UPDATE: While the video has been updated, none of the commentary below (from 2016) has! Please consider this a re-post!
I had all but given up on these Arkham Knight blog recaps right before the MLB All-Star Break, because this site is supposed to be Thoughts about BASEBALL and Batman, and cutting these episodes of Batman has taken up most of the previous year. So let's pick it right up at the beginning of Episode 13, which recaps the dramatic victory in the boss fight against the Arkham Knight himself, in which the title villain is revealed to be the not-dead Jason Todd. This reveal all but completes my hypothetical Arkham Knight movie casting, negating the smokescreen I threw up in Episode 8 positing Norman Reedus as a battered and tortured Jason Todd. I would still love to see the Walking Dead star in the Arkham Universe, but as the underused villain Deathstroke, maybe in an Arkham Origins spinoff "special event" TV movie. No, I still think my top choice for the role is Chris Pratt, to see how he handles Jason Todd's character arc that goes from babyface (in pro-wrestling terms), to heel, then back to face - albeit with his face covered by a red helmet.
Jason Todd completes his turn when Batman uses his Persuasion skill to convince his former ally to give up his quest for vengeance. But no sooner do we radio Alfred to deliver the news about "Master Todd," the former Robin does a very Batman-esque move and disappears while our head is turned. But before we have some time with the title character of this episode, I'd like to say a word about using the character Bane's musical theme from The Dark Knight Rises (called "Gotham's Reckoning") while the Joker talks about the Arkham Knight. When you think about it, the character of the Arkham Knight has similar goals as Christopher Nolan's version of Bane (which is markedly unlike any other version of that character I've ever seen, but that's a story for another time). They both cover their faces and disguise their voices, but more importantly, they're both portrayed as military commanders who have the means and the motive to take over Gotham. I think it's more compelling to watch the Arkham Knight take on this endeavor, freeing up Bane to play his usual hulked-up brute role like in Arkham Asylum. The 5/4 rhythm of Hans Zimmer's track also just happens to perfectly lead into the 7/8 time signature of Nick Arundel's track "Founders' Island."
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| Here's what Chris Pratt would look like as Arkham Knight/Jason Todd |
Jim Gordon earns the title character honor, even though he only appears in the first act of Episode 13, because he gets some early character development. Such as acknowledging both the fear-toxin induced suicide of his daughter, and the fact that he now knows the secret identity of the caped crusader to be someone the Commissioner knew since he was very young and who he had influenced heavily. But that's not the even the most emotional reveal of the episode, as Scarecrow shows us that not only is Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle, still alive, but her father knew about it, in order to be used as bait to lure Batman into the Arkham Knight's HQ!
I found this plot twist equal parts relieving and predictable, especially after just wrapping up a storyline in which one presumed-dead sidekick returns from the imagined grave. But whether we could see this coming or not, it's a bad spot for Commissioner Gordon to be in, forcing him to make the choice between betraying one of his oldest allies or watching his daughter get killed (for real this toime) by an evil supervillain. Turns out Jim gets both, as he turns and delivers a sucker-punch-type shot with his police-issued revolver, right in the center of Batman's chestplate, knocking him from the roof, only to have Scarecrow wheel Barbara right over the same edge anyway! Luckily, as we recall from last episode, that's the strongest part of Batman's armor, meaning that our hero probably only had to deal with a bad contusion and a couple of cracked ribs as he bravely leapt to Oracle's rescue, using his cape to glide them safely to the ground, much like how the Dark Knight rescues Rachel Dawes in the film bearing that name.
However not even the strongest titanium tri-weave could protect Batman from the army of tanks that just rolled up to the party, making it necessary for the game to throw (get this) A SPARE BATMOBILE at you in order to satiate its lust for cramming a critical mass of these stupid tank battles into this game. Honestly, if I were adapting Arkham Knight for the screen, I would completely rewrite this sequence the following way (new additions in yellow highlights):
[Oracle looks up to see the transport helicopter carrying away Gordon and Scarecrow.]
ORACLE
There! Where are they taking him?
[But before they can surmise anything, a barrage of tanks enters and attacks our heroes.]
{! NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Protect Oracle}
ORACLE
Where's the Batmobile?
BATMAN
Destroyed.
ORACLE
What?!
Alfred
Don't worry, sir. Batwing's on its way.
[Batman's impressive jet swoops in with an enormous roar, Alfred in remote control. The squadron of tanks stops firing, then slowly/nervously turn their guns to face the aircraft, hovering in place thanks to Harrier-style retro rockets. We see from a POV of the plane, every single tank getting targeted by the computer, which then lets loose one giant missile barrage to take care of them all.]
MILITIA COMMANDER
Drone unit in Otisburg destroyed!
[The jet softly touches down on extendable landing struts in the middle of the wreckage. A compartment opens in the lower fuselage, lowering two back-to-back seats to the ground. Batman picks up Oracle and walks towards their transportation.]
ORACLE
Scarecrow's going to kill him, isn't he?
BATMAN
Now while he can use him to get to me.
JOKER
Oh, how chivalrous! Remember the time you carried me like that? I don't, because I was dead.
BATMAN
Strap yourself in. We're following that helicopter!
[Batman places Oracle in the co-pilot's seat, then leaps into his own seat as the apparatus retracts and the plane lifts off. But just then, a message from Scarecrow comes on the computer screen.]
SCARECROW
Gallant police force of Gotham. I have a message for you. You are not safe. You are not protected. Batman will not save you.
[Video feed shows more tanks than ever before converging on the GCPD building.]
ORACLE
We've got to get over there, Batman!
BATMAN
No, we have to rescue your father...
ORACLE
He wouldn't want us going after him if it means letting his fellow officers die! Plus, my dad can take care of himself.
[Batman takes one last look at the helicopter, then sets his course for the Cauldron.
{! NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Stop the assault on GCPD}
[Batman and Oracle do several fly-by strikes, contending with not just regular tanks, but also heat-seeking Mambas, flying Dragons and Serpents, and even a pair of long-range missile launchers that serve as the perfect boss fight against a flying player. After they save the day, Batman sets Oracle up at the precinct to try and locate Commissioner Gordon, but then he gets a buzz from the Riddler, forcing him to focus on the Riddler's Revenge side mission...]
See, this change in the content would replace one of the most over-used and least interesting parts of the gameplay with something new and different - I'm thinking along the lines of StarFox 64, except with the Batwing instead of an Arwing in All-Range Mode. This would also mean that we would have to either move the Batmobile race Riddler Challenges up in the timeline, or replace/eliminate them altogether, which wouldn't be a disaster, because there's still plenty of opportunity to explore the Batman/Riddler/Catwoman dynamic even without them, as you'll see in the next episode.
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