The Butler Did It

**"The Butler Did It"** is the seventh episode of the second season of *The Batman* and the twentieth episode overall.

## "The Butler Did It"

### Episode

7 (production order)10 (airing order)
20 (overall)

## Synopsis

Alfred finds that a dream he had was all too real when he and Bruce discover that he stole a Ming vase from the mansion. Seeking to find out more, Bruce discovers that Alfred and the butlers of some billionaires he works with, were hypnotised by Spellbinder, a three-eyed mystic with the ability not only to hypnotise but also induce visions. It becomes clear that Spellbinder has his eyes set on the valuable Eye of Sarkana, but Alfred quickly discovers that it won't be stolen by the butlers, but by their masters, which presents problems for Bruce's alter ego.

## Plot

At Wayne Manor, Alfred is seen stealing a vase and running away. Batman chases him and punches him, saying that he's fired. However, it has all been a dream. Bruce enters and shows him the newspaper about the upcoming charity event, which has Alfred. Alfred is glad, and tells about the dream he had. Alfred then realises that he's not wearing his pyjamas, rather his suit, and his shoes are muddy. He finds a key with him. Bruce is intrigued to hear more about his dream.

Alfred tells him that in the dream he was a thief, and then they notice that the vase is actually missing. Bruce checks the cameras, and finds that Alfred indeed stole it. Later at an interview, Bruce tells that he, Duncan,and McCue are only hosting the event of for the blind children's charity auction; the real star is the high priest of Sarkana, who discovered the Eye of Sarkana. Afterwards, the three are discussing a robbery occured to McCue, however the police said that there was no sign of break in, and it was most likely an inside job. Just as that, they find lots of valuables stolen from Duncan's house. They find that his butler, Charles, is the thief. He drives away. Bruce decides to go check on Alfred. At Wayne Manor,Alfred is searching for the vase, until the clock hits 8 PM. He's suddenly mind controlled by Spellbinder, who tells him to bring the valuables to him. Alfred steals money from a vault and departs. Bruce arrives later, and notices that both Alfred and the money are missing. He suits up, and drives away to follow the homing device he put on Alfred. Batman catches up with the three butlers in a van, and tells them to pull over, but they don't respond. Batman takes matters into his own hands and jumps on the van. Alfred confronts him and deduces that he's hypnotised. He orders Alfred to stop, but he does not obey and pushes him to the edge of the van. He pushes Alfred away and knocks out Charles, but Alfred immediately gets up and pushes him off the van. The three butlers arrive at Spellbinder, and Batman is revealed to have actually hitched on the van. Spellbinder shoots Batman with his third eye, and Batman starts to hallucinate. He sees a dragon that pushes him off a cliff.

He tries grappling up, but nothing happens. The dragon returns, but Batman isn't fazed, knowing they're just hallucinations. However when the dragon shoots him, his cape catches fire, which makes Batman realise that the hallucinations are too vivid. Spellbinder attacks him with hallucinations in the forms of a monkey and bears. They knock him out. The dragon and the monkey were in actuallity Spellbinder, and the bears were the butlers. Spellbinder orders the butlers to finish the Bat. Just as that, the Batwave goes off, and wakes up the butlers. In the deep dark lair of the Batman, Bruce is scanning Alfred's head. Bruce tells that the Batwave woke up the butlers, but didn't end his hallucinations. Bruce tells that this could only be the work of a Spellbinder. He also tells that he studied about a remote temple whose monks performed a particularly intense form of meditation, which can achieve the power of the third eye, which can let the user project thier visions into reality. They then figure out that he's planning to steal the Sarkana gemstone. Bruce knows that since Spellbinder somehow manged to control the 3 butlers, he'll use them to steal it. The thought alone of stealing from a charity disgusts Alfred, and he tells Bruce to lock him up at once. Bruce locks Alfred in a room, and Alfred requests a few stuff. After that at the blind children's charity, Batman is watching the event. The priest comes with the gemstone. Alfred is watching the event through television. When the watch hits 8 PM again, the hypnosis activates, only this time on the billionaires not the butlers. Alfred connects it all; Spellbinder was one of the photographers at both the interviews for Bruce and Alfred, and he used his third eye to control them. And upon seeing a clock at the designated time (8 PM), the victims fall under his control. Just then, Batman falls under Spellbinder's control and is ordered to bring the Eye for him. Alfred is concerned, since Spellbinder controls Bruce, he also controls Batman, which may lead him to figuring out his identity.

Alfred thinks about what to do, and then remembers that the Batwave can break the hypnosis. He tries to get the Batcave, but the room is locked,so he thinks of a different approach, and he takes a vent. Meanwhile, the priest is giving off a speech, and says that he gladly presents the Eye of Sarkan ,however he finds it stolen. Duncan and McCue walk out quietly with the eye and head to Spellbinder. Batman heads there too. In the meantime, Alfred gets in the vent and starts crawling. Batman grabs the Eye from the two, and Spellbinder tries to attack him, but he wonders about something when it doesn't work. Alfred crawls down from the manor's roof. Batman gives the Eye to Spellbinder, and he realises he's hypnotised. Spellbinder almost deduces his identity, until Alfred finally gets to the Batcave and communicates with Batman, breaking him of the hypnosis. Batman attacks Spellbinder and takes the Eye back, and Spellbinder fights back with hallucinations. During that, Batman throws the Eye into a sewer, and they both go after it. Batman taunts Spellbinder for meditating all these years only to become a common thief. He replies with saying that the Eye will enhance his power. Spellbinder attacks him yet again with even more hallucinations, this time making Batman feel them rather than only see them. Batman keeps fighting off the hallucinations, but ultimately loses to a dragon. Using his strong mind, Batman is able to percieve his own reality, and forms a bat, which defeats the dragon and the hallucinations as a whole. Batman catches Spellbinder off guard and knocks him out, and takes the Eye back. The Eye is given back to charity, Spellbinder is arrested, and Bruce and Alfred are discussing the recent events, with their vase back with them. Alfred then goes to take a nap, and Bruce wishes him pleasant dreams. Alfred wishes for no dreams, and responds that they both had an eyeful of dreams. It's then revealed the actual Eye is recovered at the Batcave, and the priest took back a dud.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth, McCue
* Michael Massee as Spellbinder
* Andre Sogliuzzo as Duncan
* Thomas Wayne (photo)
* High Priest of Sarkana
* Charles
* McCue's Butler
* Ms. Vintrup (cameo)
* Princess (cameo)

## Events

- Character debuts:

* Duncan
* Spellbinder
* High Priest of Sarkana
* McCue
* McCue's Butler
* Charles

## Trivia

* The Mad Hatter was originally going to appear in this episode, but for unknown reasons Spellbinder replaced him.
* The title of this episode is a reference to the old cliché wherein the person behind the crimes in a mystery turns out to be the butler.
* The title was spoken by Alfred, just after the opening theme plays.
* McCue's voice is uncredited,however it could be easily inferred that Alastair Duncan voiced him,due to his voice sounding alot like Alfred's.
* The priest's voice is uncredited as well.
* A beetle from the hallucinations Spellbinder gives Batman looks like the scarab worn by Blue Beetle.
* Batman is trained both physically and mentally, which is why he manages to repulse Spellbinder's attacks.

## Errors

* In the newspaper at the beginning, it says childrens charity.
* When Alfred looks at the screen and realises the billionaires are hypnotised, McCue's eyes do not have the Spellbinder effect.
* The newspaper lists the trio as millionaires rather than billionaires.
* Ellen and Joker are in the credits despite not appearing.Grammatical error.Eyes error.Newspaper error.Joker and Yin error.