The Stroke of Death (Episode)

Cast

 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Rorschach II
 * Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Jack Black as Oswald Cobblepot
 * Charles Dance as Carmine Falcone
 * Commisioner Loeb
 * John Mulaney as Leo Redlodge
 * Simon Pegg as Ubu
 * Sean Bean as Deathstroke
 * Willem Dafoe as Jeremiah Arkham
 * Ben Kingsley as Hugo Strange
 * Tom Cruise as Harvey Dent
 * Katrina Law as Talia al Ghul

Rorschach
Two cops are walking drunkenly down a dark alley. Judging by their conversation, they should be on duty. As they walk down the alley, we see pitch blackness in front of them. Suddenly a match is lit in front of them, it reveals a man wearing a trench coat, fedora, and white mask with shifting symmetrical patterns of ink. He then says, “Shouldn’t you be on duty” the camera zooms in on one of the blots on his face and in it we see the Batman symbol as the theme plays. After the theme, we see Rorschach kneeling in front of two graves. They are the Wayne’s graves. He then goes inside Wayne Manor. He is very wet from the rain. He takes off his mask and coat, revealing Bruce Wayne’s face. Alfred greets him. “How did it go, Mr. Wayne?” Bruce says that although his training helped him take out a bunch of criminals, the only people who were scared of him were cops. He then remarks that the “mayor” will probably have a field day.

No Vigilantes
“NO!” shouts “mayor” Oswald Cobblepot, “NO,NO,NO,NO,NO! I will not have vigilantes in my town, I will not!” Cobblepot is yelling at Commissioner Loeb and Carmine Falcone. Loeb is terrified of this new vigilante activity, while Carmine says, “Come on, your starting to sound like my father. He could have become king of the city, but wouldn’t because of some man in a mask. Anyway, ‘mayor’ the Red Hood Gang and the Maronis are your top priority. This meeting is over.”

Secrets
We see Leo Redlodge’s office. He is reading “Tales of the Black Freighter: The Scariest Tales of 60 Years.” Someone knocks on the door, startling him and he shouts “the curse of the Black Freighter!!” He then realizes it's only the person he called over, so he adjusts his tie and makes himself look like he didn’t just yell that out. He then says in his most official voice, “Come in.” The visitor is Bruce. Redlodge then says that he was sorry for what happened the other night and that he wants to apologize over lunch. They then go to a diner called the Salt and Pepper Diner. On the way, Leo tells Bruce the Salt and Pepper Diner Story. When they get to the diner, Redlodge goes to the jukebox and punches in a song. (Hooked on a Feeling) Then they order food, and Redlodge tells Bruce that he is actually an undercover agent for an organization called F.L.A.M.E. He is trying to find out who Carmine’s mysterious superior is. Redlodge also tells Bruce he knows that he is Rorschach and that he told him that he was a F.L.A.M.E. agent so that Bruce would trust him. When he says this, the song fades out and starts up again. Bruce just says, “Right…” To which Leo responds, “Nah, I only put this song in twice.” He then says that Bruce needs to lay off Falcone so he can track down Falcone’s boss and that even after he finds out, Flame needs Carmine alive so Gotham doesn’t collapse. Bruce refuses to this. Redlodge threatens to tell Falcone about his identity. Bruce just laughs and leaves saying he’ll just tell Falcone about Flame. Redlodge looks down at his food and “Hooked on a Feeling” plays a third time. He then says to himself, “But, Mr. Wayne, you’re not their loyal lawyer, I am and it's my word against yours”

None of You are Safe
Rorschach is heading out into the city’s slums. He walks into a bar. He orders a drink, but doesn’t touch it. A thug enters the room wearing a red ski mask, he goes up to the bar owner and says that since he hasn’t been paying protection to the Hoods, he’s going to pay. Rorschach then takes a match, lights his drink on fire, and throws it on the hood’s mask. He twists the hood on the screaming thug, so that it puts the fire out and blinds him. He grabs the man and drags him up the stairs. They are now on the roof. He then takes the mask off the thug, looks at him, and says, “Boom.” He then presses a detonator. We see a bunch of other warehouses blow up. The Hood then whispers, “Why me?” Rorschach then says, “Spread the word, none of you are safe.”

We see Falcone in his office, looking down on the city. Suddenly, he notices the warehouses blowing up throughout the city. He then shouts, “NO!” We learn that most of them are his warehouses and that he should take Rorschach seriously.

We then see a small device in Carmine’s office. The screen zooms in on it and we see the reflection of Carmine in it. The screen zooms out and the reflection is now a display on a screen. We see a man wearing a red helmet over his head he starts to laugh really loudly. (this is Red Hood One)

One does not Simply Kill Rorschach
A man wearing a dark suit and dark glasses is in the room with Carmine now. “The Master will not approve of this diversion,” says the man. “What do you think I should do, Ubu?” asks Carmine. “I know a good professional assassin. When he comes you will obey his instructions.” Says Ubu as he leaves.

It is later. A man enters Carmine’s room. He is wearing an eyepatch. “I am named Slade Wilson, I am a professional assassin.” “So, you’re going to kill Rorschach?” says Carmine. “One does not simply kill Rorschach.” says Slade. “I am going to hunt him, unmask him in public, and then kill him.”

Redlodge suddenly enters and says, “Maroni and Valeska claim you blew up their drug trading places.” “That wasn’t me it was Rorschach.” Says Carmine. Redlodge then swears to himself.

“Not to worry, I have met both Rorschach’s before,” says Slade. “There are two?” asks Carmine. “The first one died ages ago,” explains Slade. “I killed him. But, he took my eye.” He then instructs Carmine to throw a party where he will start his hunt.

The Rorschach Party
We see some people dressed as Rorschach playing classical music, and we realize that this is Carmine’s party, which is themed for “Recent events” i.e. Rorschach. We see Bruce talking to Jeremiah Arkham. “This Asylum sounds like an interesting project, I think maybe I could convince Wayneco to give some support. By the way, how is…” Suddenly, we see Hugo on a podium. He then says, “Hello everyone, I would like to thank Carmine Falcone for putting on this great party for us all. I would also like to thank him for asking me to read the last pages of the famous Malcolm Long diary in light of recent events. He then reads the journal of the psychiatrist in Watchmen 6.

While he’s talking, a man named Harvey Dent approaches Wayne, “It really burns me how much these people hate Rorschach for helping clean this city up.” “oh?” says Bruce. “Yeah, if he came down to my District Attorney office, I’d sure help him out,” says Harvey.

Deathstroke then approaches Bruce and says, “Wayne! It's been how long? one year?” Bruce then chucles and quickly says, “I remember you, but hold that thought, I think I see some ladies.” Bruce then quickly walks away from Deathstroke. Harvey then asks Slade how he knows Bruce, Slade then says “Same exercise group.”

Imposter?
Redlodge sees this altercation, he then hides in a closet. He puts together a makeshift (but efficient) Rorschach disguise and bundles three red candles together. He jumps onto the podium and threatens to blow up everyone (the candles are supposed to be “dynamite”). Slade then shouts, “Leo Redlodge everybody, let’s give him a big hand.” There is some applause. Leo then shouts in a very unconvincing Rorschach voice, “Slade Wilson, you will not kill these people.” He then throws down a smoke bomb, and the room is enveloped in smoke. “OK, Redlodge I can see your set on stopping me!” shouts Slade. “But all you’ve done is bought a death warrant.” He pulls out a gun and points it in a random direction. We then hear a match light, and see Bruce (who is now Rorschach) standing in the smoke, just like earlier in the episode. He then knocks the gun out of Slade’s hand and says, “Hello Slade.”

The Big Fight
Slade punches Bruce in the ribs. Bruce has the wind knocked out of him, but rolls with the punch to avoid breaking anything. He then jumps into the air and kicks Slade in the face. Slade ducks just in time, however. And he elbows Rorschach hard in the back. Rorschach is unable to recover from this. Slade is about to incapacitate him, but he is hit in the head by a massive book (Tales of the Black Freighter). We then see Redlodge, still disguised feebly as Rorschach. He then shouts, “Not so fast, Wilson!” Slade is distracted long enough for Bruce to stand up and grab him around the waist. Slade falls down on the ground, but somersaults back into a standing position. He is standing in front of Redlodge. He tries to punch Redlodge, but Redlodge casually blocks it. Slade tries to punch him again, but is blocked again. Slade starts throwing punch after punch, but all of them are masterfully blocked by Redlodge. “World’s greatest assassin, my ‘a’,” says Redlodge. He then taps Slade’s shoulders, and Slade’s arms are paralyzed. Slade says, “How is this possible?” “Never you mind,” says Redlodge. Suddenly, Hugo Strange comes out of the smoke, mistakes Redlodge for Rorschach, and punches him in the head. Redlodge loses his balance, Slade regains his arms, and delivers a knockout blow. Slade then assembles a hidden automatic pistol and runs in a random direction in the smoke. He sees Rorschach and shoots him dead. He heads toward the body, only to see five Rorschachs. Realizing he just killed a member of the orchestra, he shouts, “Which of you is the real one!” Suddenly, he is hit in back of the head by a trombone. It is the real Rorschach. Slade recovers quickly. He and Rorschach start trading and blocking blows rapidly. This continues until Rorschach is backed toward one of the apartment’s large windows facing down a two-hundred foot drop. Slade grabs Rorschach and smashes him into the window. The window is made out of ballistic glass, but it cracks. Slade does it again and again. By now the glass is about to break with one more impact. Rorschach head-butts Slade and slips out of his grasp. By now the smoke has almost completely cleared. We can see that most of the guests have moved toward the walls to avoid the fight, but Carmine’s enforcers are present and pointing guns at Rorschach. Realizing he is outmatched, Rorschach crashes against the window and jumps through.

Apartment Chase
Rorschach is now falling down a two-hundred foot drop he moves his body so that he is facing upward, grabs a strange gun from his pocket, and points it upward. He pulls the trigger and a grappling hook goes out and grabs something. His fall then stops. He swings towards the building and crashes through a window. He is now in some apartment. He looks down out the window and sees police cars at the foot of the building. ”Hurm,” he remarks. He then hears a woman’s scream, and realizes that he is in her apartment. He then runs out the door and into the hallway. The scene switches to Slade in a restroom. He is taking his suit off, revealing a black jumpsuit underneath, he then puts on some blue body armor and a helmet which is half orange and half black. The black side of the mask covers his eyepatch. He straps a few weapons belts to his armor, including a sword. He is now Deathstroke. He then starts running down a flight of stair. Rorschach is walking through the hallway, Slade comes into view. “Wayne!” he shouts. “Surrender and I will let you live.” “NEVER!!!!” shouts Rorschach running and cackling like a madman. They chase each other through the hallway. Rorschach dives into an elevator that’s just about to close, leaving Slade frustratingly waiting for the next one. Slade then looks to his left and notices some stairs. He then starts going down them.

Unfortunately for Rorschach, there are a bunch of people in the elevator. Some of them from the party. And all of them want to get off on different consecutive floors, after the last one gets off. Deathstroke appears and rushes into the elevator. Now both men are fighting in the elevator.

The Real Reason
Rorschach accidentally bumps the button for the top floor which is where the elevator heads. When they get there, their fights heads out to the roof. It is now raining. Rorschach breaks free from Deathstroke and runs to the roof’s edge. Deathstroke pulls out a gun and points it at Rorschach. “I didn’t come here to kill you Bruce!” he shouts. “You can take off that ridiculous mask.” “No thank you,” Bruce says. “Why don’t you take off yours?” “All right,” slade takes his off. While he does so, Ubu comes on top of the roof carrying an umbrella. “What did you come here for?” asks Bruce. “Ra’s didn’t send him,” explains Ubu. “That was just a lie we concocted.” “As was that fight we had?” says Bruce gesturing to Deathstroke. “I had to throw something convincing for Carmine.” “Then why?” asks Bruce. Suddenly, realization dawns on him. “Your not here to kill me, your here to take me back. “She misses you,” says Ubu. “We were not sent here, but came here by our decision. We would die for our mistress, or her wishes.” “We’d much prefer you come by your own free will of course,” says Slade. “No,” says Bruce. “I refuse.” Slade advances toward him, but Ubu holds up his hand and says, “Stop! You’ve made your point Bruce, we will leave.” Slade looks disappointed, but turns around and says, “The next time we meet Wayne, it will be as enemies.” “And today we were friends?” asks Bruce. Slade ignores this. Ubu’s appearance then changes. His face gets hairier, his posture becomes more animal like, and his suit fades away. When he is done transforming, he appears to be a tiger. He turns and follows Slade as the two head toward the elevator. Bruce steps away from the roof’s edge. The camera zooms in on him. We see a closeup of his face, with the rain raining down on him. We hear him whisper “Talia.” He then starts walking toward the elevator.

You can trust me
The scene switches to a high-class restroom. Bruce is looking in the mirror. He is no longer Rorschach and is straightening his tie. Leo Redlodge enters and starts washing his hands next to Bruce. “Some party,” he jokes. Bruce laughs and says, “Thanks for the help, I don’t know what would have happened. I guess you’ve proved that your not a worthless ninny after all.” “Nah,” says Redlodge. “I’m still a worthless ninny, but I’m a secret agent worthless ninny.” Bruce looks at him and says, “That wasn’t worthless, I owe you my life and my freedom. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” “If you really want to repay me, just stay off Falcone until I’m through with him. There is much worse to worry about in Gotham than Carmine.” “Fine says Bruce, I can do that.” “And a dinner would be nice,” says Redlodge. “I never got to eat anything at the party.” “Sure, we can go out to eat,” says Bruce. “Is the Iceberg Lounge, ok?” “I was thinking the Salt and Pepper diner,” says Redlodge. Bruce starts to laugh again and Redlodge says, “You know Wayne, I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Lady Talia
We see a woman wearing a green spandex jumpsuit, standing in a room that looks like it is in some fortress. She is the woman in the picture from Back in Gotham. We hear a knock at a door. The woman turns toward it and says, “Come in.” Slade and Ubu come in. Slade isn’t wearing his armor, and Ubu is in tiger form. Ubu walks toward the woman and nuzzles his head against her knee, while Slade stays further back. “Do you have news of my beloved?” she asks earnestly. “He refuses to come,” says Slade. The woman frowns at this but cheers up and says, “I can’t say I expected him to.” “Why?” asks Slade. The woman laughs softly and says, “He left to get away from assassins, I didn’t expect one to convince him to come back.” “So your saying what we did was futile,” says Slade. “No,” says the woman. “But I think a sweeter voice would have been more effective. She then says, “I believe it is time I came to Gotham.”

End Credits roll by

Post Credits Scene
Redlodge and Bruce are in the Salt and Pepper Diner. Hooked on a Feeling is playing in the background. "You know Bruce, if you need help, just call me and Rorschach will have a sidekick," says Leo. "What would your name be?" asks Bruce barely looking up from his menu. "Something cool, like Nite Owl." "I don't like owls," says Bruce. "Ok, how about nightbird...no, Nightwing." "Works for me." says Bruce. Just then, Hooked on a Feeling fades out and starts to play again. The entire diner erupts into groans. Redlodge can't wipe the smile from his face. Bruce just puts his hand on his head. The end.