The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
Bruce and Bethanie Ravencroft are on another date and she urges him to join her at the Argus Club. He declines but she is still insistent. Meanwhile Katana waits in the limo, playing a video game. Suddenly it is revealed that Silver Monkey has gotten into the back seat without her realizing it. The two have an intense battle withing the small confines of the car. He manages to pin her and says that all he wants is the Soultaker Sword. She answers with a headbutt. Eventually Katana is kicked out of the limo and Silver Monkey delivers a final ultimatum before tossing a fire bomb into the limo and vanishing.
Later that evening, Katana goes to Alfred with news of what happened. The two finally decide to admit everything about the Sword and the League to Bruce. Alfred admits to betraying Bruce's trust and tenders his resignation, which Bruce accepts. Katana protests and Bruce accepts her resignation as well and warns both of them to be gone by the time he returns. He leaves for Bethanie's apartment and she urges him again to join her at the Argus Club. This time, he accepts. The two arrive at the Club mansion and, once inside, Bruce is immediately ambushed by ninja, Silver Monkey appears from the shadows, and Bethanie aims a crossbow at Bruce. It seems that she and Silver Monkey are together and the League has set a trap for Katana.
Back at the Manor, Katana has just finished packing and is about to go out to her taxi when her phone rings. The caller is Silver Monkey, who tells her that he has Wayne and to bring the sword to the club within the hour. Tatsu rushes out on her motorcycle as Alfred looks on.
At the Club, Bruce fishes for information but only receives threats from Bethanie and Silver Monkey. Just then, Katana bursts into the room with the sword. Silver Monkey demands it but Katana orders him to release Wayne first. Silver Monkey counters that she is in no place to negotiate and reveals a large squad of ninja that have surrounded the room. Bruce breaks the standoff by loudly announcing that this has nothing to do with him. Silver Monkey replies that he is right and, seizing the crossbow from Bethanie, shoots Bruce in the chest, knocking him out the window. Enraged, Tatsu lunges at Silver Monkey with the Soultaker but is blocked by two ninja. As she continues to engage the ninja, Bethanie admonishes Silver Monkey, saying that he told her that Wayne wouldn't have to die. He coldly replies that if she misses him, she can join him. However, Bruce opens his eyes and gets up, revealing that he had armored himself under his clothes. As he rises, Alfred walks up carrying a suitcase containing the Bat Suit, revealing that the two had had this planned all along.
Katana continues to battle the ninja but is being worn down. Fully suited up, Batman arrives to her aid. She welcomes him to the ninja but asks that he leave Silver Monkey to her. This brings us to where the episode began as more ninja approach and Silver Monkey throws the smoke bomb. In the noxious smoke, the two heroes are quickly overcome and the Soultaker sword is seized. A ninja brings the jade blade to Silver Monkey who plans to demonstrate its power by taking their souls. Batman and Katana counter that the same fate will befall him when Lady Shiva betrays him. Silver Monkey replies that, now that he has the sword, Lady Shiva is no longer a threat. Just then, Lady Shiva herself enters the room. Shiva casually tells Silver Monkey that she had known all about his plans to displace her and take over the League but considers it no threat. Silver Monkey orders the ninja to seize her but none of them move. They fear her more than him. Two darts are shot into Silver Monkey's neck and the ninja enclose in on him. While he staggers under the effects of the darts, a ninja grabs Bethanie and moves her away. Silver Monkey puts up a valiant fight but, with the drugs of the darts coursing through him, he soon falls. Through all of this, Batman has managed to retrieve a vial of acid from his belt and uses it to eat through the cable that binds his hands.
Lady Shiva takes up the Soultaker sword and moves towards Bethanie. Bethanie pleaded with her, saying that she never meant to betray her, that it was all Silver Monkey's doing. Shiva ignores this and recites an incantation that causes the runes on the green blade to glow. From the blade a green beam shoots out and envelops Bethanie. Her soul is forcefully drained out of her and siphoned into the blade, leaving her body a withered husk. Lady Shiva assures Silver Monkey that she isn't dead but imprisoned within the blade and that he will not be joining her in the sword, as her plans for him are much more interesting and painful.
As Silver Monkey is dragged away, Lady Shiva prepares to use the sword on Batman and Katana. However, Batman reminds her that she forgot about the rocket. As she asks, "What rocket?" Alfred fires a rocket into the building, taking out a large part of the ceiling. Batman breaks his weakened bonds and frees Katana. The two battle Lady Shiva's ninja together and manage to land several blows on the Lady herself but she summons several archers that hold the duo at bay while she makes her escape on a helicopter. Batman tosses a smoke canister that covers their run to the Batmobile and they make their escape.
Batman drives Tatsu in the Batmobile. She mentions that he is holding her against her will and he tells her that she can get out if she wants. She says nothing, and they arrive at the Bat Cave. He brings her to the Bat Computer and reveals that he is aware of her past with the League and the fire she set to stage her death and escape with the Soultaker Sword. He also knew that Bethanie Ravencroft was working with Silver Monkey to leverage Bruce Wayne for the sword. He used Katana to turn the league against itself, and it worked. Katana is furious. She admonishes Batman, saying that Bruce Wayne is dead, Ravencroft's soul taken, and Lady Shiva has the sword. She states that, at this point, his hands are as dirty as the League's. She turns to go and Batman offers to show her one more thing. He then removes his cowl and reveals his identity to her. She is struck speechless and he tells her that he regrets what happened to Bethanie and that together they will get the sword back. Alfred enters the Cave as Bruce reveals that the actions of this night were her final test and she aced it. They officially welcome her to the family.
The Verdict:
Since it's referenced SO many times at the start of this episode, I'm going to start with an explanation to what the term A.R.G.U.S. is in association to the DC Universe:
A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans) is a U.S. federal agency under the command of Col. Steve Trevor and Amanda Waller. It is introduced into the DC Comics continuity in 2011, as part of DC's The New 52 relaunch. A.R.G.U.S. acts as support and liaison to the Justice League, supplying them with resources and cleaning up afterwards. Trevor was asked to stand down as head liaison after their battle with Graves, having gotten too close to Wonder Woman. It also attempts to control the magical superhero group the Justice League Dark, and later still directly establishes the a counterpart group to the Justice League in the form of the Justice League of America, of which Trevor is himself a member.
Now as for why it's being referenced in this series is completely unsure at this stage of the game as I honestly can't see them introducing Amanda Waller into this continuity - at least not so early into this series' run anyway. For now, I'm not going to think much of it as it was possibly the writers' way of conveniently namedropping popular lore and terminology into this show as if we didn't learn anything else from the "Toxic" episode, this series isn't going to pull a lot of concepts spot-on from the source material.
As for this episode, I have to say that I loved this one just as much as, if not more, than "Safe" just from how much action was packed into the duration of this episode. The episode was structured like a Hollywood action-flick and that's not necessary a bad thing. The episode dropped viewers right into the middle of the action with Tatsu Yamashiro and Batman surrounded by the League's ninja and Silver Monkey. Tatsu and Batman's team-up is a spectacle to behold, but I would be doing this review a great injustice if I didn't mention Tatsu and Silver Monkey's one-on-one encounter within the confines of Bruce Wayne's limo. Sweet Jeebus that fight was awesome.
Can we all agree that we knew Dr. Bethanie Ravencroft (voiced by Cree Summer) was up to something? They made that a bit too obvious from how they were snuggling her up into the role of Bruce's love interest for this series in a pretty rapid pace. How Bethanie met her untimely "demise" (Lady Shiva mentioned that she wasn't dead just without a soul) was pretty gruesome for a kids' show, but it definitely got the point across on the true power of the Soultaker Sword.
I honestly can't believe that people were expecting Talia to be the leader of the League of Assassins instead of Lady Shiva. If anyone who would be over the League out of Ra's family it's going to be Ra's Al Ghul himself, who would more likely appear by the end of this first season. And yes, I know that Talia has taken over the League leadership duties in the comics, but c'mon she's not going to have that role already since this is set in Bats' early years. Lady Shiva (voiced by Finola Hughes) is a good stand-in for this rookie Batman can get his first healthy dose of dealing with the League of Assassins. She can easily hold her own in a fight - she's without a doubt one of top (if not the best) martial-artists in DC Universe. That being said, I was surprised that both Tatsu and Batman were able to hold their own against her, given Lady Shiva's extensive background. Of course, she has no super-human abilities, but still, it was rather impressive that she held off Batman and Tatsu with little effort whatsoever.
I do have one gripe about Lady Shiva in this series. Her costume looks almost like a rip-off of Titania's from Gargoyles but I can't be too surprised as Greg Weisman is one of this series' lead writers. I'm guessing her costume is a cheap nod towards that series. I was hoping for something on the lines of this, but that's just my opinion.
Last but not least, let's talk about this Bat-Family finally coming together during the episode's finale. After Batman's Sherlock-esque explanation, it was obvious that he was going to reveal his identity to Tatsu. Good to know that Tatsu passed his tests with flying colors as it seemed like they completely dropped that subplot after the League of Assassins were first introduced. Next week's episode is said to feature Batman and Katana's first official outing as a team. I'm looking forward to Tatsu's costumed debut.
If I may add, I wouldn't mind Anthony Ruivivar voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman: Arkham Origins rather than Roger Craig Smith. No offense to Roger Craig Smith, but I really like Ruivivar's voice for this younger Batman.
"Family" featured the deterioration of one family (League of Assassins) while another family's bond was strengthened (Bat-Family) as it stood out as Beware The Batman's best episode to date. I give this episode a 4.5 out of 5.
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