Gotham Recap With Spoilers: How The Riddler Got His Name

WARNING: MAJOR GOTHAM SPOILERS AHEAD!

A man walks into a science lab, and he is greeted by Nygma holding a gun. he says the building is empty and that no one is coming to help. Nygma starts by presenting the man with a riddle, and he answers incorrectly. Nygma says announces that the man is the head of a chemistry department, and then takes a moment to cool down.

He continues to ask the man riddles as he ties him to a chair. The professor continues to answer incorrectly, and Nygma lists off people he’s killed before the professor.

“Why are you doing this?”

Nygma tells the story of Cobblepot, as he explains that he is making moves on Gotham. The final riddle is answered incorrectly again, and Nygam says it’s too bad. As he turns on all of the burners, and pours chemicals, Nygma locks the man in the room. he walks outside, and the building explodes.

Dopple-Bruce is standing before the Katherine of the Court of Owls, and he recounts the story of the night Bruce’s parents died. She says he is truly Bruce Wayne, and she calls a man. Katherine asks the man if his nephew is up to the ‘task’. When he answers yes, she says “He better be,” and reminds him that there are consequences. As he hangs up, Jim Gordon gets out of a car behind him.

Dopple-Bruce continues to talk about Bruce’s history, as Katherine fills a syringe.

Nygma drinks some tea, takes a pill, and sees a hallucination of Oswald on his couch. Cobblepot is dripping wet, and Nygma asks him to get out of the couch. Oswald starts to question Nygma about the people he has been killing – along with his own murder. Nygma is crossing off pictures of intelligent people, and he reveals that he is looking for a new life-coach to replace Cobblepot. However, he can’t get any of these intelligent people to answer his riddles.

Oswald says he doesn’t need help to become a villain. He claims that he became The Penguin when he threw Fish Mooney off of a roof. Nygma then reveals that, in order to become a villain, he needs a nemesis. He states that every major villain had an enemy, and he knows the perfect man.

As Oswald says, “Don’t say J–” Ngyma cuts him off by finishing his sentence.

“Jim Gordon.”

At the GCPD, Harvey and Lucius go back and forth about a case. They’re obviously talking about Nygma, as they reveal they’re chasing down a “serial killer of smart people.” Lucius says 6 members of Gotham’s elite have killed themselves or died in accidents.

Harvey doesn’t want to cover this, as he’s still tracking down bodies from Jerome’s killing spree, and that they still need to track down the mayor. Lucius suggests calling in Jim, but Harvey is very stern in saying no. He says Jim is on R&R, and he’s gone to find some long-lost uncle of his.

Just then, someone starts calling for Jim Gordon, and a man in a grape suit is seen at the front of the station. Harvey begins approaching, telling him that Jim Gordon isn’t here.

He says, “Give me the message, Fruit Guy.”

His singing message is in the form of a riddle, and he says that a king, a queen, and their court are next in line for the murders. He reveals that the key to saving them is on a card, and he hands the paper to Harvey. On the paper, it looks like a bunch of jagged arrows, bending around each other in an intricate design. Lucius suggests that this is connected to the murders he was referring to, and that the killer is sending Jim a clue.

The two begin looking at the paper, and Lucius says the drawing is of the Knight’s tour, and the two head off to find the killer.

Nygma is still having trouble, and he takes another pill. Cobblepot appears, and the two look over a grand chess tournament. As one player clicks their timer, a red light is seen turning on beneath it.

COMMERCIAL BREAK.

Cobblepot is eating, as the duo watch people play chess. He asks Nygma why he’s doing what he’s doing, and Nygma can’t answer. He reveals that Gordon can’t help Nygma, that no one can, and it’s time for him to face the truth. Suddenly, Cobblepot exits. Harvey and Lucius arrive, and Nygma is surprised that there is no Jim Gordon. He states that it’s interesting Jim isn’t there, and he flips a switch. People start getting electrocuted by their chess boards, and Harvey tells everyone to stay put. As they begin to panic, Nygma exits the balcony, laughing to himself.

Jim is with his Uncle Frank, and they are chatting beside a fireplace. Jim asks where Frank has been since he was a kid, and what happened between he and his dad. The uncle reveals that he needs to know Jim trusts him first. he reveals taht the worst thing he’s ever done was leave Jim’s dad. He says he came back to Gotham to make things right with Jim.

Alfresd is teaching Bruce to throw knives. He says precision under pressure is everything. As Bruce started to throw the knife, Alfred tried to distract him, and the knife went through the window. He asks what had been distracting Bruce, and suggests it’s Selina Kyle. Alfred says there is a note from Selina, asking him to meet her tomorrow. However, Bruce says no, as she’s been ignoring him for weeks.

Back at the chess tournament, Lucius is investigating one of the boards. He turns the pieces over, and they each have a number on the bottom.

Nygma is seen shaking spray-paint. His phone rings, and it’s Lucius. He asks why Nygma killed all of those people, and he tells him he had to.

Tomorrow, when the pawn is on Queen, you’ll find my next target in the belly of the beast. Solve my clue, Mr fox, and you’ll be one step closer to passing my test.”

Nygma hangs up, and says, “and I’ll be one step closer to introducing myself to Gotham.” As he says that, a green question mark is see spray-painted over the portrait of Cobblepot.

COMMERCIAL BREAK.

Jim aims a rifle scope at a deer, and he misses as he shoots. He told his uncle that he missed on purpose, that he wanted to make sure his gun worked. he asks what he’s doing there, and demands he know what happened to his father.

Frank begins talking about the Court Of Owls, and how it was started by the wealthiest families in the city. He reveals that they have lost their way in recent years, but that he and Jim’s father were both members, that he still is. He says the Court wants Jim to become a member as well.

Lucius and Harvey are questioning a man at the station, asking about the murders. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but they tell him that he runs the Pawn shop on Queen’s avenue, so he must be involved. This is the tie to the riddle Nygma gave Lucius on the phone.

They play good cap/bad cop, and Harvey tells Lucius to hit him. As they chat, the man says he wasn’t even supposed to work today. He states that he’s covering for Teddy Thirio, and Lucius says Thirio is the Greek word for beast. The riddle stated they would find the clue in the Belly of the Beast.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce talks to Alfred as he’s cooking. Alfred tells the story of Sylvia, the woman who gave him the recipe for his Shepard’s pie. He says things ended badly between them, and Bruce asks if this is Alfred’s way of getting him to run to Selina. He says no, because he and Sylvia had closure. He suggests that Bruce take the same opportunity, and Bruce takes the note, agreeing to go see her.

Lucius and Harvey can’t find Thirio, and the latter gets dressed for an Academy graduation ceremony. As he gets ready to leave, he asks Lucius if he has seen his badge.

Cobblepot reads the headline in the paper calling Nygma the “Chess Killer”. He startd making fun of the name on the paper, and Nygma said it will change. Cobblepot says Nygma is spiraling into madness, but Nygma retorts that he is seeing clearly.

Just as Nygma is about to leave, Penguin appears across the room, and music comes on, accompanied by a red light. Cobblepot is wearing a tuxedo, and has a hat in his hand. He starts singing and dancing, and it’s clear Nygma’s hallucinations are getting worse. He slams his hand on the table and stops Cobblepot.

Nygma admits that he does need Cobblepot in order to survive, but he’s going to find a way to move forward without him. The scene ends by Cobblepot screaming, “There is no Ed Nygma without The Penguin!”

Lee pulls back the cover on a dead body, and tells Lucius that the victim is Thirio. She says he has a long incision along his abdomen, and Lucius says they need to open up his stomach. As he asks her about her work in Arkham, and why someone would play this game, she finds something in Thirio’s stomach.

It’s Harvey’s badge.

Lucius claims that he now knows who the next target is, and thanks Lee for her help.

As the Acadmey presentation, Harvey goes over his speech. As he finished practicing his speech, Nygma comes up to Harvey and says he’s going to give a speech. As Lucius calls Harvey, Nygma says the call, “Must be about me,” and grabs Harvey.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Bruce sits on the steps and reads Selina’s note. It says,

“Hey Bruce, Will you come see me next week? You remember where. -Selina”

He’s at the meeting place, but Selina is nowhere to be found. As some boys are fighting in the parking lot nearby, Bruce approaches and says he’s looking for Selina.

The boys start trying to take Bruce’s money, and Selina appears. She pushes the guys off, and tells them, “Enough!”

They back away, and she asks what he’s doing. He says he’s looking for her, and she says she has business with Sonny. He’s trying to convince her that he’s bad news, but she brings up the incident where Bruce went off about her mother. He tries to apologize, but Selina says she can take care of herself.

She tells Bruce to go home, that he doesn’t belong there. She then reveals that she didn’t leave any note for him, and that he shouldn’t come looking for her again. Sonny calls Selina Bruce’s girlfriend, and then starts to beat him up. All of the men take turns until Bruce is on the ground.

He gets up, and starts to beat all of the guys, all of whom are bigger than he is.

Nygma taps on the microphone at the Police Academy graduation. He introduces himself, and says that Harvey is, “Tied up.”

He begins his speech, and asks how he looks in his new suit. He begins telling the cadets a riddle,

“I’m light as a feather, but no man can hold me for long. What am I?”

No one answers the question, and he claims there are no “future commissioners” among them. he says the answer is “your breath” as he throws gas out into the crowd. Everyone starts choking as he puts on a gas mask.

A woman in a strawberry suit stands in a hallway, and Lucius approaches. She refers to him as Foxy, and he knows that Nygma is the man behind everything.

As he calls Nygma, it is revealed that he has gassed the whole room of people. He can come upstairs to meet Nygma alone, and try to win the game. Or he can bring help, and he’ll never get the antidote. In the stairwell, Harvey is being dangled over the side of the top flight by Nygma. He asks Lucius to solve three riddles, and Lucius agrees. If he gets them wrong, a rope holding Harvey is cut loose. He says the antidote is around Harvey’s neck, so losing the game will lose him everything.

If he gets one riddle correct, everyone lives.

Nygma gets angry as Lucius answers the first question incorrectly. He cuts the first of three ropes holding Harvey up. Nygma is even more furious as Lucius gets the second wrong. However, Lucius argues that his answer is also correct, and both are suitable answers to the riddle. Nygma says he has to give the one-and-only answer, and cuts another rope.

He says Oswald was right, but then freaks out and points a gun at Lucius. He questions whether or not Lucius is a suitable enemy. Lucius starts asking what happened to Penguin, as the third riddle begins. He knows that Nygma killed Cobblepot, and Nygma presents the riddle one more time.

Lucius gets it right, but the last rope snaps on its own. As Harvey falls, Lucius catches him and keeps him from falling all way down the stairwell.

Nygma escapes.

Bruce is walking along in an alley, and he starts to clean the blood off of his face. Dopple-Bruce shows up and he asks what happened with Selina. He wrote the note. Bruce notices that they are dressed exactly the same, and Dopple-Bruce knocks Bruce out with the syringe that Katherine had.

Dopple-Bruce says he was made to be the real Bruce Wayne.

Jim and Frank are back by the fire, and Jim asks why they were a oart of the court of owls. Frank says they wanted to do good, and Jim’s father saw through their lies and that they killed him. He was making trouble for the Court, and that they took him out. He says he was gone from Jim’s childhood because the Court sent him overseas.

He says now that they want Jim to join, they can bring the whole Court down. They can restore Justice to Gotham.

Alfred is watching the news, as Dopple-Bruce enters. He says things went well with Selina. He asks Bruce if he wants some Shepard’s Pie, and when Bruce agrees, he knows something is up.

Armed police forces being searching Nygma’s house, and Harvey finds the question mark on the portrait.

A car sits in an alleyway, and Lucius enters the driver’s seat. Nygma is in the backseat and puts a gun to Lucius’ head, laughing.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Lucius said the antidote was nothing but grape juice, and the gas was just knockout gas. It was all a test, and Nygma reveals he’s always wanted to be more. He says someone better was living inside of him, and no one but Penguin saw that. Now that Oswald is gone, Nygma knows how to be who he is inside, and Lucius helped him achieve that.

Lucius says Nygma has now announced to the city that he is a murderer, and that he needs to turn himself in and get help. He says he killed the best friend he’s ever had, and this search for an enemy was just trying to hold on. Now he knows who he truly is without Cobblepot.

He says, “I’m The Riddler!”

After knocking out Lucius, Nygma laughs.

Nygma can be seen at the dock where he killed Penguin, and Cobblepot appears next to him. Nygma admits that their friendship mean something to him, and he smiles as Cobblepot says that the entire GCPD is after him. He claims that everyone will one day be afraid of The Riddler. Nygma gets on one knee, and dumps his pills into the water, bidding Oswald goodbye. As he stands, he puts on the hat, fully becoming The Riddler.

Ivy is watering her plants, and the real Oswald wakes up in her room. She says she pulled him out of the river, and she’s been nursing him for weeks. Oswald says that there is something he has just remembered.

“There’s someone I need to kill.”

Jim walks back into his uncle’s house with firewood, and he sits it down by the fireplace. He asks where Uncle Frank is, and he sees a picture of his uncle and father sitting on a dresser. On the back it says, “Help me honor his memory.”

Frank is with Katherine, and he says Jim has interest in joining. She reveals that the clone is in place, and that Bruce should be waking up soon.

Bruce opens his eyes in some kind of underground cell. As he walks over to the bars, he sees a grand, snow-capped mountain in the distance.

THE END.