Harley Quinn and her best friend Poison Ivy aren't in this episode... which focuses on Batman waking from his coma and vowing to take back Gotham City.
Tropes:
- Beware the Silly Ones:
- Despite how goofy he is in this series, Bane lives up to his reputation as one of Batman's most dangerous foes, beating the hell out of Batman even with his new shiny Powered Armor and breaking both of his legs.
- The same can be said for Alfred as a hero called Macaroni. His weapon is a Swiss Army wig that is surprisingly effective.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as Batman is about to be roasted in his suit, Batgirl and Alfred (as the Macaroni) swoop in to rescue him.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: The episode ends with the two viewers complaining about the show's weekly release schedule.
- Book Ends: This episode begins and ends with two shlubby and misogynistic nerds watching the show from their basement.
- Brick Joke: Gordon asks for a missile-shooting codpiece, which Bruce insists isn't a thing. The Batsuit that Lucius invents for him has one.
- Broken Pedestal: A child witnesses Batman getting thrashed by Bane, so he throws away his Batman figurine and grabs one of Two-Face's tommy guns.
- Cane Fu: The Macaroni wields a cane in addition to his high-tech wig.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The Macaroni turns out to be Alfred, and he along with Batgirl rescue Batman from Two-Face's thugs.
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Averted. Bruce trying to be Batman while still injured was a mistake, just like Alfred warned it was.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Even with a suit of Powered Armor, Batman is no match for Bane, the fight ending with him getting his legs broken.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: That being said, Batman was still able to hold his own for some time and even manages to score some hits on Bane. However, said hits don't do much other beyond dazing him and Batman still gets outclassed overall, especially when Bane begins to tap into more dosages of Venom.
- Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: In-universe, the episode opens with two pedantic nerds debating watching Harley Quinn. The Angry White Man complains about it being "a heavy-handed female empowerment story," despite claiming to not having watched it. Played with as he's very familiar with the plot despite supposedly not watching it, to the point that his friend skeptically asks if he's sure he hasn't seen it?
- A Day in the Limelight: Instead of focusing on Harley and her crew, this episode focuses on Batman.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Bruce's attempts to try and be Batman while Alfred is forbidding it come off like a father with a disobedient son.
- Epic Fail:
- Batman attempts to hide the Powered Armor Lucius made for him by putting a cover over it. Alfred notices it anyway. Pretty hard to make sure someone doesn't notice something that obvious.
- Alfred attempts to put away the Powered Armor like a father putting away his son's toy. He quickly sees that the suit and the mount it's on is extremely heavy so he has a hard time moving it.
- Faux Affably Evil: Two-Face acts nice to Bane to manipulate him, but otherwise treats him incredibly poorly, and doesn't even acknowledge his help.
- Freudian Slip: Batgirl calls Gordon "Dad", but quickly corrects herself before he notices.
- Hate Dumb: In-Universe, the Snyderlieber DC fanboy at the beginning of the episode acts like a stereotypical right-wing Aesthetic Stalinist: an Angry White Man who constantly grumbles about “virtue signaling” and “liberal agendas” and overall hates the show for not aligning with his politics.
- Insistent Terminology: It's a symbol, not a logo, Batman says of his iconic Bat emblem.
- The Internet Is for Porn: At the end of the episode, the two viewers on the couch try to watch the next episode only to realize they’re caught up, so one of them decides to torrent hentai instead.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After a humiliating loss to Bane, Bruce admits he's too weak to be Batman and hands over the reins to Batgirl.
- Misplaced-Names Poster: Bane suggests one of these instead of Two-Face's "Two Faces", as in Twins (1988) (though the film's poster didn't actually do this).
- Mythology Gag:
- The new armor Batman gets from Lucius Fox is based on the Hellbat armor design from the Robin Rises comic arc.
- When Two-Face claims that his shadow in the billboard image is Bane, Bane says "[He] was born there, but that is not me." The Nolan-verse Bane used the first half as a Badass Boast to Batman.
- The Macaroni might actually fit right in as a character in Batman comic books during the Silver Age.
- The title is an In-Universe headline referring to Batman's return to Gotham, but it also notes his back while fighting Bane, referring to Knightfall where Bane broke Batman's back.
- Never My Fault: After getting his ass thoroughly kicked, Bruce wonders why Alfred didn't wake up and stop him. It turns out Alfred did in fact, he just had to get some help first.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Bruce finds Batgirl as Batman in an attempt to talk her out of crimefighting. Instead, she livestreams his reappearance and gives the citizens of Gotham false hope.
- Batman only made things worse for himself by hitting what turned out to be Bane's Berserk Button.
- No Hero to His Valet: This episode makes one thing very clear: Alfred is the boss of Batman.
- No-Sell: Once he starts using Venom, Bane completely ignores the Batsuit's Shock and Awe defense system.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: The citizens of Gotham find their spines when Batman returns. Two-Face shoots a woman in the shoulder and she continues to tell him off.
- Not His Sled: Bane swears to "break the Bat" after defeating Batman, but rather than breaking Batman's back like he did in the comics, he instead breaks Batman's legs.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: After being treated as a joke the entire series, it turns out that Bane is more than capable of defeating Batman, at least in his current state.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Despite having super-powered armor, Batman is still not in fighting shape and loses to a Venom-pumped Bane. The suit may compensate for Batman's physical weakness, but it simply isn't capable of overpowering Bane, who Batman usually beats with clever strategy.
- Periphery Hatedom: Discussed in-universe. The two nerds in the Book Ends opening and closing discuss the show's merits, with the Angry White Man complaining about it supposedly being a "heavy-handed female empowerment story" and "an avalanche of 'virtue signalling'", and boasts that he's never seen it because he's "not a 12-year-old girl." While his hatred is depicted as extreme for carrying such venom for a show that was never meant to appeal to his politics anyway, his similarly pedantic friend being able to enjoy the show on its own merits belies that it can appeal to people of all ages, and his irrational hatred is just an example of Hate Dumb.
- Pun-Based Title: Along with the episode being about Batman's return (pun not intended there), fans would expect that an episode with Batman against Bane would likely have Batman's back getting broken... again. But no, not this time.
- Servile Snarker: Alfred is killing it in this episode, never missing a chance to lecture Bruce on why his stubbornness is self-destructive.
- Shout-Out:
- Batman's suit, with it assembling by separating into pieces before attaching to him, not to mention the shots from the inside of the helmet and a female-voiced a.i. providing system reports, are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Iron Man.
- The two fanboys discussing the show are wearing shirts that say "Release the Snyder Cut" and "The Last Jedi
Is Not Canon".
- Skewed Priorities: Bruce is less concerned about the danger Barbara is putting herself in as Batgirl than the effect her getting killed while wearing the Bat symbol will have on the public.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The aftereffects of being in a coma for three weeks are portrayed with a surprising degree of realism, as Bruce is severely weakened and unable to even walk without being supported by a cane.
- Swapped Roles: By the end of the episode, it's Batman who has to take on mission control due to a crippling injury while Barbara fights crime in the field.
- Take That!: One of Bane's suggestions for naming the evil organization he and Two Face are equal partners in is Bane Capital, a reference to the equity firm Bain Capital that gained infamy in the 2010s for its use of the leveraged buyout.
- Take That, Critics!: The episode opens with two guys on a couch discussing watching Harley Quinn on DC Universe. One denies watching the show because he hates its feminist subtext, accusing it of pandering, even though he's very familiar with the plot. Hypocritically so, because he says it's not worth watching for being set in Gotham without focusing on Batman even though he watched the entire live-action Gotham series. The same guy complains that Batgirl should've "smiled more", despite she's actually quite cheery.
- Uncertain Doom: It's not shown if Two-Face and his thugs just left from the scene of the defiant citizens or instead made an example of some or all of those present.
- Unstoppable Rage: Bane loses it when Batman points out how Two-Face is downplaying his role in the Villain Team-Up. Unfortunately for Batman, this leads to Bane nearly killing him.
- Unusual Weapon Mounting: Batman's Powered Armor has a missile that is fired from the crotch.
- Villain Team-Up: With Penguin and Freeze dead, Riddler in captivity, and Batman's apparent return, Bane suggests teaming up with Two-Face. The latter eventually relents, though goes out of his way to downplay it to the point that even Batman thinks Two-Face alone is running Gotham.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Bane snaps both of Batman's legs then leaves him behind, being too angry at Two-Face to finish the job. Two-Face scolds him for leaving Batman alive even with broken legs.
