Batman Arkham Knight (2/2): Fear, Legacy & Evolution

Back Track: Behind The Creators Feb 10, 2021

Batman Arkham Knight is one of the best critically received titles in recent memory, but it also released broken on PC. Not only that, but they ditched their lead writer before starting on Knight, and the consequences were complicated.

In this episode we crack the game open and analyse it, piece by piece. You can read an excerpt and listen to the full episode below.

David: So we get this taunting of Batman about Jason Todd. And we get the flashbacks of, in Arkham Asylum somwhere during some time period that we didn't see, Jason Todd is tortured by the Joker.

Nolan: It was explained in an Arkham time comic that it was as the Joker was in his Titan form, that's when Jason Todd escaped.

David: And we sort of see the Joker trying to turn Jason Todd, trying to turn Robin against Batman. And seemingly succeeding in this torture scene. Now, you know, for some historical context: this moment was controversial in the comics books where when this happened people actually took a vote on whether or not Jason Todd should die. They wrote and illustrated two different follow up comics. One where he did in fact die and then one where he lived. Famously, people voted to kill him. And then they brought him back later as Redhood, but it was a few years. They left him dead for a while, and when he did come back it properly was a twist.

But this basically sets up the Redhood concept. Which is that Jason Todd comes back and he's foresaken all of Batman's morals, he's going to kill criminals Joker's way. He's going to get a gun, he's going to start murdering dudes.

Nolan: And it's really cool because, as we mentioned before, he's that embodiment if Batman crossed that line. Because if Batman crosses that line without the Joker influence, that's essentially how it would be: the Arkham Knight.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. You can subscribe on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch podcasts. Please take a moment and review the podcast where you find it. It really helps.