The Dark Knight Gordon's "Death"

[GeometryKid]

Hi everyone,

Can someone explain Gordon's death to me? As in, who was in on it, and who wasn't, and how that went down? Because it looked like something impromptu and it appeared as if several people were standing nearby, plus his buddy checked his pulse and had a "oh crap" look on his face. I don't understand how it all worked out; I'm nervous that this is a big plot hole but I don't see many people bring it up so maybe I'm the only one?

 

[Brother Jack]

Gordon's unit, the Major Crimes Unit, had to have been in on it. Chances are they were only ones who were, as Harvey and Batman use it as a catalyst for their next actions.

 

[Doc Samson]

Gordon's unit, the Major Crimes Unit, had to have been in on it. Chances are they were only ones who were, as Harvey and Batman use it as a catalyst for their next actions.

True, although I always looked at it as a plot device more than anything. And TBH, it works the first time, I remember sitting in a daze in the theater at the audacity of Nolan

Upon further viewings though, at least to me, it's obvious it was just something they knew would be shocking, and tried to figure out how to make it work somehow. Even if the MCU is in on it, it's pretty hard to dive in front of gunfire with full knowledge the bullet might kill you by accident.

 

[GothamAlleys]

I dont think Gordon's unit was on it. He had too many corrupted cops there, Joker would know beforehand about it

 

[Brother Jack]

It helps to reinforce a recurring theme in the film which is good men lying for the greater good. Harvey lies about being Batman, Batman lies about Harvey's crimes, and Gordon lies to his family about his death.

 

[Doc Samson]

It helps to reinforce a recurring theme in the film which is good men lying for the greater good. Harvey lies about being Batman, Batman lies about Harvey's crimes, and Gordon lies to his family about his death.

Which also helps reinforce another theme, which is faith. Alfred burning the note so Bruce could keep his faith in Rachel's love in him, Bruce rigging the machine to blow after Fox types his resignation to keep his faith in Bruce's methods, Batman taking the fall for Dent's crimes to keep the citizens faith in their White Knight, & The Joker's social experiment to test the faith the citizens have in themselves on the ferries. As Batman himself put it "Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes, people deserve to have their faith rewarded"

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"In this town, the fewer people know something, the safer the operation."

 

[alexdunn]

He probably came up with the idea after getting shot. Like when he was taken to an ambulance by that MCU guy, he was like "Okay, here's the plan dude".

 

[Motown Marvel]

gordon faking his death was entirely pointless.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

Hehe.
I remember sitting in the cinema feeling ouutraged when that happened... I was actually about to walk out and leave my friend there...

 

[GothamAlleys]

gordon faking his death was entirely pointless.

It wasnt because that was part of the plan thanks to which they caught Joker. However, it ruined another moment in the movie for me - Rachel's death. Till the end of the movie I didnt believe that shes really dead because of that Gordon episode

 

[Bat-Mite]

It wasnt because that was part of the plan thanks to which they caught Joker. However, it ruined another moment in the movie for me - Rachel's death. Till the end of the movie I didnt believe that shes really dead because of that Gordon episode

Really? They showed her getting blown up as much as they could without actually showing her body blowing into gory chunks. They showed the fireball coming down the hallway and quickly cut away, then showed the building itself exploding. Faking your death from a bullet is one thing, but it's kinda hard to fake getting blown up when you're tied up in a room full of gasoline and there's a fireball coming at you from the hallway behind you.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Yeah, but they also showed Gordon getting shot and his family receiving the message and plenty of talk about the dead Gordon. Because of that I thought theyre gonna pull the same thing on Rachel somehow, like that she survived in the debris and was somewhere in coma or whatever. I just didnt believe she was dead till the credits. At first I missed that short shot when shes actually shown pushed by the explosion, so not seeing her dead meant she might not be - thats what Gordon's 'death' in TDK taught me during the first viewing

 

[MrsJimGordon]

It helps to reinforce a recurring theme in the film which is good men lying for the greater good. Harvey lies about being Batman, Batman lies about Harvey's crimes, and Gordon lies to his family about his death.

^ This.

 

[Assassin32]

I hated it, because it was quite obviously a fake death. I mean, we all watched the trailer beforehand, didn't we? I knew for a fact that Gordon would have more scenes later on in the movie.

 

[Elevator Man]

I hated it, because it was quite obviously a fake death. I mean, we all watched the trailer beforehand, didn't we? I knew for a fact that Gordon would have more scenes later on in the movie.

Yeah I agree. Although I didn't hate it. But I was curious to see how Gordon would come back in the story. As the movie moved along.

 

[Team Andino]

I watched the trailers honestly thousands of times but when Gordon "died" in the movie I truly fell for it. I was so into the movie that night that I forgot some obvious things such as what MCU's nickname for Dent was and forgetting Dents coin was double sided which proved he never intended to shoot Thomas Schiff in the ally. It was like I let myself just immerse myself into the movie an let all the little surprises make the movie as incredible as it was for me.

 

[El Payaso]

The only reason that was actually mentioned was that Gordon wanted to keep his family safe.

 

[FrichKazzone]

Chances are they were only ones who were

 

[The /]

I signed up on SHH just to ask this question. Glad this thread was here, but I am still really confused on the situation. I just watched TDK for the first time in awhile and was reminded that I never understood "Gordon's Death". I hate to say that I feel stupid, like I'm missing something. It just makes absolutely no sense to me.

Where I find myself being confused is, firstly, what did it accomplish? When Gordon told Joker "We got you, you son of a *****", in what way did they "get" him exactly? Also, were Gordon, Batman and Dent all in on it together? Because when Barbara is told about Gordon's death (which also doesn't make any sense - why would he put his wife through that instead of telling her the truth?), Batman is standing on the deck, looking sad as Barbara yells at him, blaming him for the whole thing.

Perhaps it is late and perhaps I am asking too many questions.

 

[Caekzor]

They caught the Joker.

Dent didn't know about it (was surprised and says "You do like to play things pretty close to the chest." when he sees Gordon).

Batman seemingly didn't know about it (it looks like Gordon's unit were going to tell him when they were waiting at the bat signal later that night).

Gordon likely came up with the idea on the spot (to protect his family and himself from being a target).

It is a bit confusing how it's done. Most likely to fool the audience.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

It was a cool nod to Harvey faking his own death in the Long Halloween.

 

[Brain Damage]

I signed up on SHH just to ask this question. Glad this thread was here, but I am still really confused on the situation. I just watched TDK for the first time in awhile and was reminded that I never understood "Gordon's Death". I hate to say that I feel stupid, like I'm missing something. It just makes absolutely no sense to me.

Where I find myself being confused is, firstly, what did it accomplish? When Gordon told Joker "We got you, you son of a *****", in what way did they "get" him exactly? Also, were Gordon, Batman and Dent all in on it together? Because when Barbara is told about Gordon's death (which also doesn't make any sense - why would he put his wife through that instead of telling her the truth?), Batman is standing on the deck, looking sad as Barbara yells at him, blaming him for the whole thing.

Perhaps it is late and perhaps I am asking too many questions.

Um. He had him on the ground, with his hands up, with a gun to his head and the Joker even drops the knife he's holding. In what ways is that NOT getting him?

Surely you can't have expected Gordon to know that there was another hour left of the movie and the Joker had a grand slam plan of escape -_-

 

[The /]

Um. He had him on the ground, with his hands up, with a gun to his head and the Joker even drops the knife he's holding. In what ways is that NOT getting him?

Surely you can't have expected Gordon to know that there was another hour left of the movie and the Joker had a grand slam plan of escape -_-

See, I knew I would feel stupid. I guess I must have misinterpreted that line of dialogue, thinking that somehow the Joker had been tricked.

As for the whole "Gordon's Death" scenario, someone explained it to me and I feel like I better understand it now. Gordon faked his death after he was shot because he feared that he may eventually end up being a target of the Joker, which could lead to Joker somehow using his family against him. It seemed unnecessary while watching the film, but in retrospect, it makes a whole lot more sense now.

 

[Brain Damage]

See, I knew I would feel stupid. I guess I must have misinterpreted that line of dialogue, thinking that somehow the Joker had been tricked.

As for the whole "Gordon's Death" scenario, someone explained it to me and I feel like I better understand it now. Gordon faked his death after he was shot because he feared that he may eventually end up being a target of the Joker, which could lead to Joker somehow using his family against him. It seemed unnecessary while watching the film, but in retrospect, it makes a whole lot more sense now.

That's basically how I see it too. Movies like these expect their audience to be fully engaged and paying attention, mulling over the details as the story progresses. This is different to most spoon-fed plots in movies today, but a lot of the older movies that we hail as classics forced the audience to do the same. Godfather II springs to mind in the whole Fredo plot.

Spoiler

For example, it's never said that Fredo was the one who opened the shades in Michael's window right before his attempted hit, but as the details emerge, it can be deduced that this is the logical conclusion.