"Heart of Steel: Part II" is the forty-fourth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, and the second of a two-part episode. It originally aired on Fox Kids in the United States on November 17, 1992.
Synopsis[]
Batman struggles against the robot arms but they're much stronger than he is. Fortunately, he manages to free himself and cut the arms' wires. He goes to the computer and attempts to trace the link but H.A.R.D.A.C. discovers it and cuts it off.
Meanwhile, the robot Gordon talks with H.A.R.D.A.C. and they make plans to capture Bruce Wayne. Barbara tries to talk to him, but he only tells her to leave him alone because it's private business. Barbara leaves and runs into Harvey Bullock who is told to go see Randa in Cybertron, even though he have already talked to Karl Rossum.
Out at Cybertron, Rossum realizes that H.A.R.D.A.C. has been doing more than he anticipated and decides that he gave H.A.R.D.A.C. too much free will. H.A.R.D.A.C. refuses to be re-programmed, however, and shoots Rossum with a beam that knocks him out. H.A.R.D.A.C. tells Randa that Rossum needs to be "improved upon" and she carries him off.
In City Hall, Mayor Hill soon finds himself approaching him and is knocked out.
Knowing that the robot isn't her father, Barbara activates the Bat-signal and calls in Batman. When Batman arrives, she shares her suspicions with him, and he tells her he'll look into it. However, Bullock shows up and, just as Batman tries to walk away, he begins to attack him. Bullock now has superhuman strength and Batman finds himself outmatched. However, he manages to throw Barbara a grapple and she uses it to catch one of Bullock's legs, allowing Batman to push him into the Bat-signal. Barbara is horrified to think she killed Bullock but a robot skeleton crawls out of the scorched skin and tries to attack her but Batman cuts its head off with a shuriken and kicks it on the floor. Barbara realizes that her father has been replaced with a robot and Batman promises to look into it. He tells her to stay with a friend, but Barbara's got other ideas. She grabs Batman's cape, saying that she wants to be there, but Batman says it is not possible and he'll contact Barbara after he finds out, and walks away, after he asks Barbara to let go of his cape, which she did and, as she tries to say something, he continues to walk away.
Later, Bruce goes to the Gotham Club to meet up with Mayor Hill who tells him he'll be part of "a very exclusive club". There Bruce finds several elite members of Gotham, all of whom have glowing red eyes. Randa arrives with a taser, but Bruce isn't ready to give up and escapes his captors. The robots give chase, and he dashes into an elevator where he changes into Batman. Four of the robots, however, manage to break into the elevator, only to find that Batman isn't inside and is cutting the cable. Unable to stop him in time, the robots fall along with the elevator and are destroyed.
Having deduced where her father should be, Barbara gathers up some equipment and goes to Cybertron where she uses a fingerprint trick to learn the entry code, and sneaks past a security camera. However, she hadn't counted on the wastebaskets being rigged with robot eyes and one follows her. Just before she can reach the Research and Development lab, the wastebasket transforms into a humanoid robot and captures her. Rossum and Randa greet Barbara and assure her that she'll be joining her father.
Outside, Batman arrives and sneaks into the lab. H.A.R.D.A.C. however, is expecting him and sets some security robots on him. Batman easily disables them but finds that H.A.R.D.A.C.'s robots have Barbara. H.A.R.D.A.C. explains that he intends to replace humans, who make errors, with robots who he sees as being perfect. He goes on to say that the idea was really Rossum's, made when his daughter died in a car accident. Rossum wanted to replace people who hurt others but H.A.R.D.A.C. wanted to replace all humans. Barbara questions if her father is dead, but H.A.R.D.A.C. shows her that he's not. At this, Batman & Barbara implement an escape plan and a robot is thrown into the tank holding the humans, releasing them. Batman then goes on to destroy the robots and damages H.A.R.D.A.C. with some explosives. Unfortunately, Randa catches him before he can escape.
The prisoners and Barbara attempt to escape but H.A.R.D.A.C. insists he has locked every way out. Fortunately, Rossum has a personal elevator not controlled by H.A.R.D.A.C. The group escapes and Barbara goes back to help Batman.
Meanwhile, Batman fights with Randa and eventually manages to crush her underneath an elevator. Barbara then runs in and helps Batman out. H.A.R.D.A.C., in a last-ditch effort, self-destructs, but Barbara & Batman make it out in time just before he explodes.
Outside, Rossum sadly says he didn't know of H.A.R.D.A.C.'s actions and Mayor Hill assures him that the investigation will probably show he's telling the truth. Batman praises Barbara's effort and thanks her for saving him. Now free of H.A.R.D.A.C., the group heads home. While leaving, Gordon groans that he's getting too old for this sort of thing while Barbara claims she enjoyed herself.
Cast[]
- Kevin Conroy as Batman
- Bob Hastings as Gordon
- Lloyd Bochner as Mayor Hill
- Robert Costanzo as Detective Bullock
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred
- Jeff Bennett as HARDAC
- Leslie Easterbrook as Randa
- Melissa Gilbert as Barbara Gordon
- William Sanderson as Rossum
Gallery[]
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See also[]
External links[]
- "Heart of Steel: Part II" at Batman: The Animated Series Wiki
- "Heart of Steel: Part II" at DC Animated Universe Wiki
- "Heart of Steel: Part II" at IMDb