Now here is the thing, those of us who have followed the Batman for all the Decades that he has been around, know one simple thing, when it comes to the villains, both Carmine & Alberto Falcone and Salvatore Maroni are both not really that high up on the totem poll.
The top of Batman's roster is mostly, the penguin, Black Mask, Joker etc...
Falcone and Maroni are pretty up there, but they are definitely not more important than the Penguin.
If you played the Arkham Games, and knew the extended lore, then the Penguin is extremely amazing, as his monocle, isn't actually his monocle, its a half broken back end of a wine bottle that someone jammed into his eye in an attempt to kill him.
My man Penguin just decided to leave it in as a proof that he has indeed cheated death even when it has been this close and looked him directly in the eye, so to speak.
Which, side rant, is actually even more of a reason for you to hate Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, I mean why is hi monocle green suddenly? did he take out the bottle and then put it back in with a different color?
Did he paint it?
I mean aesthetics matter but come on my man.
But here is the master stroke of Maroni and Falcone actually being at the top of Batman's roster in these early years, Villains such as Penguin, Black Mask and the Joker are almost a direct proof of the almost supernatural levels of Corruption in Gotham.
There is a saying about mob bosses, they prevent an even greater evil from coming forth, this is said of course, in reference to how, often the removal of a mob boss leads to a power Vacuum and when that is filled, the one filling it is often worse.
This was referenced in the line said in the beginning of the previous episode:
Falcone and Maroni are in some sense, keeping at bay the true evil of Gotham, and that is what this episode of the Penguin really drives home.
The Penguin is a disturbed individual who should never be in power, who should never have so much as an insect under his protection, as he will trade anything and anyone for what he perceives as his right.
And the thing about people like this, is they hardly ever gain power on their own, they only gain power by doing what the penguin is doing, playing both the sides, gaining their trust, and making them fight each other until naught is left but spoils.
And then they rule over the spoils.
Who suffers in all of this? That's right, the common people.
And that is why this episodes name is so good, Penguin has gained the trust of both the sides, and is playing the "inside man"
Except when it comes to Victor, nah to him he is playing the abusive teacher to whom victor is attached via Stockholm syndrome.
You know I didn't know this when I started writing on Rings of power, that exactly how close to Sauron the Penguin is going to be.
I mean manipulation check, playing both the sides check, eventually being the new top G, check, started doing this shit after his previous master died? Also check.
Huh, Penguin is Sauron, that's a good one.
But no, on a serious note, mob bosses and dictators do have a lot of commonalities so there is no denying the fact that their rise will mirror each other.
But then the main reason why the Penguin works and the Rings of Power does not is because, well, Penguin is the main character, we are rooting for him, and you know, man is likeable.
That and fifty different hate mobs didn't decide to gang up on the Penguin.
Tangent aside, what I really want to know is... there is only one Victor I know who is related to the Penguin in a somewhat similar way.
Here is an excerpt from his Wikipedia Page...
At the age of 25, his parents died in a boating accident, sending him into a deep depression. He turned to gambling, losing money in competitions around the world. One night, he ended up in a Gotham City casino known as the Iceberg Lounge, where he gambled everything he owned and ended up losing it all to the Penguin; afterwards he saw that his life was empty, driven by desire, and there was no point to his existence.
Now while the Victor in Penguin owes him cause he tried to steal his car... You know all the Trauma the kid is going through, like being forced to lie amongst dead bodies, and how squeamish he is about killing, it almost seems like there will be a bait and switch, as he is repeatedly told what this life demands.
Like with the Penguin as a father figure, who knows maybe this guy will take it upon himself to prove he is cut out for this life and start killing people, and as a proof of his kills, he will keep a tally...
On his body...
Yeah I', talking about Victor Zsaz, the kid is Zsaz, I mean we don't know his last name, we don't know his parents, for all we know, maybe the kid got into car stealing cause he got orphaned, I mean he is about the right age, twenty five ish.
That's when the comic book character indebted himself to the Penguin...
I mean the clues are all there, this kid Zsaz, I'm not the only one seeing it right?
And we do have another Serial Killer in Gotham that he can pick up the skills from, Sofia Falcone.
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