As a doctor checks Will, Jim tells Harvey that Will and dozens of other kids were held at a factory by a group calling themselves the Soothsayers. The Soothsayers had them digging a tunnel, and Will escaped and walked across the Dark Zone. Will asks Jim if he'll save his friends, and warns that the Soothsayers will punish the others for his escape.
Outside, Harvey reminds Jim that criminals will be looking for him to collect Oswald's bounty. A call comes in on the radio and the caller says that they have to maintain peace. Jim points out that there are kids in danger, and the caller says that Jim would be jeopardizing thousands of others if he's killed. When Jim asks when supplies are coming, the caller says that they won't jeopardize more pilots until the air safe is declared safe. Once the caller cuts off, Jim tells Harvey and Lucius to get five volunteers to go with him to the factory where the kids are being held. They'll have to go through Barbara's territory, and Lucius says that he'll have housing ready for the kids when they come back.
Bruce goes to the city's botanical gardens and looks for the Witch. He finds a man's corpse against the wall, pinned by vines. Continuing on, Bruce finds more bodies, and a man comes up behind Bruce. Bruce grabs the man, and a villager comes up and asks if Bruce is with the Witch. When Bruce says that he isn't with the Witch, the villager warns Bruce that they have the Witch locked in a store room, stripped clean of plants and salted. They've sent for more men and will burn her. Bruce lies, saying that the Witch took her brother and he needs to talk to her for five minutes alone. The villager finally agrees, and Bruce peers into the storeroom... and sees Ivy.
Jim goes into Sirens and approaches Barbara, saying that he's there to ask a favor. She says that he didn't kill Oswald when he stabbed Barbara, and yells at everyone to get out. Once they leave, Barbara says that she's going to do something about Oswald. Jim points out that it would be suicide, and Barbara says that they're all dying. He says that things got out of control and he's trying to keep the city from falling apart, and Barbara tells him that he's too late. Jim says that he needs some trucks, and Barbara agrees but warns that he won't last the night. She yells at Gotham to rip Jim to shreds as he goes and takes a drink.
The squad drives into the Dark Zone, so- named because the area never regained power. People throw Molotov cocktails at the trucks and shoot arrows. The gang leader comes out and watches them.
The Soothsayers have their prisoners working on the tunnel. When one child collapses, Gabriel tells the leader Sykes that they need food and water. Sykes offers Gabriel his gas mask and says that the smoke will set him see the future. Gabriel refuses, and Sykes says that once they establish the tunnel they will make contact with the outside world and have resources. When Gabriel refuses, Sykes prepares to shoot him. A Soothsayer comes in and tells Sykes that he has to see what's out front.
Sykes and his men go out and find the Gotham trucks there, empty. Jim steps out and tells the Soothsayers to put their weapons down. Sykes is not impressed and his men confront him. Harvey and the officers surround them, and Jim repeats his order. The Soothsayers drop their weapons and Jim tells Sykes to release the kids. Sykes claims that they don't have any kids, and Jim takes the keys from Sykes' belt and tells him to stay there under guard.
Jim goes into the factory and tells the kids that he's a cop. Gabriel realizes that Will made it and sent Jim to rescue them, and Jim unlocks their chains and says that he'll find them a new home.
Sykes asks Harvey why anyone would be a cop in the new Gotham. He orders his men to take them, and Jim comes out and opens fire. Sykes hits Harvey with a taser while the officers load the kids into the trucks. Jim knocks Sykes out, and Gabriel goes back for two younger kids. They get into the last truck with Jim and Harvey, and the Soothsayers shoot the tires out. Jim and the others go into a nearby alley to make their escape, and Sykes screams in frustration.
Bruce enters the storeroom and Ivy recognizes him. She asks him to help her, insisting that she didn't kill the men outside but the park did. The men came to her and the plants protected her by killing them. Bruce suggests that they can help each other and asks Ivy to help his "friend" whose spinal cord was severed. Ivy says that the park has been acting differently since they were cut off from the outside world. Xxx yells that his men are coming, and Ivy tells Bruce that there's a seed under the oaks that heals damaged bone and tissue. She offers to help Bruce find it if he'll protect her from her captors.
Riddler wakes up chained to a bed and figures that it worked and kept him from sleepwalking. He unchains himself and goes to the bathroom, dismissing his condition as stress. As Riddler urinates, he hears a tied-up man in the shower groaning. He figures that he's hallucinating, but the groaning continues. Riddler asks the man, Tank, who he is. Riddler realizes that he's part of the Street Demonz gang, and Tank says that Riddler brought him there. He explains that Riddler wanted information and he wouldn't give it to him, and Riddler figures that they're going to have to do it all again.
Jim and the others take refuge in an old building as Sykes and his men follow them. Harvey spots a lit candle and figures that someone is there, and he looks around. Harvey figures the officers will send reinforcements back, but Jim says that until then they'll secure the place. As Gabriel and the two children settle in, a woman watches them from the shadows.
Jim explores the upstairs level and hears someone moving in the shadows. He carefully moves forward and a boy charges out. Jim grabs him and says that it's all right.
Harvey checks the basement and finds piles of clothing and plates with jewelry and teeth on them. There's a furnace with a skull in it, and another plate with severed fingers. A woman attacks him, and Harvey shoves her down and runs, yelling for Jim.
Riddler beats Tank until he says that he wanted to know where the Street Demonz base there and that the boss, Emanuel Vasquez, would be there. When Riddler asks Tank what he was like, Tank says that he seemed to be in a daze. Riddler tells him that they're going to the base so he can find out why he went there.
Bruce leads Ivy out of the store room and tells the men to stay calm. He says that he'll take full responsibility for her crimes. Ivy kills them, grabs Bruce by the throat, and tells him that he's naïve. Bruce says that Selina is paralyzed and has lost the will to live, and Ivy smiles in satisfaction and says that Selina destroyed the last of the Lazarus Water. When Bruce says that he doesn't believe she'd turn on her friend, Ivy says that she's feeding the dead men to the park. Vines grab the dead men, and Ivy tells Bruce that she'll plant his body in the ground. Bruce figures that Ivy is a murderous witch, and says that there's no good in her and the park smells of death. Ivy asks if he'll leave her alone if she helps him, and then tells him to follow her.
The boy tells Jim that he can't remember his name, and a gang came and murdered his parents and the ghost found her. She was kind at first but can be very cruel. Harvey runs in and says that there's a crazy woman, and the boy says that the woman makes him call her Mother. Jim and Harvey go into the next room, and the boy locks them in. The lights go out and a strobe flashes, and the boy says that it will make them fall asleep and they won't feel a thing. Harvey drops to his knees, and Jim keeps his eyes shut and tries to kick the door in. Mother appears behind him and attacks him, and Harvey manages to join in the struggle. He smashes a window open, flooding the room with sunlight and breaking the spell. Mother says that when she found the boy, he was barely alive and she taught him how to survive. She slashes Jim's hand with a knife, runs out through a door, and locks it behind her before the men can stop her.
Riddler takes Tank to the base and they find corpses on the floor. Tank wonders if Riddler did it, and points out "Penguin did this" written on the wall. Riddler doesn't believe it, and Tank figures that whoever did it started a war.
Ivy leads Bruce to the oak and pulls the seed out of the soil, and gives it to Bruce. He takes it and realizes that it's covered in human blood. Ivy says that the seed will change Selina forever, unleashing her darker angels, and wonders if Bruce and Selina can live with that. Bruce admits that he doesn't know if there's another way, and Ivy tells him to go. He admits that he doesn't trust her, and Ivy says that he's finally becoming a man. Ivy tells him to hurry because the root will die if left out in the open too long, and Bruce runs off.
Jim and Harvey return to the kids, and after a moment Jim agrees that they should leave. They go out on the street and break into a car, and Jim hot wires the engine. Sykes and his men pull up in a truck and Sykes says that if Jim gives him his workers back then he'll let Jim and Harvey go. After a moment he says that he's going to kill them all. The gang that was watching earlier arrives and the leader says that the prize on Jim's head is hers.
Bruce arrives at the hospital and Alfred says that Selina hasn't said anything since Bruce left. Bruce tells Alfred that the Witch was Ivy and shows him the seed, and Alfred warns that Ivy is a cold-hearted killer. Selina asks for the seed, figuring that Ivy wants her dead then she's okay with that. Bruce gives her the seed and Selina swallows it. Nothing happens, and Selina says that Ivy was sleeping on the streets after her parents died and she got sick. Selina took her under her wing and showed her how to survive. She spasms and the doctor comes in to tend to her and determines that she's feverish.
Jim yells that he has two bullets, and the first gang leader, Ramos Silva, says that Jim is coming with him. When she walks forward, Jim shoots her dead and both gangs move in. Barbara drives up and guns down both gangs. She comes over and tells Jim that she may have been a little rash. When Sykes recovers enough to shoot her, Jim shoots him dead with his last bullet. Barbara says that they're not square yet and he's going to help her kill Oswald. Jim suggests that they table it until they get the kids back to the precinct house.
At the precinct, Jim takes the children to the house where Lucius and the guards are keeping the children safe. Lucius tells Jim that he turned the gated apartment block into a sanctuary, and citizens are heading there once they heard there was a safe place. One woman thanks Jim for delivering them to safety. Once she walks off, Barbara tells Jim that they have unfinished business and leaves.
The doctor tells Bruce that two hours ago, Selina stabilized. She was in a lot of pain so they sedated her, and suggests that they come back in the morning. Once he leaves, Alfred tells Bruce that they should go. Bruce hangs back and looks in on Selina, and discovers that she's gone. The window is open, and Selina walks out of the shadows. She smiles and says that she feels different, and there's no pain. Selina insists that she's better than before and Bruce hugs her. He doesn't see her eyes turn green.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 11, 2019