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"New Gotham" is the first episode of the second season of Harley Quinn, and the fourteenth episode of the series overall. It was released on April 3, 2020, on DC Universe.

Synopsis[]

After Gotham is declared no longer part of the United States, the newly formed Injustice League try to seize control of the city away from Harley in the season premiere episode.

Plot[]

The President of the United States issued an emergency address regarding the situation in Gotham City. After the 8.6 earthquakes destroyed what was left of the ruined city that the Joker briefly ruled over, the President declared the city a lost cause, "civitas non grata", no longer part of the United States.

Harley is thrilled by the lack of hierarchies in the city. The Maid of Mischief rampages through Gotham on a sled pulled by her new pet hyenas Bud and Lou; she returns to the Gotham Mall with a kidnapped sushi chef named Takashi to cook for her crew. While Takashi cooks with limited ingredients and no refrigeration, Ivy pulls Harley aside and asks her why she spent the entire three weeks since the Joker's demise partying rather than filling the city's power vacuum. The lack of authority, however, is Harley's utopian dream.

Ivy warns her that she'll regret her inaction, at which point two of The Penguin's goons arrive to claim the mall. Harley angrily retorts that "it's a post-dibs world" and that "nobody owns nothing." King Shark bites the head of one of the goons (to use his body as meat), scaring the other away. Ivy reiterates that the mall will be under siege indefinitely, punctuated by the arrival of three mobsters from Two-Face.

Frustrated, Harley goes to Noonan's Bar and gives a speech inspiring the goons to rise and overthrow their masters, as she did to the Joker, forcing the remnants of the Legion of Doom to band together for their safety when their henchmen suddenly turn on them. Following that, Two-Face, the Riddler, Bane, the Penguin, and Mr. Freeze all gather at Iceberg Lounge & Casino and decide that they desperately need their goons back to sustain their way of life. They then form the Injustice League.

The Riddler
We need goons! Now they all think they're us. If everyone is a villain, then no one is.
Two-Face
And we need to get them back in line. We need structure.
— The nascent Injustice League attempts to re-establish hierarchy

Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon continues trying to signal Batman in vain until suddenly Robin arrives and reports that Batman was in the Joker's tower when it collapsed. Demoralized, Gordon tosses his whisky flask at Robin and ignores his attempts to fill Batman's shoes.

Harley's speech at Noonan's backfires; on a return trip to Gotham Mall, she is forced to fight five ex-henchmen trying to go solo. Ivy also laments that individualism has multiplied their problem. Lou delivers Harley her invitation to the newly formed Injustice League. Disturbed, Harley goes to the league's headquarters at Gotham City Hall, where the Penguin insists that "there's gotta be a hierarchy", painting himself in opposition to Harley's desire to deconstruct everything.

Mr. Freeze offers Harley a place in the new hierarchy to win her complacency, although the portion of "New Gotham" they offer her is a tiny island compared to their portions. Adamantly unwilling to accept any form of order or ownership, Harley smashes the table and their proposed map, refusing to join them, so Mr. Freeze turns her into a block of ice.

With her crew left in disarray and unable to mount a rescue plan, Harley remains frozen for two months, and the rest of Gotham swiftly falls to the Injustice League. Two-Face even takes over the last remnant of the Gotham City Police Department, and Bane turns some of them into henchmen, whom he sends after Commissioner Gordon. Afterward, Gordon is utterly alone as his wife finally demands a divorce.

The Penguin keeps Harley's frozen sculpture in his portion of Gotham. At his party, he finds an odd new waiter with yellow teeth, but thinks nothing of it and continues to mingle. Meanwhile, King Shark and Doctor Psycho are disguised as bartenders, Ivy is disguised as an anonymous guest, and Sy Borgman is disguised as a piano player.

Sy activates a smoke machine and begins loudly singing "Happy Birthday" to the Penguin while Doctor Psycho telekinetically drops Harley's sculpture to the floor beneath a tablecloth, allowing them to walk out nonchalantly. However, the Penguin soon dispels the smoke with his signature umbrella and sics his henchman on the intruders.

Penguin vs Harley

"Nature has graced us with a solution to the Harley Quinn problem, survival of the fittest."

As Harley's crew flees, they crack Harley's ice sculpture enough to free her face. King Shark and Clayface hold off the pursuing guards while Sy pushes Harley out and uses a torch to free her swinging arm, allowing her to join the fight. Harley's sculpture is used to crush henchmen, but the ice block gains too much momentum and ends up outstripping her allies, leading Harley right in the Penguin's hands.

The Penguin begins to taunt Harley but gets too close, allowing her to bite his nose off. The recoil knocks her sculpture backward, finally shattering it on the ground and freeing her. The Penguin dodges Harley's bat and gloats when he sees it destroyed. He fires several grenades at her from his umbrella; Harley gets battered but not killed. The blasts kick up the mist, and a shrouded Harley confuses the Penguin by echoing her voice around the room. She then sneaks up behind him and stabs him in the throat with the splintered end of her broken bat, killing him.

Batman lives

Batman found alive

Later, Harley and her crew get coffee. Clayface bluntly informs her that she'd been encased in ice for two months. It turns out that the successful rescue plan was Clayface's, and the rest of Harley's crew only considered his ideas when all of theirs failed. Learning that the Injustice League has carved up the city into "New New Gotham", an incensed Harley admits that Ivy was right and declares that she'll eliminate the entire Injustice League and claim Gotham for herself. Concurrently, Batman himself is found, comatose but alive.

Cast and Characters[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Cameos[]

Trivia[]

  • Gotham City being declared no longer part of the United States and turned into a lawless wasteland after a disaster is inspired by the Batman: No Man's Land arc from 1999.
  • The small mohawk that Mr. Freeze sports might be a reference to Holy Musical B@man!'s Mr. Freeze, played by Jim Povolo when sports a small mohawk.
  • Harley says, "Sweep the leg, Johnny," after squishing some goons into a wall. This is a quote from Kreese to Johnny in 1984 movie The Karate Kid.
  • The scene where Harley bites off Penguin's nose is a possible reference to the 1992 film Batman Returns, when Danny DeVito's depiction of Penguin bites off the nose of a mayoral campaign aide.

Gallery[]

Video[]

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