10 Best Batman: The Animated Series Episodes

The Riddler has long-since been one of my absolute favourite villains - his starring role in the Zero Year series was a highlight – and this episode was always going to feature highly in the top ten.

The episode is ambitious, thrilling, and fun in equal measures, harking back in many respects to the spirit of the '60s television series with an over-the-top, scheming villain at its heart.

Edward Nygma is furious with his boss, Daniel Mockridge, at having swindled him out of royalties for a computer game that he designed, Riddle Of The Minotaur. Mockridge makes the mistake of making fun of Nygma, and then the further error of firing him. Spin on two years and Nygma is back… only this time, he’s wearing green.

The rest of the episode plays out as one of The Riddler’s intricate puzzles where Batman and Robin must make their way through a full-scale version of the computer game to try and save Mockridge from a grizzly death. One of B:TAS more action-packed episodes, there are minotaur robots galore and the ‘Hand of Fate’ playing a role in the dynamic duo’s eventual escape.

And then, the episode’s finest moment. Demonstrating Bruce Wayne’s disdain for all things evil, he appears strangely serene when The Riddler gets away, as he recognises that Edward Nygma was ultimately dealt a bad hand by Mockridge in the first place. In the final few scenes, we get to see Mockridge, scared stiff in his home, shotgun in hand, at the thought of The Riddler’s return.

Everybody gets their comeuppance in the end.