Viewers who watched last night's episode of Gotham learned some very important things about what the series has in store for its second season.
Please note that the following contains spoilers about Gotham's second season, particularly last night's episode.
The most important thing viewers learned involved Theo Galavan and his family line. It turns out that Galavan is actually a Dumas and that his machinations to bring Gotham to its knees have everything to do with the Order of St. Dumas.
Why is this important? In DC Comics, the Order of St. Dumas plays a big part in Gotham City. The order began as part of the Knights Templar, but a disagreement with the Knights created a splinter group, the Order of St. Dumas, which follows its own rules.
On Gotham, viewers learned that Theo's vendetta against the city, as well as against the Waynes, comes from a rivalry that goes back to the early days of Gotham City when the Waynes were one of several powerful families that ran the city. However, one of Bruce's ancestors, Celestine Wayne, got caught being intimate with Caleb Dumas, although she was to marry someone from another powerful family. Celestine, though, accused Caleb of forcing himself on her, and as a result, the Waynes took everything—their riches and power—from the Dumas family: this is why they changed their name to Galavan.
Gotham executive producer John Stephens spoke to ComicBook.com and confirmed that viewers will learn more about the mysterious Order. However, he also mentioned that its presence in Gotham signals the arrival of another infamous character from the comics, Azrael.
"We will be going deeper into the Order of St. Dumas over the next run of episodes, and it will continue to play an evolving role for the rest of the season," said Stephens. Of course, there was a second half, and when I asked him about the link between St. Dumas and Azrael, he blew my mind. "And yes, we wouldn't be telling an Order of St. Dumas story without also intending to tell an Azrael story. Just keep watching."
The title of Azrael belonged to several key players in DC Comics, including Jean-Paul Valley, a computer science graduate student who learns that he must become Azrael after the death of his father. In the comics, Jean-Paul Valley was mentally conditioned to take on the role.
Another man to become Azrael in the comics was ex-police officer Michael Lane. The Order of Purity approaches him about becoming Azrael after the previous Azrael went crazy and killed a cop. This character most recently appeared in DC Comics' rebooted universe, The New 52.
Gotham airs on Fox on Mondays.
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