Sword in the Stone

**Sword in the Stone** is the fifth episode of the fifth season of NBC's *The Batman*. It first aired on December 17, 2012. It is the fifty-seventh episode overall.

## Synopsis

As Ra's learns Damien is the heir, he decides to kill him to ensure he keeps his status and head of the League of Assassins. Bruce, Clark, Diana, Kate, Tim, and Stephanie try to defend Damien. Allen joins the team as their new informant. Two-Face, Joker, and Riddler try to rid Maroni of his empire, so they can take it over and use them to kill Batman, the goal that all supervillains share.

## Plot

At the League of Assassins base, the men who tried to capture Damien report back to Ra's with the bad news. Ra's is upset by this and decides he must bring the league to Gotham to kill Damien and punish Bruce for trying to let Damien become a warrior like Ra's. The two men try to leave but Ra's tells them they need to be punished for not collecting Damien. Ra's picks a sword from his collection and slices both of their heads off.

At the mansion, the team has clearly decorated it. Bruce, Clark, Diana, Tim, Stephanie, Kate, Damien, and Alfred eat a dinner that Alfred has prepared. Allen enters the mansion and Bruce asks him what he is doing there. Allen reveals that he thinks the team should have a cop to tell them about the small robberies. Bruce realizes that Gordon was like that to them and also a cop would be good to report to the GCPD quickly if needed. Tim asks how Allen knows about them. Bruce tells him that he had to tell Allen and his partner a long time ago when he needed their help. Bruce introduces him to the team and Allen pulls up a chair to eat, as the rest of team shrug it off.

Two-Face and Joker wake up with a blanket over them on the couch. The sit up and realize what they've done. Two-Face jumps up and tries to get a pair of pants on, while Joker stands up, nude, and talks to him like nothing is wrong. Two-Face tries to remind him that he is nude but Joker says he doesn't mind. Two-Face looks down and smiles. He tells Joker he's fine, too. They hear a knock at the door and Two-Face grabs a gun and opens. The Riddler enters. He asks why Two-Face is in a pair of boxers while Joker is nude. Two-Face tries to cover it up, but Joker just tells Riddler they had sex. The Riddler admires Two-Face like that, realizing his face is fine now. Two-Face tells him he likes his face better when it's attractive. Riddler asks if he still retains his evil charm. Two-Face smiles and hugs him. Riddler smiles and tells them that he is planning to kill Batman. The Joker smiles and hugs the two, still nude, weirding-out Riddler, but pleasuring Two-Face.

At the docks of Gotham, a man is fishing. He sees a boat arrive and Ra's and many other armed men step off. The man asks them what they are doing. Ra's takes out his sword and stabs the man. He steps over the man and tells the assassins to spread out and find Damien, and that human casualties don't matter.

Maggie is looking through a file at the GCPD. Ryder walks up to her and gives her a small box as he tells her Merry Christmas. Maggie smiles and tells him that he didn't have to get her anything. He asks if she's only saying that because she didn't get him anything. Maggie smiles and laughs. She tells him she's joking. She opens it and it is a pair of earrings. She hugs him. Ryder tells her that her real present was gonna be that night in his bed. Maggie kisses him and takes out a big box. Ryder unwraps it and it is a framed picture of him and Maggie. He kisses her. Allen enters and tells the two to get to work. They ask on what. Allen realizes that crime has been way down lately. Maggie asks if it is the large amount of superheroes. Allen shrugs and tells the two that they can go home. The two happily walk off with their presents.

The Joker, now dressed, Two-Face, still in his underwear, and Riddler, in his suit, discuss how the kill is gonna go down. The Joker tells him that every time they try this, Batman wins. Two-Face asks if maybe they need an army. The Joker tells them he can go gather up the villains. Riddler realizes that it would also work if they get the mafia. Two-Face tells them that Maroni would never help them. Riddler tells him that they can gather up the villains and then they can lead a march against Maroni, and use his mafia to kill Batman.

The assassins begin destroying cars and searching buildings to find Damien. People begin to notice this and call the GCPD. Allen hears this and calls all available units to go after men in black with swords. Allen then calls Batman's team to get them to notice. The team is sitting by the tree. Stephanie is opening a present, until Bruce answers the phone. He tells them to suit up. Ryder and Maggie are in bed, having sex. Ryder's phone rings but they decide to ignore it. Then, Maggie's phone rings and she answers, annoyed. Maggie looks worried and tells Allen they'll be there. She tells Ryder to get dressed because masked men with swords are attacking the city. Ryder gets dressed and leaves with Maggie.

Bruce, Tim, Stephanie, Kate, Clark, and Diana suit up. Diana collects her sword and lasso. The lasso can force people to tell the truth. The six leave the mansion. On the streets, the assassins see them and fight them. Ra's sees this and tells his men to get to Bruce Wayne's mansion. Bruce realizes they are after Damien. Kate, Tim, and Stephanie stay there to fight off the men, while Bruce, Clark, and Diana head to the mansion to protect Damien.

Riddler gets Scarecrow, Hush, and Bane. Joker and Two-Face get the four to Two-Face's apartment where they plan out their strategy. Two-Face asks if there are any supervillains they're missing, as it seems like there have been more. The Joker tells him that Harley is gone, Killer Moth, Killer Croc, and James Jr. are captives of Maroni, and Poison Ivy and Mad Hatter were arrest, while Clayface died. Two-Face is surprised by this but begins to explain the plan.

Ra's decides that if he wants to damage Bruce, he has to damage his city. He orders his men to start to destroy some buildings. His assassins agree and leave to start destroying the city. Ra's' other assassins, who are still after Damien, have gotten to the mansion. They break in and Alfred tries to kill some of them. However, one of the men stabs Alfred with his sword. Alfred begins to blood heavily and drops to the ground. Damien sees this and tries to escape. An assassin catches him and tells him he gets to see his grandpa one last time before death. Bruce, Clark, and Diana arrive and fight them. Bruce sees Alfred and tries to get him to a hospital. Clark and Diana continue their fight. Bruce gets Alfred to a hospital, but the assassins have destroyed it. Bruce sees many injured and dead doctors and nurses. He finds a doctor in the corner. He tells Bruce that masked men in black destroyed everything. Bruce drops to the ground.

Cat looks through many piles of paper at the Daily Planet, while clumsy reporter, Steve Trevor, drops his glasses. The lights go out and she wonders what has happened. Steve can't see due to his glasses being off, and them being unseen on the ground. The elevator opens and the assassins appear. Cat screams and tries to get out. Steve is unseen and escapes. The assassins get to her and they try to kill her. She grabs a gun hidden next to a plant and shoots all three of the men. She gets to the stairs and tries to run. The assassins are still alive, however, and chase after her. They grab her and she scream. They push her out the window forty flights up. Cat yells for help. Superman flies up and saves her. He brings her to the ground and flies back off.

Maggie and Ryder report to Allen. They ask him what is happening. He tells them that the three of them need to take out the head. Maggie asks how he knows who the head is. Allen is forced to reveal he works with Batman. The three leave to find Ra's. Joker, Two-Face, and Riddler's team march into Maroni's mansion. Maroni sees them and laughs. He orders his men to kill them all. However, he villains kill all of the sent men. The six then tell Maroni that they're done playing his game. Two-Face gets out a gun and tries to shoot him. Maroni tells them that they can only get his mafia if he signs it away. Two-Face asks how he got the mafia from Falcone. Maroni tells them that Falcone had a pre-signed document displaying Maroni to take over his affairs. Two-Face asks where his document is. Maroni gets it out and reveals it states James Jr. Two-Face tells him to sign it away to them. Maroni does this, giving his mafia away.

Clark and Diana have knocked out all of the assassins trying to get Damien. They then leave to stop all of the assassins around the city. They learn Stephanie, Tim, and Kate have done most of this. The doctor Bruce found, does his best to save Alfred. Alfred awakens and Bruce thanks the doctor, giving him a five hundred thousand dollar reward. The doctor thanks him. Bruce leaves with Alfred. The heroes gather all of the assassins and realize they don't have anywhere to put them. Bruce corrects them and shows them a spot in the Batcave. A new large cell containment unit. The heroes place the assassins in there. Ra's realizes all of his assassins are gone. He prepares to order back-up, but Allen, Maggie, and Ryder show up. The three stop Ra's and arrest him.

Ra's is being shipped off to Arkham when three more assassins kill the escorting cops. The Bat team hear of this and get to Arkham where Ra's and his men are waiting for them. Ra's and his men fight them and capture Bruce, Tim, and Kate. Clark and Diana fly off with Stephanie, telling her they can't risk anyone else getting captured and that they will get them. Stephanie cries as the assassins take the captured heroes.

Maggie and Ryder enjoy their night, like Ryder promised. The two make-out in bed until Maggie asks him if he actually wants to have sex. Ryder thinks about this and agrees. He takes his boxers and shirt off, as Maggie does the same with her bra and shirt. The two then begin to have sex, when Maggie's phone goes off. Maggie answers. It is a worried parent who tells her she that her daughter was kidnapped and she needs the help of cops.

Harley, now normal and going by Harleen Quinzel, works at Arkham. She tests the blood of an inmate. Two-Face stands at a window, unseen by Harleen, watching her.

## Cast

### Starring

{{{Text in **bold** means the character was featured in this episode. Text in *italic* means the character was not featured in this episode.}}}

* Ben Affleck as **Bruce Wayne/Batman**
* Tom Austen as **Tim Drake/Robin**
* Zen Gesner as **James Gordon**
* Nathan Gamble as **James Gordon Jr.**
* Jared Leto as **the Joker**
* Keri Lynn Pratt as **Cat Grant**
* Tom Hardy as **Victor Payne/Bane**
* Yvonne Strahovski as **Kate Kane/Batwoman**
* Tyler Hoechlin as **Clark Kent/Superman**
* Cory Michael Smith as **Edward Nygma/Riddler**
* Floriana Lima as **Maggie Sawyer**
* Nolan North as **Thomas Elliot/Hush**
* Emma Stone as **Stephanie Brown/Spoiler**
* Andrew Stewart-Jones as **Chris Allen**
* Cillian Murphy as **Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow**
* Jonathan Keltz as **Andrew Ryder**
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as **Killer Croc**
* Jake T. Austin as **Damien Wayne**
* Liam Neeson as **Ra's al Ghul**
* Nicholas D'Agosto as **Harvey Dent/Two-Face**
* David Zayas as **Sal Maroni**
* Thomas Haden Church as **Cameron van Cleer/Killer Moth**
* Margot Robbie as **Harley Quinn**
* Gal Gadot as **Diana/Diana Prince/Wonder Woman**

### Guest Starring

* Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
* Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth

## Trivia

* This episode achieved 12.21 million U.S. live viewers.
* All main characters appear in this episode. However, Zen Gesner as Jim Gordon only makes a non-speaking cameo when the assassins are destroying the city.
* This episode received critical acclaim reviews. It scored a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 92 out of 100 on Metacritic, and 10/10 on IGN.
* Guest stars in this episode include Chris Pine and Jeremy Irons as Steve Trevor and Alfred Pennyworth.
* This episode is rated TV-14 for D-L-S-V.