bad Men Gang raised their weapons against each other.
• Qin Wei stopped the confrontation and said he had become the Judgment Knight to impose order and unite the gangs through pressure from an outside force.

Qin Wei persuaded most of Gotham’s gangs to accept the Judgment Knight, then confronted Hans and revealed he was both Bruce and Matches Malone. Meanwhile, Bane framed Thomas Wayne for Joseph Powers’s murder, and the Court of Owls sentenced Thomas to death while ordering the Talons to capture Bruce.

• Qin Wei told the gangs he had killed Killer Croc Wei Lun in self-defense, and most of them lowered their guns.
• Qin Wei revealed to Hans that he had spent time at the Drifters Encampment as Bruce and was also Matches Malone and the Judgment Knight.
• Hans challenged Qin Wei to a fight, but Qin Wei knocked him out with one punch before Hans could finish speaking.
• Bane erased evidence of the attack on the Court’s headquarters and left traces implicating Owlman Thomas Wayne in Joseph Powers’s murder.
• The Court of Owls voted unanimously to sentence Thomas Wayne to death and ordered the Talons to bring back Bruce Wayne.

Qin Wei led Gotham gang members toward Robinson Park as a decoy while Gordon and Floyd prepared to face the Dirty Cops’ interception squad. The real Qin Wei hurried to the park alone, intent on saving the children Joker had trapped on two school buses.

• Qin Wei led a recruited group of gang members through the snow, reasoning that their love for Gotham made them likely allies and that their numbers would deter the Talons.
• Gordon sensed the Talons watching from rooftops and urged a shortcut, but Qin Wei insisted the group stay on the main road to avoid ambushes.
• Floyd noticed the hostile presence following them, then saw Chato Santana arrive with the Dirty Cops’ interception squad.
• Qin Wei told Floyd to cover him during the fight, and Gordon realized the Qin Wei with them was a stand-in while the real one had gone ahead.
• Gordon told Floyd to protect the stand-in and keep the group together, then led everyone into position as the Dirty Cops approached.
• The real Qin Wei rushed alone toward Robinson Park to rescue the children Joker held on two school buses.

Qin Wei entered the underground amusement park to confront the Joker, who had prepared a deadly roller-coaster game using buses filled with unconscious children. The buses began accelerating toward an unfinished loop, and Qin Wei sprinted into the cavern to save them.

• Qin Wei traveled to Robinson Park and entered the underground amusement park built in the cavern beneath the Wayne brothers' statues.
• Qin Wei invited Mr. Hacker to dinner, and Mr. Hacker accepted on the condition that they did not eat at the Bar.
• The Joker learned that an intruder had arrived and switched on the amusement park's attractions.
• The Joker set two buses carrying children onto the roller coaster and told Qin Wei that they would explode if their speed fell below fifty miles per hour or they reached the unfinished loop.
• Qin Wei raced through the abandoned railway as the buses accelerated and the children cried for help.

Qin Wei rescued the children from Joker’s speeding school bus, then entered the roller coaster control room and was hit with a gas trap. In Burley, Fire attacked Floyd as the battle escalated around a police helicopter.

• Qin Wei used his grappling hook to board the bus, broke open its rear door, and organized the children into groups so he could pull most of them to safety.
• Qin Wei found two unconscious children near the front of the bus, jumped off with them, and scraped his back badly while braking on the ground.
• Qin Wei realized the control room might hold a way to stop the bus, swung into it, and was sprayed in the face with gas when he reached the speed reduction valve.
• Gordon and Floyd’s gangsters exchanged fire with the Dirty Cops, who advanced through the streets while avoiding the alleys watched by Talons.
• Floyd raised a Barrett rifle to shoot down the police helicopter, but Fire lashed him with a whip that heated the weapon, burned Floyd’s hands, and ruptured the ammunition magazine.

Qin Wei struggled to save the children aboard a runaway school bus and found his reason for refusing to lose. He rescued the unconscious boy just before falling from the bus, but the children's fate remained uncertain.

• Qin Wei slowed the school bus with the speed limiter, then leaped onto its rear and climbed inside as it continued down the tracks.
• Qin Wei ordered the children to hold on, caught one child as the bus jolted, and watched another boy hit the windshield and fall through the shattered glass.
• Qin Wei recalled the people he had helped and realized he could not stand by while scum harmed others and blamed the whole city.
• Qin Wei fired his Grappling Hook into the falling boy's thigh, reeled him in, and grabbed a seat back while shielding him from falling out the window.

Qin Wei risked everything to break the school bus through the collapsing roller coaster and get the children to safety. He escaped the tunnel with an injured boy, while Joseph watched and eagerly anticipated another showdown with Batman.

• Qin Wei planted sticky bombs at the roller coaster track junction, but the explosions failed to break the steel.
• Qin Wei accelerated the school bus into the junction, collapsing the roller coaster and escaping onto an abandoned railway.
• Qin Wei ordered the children to jump from the slowing bus, then leapt out carrying the injured, unconscious boy.
• The school bus exploded in the tunnel, and Qin Wei suffered severe burns while shielding the boy.
• Joseph watched Qin Wei save both busloads of children and grew excited and frightened about facing Batman again.

William Cobb ignored the Court of Owls’ recall order and reached Robinson Park after Joker had left, where he confronted the badly injured Qin Wei. Qin Wei used a concealed liquid nitrogen gun to freeze William and killed him with a kick before leading the rescued children out of the tunnel.

• William Cobb ignored the Court of Owls’ summons and continued his mission to find Joker and destroy evidence.
• William arrived at Robinson Park and found Qin Wei, whom he mistook for a gang member despite sensing something unusual about him.
• William questioned Qin Wei about Joker and the treasure, then put his Hidden Blade to Qin Wei’s neck.
• Qin Wei taunted William by asking what the Court of Owls feared, then sprayed him with liquid nitrogen when William demanded to know how he knew about the Court.
• Qin Wei smashed William’s frost-damaged skull with a kick and hurried the rescued children out of the tunnel.

Gordon and Bullock surrendered to the Talons’ overwhelming forces while Matches Malone was captured after being mistaken for Bruce Wayne. Qin Wei escaped the cavern but remained badly burned, and he sent Royce and his men away to protect them.

• Gordon ordered everyone to put down their guns, and the police arrested the gang members as Matches Malone slipped into an alley.
• A dirty cop beat Floyd, who insisted that the police had not truly won because their leader would escape.
• Talons caught Matches Malone, mistook him for Bruce Wayne, and began carrying him off after he chose to keep his identity secret to buy Qin Wei time.
• Qin Wei emerged from the underground cavern and handed Shorty and the others over to Royce.
• Royce offered to take Qin Wei to the hospital, but Qin Wei refused and urged him to leave with the supplies he had requested.