Gotham is declared a lawless hellhole, so the newly-formed Injustice League decides to carve up the city for themselves.
Tropes:
- An Arm and a Leg: Some poor bastard gets both arms ripped off, one by a pair of dogs and the other by a pair of humans, both fighting over the severed limb.
- And I Must Scream: Harley is trapped in ice for two months, just conscious enough to remember the Injustice League individually mocking her even though her sense of time is warped.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Instead of killing Harley, the Injustice League traps her in a block of ice, which she escapes from to get her revenge on them.
- Call-Back: Gordon's made-up song, "You're A Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon" is the name of a season 1 episode.
- Distinction Without a Difference: Mr. Freeze points out he isn't in organized crime, but trying to find a cure for his wife's terminal illness. Penguin counters by forcing him to admit that he's funding said effort through organized crime.
- Evil Power Vacuum: The destruction of the Legion of Doom, the presumed death of the Joker, the absence of Batman, the Justice League still MIA and the United States abandoning Gotham to its fate as a lawless hellhole leave a void in leadership that Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, Bane, and Freeze step in to fill after their various goons, at Harley's encouragement, all attempt to rise to villaindom in the chaos. Harley doesn't help matters by not caring to take over herself, and Gordon's attempts to restore order fail spectacularly.
- Face–Heel Turn: The police (and Cheryl) defect to Bane after Two-Face takes over Gotham PD.
- Godzilla Threshold: Played for laughs when the crew mentions they were so desperate for a plan to break Harley out that they went with Clayface's idea.
- Groin Attack: Two-Face and his goons shoot two of Gordon's men in the balls.
- Harmless Freezing: Harley is frozen in a block of ice by Mr. Freeze for two months, but is fine once her crew cracks the ice open.
- I'm a Humanitarian: King Shark expresses disappointment when he's told the man Harley kidnapped for dinner was a chef, not the main course. He also eats several goons throughout the episode and even asks the chef to make one into sushi for him.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Gordon rants about starting up a new police department in his apartment with Barbara, saying they'll be an unbeatable team.Barbara: I want a divorce.
- It Is Beyond Saving: With Gotham City in ruins and under the control of supervillains, the President declares Gotham is no longer part of the United States.
- I Warned You: Played for a quick lampshade. After Harley's refusal to take over Gotham only results in the Injustice League forming, Ivy resists the urge for one second and then gives, "I told you so!" with a smile.
- Mood Whiplash: Right after the President exiles Gotham from the United States, Harley does a double bird flip and shouts "Fuck yeah!"
- Morphic Resonance: Clayface, for whatever reason, retains his crooked, yellow teeth while disguised as a waiter, even though in past appearances he could perfectly mimic any form.
- Mythology Gag:
- In Gotham, a rival villain (Riddler in that series) also got frozen in ice by Mr Freeze and left put on display and taunted by Penguin for months until getting freed and recovers.
- Harley biting Penguin's nose off is likely a reference to a scene from Batman Returns where Penguin bites a disrespectful campaign staffer's nose making it bleed profusely.
- Nasal Trauma: Harley bites the Penguin's nose right off his face.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Harley prefers to let Gotham exist in a state of anarchy rather than heed Ivy's advice to take it over while there's a vacuum in leadership. This leads to Penguin, Two-Face, Riddler, Bane, and Mr. Freeze attempting to take power for themselves, so their goons start trying to claim the mall as their territory.
- Harley tries to solve the above problem by convincing the goons to rebel against their bosses to become their own villains. This forces the five to combine forces to get the goons back in line, forming the Injustice League to take over Gotham for themselves. They subsequently freeze Harley in a block of ice for two months when she won't take their lopsided deal.
- Noodle Incident: Harley's crew tell her that they tried other plans to rescue her before today's, and Ivy mentions that she got shot twice during those attempts.
- Order Versus Chaos: Harley, who insisted that Gotham remains apocalyptic and lawless, gets into conflict with the Injustice League who wanted to bring order to Gotham by taking it over. The order wins.
- Politically Correct Villain: Harley busts into a minion bar with, "Listen up, goons!" One of them pipes back, "Excuse me, I identify as a hench." Harley retorts, "Listen up, goons and henches!"
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Harley is frozen, she's able to remember the Injustice League calling her out for wasting her opportunity to take over Gotham for herself and laughing at her.Riddler: Riddle me this... Who's the biggest fool of all? You! For wasting your only chance to rule Gotham.
Two-Face: If you'd just played the game, you wouldn't have ended up like this.
Mr. Freeze: You did this to yourself.
Bane: (mumbling)
Penguin: You'll never be one of us. You're just a sad pathetic clown. - Time Skip: It first starts off three weeks after Joker was taken down, but after Harley gets frozen by Mr. Freeze and her crew breaks her out, we learn two months have passed and the Injustice League has taken over New Gotham with each having their own territory.
- Totem Pole Trench: Doctor Psycho and King Shark sneak into Penguin's club by having the former stand on the latter's head while wearing an oversized tuxedo. That it fools anyone speaks volumes of how little Penguin cares about his staff.
- Trauma Conga Line: Gordon is put through the wringer in this episode. Joker has leveled the city, causing the US government to disown Gotham entirely, and as a result anarchy reigns supreme. The Justice League and Batman are both MIA, so he's forced to try and restore order with what few members of the GCPD are left. Then they're kicked out of the actual GCPD building by Two-Face and his remaining loyal officers defect to Bane. The only one willing to try and help him at all... is Damian, who is as young and immature as ever. Finally, his wife announces she wants to divorce him.
- Wrecked Weapon: The Penguin breaks Harley's bat and gloats she's nothing without it. She proves him wrong by stabbing him through the neck with the handle. Then she finds herself another bat, this time with nails in it.
