Arabia, 125 A.D.
A rider crosses a battlefield filled with corpses, and dismounts when he comes to a particular corpse on the battlefield. He looks at the corpse and says that it's the one that he's been looking for, and takes the corpse back to the Lazarus Pit and tosses him in. After a minute, the dead man--Ra's--emerges alive from the waters. Ra's wonders how he can be alive, and his savior tells him that he must find his heir as the man found Ra's. He takes out a knife and gives it to Ra's, and tells him to find him and be free.
Now
At the docks, Bruce spots Oswald bringing in a shipment and figures from the guards that it must be valuable. He tells Alfred over the radio that he's going to go down for a closer look, and then spots a masked thief moving toward the ship. Alfred advises him to ignore the thief, but Bruce figures that the thief is walking into a trap and goes down, ignoring Alfred's advice.
He thief slips onto a truck and finds the crate that she's looking for. As she opens it, Bruce watches through the truck slats. Three stevedores come up and one aims a gun at him, and Bruce takes them down but not before one of them slashes him on the hand. He runs off, and Selina removes her mask and curses.
Jim arrives at Carmine's estate in Miami and finds Carmine's daughter Sofia dismounting her horse. As he stares at her, a servant comes out and Jim tells him that he's there to see Carmine. The servant leads Jim to the patio where Carmine is having breakfast and says that he came to see him. Carmine demands to know why Jim is there, and Sofia joins them at the table. He introduces Sofia to Jim, and she asks why he's there. Jim explains that Oswald has taken over Gotham and he needs Carmine's help to defeat him. Carmine asks if it's about Jim's loss of power, and Jim tells him that it's bigger than he is. The former mob boss says that he can't because he's dying. The doctors don't know why, but they figure Carmine will do better in Florida. Sofia offers to go there, and Carmine tells her that she's not ready for Gotham. He then says that he would have done anything for Gotham but those days are gone.
Back at the manor, Alfred stitches up Bruce's wound Bruce admits that he let his guard down and Alfred was right, and Alfred finishes up the stitching. When Bruce prepares to head back to get the ship's manifest, Alfred objects and Bruce says that it's his chance to fight real crime. Alfred says that there are other kinds of mask Bruce can wear to get onto the ship.
Erin displays a gun, shooting a man in the chest while he's wearing a bulletproof vest. The other mobsters look on and are satisfied, and say that they'll take the new gun. Once they leave, Selina comes in and Barbara asks where her crate is. Selina admits that she didn't get it, but that Oswald's men didn't get a look at her face. Barbara tells her that she's clearly no ready, and she'll get the object herself. She tells Selina that she can redeem herself by mopping the floor, and Selina walks off.
At the Iceberg Lounge, Victor tells Oswald that a couple of thieves went after the shipment. Oswald points out that he's auctioning off the items in the shipment to Gotham's elite, and tells Victor to take him to the warehouse where they're sored. Once he does, Victor is to bring everything back for safe keeping. Once they leave, a woman--Myrtle Jenkins--breaks in and uses a blowtorch to free Edward from the ice.
When Oswald and Victor return, they discover that Edward is gone. Oswald orders Victor to find the person who freed Edward and kill them, and bring Edward back.
Myrtle takes Edward to her apartment and wakes him up. She shows him the shrine that she built to him, and explains that they went to elementary school together. Myrtle says that she's his number one fan, and explains that his muscles have atrophied from being on ice. She has warming lamps on him and says that soon he'll be thawed out, and admits that he was frozen for five months. Myrtle brings Edward up to date and assures Edward that she will nurse him back to health so he can retake the throne of Gotham's greatest villain with her as his sidekick.
Bruce goes to the docks [and tells the stevedores that he's looking for his Uncle Al who works on the ship. He asks to take a quick look, and they let him aboard. Bruce goes to the bridge and checks the manifest, and finds a reference to a knife. The stevedores come in, well aware that Bruce was the kid who attacked them the previous night. They tell Bruce that he doesn't sound like a street kid. Alfred arrives dressed as a stevedore, and tries to pass Bruce off as his uncle. When the stevedores don't believe him, Alfred knocks them out and leads Bruce out.
Barbara goes to the Lounge and asks Oswald if he'll sell her the knife ahead of time for an interested client. She feigns ignorance about the thieves, and offers Oswald triple the asking price. Oswald figures that the person who brought her back is her client, and agrees to the deal if Barbara tells him his identity. She refuses and Oswald tells her to bid for the knife at auction. Once Barbara leaves, Oswald takes out the knife.
At the manor, Bruce looks up the knife and discovers that it was used to embalm King Balahsi in the first century. They figure the thief was a mercenary and wonder who hired her, and Bruce finds a drawing of a man being healed by water. The man looks like R'as, even though the drawing is 2,000 years old. Bruce figures that he wants the knife.
Jim calls Harvey and tells him that Carmine won't come back. Harvey admits that bringing back Carmine would have meant a gang war in the streets, and Jim warns him that it will be worse if Oswald is unopposed. Once Jim hangs up, Sofia joins him and offers a drink. She offers a toast to Carmine, and Jim joins her. Jim offers his condolences about Carmine, saying that he always respected him. Sofia says that it took Carmine getting sick for them to have a relationship, and explains that he sent her away from Gotham to keep her safe. She and Mario took care of each other, and Jim apologizes for what happened to her. Sofia says that she knows Jim did what he had to do
At the Lounge, Victor tells Oswald that Edward's rescue was an inside job. Oswald tells him to interrogate everyone there.
Edward wakes up with acupuncture needles in his extremities to help his recovery. Myrtle is wearing a Riddlette costume, and after a moment Edward says that it's very nice. She explains that it took her months to rescue Edward, and it only would have taken Edward two seconds. Edward admits that it was impressive that she managed to outwit Oswald, and Myrtle asks him for his plan so she can understand his thinking. He hesitates and Myrtle figures that he's exhausted.
Later, Myrtle removes the needles He's still unable to move his arms, and Myrtle says that she should have focused on stimulating his brain. She offers some riddles but Edward is unable to answer them and all of his answers are excessively violent. Myrtle figures that something is wrong with his brain, and he angrily insists that the problem is her riddles.
Jim and Sofia walk on the beach and she asks him if he ever considers walking away from Gotham. Jim says that he can't because it's in his blood, and his father never took the easy way out. Sofia takes his shoes and jacket, and leads him into the nearby ocean. They look out at the waves together, and Jim says that he can't remember the last time he stood still. Sofia turns and kisses him,
Alfred prepares Bruce for the evening and they review the price. Bruce recites that he'll go to the auction and bid on the knife, and Alfred points out that he didn't mean for Bruce to go in as himself. He says that Bruce has to learn how to assume other roles, and tells him to play the role that he was born to play: like a spoiled brat.
At the auction, Bruce bids as Alfred looks on. Alfred tells him not to overplay his hand, Bruce points out to him that if he goes on a spending spree then people won't' connect him to the knife. Oswald comes over and Bruce loudly greets him. Barbara comes in ad Oswald goes over to greet her. Alfred points out that if Bruce gets the knife, Ra's will come after him. Bruce is happy with that.
The knife goes up for bid, and Barbara bids first. Bruce outbids her by one dollar, and Barbara keeps raising the bid. When Barbara suggests that he let someone else have some fun and bids again, Bruce keeps bidding. She tells him to back off, and Bruce bids two million. Oswald immediately ends the bidding and Barbara congratulates Bruce. Once she walks off, Oswald comes over and warns that Barbara will come for the knife.
Myrtle reads Edward riddles from a book for children, and realizes that he doesn't know the answer. She figures that his mind is as damaged as the rest of his body, and Edward knocks her out with the book and looks up the riddle's answer.
Later that night, Selina breaks into the manor. Bruce is waiting and says that he was expecting someone else. He asks what she's doing there, and figures that Barbara sent her for the knife. Bruce wonders why it's so important to Barbara, and all Selina knows is that the client she's working for is dangerous. She says that she's Barbara's partner but if she doesn't the knife then Barbara won't see her as an equal. Bruce tells her to go, and she does so. He takes the knife out of the drawer and looks at it.
Jim returns to the station and Harvey introduces her to a new detective, Harper. Sofia comes in to see Jim, and he asks her why she's there. She says that she's there to help him with Oswald and Gotham is her birthright. Jim figures that she knew from the beginning that she was going to come back, and Sofia tells him that she had to know who she was working with. She says that the two of them can do great things together and she'll be in touch.
Myrtle goes to Oswald and tells him that the ice broke Edward's brain. Oswald tells Victor to find Edward, and make an example of Myrtle for stealing from him. Once Oswald leaves, Victor draws a gun, congratulates Myrtle on her dress, and shoots her dead.
Edward walks down the streets and sees a billboard with Oswald 's face on it.
At her home, Barbara pours two drinks. Ra's comes in and Barbara turns and attacks him. She finally pins him against the wall, and he congratulates her on her technique. He reverses the grip and asks if she has the knife, and Barbara says that Bruce has it. Ra's is intrigued but not interesting, and says that he resurrected her knowing that she would be a competent ally. Barbara tells him that the knife doesn't seem that special, and Ra's tells her that the knife is the key to everything. Smiling, Barbara tells him that it's not the key to everything and they kiss.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 6, 2017