The recent release of Gotham Knights has been met with a fairly divisive response, but one thing it does do is attempt to create a story and setting outside of the Arkham universe. From the get-go, Batman is no longer, and it is up to the remaining Bat-family — Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin — to step out of their mentor’s shadow and find out what truly lurks within Gotham City. So we’re here to deliver the Gotham Knights story and ending, explained in simpler, shorter way.
That said: Full story spoilers ahead for Gotham Knights.
Gotham Knights Story Summary
Gotham Knights doesn’t give players a chance to breathe before immediately jumping to an opening cinematic where Bruce Wayne and longtime friend-or-foe depending on the day, Ra’s al Ghul, are fighting. Wayne’s death at the hands of Ra’s jumpstarts our story, and leaves our characters with more questions than answers — starting with Batman’s last case, an investigation into Dr. Kirk Langstrom. Things immediately go from bad to worse when Langstrom is found murdered, and they get ever stranger still when it’s discovered he has been conducting experiments combining human and animal DNA.
He is the inventor of the Man-Bat serum, after all, and players will have plenty of those to deal with later on in their adventure.
As our characters get further and further into their investigation, it is revealed that the once-thought to be a myth Court of Owls — a secret society lurking within — have been pulling Gotham’s strings for centuries. Somehow, for so long, they had evaded Batman. As we later learn, maybe it was Batman who didn’t want to know who they really were. Now, it is up to the rest of the Bat-family to uncover exactly who and what the Court is.
Once the Court is discovered, players must go deeper to uncover just how many secrets they hold — and, how many members simply walk among the residents of Gotham City. Similar to Batman, the Owls have stayed in the shadows in order to maintain their sway over Gotham. Where the two deviate, of course, is how they go about making Gotham “better”. With them and the League of Shadows vying for control, casualties are just part of doing business.
Alongside them, early on at least, the ever-opportunistic Talia al Ghul appears in Gotham to warn our characters of an impending war between the Court and The League of Shadows. With Ra’s al Ghul also dead and gone for good this time, it seems, it would only make sense to see Talia al Ghul take up her father’s mantle as the leader of the league. She denies this to be the case, however, even going so far as to help our heroes in the early stages of their investigation.
Eventually, when it is revealed that Jacob Kane — a former USSOCOM soldier and Kane Industries CEO, not to mention friend to Alfred and Uncle to Wayne — is the voice of the Court, Talia’s plan can well and truly come to fruition. Just as our heroes are taking Kane into custody, despite his marriage to our new Gotham City Commissioner Catherine Kane, he is assassinated seemingly by a Shadow from the rooftop above. That assassin, of course, turns out to be Talia.
This leads us to her very own private research lab, deep within what remains of Arkham Asylum, and answers every question we could’ve had with regards to why Dr. Langstrom was murdered. The League of Shadows are simply continuing Langstrom’s work, with the caveat that the creatures they are creating pose much more of a threat to the residents of Gotham City. Players must battle multiple Man-Bats from here on out, a few of whom attack allies you’ve built a rapport with throughout the story.
The Ending of Gotham Knights Explained
Ultimately, our heroes converge on The League’s new base of operations by following the path beneath Gotham’s dam. Unfortunately, that path leads to what was once the Batcave, where our heroes discover that Talia has been able to construct her very own Lazarus Pits. This is where The League intends to truly put their plan into motion, to “cleanse” Gotham City once and for all. The catch is, Talia has resurrected Bruce Wayne by putting her into the Lazarus Pit herself. Only his mind has been warped by Talia, and he is instructed to end your life in order to serve The League.
Depending on which character you are at the time of this battle, Wayne’s words are very biting as you try to snap him out of the mindset he’s been placed into. There are multiple times where he is unable to fight, allowing our character the chance to speak some sense into him. Eventually, that combination of unrelenting combat and sensible words snaps him out of it.
Once you do defeat him, Wayne truly does appear to be on the mend if only for a moment before Talia stabs him through the back. He manages to hobble away, though, leaving you and the new leader of The League to battle to the death in what turns into an endless back and forth of combat and trash talking. While it may not be the most difficult battle of the entire game, it feels like the longest.
Once you appear to finally vanquish Talia, or at least get the upper hand, the Court re-emerges — already with a new “Voice” in charge. There is more back and forth while the Court of Owls believe they can take advantage of the Lazarus Pits for their own benefit and attempt to live forever beneath Gotham City. That doesn’t sit well with Talia, however, who once again promises to rid Gotham of its filth no matter the cost. She takes her leave while the Court turns its attention to you with what appears to be an endless army at their disposal.
Just as they are all converging on you, however, Wayne — perhaps still under the spell of the Lazarus Pit — uses what little bit of energy he has left to plunge the Batwing into the ground, thus seemingly destroying what remains of the Lazarus Pits as well as potentially a handful of Court members. Before he does, though, he speaks using the Batwing’s radio to make sure our hero knows that he believes the four of them together are stronger than he could ever be. He condemns the city’s wealthy and corrupt, noting his real fear was always in their actions as opposed to the everyday criminals of Gotham.
And that, perhaps, is the most interesting sequence of this ending.
While he may still be suffering the effects of the Lazarus Pit, Wayne is coherent when he speaks his final words just before plunging the Batwing into the ground below. He is aware that he might very well be killing countless people in order to save what’s left of his city, something Batman quite notably isn’t known to do. However, it’s a neat way to tie in a couple of different things. Again, players can explain it away as Wayne still somewhat being under the Pit’s spell or it can be the moment when Batman realizes what the true cost of Gotham’s future must be in that moment.
In either case, the Batman is dead once and for all, while our character notes that “The Court of Owls has gone to ground,” Talia has escaped, and Bruce’s body is found in the wreckage of the Batcave. If he is alive, or does come back again, it will be through comic book magic and comic book magic alone. Meanwhile, the game ends with our selected character at the time broadcasting a message to the rest of Gotham City.
Gotham Knights Sequel Bait
While the message being broadcast indicates that the Court of Owls are at large, our hero also notes that the days of not talking about them are over. There’s a pledge to rid the city of the rest of the Court as those around Gotham appear to take inspiration in the message, but Talia is still out there lurking as well. Was Bruce’s death, rebirth, and death again seemingly all for nothing? Perhaps that’s for a potential sequel to answer.
With the game being complete, players can find a flashback sequence to Bruce taping his original message that plays at the beginning of the game. To do that, you must go to the Belfry and find a portrait with all four of our heroes (and Batman) in it. There should be an indicator as to where the portrait is once you’re in the Belfry following the completion of the main story. It’s a sentimental back and forth between the five heroes, ending with Bruce saying warmly “You’re always looking out for me.”
So for now, that’s that. We hope this Gotham Knights story and ending summary gave you a good idea as to what our four heroes had to go through in the wake of their mentor’s death as they sought to uncover the unsavory truths about their city. If you’re on the fence, be sure to check out our review as well as what to do after beating the game.
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