10 Times We Saw Behind Batman's Mask In The DCAU
2. Heart of Ice
'Heart of Ice' is considered by many fans to be one of the best, if not the best, episodes of BTAS. It completely revitalized the character of Mr Freeze, it set a high bar after only a few episodes of the series, and it won the show it's first Daytime Emmy for Animated Show.
The episode involves Bruce investigating a series of crime scenes left coated in ice, eventually leading him to Mr Freeze, formerly known as Victor Fries. Fries was a brilliant scientist specializing in cryogenics who made it his life's work to perfect a way to return his beloved wife Nora to health. While working for GothCorp, Fries' work was sabotaged by the company's corrupt CEO Ferris Boyle, causing the accident that turned the compassionate Victor into the cold, heartless Freeze.
Once he finds out the truth, Bruce goes out of his way to help Victor, to reason with him, only to be rejected. At the end of the episode, Bruce, who has publicly exposed Boyle's misdeeds to the Gotham media, resignedly defeats Freeze, returning him to a special temperature controlled cell at Arkham.
This is another fine example of Bruce acknowledging that some of his foes are in the position they are through no fault of their own, but bad luck. Bruce watches Freeze as he sits in his cell, mourning his wife, clearly sympathetic. This mutual understanding would continue through further DCAU encounters between the two.