Opening Image

The story opens with a shot of Batman and Robin, as the former yells “Batman and Robin will never die”

Theme

We move on to Dr. Simon Hurt, who claims he and his associates are the Black Glove, the operators at the highest level and they’ve just set their sights on Batman

Set Up

Batman rescues a family of three from an amateur villain attempting to make a name for himself. The city has been unusually calm, as emerging villains attempt to establish themselves by emulating Batman’s rogues gallery but they all fall short as they don’t know what it truly means to be insane, more on this later.

Batman is seen saving a homeless man from being run over as Robin tells him how he ought to takes things easy given the amount of stress he’s been dealing with lately. Back at Wayne Manor, we see that Bruce has revealed his identity to Jezebel Jet, as he takes off his costume and allows himself to be vulnerable and exposed before her.

Catalyst

While paying respects to his parents, Jezebel asks him to consider a life past being Batman as she begins to sow seeds of doubts in his mind by making his question his purpose. She then tells him about the invitation she’s received to the Danse Macabre.

We then move on to a break in the Joker’s routine as he meets Le Bossu who invites him to the destruction of Batman. We see Arkham Asylum from the Joker’s warped perspective as his entire world is filled with death and laughter, all veiled in hues of red and black.

Debate

We shift back to Batman whose paranoia and obsession have intensified. All his research on the Black Glove leads to dead ends, save for a movie released a long time ago about the an elite organization destroying a couple. Alfred fails to convince Bruce to take a step back, despite telling him that even Tim Drake’s starting to doubt his sanity.

Break into Two

Bruce refuses to listen to reason, meanwhile we see the Black Glove arrive in Gotham

B Story

Dr. Hurt tells his associates that he will succeed where others have failed because he knows the Batman like no one else does, he knows his mind.

Fun and Games

Bruce brings Jezebel to the batcave where he further exposes himself emotionally by confessing that he’s afraid to lose her. Meanwhile she continues to manipulate him by making him think that Bruce himself might unknowingly be the Black Glove. She argues that who else but Bruce Wayne would harbor such hatred for Batman. Bruce rationalizes his relentless self-improvement by claiming it’s essential; failing to outsmart the villains could cost lives. However, Jezebel contends that this is merely a facade for his obsession and compulsions.

She then says the trigger phrase, “Zur-En-Arrh” that knocks out Bruce but not before he sees the face of a monster he faced in issue 156 where he hallucinated the death of Robin after he agreed to participate in a military experiment, which was conducted by Simon Hurt. Elsewhere, Jim Gordon learns of dossier planted by the Black Glove that meant to ruin the reputation of the Waynes.

At another location, Tim reads through the casebooks that Bruce compiled, documenting his initial exploits. Through these records, we uncover the origins of his obsessions. Bruce reflects that when he began his crusade against crime, he hadn’t anticipated the caliber of adversaries he would eventually confront. This goes back to Batman’s inception as a pulp, noir detective during the golden age of comics,  a stark contrast to the silver age that ushered in an era of bizarre adventures.

The next day, Bruce wakes up in the streets of Gotham with no memory of who he is or how he got there, he runs into Honor Jackson again who decides to help him. As they walk around the city, it helps Bruce clear his head and kickstart his detective’s instinct, enabling him to analyze the situation. Honor tells Bruce to go down a particular street at night to continue his journey as they take a moment to look at the city to remind Bruce what he’s fighting for. Right before he vanishes, Honor imparts a final thought, telling him that all the hardships he faces are worth it in the end if it means saving even a single life. The truth is, Bruce never met Honor again, but his mind made him think that he did to help him regain focus. It also signifies that, deep down, Bruce knows that Batman’s journey is not a fruitless one, because it led him to saving numerous lives, including Honor’s. At night, Bruce heads down Crime Alley, where his parents were killed to help him remember who is really is.

Midpoint

Back in the Batcave, Simon, who believes he’s won, dons a costume once worn by Bruce’s father. This very outfit, as depicted in Detective Comics issue 235, inspired Bruce to create the Batman costume he wears to this day. Simultaneously, on the streets of Gotham, Bruce pieces together a new suit as he becomes the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.

Bad Guys Close In

Bruce has now reached a higher plane of existence, allowing him to channel the fifth dimension. Planning ahead for every contingency led him to creating a backup personality, that eliminates Bruce Wayne, embodying Batman in his purest form—unyielding and undistracted, solely focused on the mission. Bat-Mite, a creature originating from the fifth dimension, reminds Bruce of how everything came to be as we see flashback of the night his parents were killed but moving backwards in time, telling us everything about the mission leads back to that one pivotal night.

Elsewhere in the city, Robin call the Club of Heroes for aid after he fails to hear from Nightwing while Gordon goes to Wayne Manor only to find it booby trapped by the Black Glove.

Batman interrogated one of Simon Hurt’s associates, Charlie Caligula, who fancies himself to be a demented and unpredictable foe like the Joker, but is only a pale imitation of him because he and the other members of the Black Glove are mainly in it for the thrill, oblivious to just how deep the rabbit hole of insanity goes. But as he experiences fear like he never has before as it’s implied that for a second, he saw Bat-Mite standing behind Batman.

Soon enough, Batman arrives at Arkham but Bat-mite tells him he’ll be on his own from now on as reason does not exist within the asylum’s walls, making it the one place where he’s vulnerable

All is Lost

Batman faces the Joker who mocks him by saying he thought madness was something that could be understood and overcome, but even he doesn’t get it- in the grand scheme of things, nothing matters and so his mission, his reason for being is all irrelevant, “welcome to where your soul dies”. Additionally, Jezebel reveals herself to be a part of the Black Glove all along.

Dark Night of the Soul

Having been beaten, Batman find himself in a world filled with black and red, the colors of how the Joker sees the world. He’s moments away from losing himself to delirium, but he still has one trick up his sleeve, he’s planned for this. Familiar with the precipice of death, he instantly recognized it’s scent and planned against it.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the Club of Heroes have arrived at Gotham, living proof of how Batman’s crusade against crime has inspired other like minded heroes to do the same.

Break into Three

Joker is still willing to bet that Batman will win in the end, as every time he tries to push him over the edge, Batman somehow finds a new path that leads him back to his mission. He knows this to be true, because no one knows Batman like the Joker. Bruce recalls how he destroyed all shreds of self doubts he had about crime fighting a long time ago, as the Batman emerges from his grave, reborn.

Finale

Batman reveals that he suspected Jezebel all along and relied on his years of training to help him see what he couldn’t at first glace and then leave the rest to his allies, who haven’t failed him yet. We see Bruce’s final entry in the casebook wherein he states he knows the devil is after him, but he’s ready, as his fight continues on in Final Crisis.

In the end, its left unclear whether Bruce survived or not, but legacy of Batman endures, as we see Nightwing having retrieved Batman’s cowl, hinting at him becoming the next caped crusader

Closing Image

We circle back to the opening image, Batman and Robin will indeed never die. The epilogue goes back to the night when Bruce’s parents were killed but shown in the familiar colors of black and red. Thomas Wayne remarks that if someone like Zorro did exist in reality, they would be locked up in Arkham, revealing the origin of the phrase ‘Zur-Eh-Arrh’ which was actually Zorro in Arkham.