As you're probably well-aware, a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight was released yesterday. The new trailer gave us a fresh look at some of the story's most infamous super-villains and the threat they pose to Gotham. Included in it were Scarecrow, Two-Face, Penguin, the Riddler, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and the Arkham Knight.
As we found out shortly afterward, hidden within the trailer were mysterious codes. At the time, we only noticed one code that appeared towards the end as lightning highlighted Scarecrow's face. After a bit of investigating, it was discovered that the code had something to do with the "Person of Interest" section of the Batman: Arkham Knight website. That's about as far as our detective skills got us. Thankfully, the internet is filled with people way more dedicated to solving mysteries than we are.
Turns out, there were actually three codes hidden throughout the trailer:
- First: located around the 0:07 mark with Harley Quinn walking: "qeL e2uLEE2 zul2e"
- Second: located around the 0:24 mark with Poison Ivy: "pPL2a3Mn Ppi3mAMpyL2"
- Third: located around the 1:46 mark with Scarecrow: "c Rcn3n3 N2Jn3tjHn2"
But it wasn't just easy as taking these codes and plugging them into the website. Some deciphering was required. I don't know how Redditor SixSided did it (though he tries to explain), but he basically cracked the code revealing the next batch of hints:
- First (Harley): "Her First Line"
- Second (Poison Ivy): "Asylum Sanctuary"
- Third (Scarecrow): "I will unleash"
As the detective points out, these hints refer to lines of these characters in Arkham Asylum.
- First: Harley's first line in the game: "yeah right"
- Second: Poison Ivy's sanctuary: "botanical gardens"
- Third: This is a direct line from Scarecrow that's followed by: "your greatest fears"
Sure enough, entering these codes into the POI part of the website solves the mystery! And what are we greeted with? Lame bios of each of the villains.
You know that scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie gets his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring to discover her secret message? Then, after furiously decoding it in the bathroom with his mother pounding on the door, he finally gets the super secret message: "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine."
Lame, just like this. Oh well, here are the bios for each of the three villains.
