After some pretty big revelations showcased in the previous episode, CW’s Gotham Knights brings the amateur team of crime fighters to the lion’s den for a final confrontation in the penultimate one. Previously, despite their wanted status, Duela and Turner went on their own to meet her deranged criminal mother, Jane Doe, who, unbeknownst to her daughter, drugs Turner by slipping pills in his drink and leaves him for authorities planning to get the bounty on his head. Turner was later saved by Cullen and brought back to the Belfry clock tower. Previously, Jane had falsified about Joker being Duela’s father so that in her absence, the supervillain’s reputation provides immunity to her daughter. In the last episode, Jane captured Harvey and revealed to Duela that he was her real father. Harvey realizes that his nefarious alter ego is responsible for this situation but is unable to convince Duela of the same, and Duela ends up shooting him under her mother’s command. However, Harvey survives thanks to the Court of Owls coin in his pocket, which deflected the bullet.
After learning that Stephanie Brown has agreed to testify against him to the DA and police commissioner, Lincoln March tries to blackmail her into dropping the charges in exchange for her celebrity quizmaster father’s release, but Stephanie instead chooses to save her friends instead of her selfish parents. While discovering his father Lincoln’s ties to the Court, Brody March was murdered by his mother, Rebecca, who is the true leader of the Court. Later, Brody was resurrected by Electrum, given to him by his father, Lincoln, unbeknownst to Rebecca.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is The March Couple Up To?
As the episode begins, Lincoln March is seen as the winner of the mayoral election, celebrating his victory in City Hall. With the amount of bad press Harvey was getting, added to the womanizer tag, and thanks to his identity as Duela’s father becoming public through Lincoln’s handiwork, Harvey’s defeat was inevitable. Lincoln gaslights the attendee and presses about making Gotham safer for the upcoming generations, while ironically, it is shown that graves of old Talons of the Court are being dug up, and the corpses are being injected with Electrum by Rebecca. While earning the city’s trust using the administrative position, the couple plans to hollow it from within by using the Court’s enforcers. Harvey goes to meet Lincoln and threatens to expose him in public, and Lincoln uses his position as mayor to promptly fire him from the role of DA.
How Did Brody Join The Fugitives?
On the other hand, at Belfry Clocktower, the team of young vigilantes discovers the lapel pin camera is still active, contrary to Brody’s last text, which stated it had been destroyed by Lincoln. Seeing Lincoln still busy with his mayoral duties in the live broadcast, the team decides to infiltrate the March penthouse to recover the camera, which they can use as evidence. Cullen briefly goes to City Hall in disguise and manages to get his hands on March’s apartment access key while breaking up a verbal argument between Harvey and Lincoln.
Harper and Stephanie break into the March household thanks to Cullen’s tech help, but as they recover the camera, they find themselves surrounded by security. While escaping, the duo discovers a hidden 13th floor, from where they rescue Brody from a coffin. The Court security perforates Brody with bullets, but due to the Electrum granting him near-immortality, Brody remains unharmed and disposes the assailants. Stephanie and Harper decide to take Brody to Belfry, where the latter shares everything that he knows about his villainous parents. Brody makes amends with Turner and decides to bury their past rivalry to assist the team in taking down the Court. However, the recorded footage of the lapel camera doesn’t show the identity of the March couple or of other members due to them wearing the owl masks, which basically means they can prove the Court’s existence, but they have no circumstantial proof of them being responsible for all the deeds of the Court for which they got indicted. Brody reveals that the Court is going to host a celebration party that night as well, and Turner proposes a plan to catch the Court red-handed on the spot. Perhaps the absence of a Talon made the group forget that the Court still has Electrum.
Why Did Duela Return To The Belfry?
Meanwhile, Jane states to her daughter, Duela, that she is planning to escape from Gotham with her after taking down a big score. The ‘score’ was, in fact, turning Bruce Wayne’s adopted fugitive son, Turner, to the authorities and reaping the reward, which fell through thanks to Cullen’s timely intervention to rescue Turner. Duela, who doesn’t know about her mother’s shenanigans, agrees to her request of bringing the Court’s owl insignia watches that were stashed at their Belfry hideout, which, according to Jane, can fetch them some good money as well.
Duela returns to the team only to find them disenchanted due to her abandonment. Turner tries to appeal to her senses for the last time and reveals that her mother had drugged her to reap the cash reward. Turner also states that after raiding the courtroom, they might have a chance to finally clear their names, and Duela doesn’t have to be on the run anymore. Duela is shocked to learn about her mother’s motivations, but she rejects his proposal of rejoining the team and leaves with the watches.
On the other hand, Carrie proceeds to join the team for the final confrontation with Court, but her mother, Dr Kelly, stops her in her tracks. While Carrie argues that her example of saving Gotham’s hapless on a daily basis as the brilliant surgeon has inspired her to take on heroism, Dr Kelley is too scared to even consider the risks the vigilante career entails. She uses Carrie’s deceased mentor, Batman’s fate, as an example, but Carrie’s youthful enthusiasm doesn’t let her heed her mother’s words, and she joins the team.
Did Rebecca March Succeed In Her Plans?
The Court security informs Rebecca March about the break-in, and she decides to handle the situation herself. During the Court’s party, Rebecca showcases all the former Talons who had served the Court for centuries to be resurrected and prepared to act out the Court’s will through the generations. Later, during a conversation with Lincoln, she reveals that, as per her contingency plan against the recorded video proof, which is now at the fugitives’ disposal, she wishes to remove all the evidence of her involvement with the Court. She has planned to murder all the members with Talon’s help, thereby staying clear of any involvement of her getting exposed. She also poisoned Lincoln, who, due to the Electrum exposure, cannot die but will stay in a comatose state for a long time, long enough to get buried alive.
The team reaches the Court’s meeting and discovers the dining table to be surrounded by the deceased members of the Court in owl masks, consisting of Gotham’s elites and most influential individuals. Brody finds Lincoln in his comatose state but mistakenly considers him to be deceased. The next part of Rebecca’s plan comes to fruition as the SWAT team arrives at the spot and captures the team at once.
On the other hand, Harvey was previously tipped off by Turner about the hidden 13th floor of the March apartments, which was part of a default architectural design by superstitious Alan Wayne and which, unbeknownst to all of them at the time, was Talon’s way of moving around the city freely, evading detection. Harvey speculates that, as the architect of Gotham’s entire cityscape, Alan Wayne must have installed the hidden floors in all the major buildings, and he goes to Wayne Tower to validate his suspicion. After discovering the hidden floor, Harvey comes across newspaper clippings that show Dr Leviticus, who was responsible for discovering the elusive miracle mineral Electrum two centuries ago, is none other than Rebecca March, who was also the wife of Alan Wayne. Right at that moment, Rebecca arrives and corroborates Harvey’s findings. Harvey is horrified to learn about Rebecca’s past and that she was the chief orchestrator behind the entire fiasco from the beginning. However, she states that she still loves Harvey and wants to start a new life with him, leaving the Court shenanigans behind. Harvey rejects her offer, seeing Rebecca’s ruthless, villainous side, and considers the past they shared to be nothing more than a mirage. Rebecca decides to abduct Harvey and sends Talons to raid the GCPD and kill Turner and Co.
Seeing how Turner and others’ chance of earning their freedom got massacred, Duela comes to her senses and sheds off her individualistic approach as she states to her mother, Jane, about her wish to go back to Gotham to help her friends. Jane embraces her for a final farewell but drugs her instead, as she plans to hand her daughter over to authorities once again in exchange for the easy money. The finale is surely going to have some miraculous twist up its sleeve because, with all the major players down and out, there doesn’t seem to be an easy escape on the cards this time for the eponymous team of heroes.
