Later at a toll bridge, Killer Croc hijacks an officers' van. The Judge appears and attacks Croc with an oversized gavel, accusing him of murder, mayhem, and manslaughter. The Judge sends Croc falling off the top of the bridge but Batman saves him.
In a private conference, Councilman Corcoran gives the Judge police files that will help him, and says he cannot be connected to them. He explains that his support of the Judge gains him popularity and if Gordon has his hero, so can he.
The next day, after a report of the Judge's attack on the Riddler, Corcoran admits he knew of the attack and hints that Two-Face will be the next target, much to Two-Face's rage. Batman follows him to his hideout and pins him down saying that he wanted to find him before the Judge did. Just as Two-Face rejects help, all the exits in his apartment lock shut. A TV recording of the Judge declares Two-Face's punishment as the room fills with gas. Two-Face heads for his secret exit only to find it blocked off even though no one knew about it. Batman pulls Two-Face away from the gas and hurls an explosive batarang at the air escape, causing several explosions, thus setting them free. Two-Face flees in the process.
Corcoran gets a call from the Judge, who is tired of Batman interfering. Afterwards, Batman confronts Corcoran about the Judge, saying he is going to take him in before he actually kills someone. Corcoran dismisses this and states how Arkham's revolving door keeps putting criminals back on the streets. He goes on about the will of the people, but Batman leaves before he finishes.
Two-Face captures Corcoran, ties him up in a courtroom, and interrogates him on the Judge's whereabouts but the councilman swears he does not know. Two-Face flips his coin and has his goons drag him off. Corcoran reveals he has a slush fund and offers to pay his way out, but Two-Face says he should have said this earlier so he could have flipped for it.
In the Batcave, Batman examines the Judge's gavel from police evidence, as Alfred comes in. Batman discovers that it is actually the Marshal Award, a trophy given every year by the Bar Association to a judge or attorney for excellence. He pulls down a list of past winners and Alfred looks in shock upon recognizing one of the names.
Back at the courtroom, Two-Face's goons tie Corcoran up, when suddenly the Judge enters and subdues them. Corcoran demands the Judge kill them, but the Judge turns on Corcoran for breaking the law he swore to uphold. Batman comes in and fights off the Judge, who cuffs him. The two vigilantes face an intense struggle but Batman ultimately defeats the Judge who plummets to the ground. Batman takes the keys from the unconscious Judge and frees himself. Corcoran pleads for help in fear for his reputation. Batman says it is worse than he thinks and unmasks the Judge revealing Two-Face. As the police and reporters enter the building, Batman exits, leaving Corcoran lost for words.
The next day at Wayne Manor, Bruce reads the news about Corcoran's indictment, while Alfred tries to make sense of what happened. They conclude that Harvey Dent had unknowingly created a third personality, separate from the other two, to fight crime. The Judge knew everything about Two-Face, except that he was Two-Face. Alfred wonders what will become of Harvey.
The episode ends at Arkham Asylum, where Harvey sits in his cell standing trial in his mind. When the Judge asks him how he pleads, Harvey replies with a haunted look on his face:
- Guilty... guilty... guilty...
Tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Judge's sword can cut effortlessly through the mast sustaining a giant Lady Justice statue's balance. Even in the case that thing was made of wood, the sword is still pretty damn sharp.
- All Crimes Are Equal: The Judge (a faceless British judge, complete with a powdered wig atop his cloak), believes that criminals who avoid prosecution must be privately killed for justice to be served. A Gotham City councilman who wants to appear tough on crime likes this attitude, and begins cooperating with the Judge. This alliance backfires horribly when the Judge discovers that the councilman has been keeping a slush fund, and decides that to be punishable by death. The Judge also attempts to kill The Penguin, Killer Croc, and Two-Face — even though all Penguin, Croc, and Two-Face had done was participate in a black-market jewel deal and manage to avoid getting caught for it. At the end of the episode, when the Judge is unmasked, he turns out to be Two-Face, who had developed a third identity that subsequently targeted for death his two other identities (or at least the Big Bad Harv/Two-Face one).
- All for Nothing: Corcoran's support of the Judge, which he embraced to lock in his Council re-election bid. Instead, it backfires when the Judge is exposed as Two-Face. This, combined with the revelations of his corruption (revelations ironically which only came out because of his endorsement of the Judge) derails his re-election and he loses the Primary.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Batman demands the whereabouts of the Judge from Corcoran since he going to kill someone. When Corcoran asks if anyone would care if the criminals are killed, Batman is silent.
- Bittersweet Ending: Harvey Dent's passion for justice seems to be resurfacing (and seeing as this is Two-Face's final appearance, Two-Face may have been permanently defeated now that the Judge has taken over), but at the same time, his mental illness is worse than ever.
- Justice League vs. The Fatal Five implies that Harvey has become the dominant personality, although he's still an inmate at Arkham.
- Bound and Gagged: While running away from the Judge, the Penguin calls for his Bodyguard Babes Raven and Lark, only to find them gagged, tied up, and hanging from the ceiling.
- Cardboard Prison: Corcoran cites this as a reason to support the Judge's actions, saying Arkham is nothing more than a revolving door for the worst elements of the city.
- Cast as a Mask: Richard Moll voices Two-Face (as usual); Malachi Throne voices the Judge.
- Casting Gag: Malachi Throne as the Judge; given that he's Cast as a Mask and Harvey is the real one behind it all, he's playing a "false face" once again.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Judge's gavel, which Croc managed to seize during their fight on the bridge before Waylon falls (and which ends up shattering on impact below). The fragments subsequently end up in the GCPD Evidence Room and are later 'borrowed' by Batman. His analysis reveals the gavel's actually part of a trophy for the Marshall Award — a honor bestowed upon local Judges and Attorneys for distinguished service. Analyzing the list of past award recipients allows Bruce to discover the Judge's true identity.
- Corrupt Politician: J. Carroll Corcoran, who is revealed to have taken bribes.
- Didn't Think This Through: J. Carroll Corcoran was using the Judge to increase his ratings in political campaign. He was perfectly aware about the Judge's methods and that All Crimes Are Equal to him. Unfortunately for Corcoran, he doesn't count that Two-Face is coming for him because he helps the Judge, and when he desperately reveals that he himself is a Corrupt Politician, he didn’t stop to think that the Judge would find out about it and would come for his soul too.
- Dirty Coward: J. Carroll Corcoran, when the Judge declares that he will be punished for his corruption.
- End-of-Series Awareness: It's the final episode of the main series, barring Justice League and the occasional film, and Corcoran tells Batman people are tired of seeing the same villains constantly being back out on the streets and are desperate for closure.
- False Reassurance: A captured Corcoran insists he doesn't know where to find the Judge and has no means of contacting him. Two-Face's mooks say they believe him, and Two-Face agrees before saying that Corcoran can help send "a message." Happens again when one of the mooks approaches Corcoran with a knife; he merely cuts the ropes tying him to the chair right before leading him outside to shoot him.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Two-Face is quick to knock Batman down and flee after Batman saves him. Though he does say "Remind me to thank you later."
- Foreshadowing: After Batman saves Two-Face, the Judge, calling Corcoran, states: "Batman has interfered twice now, and that's two times too many."
- Also, Two-Face's secret exit was blocked despite no one but Two-Face knowing about it (and likewise the Judge was able to override Two-Face's security systems). And the Judge only spoke to Two-Face by TV, while he came face-to-face (no pun intended) with Penguin, Killer Croc and Riddler.
- Plus, Two-Face had more screentime than the other villains.
- Additionally, at the beginning, when the news talks about the Judge, Two-Face glared when the newscaster says "justice will be served", which was Harvey Dent's job.
- The Judge is also very clumsy and inexperienced using his broadsword, making it clear whoever it is has no experience with melee weapons. Indeed, Two-Face has only been shown using firearms.
- When the Judge prepares to execute Corcoran, he disgustedly condemns him as a corrupt politician stealing from the people he claims to represent. How could the Judge possibly know about Corcoran's confession to Two-Face mere minutes earlier...unless he was already inside the building, let alone in the same courtroom when Corcoran 'fessed up.
- Freudian Trio: Two-Face, Harvey Dent, and the Judge are the id, ego, and superego, respectively.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Batman invokes this Trope ("Easy, Harvey. It's the Good Cop") when trying to get to Two-Face before the Judge can.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Two-Face flips his coin such that it lands on his palm good-side-up where he can clearly read it. He then flips it onto the back of his other hand, so it reads bad-side-up in order to have an excuse to torture Corcoran.
- I Am the Noun: When Penguin claims the law can't touch him, the Judge replies "I am the law".
- If I Had a Nickel...: A worker says he wishes he had a nickel for every car that went over a toll bridge—his companion responds "I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard you say that."
- Jerkass Has a Point: Corcoran tells Batman the Judge did everything the people of Gotham wanted: hitting the big criminals hard. He also defended his view by pointing out the poor security at Arkham Asylum that kept letting the criminals escape.
- Knight Templar / Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Judge, who is determined to punish the criminals and corrupt of Gotham City but unlike Batman, is perfectly willing to kill them to get the job done.
- Let Me Get This Straight...: Alfred in the final scene, expositing on how Two-Face developed the Judge personality.
- Madness Mantra: At the end of the episode, after being asked by The Judge how he pleads, Two-Face repeatedly mumbles, "Guilty... guilty... guilty..."
- Miles Gloriosus: Corcoran is a political version; he talks tough in front of the camera and is even willing to tell Batman off to his face. But he quickly becomes a gutless coward pleading for his life when kidnapped by Two-Face.
- Original Position Fallacy: Corcoran had no problem employing the Judge to chase after criminals. What's it to him if the Judge is going to the extreme where any of these Arkham criminals could potentially be killed in the process? It's not skin off his nose. ...until the Judge learns Corcoran is a Corrupt Politician no more virtuous than Penguin or Killer Croc. Then it's skin off his nose, and Corcoran finds himself begging for his life.
- Save the Villain: Batman finds himself in this role. He saves Killer Croc from a deadly fall and narrowly saves Two-Face (and himself) from the gas. During the climax, he saves Corcoran.
- Second Super-Identity: The Judge to Harvey Dent/Two-Face.
- Shadow Archetype: With the mask and gadgets, the Judge is essentially Batman but without a Thou Shalt Not Kill rule. He doesn't actually manage to kill anyone, but it's not for lack of trying.
- Shoot the Television: Two-Face does this when he hears he's the Judge's next target.
- Shout-Out:
- The Judge's "I am the law" comment to Penguin above could be one to Judge Dredd.
- Malachi Thorne's portrayal of the Judge sounds eerily similar to Tony Jay's performance as another Knight Templar judge.
- The name J. Carroll Corcoran may have been one to actor J. Carroll Naish, who portrayed the villain Dr. Daka in the Batman serial from 1943.
- This Cannot Be!: Two-Face's reaction to his secret exit being blocked.
- Throw the Book at Them: The Judge declares that it's about time someone did this to the Riddler as he drops a giant decorative prop book onto him.
- Tomato Surprise: The Judge is Harvey Dent, repressed by Big Bad Harv for so long that he developed into a third personality.
- Too Dumb to Live: Defied by Two-Face's mooks. Corcoran offers them the money he offered Two-Face in exchange for sparing him, but they know better than to "two-time" one of Gotham's most notorious criminals.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Croc ends up being this for the Judge. During their fight on the bridge, Croc manages to grab the Judge's gavel before he plunges over the side. The dropped gavel shatters on impact, but the fragments are collected by the GCPD and end up in the Evidence Room. Analyzing those fragments later allows Batman to figure out the Judge's true identity.
- Unwilling Suspension: Raven and Lark (the Penguin's female bodyguards) hanging bound and gagged from the ceiling after being subdued by the Judge.
- Villain Has a Point: While he may just be using the Judge to boost his political career, Corcoran isn't wrong about how much of a Cardboard Prison Arkham is.
- Weapons of Their Trade: One weapon used by the Judge is a gavel the size of a sledgehammer. It turns out to be a Chekhov's Gun.
- Wham Shot: Batman unmasking the Judge.
- With My Hands Tied: Batman fights the Judge with both his hands and feet bound by magnetic cuffs.
- Xanatos Gambit: Two-Face capturing and interrogating Corcoran late in the episode. If Corcoran has intel on the Judge and his whereabouts, that's great. If Corcoran doesn't know, that's still fine as Two-Face can just kill him to send a message to the Judge.
- You're Insane!: Killer Croc's response to the Judge:Judge: How do you plead?
Killer Croc: You're nuts!
