Freud questions Bruce about his dreams with bats as he believes it could hold the key to important aspects of his state of mind however, Bruce dismisses this theory as he believe his dream is not 'some symbol-laden puzzle' but rather a 'prosaic replaying of an actual event.' Bruce then thanks Freud for assisting his study of human psychology and announces his intention to return to Gotham City.Ī week later, Bruce departs from London on a passenger ship and unexpectedly meets his old family friend, Jacob Packer, a personal friend of Thomas Wayne. Sigmund Freud about the dreams he has had about the deaths of his parents and, significantly, bats. In Vienna, Bruce Wayne is a student consulting with his teacher Dr. As they escape, they watch as the World's Fair burns down, hoping it will be replaced with something better.In the 19th century, Bruce Wayne recalls the murder of his parents by a highwayman and remembers the bats which swarmed over the murderer. Luckily, Batman and Selina are saved by Alfred and the orphans. Selina escapes, while Batman watches as Gordon willingly burns himself alive. The Ferris Wheel lights on fire and begins to collapse. Batman arrives and fights Gordon into a Ferris wheel, where Gordon reveals his holy work is to rid Gotham from what he sees as filth, from the poor to the criminals but also immigrants, the illiterate, and anarchists. Selina is injected with a drug but manages to use her blood and the Fair's searchlight to create a makeshift Bat-Signal. Batman also sees Gordon's wife, Barbara-Eileen Gordon, with scars on the left side of her face that has made her into a lunatic praising her husband for treating her sins as a woman. Batman discovers this too when he is at Gordon's home and discovers his secret room exposing his gruesome hobbies and past as a butcher. Selina meets with Gordon at the Gotham City World's Fair and discovers to her horror that Gordon is Jack the Ripper. Bruce meets with the orphans, who deliver him his suit and a steampunk motorcycle. Bribing a guard to deliver a coded message to his manor, Bruce escapes after staging a prison fight. When he refuses, she decides to tell Gordon herself, revealing she has one of his batarangs. Sent to Blackgate Penitentiary, Bruce is met by Selina, urging him to reveal he is Batman to clear his name and help save the girls from Jack. After the death of Marlene is discovered, Bruce is arrested as Dent accuses him of being Jack the Ripper due to his jealousy for Selina's love. After seeing Batman is Bruce Wayne, she takes him to her home where they spend the night. Batman is chased by police, only to be saved by Selina when he is nearly cornered. Batman chases Jack on top of an airship in a fight that leaves Batman wounded as the airship explodes and Jack the Ripper escapes. At Arkham Asylum, Hugo is attacked by Jack the Ripper and is ripped apart by his own crazed patients. Alfred stops the three orphans from pick-pocketing him and decides to help them. Bruce also is met by Marlene, a drunken old woman who claims she saw him sneaking around when Sister Leslie was killed. At Sister Leslie's funeral, Bruce is met by Hugo Strange, claiming he knows the killer and wants to meet with Batman. At the crime scene, Bruce finds a bloody Dionysus Club pin, meaning Jack has to be one of Gotham's wealthy. Bruce rushes out to save Leslie from Jack the Ripper but is too late as Jack has already murdered her. Bruce realizes that not only were the two of them taken in by Sister Leslie but that some of the murdered girls were orphans formerly under Leslie's care. At the Monarch Theatre with his friend Harvey Dent, Bruce meets Selina and the two bond at the Dionysus Club. After escaping, Batman asks Gordon to help him bring Jack the Ripper down. It works, but Jack gets the upper hand during their fight until the arrival of Batman. Later that night, Selina acts as bait for Jack. Stage actress Selina Kyle, a protector of the women from 'Skinner's End', verbally attacks Gotham policemen James Gordon and Chief Bullock for their inaction in stopping Jack. Citizens of Gotham believe the Batman and Jack to be the same man. The murders keep happening night after night. At the same time, Ivy, an orphan turned exotic dancer and prostitute, becomes the latest victim of Jack the Ripper. One night, Batman saves a wealthy couple from being robbed by three orphans (Dickie, Jason and Timmy) and defeats their handler, Big Bill Dust.

In Victorian-era Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is operating as the bat-garbed vigilante, the Batman, who is feared by the guilty and the innocent alike.The synopsis below may give away important plot points.

Gotham by gaslight