Opening Image

Raindrops fall on the street as the bat-mobile arrives outside Arkham Asylum.

Set Up

As Batman enters the asylum, we see a plaque on the receptionist’s desk that says ‘you don’t have to be crazy to work here- but it helps!’, implying that in order to understand madness you need to be mad yourself.

Batman and Gordon walk past Two-Face’s cell who’s essentially half-man and half-monster and they stop in front of the Joker’s cell who’s all-monster, no-man. Inside the cell, he’s seen sorting a deck of playing cards systematically, which tells us that he treats everything like a game but despite that he orchestrates everything with precision.

Theme

The plot revolves around Batman’s attempt to try and see things from the Joker’s perspective. He knows that the two of them are locked in a cycle of endless violence which will eventually lead to one of them killing the other. He’s making a last-ditch effort to try and prevent that outcome by trying to understand the Joker and why he is the way that he is. However, Joker knows that no one will ever truly get what it’s like unless they see it happen so he wants to explain it to Batman by showing him how madness can destroy a man.

Catalyst

We find out that the person in the cell is not the Joker but an impostor and the way Batman and Gordon react tells us a lot about their characters.

Debate

Batman reacts aggressively, like a man who’s lost all hope in the legal system, so much so that he chooses to become a vigilante and take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Gordon, who believes in law and order, refuses to cross the line and warns Batman about the laws regarding mistreating inmates.

Break into Two

Joker is seen purchasing an abandoned amusement park as his plan begins to unfold.

B Story

We learn about the Joker’s past as a failed comedian and the circumstances that led him to becoming the clown prince of crime. We find out that no one’s ever found him funny, then or now, except for his wife.

Fun and Games

In the bat-cave, Batman is seen placing a Joker card in front of a photo of the bat-family from the silver age of comics which tells us that the existence of the Joker destroyed an era of lighthearted and kid-friendly adventures. Batman says it baffles him how there can be so much hate between two people despite them knowing so little about each other.

Gordon is shown to have scrapbooks for all the villains and most entries include Batman showing us how they’re all in the same vein, which is why Joker needs Batman to understand him. The Joker knocks on their door wearing a tourist outfit as he’s about to take Gordon on the worst trip of his life. He shoots Barbara through the spine and jokes about her job as a librarian, indicating that he’s been watching her for a long time.

In a flashback, we see that the comedian’s agree to taking part in the robbery of a chemical plant. The criminals tell him to wear a Red Hood for the robbery, they tell him that it’s a different person wearing the hood each time to throw everyone off track and it also tells us that what happened to Joker could happen to anyone, even someone like Gordon. The comedian also remarks that the plant is “so grim and ugly” when in the future he bought the amusement park for the same reasons, he’s trying to recreate what he went through with Gordon.

Batman visits Barbara in the hospital and upon finding out what’s happened he crushes a Joker card as this time things have gone too far and now he’s come one step closer to killing Joker. On the other hand, Gordon finds himself in the amusement park among circus freaks who represent those who’ve been rejected by society, just like Joker. As he’s taken further into the park, in a similar way the comedian finds himself in too deep with the criminals as even upon finding out his wife is dead, he’s still forced to participate in the robbery.

Midpoint

Gordon’s ordeal continues as he’s chained to one of the rides and is forced to look at the pictures of Barbara taken during the break in.

Bad Guys Close In

Gordon is taken further and further into the ride, while Batman desperately tries to find him, eventually he reaches the end and we see the Joker standing before him. Joker expects Gordon to have snapped but finds it odd that he’s being a little too quiet. Disappointed with the outcome, he orders Gordon to be taken back to the cage to give him time to reflect on the random injustices of the world, as he says so we see his reflection in a puddle as the falling raindrops create ripples all over, similar to what we see in the opening and closing images.

In the past we see the comedian being led into the chemical plant by the criminals similar to how Gordon was led into the park by the freaks.

All is Lost

Expecting the plant to be empty, they’re startled to find security there and eventually Batman arrives and scares the comedian enough to make him jump into a vat of chemicals. Outside the plant, he emerges from the drains to find himself to be horribly disfigured, his ordeal has ended and all he can do now is laugh.

Dark Night of the Soul

Joker makes a final attempt to push Gordon over the edge as he mocks him for his values and ethics saying it won’t save him but despite it all Gordon remains silent, meaning there may still be hope for him.

Break into Three

Batman arrives at the park and we hear what he told the Joker earlier in the story as they both know their inevitable fight to the death has arrived. We see Gordon trapped in between Batman and Joker again, just as we did in the beginning of the story.

Despite it all, Gordon refuses to break and urges Batman to bring the Joker in by the book because now the tables have turned and Gordon wants to show Joker that the law works.

Finale

Joker keeps trying to lure Batman into his traps as he tells him they’re both the same, clearly they’ve both endured a lot to be who they are today and urges Batman to let go and laugh at it all like he does, Batman refuses saying he doesn’t find it funny. He suffered just as Joker did but instead of allowing himself to be consumed by the chaos, he chooses to bring order to it, just as Gordon has, which is why no matter what, he’ll never kill Joker.

Furthermore, Joker says that the exact details of his past don’t matter to him because he believes all path regardless of the circumstances lead to madness, but Batman refuses and so does Gordon.

Realizing he’s been beaten, he asks Batman to just take him in like he always does, Batman tries to reason with him again but Joker knows it’s far too late for him. Instead he tells him he’s reminded of a joke about two guys in an asylum (just as we saw them at Arkham in the beginning) the guy that escapes the asylum represents Batman and that one that’s too scared to make the jump represents Joker, Batman offers to shine a light on Joker’s path, the torch representing the bat-signal, the path to justice, but Joker is too far gone to accept his help. As the two laugh at the punchline, they realize that they’ll always be different and that they’ve made their choices that define them, sharing a laugh is as close as they’ll ever get to understanding each other. Furthermore, apart from the comedian’s wife, Batman is now the only other person who found the Joker funny.

Closing Image

It ends just as it began with raindrops falling and creating random ripples on the ground which represent the random cruelty in the world and the consequences they create, as Batman and Joker are no closer to understanding each other than they were at the beginning.