Contains some spoilers for the episode

By Will Barber – Taylor

Batman continues to work in secret while Harvey Dent recovers in Gotham Hospital. Blaming Batman for everything that has transpired, he forces the deputy mayor to enact martial law in Gotham. Meanwhile, Batman discovers the true identity of Dane Lisslow.

Following on from the shocking revelations of the previous episode we get even more in the penultimate episode. Once he discovers the truth of Dan Lisslow, Batman meets up with the criminal, The Key and discovers that he forged Lisslow’s papers. Batman uses his detective skills to uncover the truth: Lisslow wasn’t working for Deathstroke, he was Deathstroke. From this point, the episode hurdles forward as the stakes get higher and higher until the blazing climax.

Deathstroke’s plan is probably the least thought out part of the episode. Why did he go to all this trouble, creating Dane Lisslow and killing Lisslow off when he could have just killed Batman in Hero? Deathstroke deliberately lost the fight against Batman to create this incriminating story against him but if Deathstroke just wants to kill him, why not do it before? The problem is that the whole plan seems too convoluted and can be at times a bit confusing. The episode would have been better if Deathstroke had a more straightforward plan.

The subplot with Harvey Dent and Anarky is effective in the fact that it leads to the final confrontation. The addition of Anarky seems a bit odd. It almost feels like the writers have thrown too many elements into the story but surprisingly Anarky works very well in the episode. He gives some nice comedic imput into the episode though it seems strange that like in The Dark Knight, an anarchical figure is responsible for Dent becoming Two Face, unlike in the comics.

As the tension builds we reach the brilliant climax of the story. Dent has rounded up the Special Crimes Unit and Gotham police to finally take Batman and Katana down. The Dark Knight manages to hold them off until they get to the roof and encounter Dent who has been tricked by Deathstroke. They fight before both Batman and Deathstroke apparently are killed when Dent’s helicopter crashes into a tower. It then cuts to black with a ‘to be continued’ sign. By creating this quick, fixed pacing to the story the twist makes up any faults that the episode might have had. The ability to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat is something Beware The Batman should be applauded for.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN

ALONE