Chapter Summaries

Qin Wei prepared to fight the Court of Owls alone after ordering Mr. Hacker to escape, then encountered Talon William and tried to draw him away from the city. The two faced off at a cliff, with William drawing his Hidden Blades as Qin Wei ran low on ammunition and equipment.

• Royce left Qin Wei a bulletproof suit, grenades, a rifle, and a tank of liquid nitrogen before departing.
• Qin Wei learned that Mr. Hacker had been traced and ordered him to abandon his devices and hide from surveillance.
• Qin Wei misled the pursuers by doubling back from the park’s north exit toward the Berkeley District.
• Qin Wei encountered Talon William in the Coventry District, and they exchanged gunfire and throwing knives.
• Qin Wei lured William to a cliff, where William drew his Hidden Blades and challenged him to close combat.

Qin Wei fought William Cobb, the Talon, using grenades, rifle fire, and concealed armor to counter his speed and blades. William evaded Qin Wei’s latest grenade and rifle burst, tumbling into the grass as the fight continued.

• William charged Qin Wei, but Qin Wei leapt back to evade his rapid Hidden Blade strike.
• William slashed again, and Qin Wei triggered a grenade trap that blasted them apart and tore open William’s chest.
• Qin Wei fired at the wounded William, shattering his left palm and knocking away one Hidden Blade.
• William charged again, but Qin Wei blocked his blade with reinforced wrist armor and struck him with a headbutt and close-range attacks.
• Qin Wei threw another grenade, and William dodged before rolling away from Qin Wei’s rifle burst.

William confronted Qin Wei over Mary's fate and revealed his history with her before activating the electrum token hidden beneath his ribs. The empowered William struck Qin Wei and severed his arm at the elbow.

• William conserved his strength while circling Qin Wei and realized his opponent had only one grenade and eighteen bullets left.
• Qin Wei taunted William about his allies, and William learned that Mary and the others might be dead.
• William recalled how Mary had won the Court's labyrinth trial without killing Calvin Rose, and how they had remained close ever since.
• William plunged his Dark Blade beneath his ribs, exposing the electrum token hidden there and triggering a transformation.
• William declared himself Judgmental and slashed Qin Wei, severing his arm at the elbow.

Joker disguised himself as Qin Wei and tried to push Harvey Dent into vengeance, but Harvey rejected the temptation before Joker drugged him and escaped. Meanwhile, Qin Wei brought William Cobb to his laboratory and implanted electrum in himself, preparing to become a Talon.

• William Cobb held Qin Wei captive and demanded that he lead him to Mary, while Joker arrived at Harvey Dent's hospital disguised as Qin Wei.
• Joker told Harvey that Gotham had fallen and urged him to pursue vengeance, but Harvey chose to remain the Bright Knight and hurled his coin to the floor.
• Joker revealed his identity, drugged Harvey with an Ether-Soaked Handkerchief, and escaped before Oswald reached the ward.
• Oswald found Harvey safe, took responsibility for the security failure, and ordered stricter identity checks at the hospital.
• Qin Wei brought William to his laboratory, where William discovered Mary frozen and reduced to a torso.
• Qin Wei restored his severed arm with Talon healing and revealed that he had implanted electrum in himself.

Qin Wei fought William while Electrum and the giant eyeball in the sky plunged him into hallucinations, then survived their deadly rooftop fight. After recovering his sanity, he asked Selina to remove the Electrum from his body, and apologized for leaving without saying goodbye.

• Qin Wei and William fought through the basement and onto the rooftops while hallucinations distorted Qin Wei's perception.
• William tried to remove Qin Wei's Electrum, but Qin Wei tricked him and pulled the real Electrum from William's abdomen.
• Qin Wei grabbed William and detonated his last grenade, then gathered William's remains and returned to the basement.
• Qin Wei tried to cut out his own Electrum but found that his instincts resisted, so he called Selina for help.
• Selina removed the Electrum from Qin Wei and treated his wound, and Qin Wei apologized for leaving without saying goodbye.

Selina struggled to hide her feelings for Qin Wei as he apologized and admitted how much she meant to him, but he tried to dismiss the possibility of love. Selina stopped him with a passionate kiss, and they tumbled into a display cabinet together.

• Selina remembered Qin Wei saving her on the bus and recognized her feelings, but her mother's painful history made her afraid to trust someone with her happiness.
• Qin Wei pinned Selina against a wall, apologized for leaving after their previous intimacy, and told her how much her support had meant to him.
• Qin Wei said he did not deserve love and tried to send Selina away, while she laughed at his comparison about mailing himself to Arkham Asylum.
• Selina shouted for Will to stop, leaped into his arms, and kissed him passionately, insisting that neither of them could escape their connection.
• Selina pulled Qin Wei into her Batsuit, and they crashed through a glass display cabinet as Scarface mocked Arnold.

Qin Wei prepared to counterattack against the Court of Owls, sought allies, and studied the Court’s history while hiding in Oswald’s mansion. Royce then called to say Thomas Wayne II, a man who looked like Qin Wei, had arrived to see him.

• Gotham branded Qin Wei, Judgment Knight, and Red Hood as wanted criminals while the Court of Owls remained powerful and Joker stayed at large.
• Qin Wei moved Jason and Harvey into Oswald’s mansion’s bomb shelter and began gathering supplies and studying Indian mythology to learn about Diablo.
• Ra’s al Ghul declined to commit the League of Assassins but sent Qin Wei detailed information about the Court of Owls and its hierarchy.
• Qin Wei recognized Tim Drake as the boy who had helped him and asked him to find Chato Santana, while Tim’s parents remained frightened behind a locked door.
• Royce called Qin Wei to report that Thomas Wayne II, a man who looked like him, had come to see him.

Thomas Wayne sought Qin Wei’s help against the Court of Owls, but their negotiations collapsed when Qin Wei challenged his motives and mocked his failure to avenge his parents. As Thomas tried to leave, Qin Wei confronted him over injuring Royce on his territory.

• Thomas Wayne demanded that Royce withdraw the men outside and bring Will to him, then broke Royce’s shin when Royce insisted on searching him.
• After Royce confirmed Thomas carried no weapons, Qin Wei met the visitor and questioned his identity and intentions.
• Thomas offered to share his knowledge of the Court of Owls in exchange for Qin Wei serving under him, but Qin Wei countered with the same demand and refused to trust him.
• Thomas accused Qin Wei of being a pathetic clone, and Qin Wei pointed out that Thomas had never avenged Thomas and Martha by killing Maroni.
• Thomas stormed toward the door after Qin Wei said he had killed Maroni, but Qin Wei stopped him to address his injury of Royce.

Qin Wei tested his fighting skills against Thomas Wayne and concluded that Thomas was human, while the Court of Owls killed Matches Malone after discovering he was not Bruce Wayne. After Chato Santana left Blackgate, Qin Wei confronted him and called out to the demon Diablo.

• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne fought over Thomas’s connection to the dog, and their brawl damaged a stolen Monet and a Yuan porcelain vase before both men fell.
• Qin Wei pretended to be incapacitated and concluded that Thomas was not a Talon, though he still intended to investigate him.
• A Court of Owls member offered Matches Malone a brainwashing pill, then learned Malone was not Bruce Wayne and crushed his skull before deciding to make armor modeled on Batman’s suit.
• Chato Santana left Blackgate Penitentiary and wandered away from Gotham, burdened by the loss of his family and his past as Diablo’s host.
• Qin Wei stopped Chato near Three-Gate Bridge and called out to Diablo, asking the demon to speak with him.

Qin Wei tried to persuade Chato that the GCPD had deceived him about the gangs, showing him evidence of the Bomb Bus massacre and telling him how to learn about Diablo. After leaving Chato to consider it, Qin Wei fought off thugs seeking the bounty on Matches Malone and returned to the mansion, where a hooded visitor gave him a cold snort.

• Qin Wei awakened Diablo inside Chato and told him he would explain what he knew, but Chato rejected his claims about the GCPD.
• Qin Wei showed Chato surveillance footage of a police car causing the Bomb Bus explosion, then left him a book about Diablo to read.
• Qin Wei noticed a suspicious man watching him, entered an alley, and was cornered by thugs seeking the million-dollar bounty on Matches Malone.
• Qin Wei used a subordinate as a shield, a flashbang, and a thrown pen to defeat the thugs, then tore down his wanted poster.
• Qin Wei returned to the mansion and passed a hooded man in a white suit being escorted away by The Roman's men; the man gave him a cold snort.

Qin Wei tried to keep Harvey from becoming Two-Face while planning to expose the Court of Owls, but a medical kit left by Daniel Reed contained a bloodied bat cowl. Tim uncovered that Reed's records were tampered with, and Qin Wei identified him as Thomas Elliot.

• Qin Wei asked Royce for the reconstructive surgeon's name and secretly sent Daniel Reed's name to Tim to investigate.
• Harvey told Qin Wei he planned to free their people from prison and publish evidence against the Dirty Cops and the Court of Owls; Qin Wei urged him to abandon a list of corrupt officials.
• Harvey asked whether Qin Wei had foreseen his fate, and Qin Wei promised that the Bright Knight would never fall, triggering a strange voice and pain in his head.
• Qin Wei noticed Daniel Reed's medical kit in Harvey's room, evacuated Harvey, and opened the case in the bunker before Jason, Selina, and Harvey.
• Qin Wei found a bloodied bat cowl in the case as Tim reported that Daniel Reed's records were altered and identified the hidden name as Thomas Elliot.

Qin Wei moved his allies into Wayne Manor to escape the Court of Owls’ surveillance, then learned from Thomas Wayne how the Court had created and pursued him. After Thomas proposed infiltrating Wayne Tower together, Qin Wei agreed and planned to leave the Court a surprise.

• Qin Wei decided to abandon the bunker and move everyone to Wayne Manor, where Selina showed him the new bat armor she had made.
• Qin Wei led the group into Wayne Manor, confronted Thomas Wayne, and settled everyone on the ground floor under Thomas’s strict rules.
• Qin Wei took his motorcycle into Gotham to scout Blackgate, and Thomas joined him on the ride toward Wayne Tower.
• Thomas explained that the Court had used Bruce Wayne’s blood for cloning experiments, that Bruce died uploading his consciousness, and that Thomas had freed Qin Wei from the growth chamber.
• Qin Wei realized Thomas had not been the one who rescued him from the sea and considered the possibility that Bruce or Alfred was still watching him.
• Thomas proposed that they infiltrate Wayne Tower together before going to Blackgate, and Qin Wei agreed while planning to leave the Court an unforgettable surprise.

Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne infiltrated Wayne Tower, where Qin Wei revealed that the Elliot Family might secretly lead the Court of Owls. They joined forces to investigate the Court, then fought their way through a patrol on the tower’s 58th floor.

• Thomas Wayne and Qin Wei crossed to Wayne Tower, and Qin Wei learned how to control his gliding cape after a frightening fall.
• Thomas Wayne explained the tower’s layout and the Court of Owls’ operations, while Qin Wei suggested that the Elliot Family was behind the Court and his parents’ deaths.
• Qin Wei shared intelligence linking Thomas to the Court under the identity of Dr. Reed, and Thomas Wayne agreed to work with him to uncover the Court’s leaders.
• At Elliot Manor, Thomas sensed a threat while preparing his new armored Batsuit, unaware that Qin Wei’s suspicions had put his family in danger.
• Thomas Wayne and Qin Wei infiltrated the 58th floor to seek Lucius Fox’s access card, then killed a twenty-person patrol of Cubs in an eight-second fight.

Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne infiltrated Wayne Tower with Lucius Fox’s help, evaded the tower’s security systems, and reached the Court of Owls’ headquarters. As they fought through the gathered fledglings, Thomas challenged Qin Wei to race toward the chamber’s stone door.

• Thomas Wayne insisted that Qin Wei stop recording the Court of Owls, explaining that exposing it would implicate the Wayne Family.
• Lucius Fox let Qin Wei and Thomas into the hidden weapons factory and revealed that a Court member called “Snow Scolding” had commissioned armor similar to Qin Wei’s.
• Lucius activated the secret elevator, while Qin Wei and Thomas hid on its roof to evade the elevator’s scanners and then dodged the laser detectors in the shaft.
• After alarms alerted the patrols, Qin Wei and Thomas escaped the slowing elevator and hurried toward the upper floors, leaving Lucius behind.
• The Court’s fledglings gathered outside the hundredth-floor headquarters to guard the secret chamber and the growing creature they worshipped.
• Qin Wei and Thomas blasted through the elevator doors, killed their way into the hall, and raced toward the carved stone door.

Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne broke into a hidden chamber beneath Wayne Tower and discovered a vast flesh-like growth fed by the Wayne family’s blood and Swamp Thing. As the growth began releasing a monstrous arm, Qin Wei attacked it with explosives and secretly recorded the horror.

• Qin Wei and Owlman defeated the pursuing brainwashed cubs, then blasted their way through the stone doors.
• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne entered the chamber and found a coffin of green liquid beneath a tower-filling mass of flesh.
• Qin Wei fed his blood to the tendrils, causing them to spread across the room as the moon overhead turned.
• The growth split open and revealed a gigantic arm made of vines and algae, while Qin Wei and Thomas learned Swamp Thing had been feeding it.
• Qin Wei threw his sticky bombs at the growth and secretly switched on the GoPro to record what was happening.

Qin Wei and Owlman uncovered the Court of Owls’ plan to answer the call of Barbatos before facing a squad of Talons in Wayne Tower. Elsewhere, Jervis Tetch kidnapped Gianna and her boyfriend, then attacked the Judgment Knight, only to find his hammer could not hurt him.

• The Court of Owls used a growth attached to Swamp Thing to produce dionysium and believed its work answered the call of Barbatos.
• Qin Wei and Owlman escaped the stone chamber after discovering the Court’s secrets, but thirteen Talons surrounded them.
• Jervis Tetch forced Gianna to smile while her beaten boyfriend was held captive, then left to find makeup after slapping her.
• Jervis Tetch used ultrasound to stop the Judgment Knight, but his hammer struck the knight’s armor without harming him.
• The factory lights went out, leaving Batman’s stare shining in the darkness.

Thomas used the Judgment Knight disguise to terrorize and kill Mad Hatter before learning that Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne had attacked Wayne Tower. Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne escaped the tower with Lucius, while Thomas considered harsher ways to lure Bruce out and the Court’s remaining forces remained a threat.

• Thomas killed Mad Hatter, left the murderer’s head with Gianna, and killed her boyfriend before announcing that Judgment Knight had been there.
• After hearing that Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne had struck Wayne Tower and that Barn Owl demanded Bruce’s recruitment, Thomas considered attacking Blackgate to draw Bruce out.
• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne cut the elevator cables to drop pursuing Talons, but Qin Wei nearly fell until Thomas caught him.
• Lucius remembered how Thomas had recruited him to Wayne’s research division and revealed that he had given Alfred Bruce’s original memories from the Memory Storage Device.
• Qin Wei killed a Talon that reached Lucius in the elevator and insisted on carrying Lucius out despite Owlman’s objections.
• The three escaped down from the sixty-second floor, while Owlman reflected that Thomas Wayne had left a valuable treasure inside Wayne Tower.

Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne escaped the Arms Factory but found the Drug Factory occupied by Talons, leaving them to seek another route through Wayne Tower. They deduced that a hidden ventilation space lay above the factory and prepared to blast their way into it, despite Qin Wei’s damaged equipment.

• Lucius left the group to retrieve paper research materials from his office, while Owlman pulled Qin Wei onward.
• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne escaped into a stairwell and entered the Drug Factory, where Talons were searching the gathered workers and the room for intruders.
• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne deduced from the factory’s airflow and ceiling height that its ventilation system occupied a concealed space above them.
• The pair planted their last Sticky Bomb on the wall and planned to use the resulting airflow to enter the duct, but Qin Wei had no Grappling Hook to secure himself.

Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne escaped Wayne Tower with Lucius Fox’s help, then destroyed the Court of Owls’ spire and the gray tumor it worshipped. The fighter flew away as Swamp Thing broke free and vanished into the night.

• Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne were sucked into the exhaust shaft, survived the stopped fan, and fought their way out through the vent.
• Talons swarmed the Wayne brothers as they climbed down the tower, and Qin Wei caught Thomas Wayne after a flashbang knocked them both off balance.
• Lucius Fox arrived in a prototype fighter and used its machine guns and rescue rope to extract Qin Wei and Thomas Wayne.
• Qin Wei directed Lucius to fire the fighter’s last missile at Wayne Tower’s spire, destroying the Court of Owls’ shrine and its gray tumor.
• The moon rotated again, and Swamp Thing broke free of the dying tumor before leaping from Wayne Tower and disappearing into the night.

Thomas Elliot lost his authority over the Round Table and found the Dionysium and Chi devastated in the ruins of Wayne Tower. As he grieved the loss, he traced his lifelong jealousy of Bruce Wayne and resolved that Bruce had forced him into what came next.

• Thomas entered the secret chamber and demanded to know why Barn Owl had begun the meeting without him.
• All five Round Table members voted to support Barn Owl, and Thomas accepted their decision and left.
• Thomas surveyed the ruins, found the Dionysium spilled and Chi nearly destroyed, and failed to make Chi accept his blood.
• Thomas recalled how his childhood rivalry with Bruce and his unrequited feelings for Zatanna had fed his jealousy.
• Thomas remembered that Bruce had returned and defeated his plans, then removed his mask and blamed Bruce for forcing his hand.