BATMAN ARKHAM CITY Sequel: What’s The Next Step?

The League Of Assassins vs. Gotham City

Though it was kept quiet by Eidos and Rocksteady in the run-up to the games€™ release, many of us were hoping, some of us were even expecting Ra€™s Al Ghul to make am appearance. Ra€™s (whose name means €œThe Demon€™s Head€) has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, with Liam Neeson portraying him in Batman Begins and Bruce Wayne€™s illegitimate som Damien being revealed as his grandson. The Arkham series finally implemented him during Arkham City in spectacular fashion. Though throughout the game we are made to believe that Arkham City and game centrepiece Protocol Ten was the brainchild of crazed psychologist Hugo Strange, during the showdown between Strange and Batman towards the end of the game Al Ghul suddenly appears, killing Strange and revealing that Strange was in fact another pawn in The Demon€™s Head€™s plans. Upon discovering Strange€™s obsession with Batman (and indeed Bruce Wayne), Ra€™s coerced him into planning and executing Protocol Ten, a plan to gather Batman and all of Gotham City€™s criminals and super villains in one place (Arkham City) and blow it to kingdom come. But it is the revealed that Protocol Ten would only be the first of a worldwide attack and decimation of every major city as part of Al Ghul and the League Of Assassins€™ master plan to destroy and then repopulate the earth in order to cleanse it from what they see as destruction and greed. With this knowledge, the main story of the Arkham series so far (besides the big Joker story) is this: After being convinced into doing so by Ra€™s Al Ghul, Hugo Strange approached, worked with and then began to manipulate Quincy Sharpe, then Warden of Arkham Asylum. Hypnotised by Strange with the belief he was the reincarnation of Asylum founded Amadeus Arkham, Sharpe began to experiment and torture inmates, leading to a hostile takeover organised by The Joker that also served as a gauntlet for Batman. With the riot quelled, Sharpe took the credit, using it to successfully campaign to become the Mayor if Gotham City. With Strange whispering in his ear every step of the way, Sharpe€™s first action was to transfer all the inmates of the Asylum into a sectioned off part of Gotham. Once the structure was complete, Strange betrayed Sharpe, throwing him into the open prison, along with Bruce Wayne, who once inside donned the cape and cowl as Batman. Strange and Ra€™s planned to execute Protocol Ten, which would have destroyed Arkham, which would be the first of many planned destructive actions commit by Al Ghul€™s League Of Assassins around the world. Protocol Ten was executed but quickly thwarted by Batman, prompting Ra€™s to kill Strange, himself and attempt to kill Batman, who got away safely. With that kind of methodical and structured planning it would absolutely zero sense for the League Of Assassin to simply give up just because Batman stopped their plans. And death will hardly stop a man like Ra€™s Al Ghul. One trip to a Lazarus Pit and hey presto, born again Demon€™s Head. So what would the next feasible plan be? Arkham City on its own almost worked, if not Batman. But that was just a small section of a vast and sprawling city. Surely Batman couldn€™t be everywhere at once? Maybe the next logical idea is to attack all of Gotham City at once? I will admit, at the game€™s conclusion, that was not what I thought would happen next. My assumption was the League would regroup, resurrect Ra€™s, and off he would go, bitterly vowing revenge but not to be seen again. Maybe Talia would appear for some more awkward and sexually tense encounters but that€™s it. But then while I went about finishing the side missions, I noticed a shadowy figure stand on a rooftop. And then another and another. This turned out to be Angel Of Mercy (or schizophrenic sword wielding religious fanatic, depending on how you look at it) Azrael, who had come to tell Batman that €œwe have been watching you for a long time€. The €œwe€ he was referring to was The Sacred Order Of Saint Dumas, a violent faction that was original part of the Knights Templar. Later on Azrael reappears outside the church and tells Batman that soon €œGotham will burn€. Could this be referring to the League? Or The Sacred Order themselves? Or something else entirely? Only time will tell, but this writer believes that when The Fire Rises, Ra€™s Al Ghul will be the one responsible for it. Click "next" below to read part 4...
Contributor
Contributor

Alex McKay is a Hertfordshire based theatre actor with a passion for music, movies and comic books. A one time radio presenter, he co-hosts WhatCulture's Comic Box podcast with fellow WhatCulture scribe Jamie Slough. He can always be found spouting opinions and observations on Twitter at @aemckay.