Fox’s Gotham returns from a nearly three-month break with an episode that explores Ed Nygma’s embrace of the Riddler. Season three episode 15 titled ‘How the Riddler Got His Name’ begins with Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) visiting a chemistry professor and demanding he answer a riddle. The professor gets the answer wrong and Ed nearly loses control. He collects himself and asks another riddle, and the professor once again guesses wrong. Ed taunts the professor, telling him the “others” didn’t do well either. Apparently, Ed’s been asking riddles of Gotham’s shining intellectual and artistic stars and none were able to answer correctly.
Ed recalls Penguin’s words about there being no Edward Nygma without Oswald, and Ed confesses to the professor he killed his best friend. Ed now knows who he is but not how to be himself. He’s looking for someone to take Penguin’s place and no one can live up to his expectations, each failing to answer his riddles. The chemistry professor should have studied harder as he’s now another body on Nygma’s list of kills.
Bruce’s doppelganger practices his Bruce (David Mazouz) impersonation, reciting the events of the night of the Waynes’ murders. The head of the Court of Owls, Kathryn, is impressed and calls Jim’s uncle, Frank, letting him know Fake Bruce is ready to go and asking for assurance Jim is amenable.
Ed checks out a newspaper with headlines declaring Mayor Oswald Cobblepot is still missing. Nygma’s popping pills and hallucinates Oswald sitting on the couch, covered with slime from the river. Imaginary Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor) mirrors Ed’s movements and both stare at a board with six photos of Nygma’s recent victims. Ed can’t figure out why they weren’t able to answer his riddles and Oswald suggests he ditch the riddles. But Ed’s convinced if he finds the right person, they’ll be able to teach him how to be a villain. Oswald yells at Ed, telling him villains do not have teachers. And then Ed has an epiphany: what he needs is an enemy. That’s the key to learning how to be himself. Imaginary Oswald protests, but Ed decides Jim Gordon will be the perfect enemy.
Over at the police station, Lucius Fox (Chris Chalk) believes a serial killer targeting smart people is on the loose. Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is not at all convinced that a serial killer offing brilliant minds is operating in Gotham, reminding Lucius they’re still looking for Oswald and finding more of Jerome’s victims every day. They really have their hands full and don’t need to add in a new serial killer.
Lucius and Harvey’s talk is interrupted by a singing telegram meant for Jim delivered by a guy in a grape suit. Jim’s not around but Grape Man sings about the death of “six masters” anyway, ending by handing Harvey and Lucius a card with a maze drawn on it. Lucius immediately connects “six masters” to the six deaths, but Harvey’s still a doubting Thomas. Still, Harvey goes along although he’s not committed to Lucius’ theory. Lucius figures out the drawing is of the Knight’s Tour and off he and Harvey go to follow the clue.
Meanwhile, Ed watches a chess tournament from the balcony. He pops a pill and Imaginary Oswald appears. Ed promises the competition below will be electrifying and he yells out a move before being shushed. Oswald tells Ed that Jim can’t help him and he must face the truth. Imaginary Oswald disappears as Lucius and Harvey enter the room, and Ed’s surprised Jim didn’t solve the riddle and instead it was Lucius who figured it out.
Harvey and Lucius ask for the building to be evacuated just as the timers on each table send out shocks. Harvey changes his mind and warns everyone to stay seated instead.
At Frank’s cabin in the woods, Jim (Ben McKenzie) and his uncle (James Remar) chat and Jim wants to know why he hasn’t been around. Frank asks Jim if he’s ever done anything he’d like to do over, and Jim replies, “Yes.” Frank admits he’s done horrible things and now he wants to make things right.
Over at Wayne Manor, Alfred (Sean Pertwee) is giving Bruce lessons in throwing knives. He’s deliberately distracting Bruce because he knows Bruce has something on his mind. Alfred believes it has something to do with Selina because he’s found a note from Selina to Bruce. Bruce refuses to follow Alfred’s suggestion and go see her, claiming Selina’s been avoiding him for weeks.
Back at the chess tournament, Lucius, Harvey, and the GCPD look over the crime scene. Lucius discovers numbers on the bottom of the chess pieces and figures out it’s a phone number. He calls it and Ed’s pissed he’s seven minutes late. Ed says he had to kill the six smart people because they failed his test, and now it’s Lucius’ turn. He warns Lucius he needs to solve a new clue tomorrow that will take him one step closer to learning the identity of the killer. As Ed hangs up and walks away, a painting of Mayor Cobblepot is shown with a large green question mark over Oswald’s face and body.
Jim takes a shot at a deer and fortunately, he misses. He admits he missed on purpose, just checking to see if his gun works. (It’s a weird scene.) He wants Frank to come clean with whatever it is he’s hiding, and Frank asks if Jim has heard about the Court of Owls. Frank explains it’s an old secret society started by Gotham’s most influential families. It used to maintain the balance in Gotham, but now it’s corrupt. Frank shocks Jim by admitting not only that he’s a member but that Jim’s father was also a member. Frank further shocks Jim by telling him the Court wanted him to offer Jim an invitation to join the exclusive group.
Lucius and Harvey interrogate a man who works for a pawnshop that’s part of Nygma’s riddle. The man claims to be filling in for another guy, and it turns out that man’s name translates to “beast” which is the next part of the riddle. Off Lucius and Harvey go to track down the beast.
Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred cooks while providing Bruce a little life lesson about getting closure on relationships. Bruce finally agrees to meet with Selina, mostly to stop Alfred from harping on the situation.
Imaginary Oswald pokes fun at the ‘Chess Killer’ headlines, teasing Ed that it’s not exactly a name that strikes fear. Oswald attempts to talk Ed out of the next part of his plan, but there’s no stopping him. Imaginary Oswald tries to convince Ed he’s only doing this because he’s not sleeping, taking drugs, and is lost without him. Oswald then takes the stage in a tux, crooning Amy Winehouse’s “Wake Up Alone” to Ed while Ed tries to slap himself back to reality. Finally, Ed admits killing Oswald killed a part of him, but he plans to leave him behind. Oswald shouts, “There is no Ed Nygma without the Penguin!”
Lee (Morena Baccarin) and Lucius are with the dead body of the man referred to as the beast by the Chess Killer. There’s an incision on his stomach and when Lee cuts him open, they discover Harvey Bullock’s lost badge has been stuffed into the body. Lucius now knows who the next target is: Harvey.
Harvey’s rehearsing the speech he’s about to deliver to a graduating class of cadets when Ed Nygma shows up backstage. Ed says he’s there to deliver a few remarks since the mayor is still MIA, but Harvey tells him to get lost. Harvey’s phone rings and when Ed notices it’s Lucius calling, he grabs Harvey and knocks him out.
Bruce is about to be attacked by a handful of teenage thugs when Selina (Camren Bicondova) runs up and tells them to leave Bruce alone. She then tells Bruce she has business to attend to with Sonny, one of the thugs, and he shouldn’t be there. They argue a bit, Bruce apologizes, and Selina tells him to leave. He asks why she left him a note if she didn’t want to see him, and she reveals she didn’t leave anything in his mailbox.
After Selina walks away, the gang attacks, and initially Bruce gets the worst of it. However, instead of staying down, he gets up and fights back, easily beating each of Selina’s so-called friends.
Ed, clad in a striking green suit, takes the stage at the graduation ceremony and says he’s there because Captain Bullock is tied up. No one can answer his riddle so he sets off the gas, dons a mask, and the cadets – none of whom reacted to any of this – are all knocked out.
A strawberry singing telegram arrives for Lucius and when she asks for Foxy, he knows the killer is Ed Nygma since only Ed calls him by that nickname. Ed demands he come upstairs alone or the cadets and Harvey will die. Lucius climbs up multiple flights of stairs to find Harvey strapped into a chair and hanging out over the edge of the staircase. Ed will give him three riddles and he’ll cut one of the ropes holding Harvey in place for each wrong answer. Three wrong answers and Harvey will plunge to his death with the antidote that will wake the cadets taking the fall along with him. Everyone lives if Lucius gets even one of the riddles correct.
Strike one, and one rope is cut and Harvey’s chair teeters. Strike two, and Ed – who’s getting extremely agitated – slices another rope. Ed asks for the answer to the final riddle and Lucius changes the subject, asking what Ed did to Oswald. He flat-out asks if Ed killed him, and Ed repeats the riddle. Lucius gets the answer correct but the rope snaps and Harvey starts to fall. Lucius catches him and pulls him to safety as Ed calmly walks away.
Bruce is heading back to Wayne Manor when he stops to wipe the blood from his face. Fake Bruce walks up behind him, identically clad. Bruce discovers his doppelganger sent the note but before Bruce can react, Fake Bruce administers a knockout drug. “This is what I was made for…to be Bruce!” proclaims the doppelganger.
Frank and Jim continue their Court of Owls conversation, with Frank admitting the Court lied to them and now he despises them. Frank reveals the Court of Owls murdered Jim’s dad, staging it to look like a drunk driver killed him. Frank’s positive that’s how it went down 20 years ago, and Jim’s angry Frank waited all these years to tell him the truth. Frank apologizes, saying the Court sent him overseas and he had to accept their assignment. But now that Jim’s been asked to join the Court, they can work on destroying it from within. Jim, wisely, doesn’t trust his uncle.
Fake Bruce arrives at Wayne Manor and Alfred offers him Shepherd’s Pie. When Bruce says it sounds delicious, Alfred does his best to act like nothing unusual is going on although he now suspects something’s up.
The GCPD attempt to track down Ed Nygma, but he’s actually hiding out in the backseat of Lucius’ car. When Lucius gets in, Ed holds a gun to his head. Lucius and Ed have a chat and Lucius reveals the antidote was grape juice and the deadly toxin Ed claimed to have used on the cadets was just knock-out gas. Ed explains the point was to have Lucius play his game, that he’s always had someone inside him who’s stronger and smarter. Only Oswald saw that but Oswald had to die because he killed the love of Ed’s life. Ed thanks Lucius for helping him figure out how to be himself, and Lucius reminds him he killed seven people and told the entire city that he’s a murderer. Lucius asks him to turn himself in, suggesting he needs help. Ed announces he knows who he is without Oswald now, declaring, “I’m the Riddler,” before knocking Lucius out.
Ed stands on the bank of the river looking out over the spot where he pushed Oswald into the water. He apologizes to the Imaginary Oswald and Oswald suggests no one will be afraid of ‘The Riddler.’ Ed replies, “Maybe not yet, but they will be.” Ed tosses his pills into the river and Imaginary Oswald disappears. Ed says goodbye, dons a bowling cap and walks away.
Oh, and now we’re over at Ivy’s place and she’s got a very much alive Oswald in her bed. She fished him out of the river and has been nursing him back to health. She asks why he looks strange and Oswald replies, “I just remembered there’s someone I need to kill.”
Frank’s gone and Jim sees he’s left behind a photo of Jim, his dad, and Frank. On the back reads, “Help me honor his memory.”
Frank meets with Kathryn and tells her Jim’s interest is piqued. He assures her he won’t let her down, and she confirms the Bruce Wayne clone is in place.
The final scene shows the real Bruce Wayne is locked in a cell. He wakes up and makes his way slowly to the cell’s window. Outside he sees a huge snow-covered mountain. Is Bruce in the Himalayas and about to meet the League of Assassins?
