The following review contains spoilers for this week’s episode.

“And you’re getting better at it every day” Alfred to Bruce.

This episode of Beware the Batman explored the theme of safety and exploring more of Katana’s past. This episode was also the introduction to the League of Assassins, one of the groups that is Batman’s fiercest villains. The episode also gave some great character development to Batman/Bruce. It also introduced the villain Silver Monkey, a rarely used villain from the 90’s.

The main plot of this episode involves a new advancement from Wayne Industries that will solve the energy crisis around the world. This advancement is largely the work of one Dr. Jason Burr (voiced by Matthew Lillard). Of course, some people aren’t happy with this advancement and so the press conference is attacked by ninjas. I thought the League of Assassins and the ninjas in this episode served as a great vehicle to settle the difference in ethics between Batman and Katana. Batman at one point actually stops Katana from killing a ninja, telling her “you always have a choice” when it comes to killing. In order to protect Dr. Burr, Bruce has him come to Wayne Manor for protection.

I thought the villain of Silver Monkey was largely underwhelming in comparison to the other villains on the show thus far. At no point in the episode did I feel that the Silver Monkey could defeat Batman or pose a real threat. Instead, his purpose was to give the viewer a chance to know more about Katana’s unknown past. Apparently, in this universe, Katana was a member of the League of Assassins in some capacity before she faked her own death. She also stole her soulsword from the League.

The fight scenes in this episode were crisp, especially the motorcycle chase scene between Batman and some of the assassins. I also enjoyed the usage of humor throughout the episode, feeling it was well-balanced alongside the serious parts. Dr. Jason Burr did a good job serving as the comedic character, and there were some great quips from Batman. I also thought the scene where Batman has to break into Wayne Manor and defeat his own security systems was well done.

The largest theme of the episode was safety and risk. At one point, Batman takes a risk in the episode where his chances of succeeding aren’t terribly high. Both Katana and Alfred remark to Dr. Burr at different points in the episode “You’re never completely safe”. It was also good to see Katana using her smarts alongside her fists. On an unrelated note, some fans will notice the usage of the Wilhelm scream during the fight scene on the bridge.

Some viewers may not be happy about Alfred having a gun in this episode when the manor is invaded. However, Alfred’s usage of a shotgun is actually par for the course. There have been prior issues of Batman where Alfred has been seen with a gun of sorts (usually a shotgun) when the Manor is invaded.

The episode also did a great job of showing character development between Bruce and Katana. At the end of the episode, Katana remarks to Batman “I’m starting to think I was wrong about you”. I also thought the episode’s ending was fantastic after Silver Monkey returned to the League of Assassins. The final words of the episode being “As you wish, Lady Shiva” has let us viewers know that we’ll certainly see more of her in the future, the only question remains is the existence of the Al Ghuls.

Overall, I thought this episode of Beware the Batman was effective in what it set out to accomplish. The villain in this episode was the most “meh” so far, but the episode itself was solid. I’m looking forward to seeing Lady Shiva in the future, and the future character development between Bruce/Katana.

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