The Court of Owls have secretly been running Gotham for centuries. We find some of the high ranking members of The Court take a unanimous vote to allow a weapon to come cleanse the city. Jim is back at work and they have no idea where Edward has gone, Jim is looking into his father’s murder. He finds out that the man accused of killing him, Michael Ness, wasn’t actually drunk. It is pretty clear that Uncle Frank should have the answers about what really happened to Jim’s father.

Bruce wakes up in this dark prison cell and meets The Shaman. Bruce demands to return to Gotham but The Shaman reveals that Bruce will not be missed (since 514A will act as Bruce Wayne during his absence). This man tells Bruce that he needs his help. Bruce quickly tries to escape but just keeps running in circles. The Shaman tells him “everything is a maze” and that everyone fears something and that he has an offer for Bruce. I’m really enjoying these scenes with Bruce as he starts the slow transition into his destiny. It has a very Batman Begins feel to it.

Jim goes to meet with Frank at his father’s grave. He wants to know about his father’s death but Frank tells Jim about the weapon that is coming to Gotham to destroy the city. This is happened twice before at The Court’s hand and Frank wants Jim to be careful. Jim then has an awkward run-in with Leslie who is visiting Mario’s grave. They have a very uncomfortable conversation before Bullock calls Jim with some news … that Carmine Falcone paid for the lawyer that got Michael Ness off.

This obviously means Jim will go confront Falcone. Jim demands to know who put the hit out on his father. Falcone tells him it was his Uncle Frank. I predicted that Frank would have something to do with Peter Gordon’s murder. Falcone tells Jim The Court is involved with everything. Jim goes for yet another awkward conversation as he goes to Frank’s apartment. Frank tells Jim he put the hit out on Peter to expose The Court. Jim tries to arrest Frank but he fights him off and tells Jim to investigate dock 9C where the weapon should be arriving. They must help each other or they are both dead.

Oswald is still upset and obsessed with returning to Gotham to have his revenge. He is rude and dismisses Ivy just as his old sidekick Gabe arrives. Gabe knocks out Oswald and ties him up and they quickly catch Ivy and tie her up also. Gabe is really anxious to auction Oswald off but his new BFF Ivy has a plan. Ivy uses her perfume which acts as a truth serum and gets one of Gabe’s men to kill the others and free Ivy and Oswald. I really like Ivy and glad that she is getting a larger role during the second half of season 3.

Jim is explaining the background of The Court to Bullock and Bullock says he will support any action Jim chooses to take. They can’t have GCPD involved at all. Jim knows who they can call. The call goes to Barbara Queen a.k.a. Barbra Kean who has been running the Gotham underworld since Penguin was assumed dead. Barbara, Tabitha and her thugs are tying to press information about when the weapon is coming in. They find out it arrived last week and it is inside a crate with Indian Hill on the side. They are quickly cut off by an assassin from The Court that quickly kills all of Barbara’s men. The Court of Owls has some of the best assassin’s I have ever seen.

We return to Bruce and The Shaman as he is showing Bruce some needles that have special powers. The needles are able to tap into Bruce’s mind so they can revisit memories. They go back to the night of his parents’ murder. The Shaman tells him that Bruce never really left the alley after that night and he must learn to move on if he wants to find his purpose.

Frank tells The Court that Jim is relentless and will keep trying to stop them. Kathryn (I’m assuming the leader of The Court) tells Frank he must kill Jim. He arranges for Jim to come meet him at his apartment. Jim arrives and they both have guns drawn on each other. Frank tells Jim that he should replace him on The Court so he can finish what him and his father started. Frank then quickly shoots himself in the head as a shocked Jim looks on. I had a feeling this scene was going to end this way. It will be interesting whether Jim will take Frank’s advice about how he can stop The Court.

Oswald and Ivy have turned the table on Gabe. They have him tied up and Oswald is convinced Gabe can be loyal to him. Ivy decides they should make sure and hits Gabe with her perfume. They find out Gabe was lying about being loyal and that nobody really respected Oswald and thought he was freak. This enrages Oswald who quickly kills Gabe. Ivy then suggests to Oswald that they should build an army of freaks and has heard some things about Indian Hill. I like all of the Indian Hill references in this episode. I’m hoping this means that Dr. Hugo Strange will be returning in the near future.

Bruce quickly attacks The Shaman who uses his needles to return to the same memory of the night Bruce’s parents were murdered. The Shaman tells Bruce he has so much that he needs to teach Bruce. He tells Bruce that Gotham needs something that only he can provide. Gotham needs a protector, a symbol against fear. The Batman foreshadowing at the end of this episode tonight was AMAZING. It really makes you think and wonder at if any point during this series, you will see Bruce Wayne become Batman.

Jim gets a call from Kathryn and admits that he killed his uncle. Jim suggests that it is time that they meet and she agrees as Jim goes outside and finds a limo waiting for him. He gets inside the back as he is preparing for the next stage of his journey to meet The Court.

Episode grade: B

Gotham airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on FOX.