Batman: Arkham Knight, Part 11 - Knightfall Protocol

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!

Part 10: A Very Arkham Conclusion

If I'm going to continue my story, there's no way to get around this spoiler bomb: despite my best efforts to stop him, Scarecrow completed his master plan - revealing my secret identity as Bruce Wayne for all the world to see - but it didn't have the effect he desired. For some reason, Crane thought it would break my spirit to be publicly unmasked, but it was quite the opposite, and (with a little help from my friends) I was able to best my foe once more. I was a little nervous to take him and Gordon back to the GCPD helipad in the Batwing, now that everyone knew who I was under the mask. But good ol' Aaron Cash immediately put my mind at ease with the line of the night: "So, Bruce Wayne, huh? If it's all the same to you, I'll stick to Batman." I mean, this is a line around which you could build a major motion picture. I'm thinking Samuel L. Jackson as Cash...

But the unwavering support of Gotham's police force notwithstanding, I knew that things couldn't go on as usual now that the Bat was out of the bag. One thing was clear: this would be Batman's last night. But thanks to the terror Scarecrow had unleashed upon Gotham, there was still a lot to be done before sunrise. The first priority was rescuing Catwoman from the Riddler's clutches. Nigma had somehow acquired the vast disused sewer system underneath Gotham and had spent countless hours and dollars transforming the tunnels into various deathtraps for the Batmobile (both of the obstacle race and logic puzzle variety). These challenges alternated with in-person tasks that Selina and I had to complete together at the Orphanage. After enough of these, Riddler did release his prisoner from her explosive collar, but then attacked us in an Aliens-style mech suit! However he refused to stay put for the final battle until I had solved all 243 of the riddles he had placed around Gotham.

But there was no time for a wild goose chase at the moment, as other, more dangerous super criminals were still causing trouble. The streets were veritably littered with Penguin's gunrunners, so I enlisted Nightwing's help once to track them all back to their home bases, beat up the guards, and destroy the weapons caches within. What's more, Two-Face's crew was using those guns to perform a series of daring bank heists, which I was of course able to stop single-handedly. (He didn't even have a rocket launcher this time, if Catwoman's story from Arkham City can be believed.) I even uncovered a shocking conspiracy, where the chief of Gotham's fire department, Ray Underhill, had been working with serial arsonist Firefly, giving him the means to start fires to ensure his department wouldn't be purged by fiscal cutbacks. The storyline was a bit too political for my tastes, so I locked up the chief along with the other bad guys.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the resolution of the Man-Bat saga. His reveal was perfect, and it was fun discovering that he was actually Dr. Kirk Langstrom and synthesizing an antidote through an amusing minigame. But any interaction with my dark inversion always calls to mind "On Leather Wings," the pilot of the seminal Batman: The Animated Series, where I hooked my grapnel gun to Man-Bat's leg and he dragged me through the skies over Gotham. I was all set to re-create that sequence, with Simon Stagg's airships standing in for the iconic police blimps, but sadly all that was required was to locate him, tackle him out of the sky, and administer a double dose of antidote. I was also dismayed to find that during his transformation, Kirk had killed his wife Francine: now how is she going to become She-Bat later on?

However, I wasn't disappointed in the satisfaction I took from destroying the various Militia roadblocks and sentry towers throughout the city, thanks to the fact that my old nemesis Deathstroke had taken over command after the Arkham Knight's defeat. These provided a challenging yet minimally stressful mix of traditional combat and predator challenges with significantly higher stakes than AR training missions. At this point I didn't even mind facing the endless army of drones that attacked whenever I tried to diffuse a bomb in the streets. These battles ceased to frustrate me when I recalled a line from The Simpsons where the Commandant of Bart and Lisa's military school describes the future of warfare to his graduating class: "most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today, remember always your duty is clear: to build and maintain those robots." At least Deathstroke was actually driving his own dumb tank, so I could punch his face after our battle was finished.

With all the major threats eliminated, there was nothing left to do but scour the city for Edward Nigma's infuriating trophies. I must admit, I had to resort to the Internet to find many of these, as I couldn't help running over some of the Riddler informants with the Batmobile - who would have divulged their locations if interrogated - but luckily Alfred is familiar with IGN. During the final battle with Nigma, all he could think to do was throw an army of Riddler bots at me, some of which I couldn't attack without receiving an electric shock. But luckily Catwoman showed up just in the nick of time and had no trouble getting past their defenses. After extracting Riddler from his mech, punching his lights out, and depositing him in the Batmobile, Selina and I shared a pash {that's Australian slang for "passionate kiss," btw}, I took Nigma back to the holding cells at the GCPD, and it was time to activate the Knightfall protocol.

After one last nostalgic glance at the Bat Signal on the roof of the GCPD, I somberly removed my mask for the last time and let it fall to the ground. No doubt Commissioner Gordon would find it up there later and keep it for a souvenir. I grappled into the Batwing hovering overhead, picked up the Batmobile, and set a course for stately Wayne Manor, where a crowd of journalists and TV cameras were already assembled. I landed in the front yard and was greeted by Alfred at the front door, head held high. He asked if I wanted to go through with the plan, and I answered in the affirmative, never explicitly stating what the plan was. No sooner had the door closed behind us, but the entire mansion exploded in a giant fireball, destroying the symbol of the wealth my family had worked so hard to amass!

So in the eyes of the public, at least, Batman was no more. What do you think happened? Would Bruce Wayne really take his own life (and the life of his faithful butler) rather than live in a world that knew he was really Batman? Am I telling this story like the narrator in Sunset Blvd. (only from the bottom of a smoldering crater instead of floating face down in a pool)? Or could it all be ruse to throw people off my trail as Alfred and I secretly retire to a private island in the Pacific Ocean? Anyone who saw The Dark Knight Rises knows it's not completely unfeasible for Batman to fake his own death. In any event, the game gives no concrete clues to what happened, so it's up to you, the gamers, to decide for yourselves...