WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story "Batman" from Infinite Frontier #0 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey, on sale now

The Future State era of the DC Universe teased a much darker future for Gotham City, under the thumb of the powerful and ruthless Magistrate. Things are already in motion to bring that future to life in the present-day, and it turns out that at least one major Batman villain is helping along the way.

It looks like the Scarecrow is going to be helping set up the Magistrate's stranglehold over Gotham City,  and he may have already made his first move in Batman #106.

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As Gotham is still picking up the pieces from Joker War, a modified Joker Toxin floods Arkham. The attack claims the lives of almost every patient, inmate, and staff-member within the building, with only a handful, escaping or surviving the ensuing chaos that goes on to be known as A-Day. To Simon Saint, a wealthy developer who's returned to his birth-city of Gotham, this is all proof that the people of Gotham need a serious change. He argues that this bedlam will help prove to the people running Gotham -- including the already vigilante wary Mayor Nakano -- that change such as his Magistrate Program can be key to changing the future. This is a fair assessment of a possible future for the city, considering that Future State saw Gotham under the sway of the Magistrate.

It turns out Saint has a benefactor though in the form of Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. The fear-obsessed villain has long been one of Batman's most dedicated and creative enemies, often finding ways to push the people of Gotham to the brink of sanity with his fear toxins. Speaking with Saint, Scarecrow argues that the city needs to give in to fear if it wants any chance of surviving, and they need to embrace and accept it to evolve into something better. Scarecrow argues that the people of Gotham aren't scared enough to accept the Magistrate program and all that means -- at least, not yet. This suggests that Scarecrow is going to be working directly with Saint to help push Gotham towards that eventuality, and is actively working towards bringing the Magistrate to Gotham City.

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Batman Infinite Frontier Simon Saint Magistrate

As one of the handful of villains who wasn't in Arkham at the time of the attack (and still factored into the events of Future State), Scarecrow could be setting himself up as a far more dangerous threat to Gotham. It's even feasible that the Joker attack on Arkham -- which multiple people like Oracle and Montoya all noted was out of character for the villain -- was actually staged by someone like Scarecrow, whose own experience with toxins and poisons would position him well to modify and mimic the Joker's distinct method of murder. For the people of Gotham to give in to the idea of the Magistrate, it'll take a great deal of terror and stress.

It's the only way they'd sacrifice so much of their personal freedoms willingly in favor of the powerful police-state nature of the Magistrate. It makes perfect sense then that Scarecrow would be the kind of person who could thrive with that sort of plan, and that he could either benefit from a Joker attack or would even frame him for one. Scarecrow has already been confirmed to have a place within the world of the Magistrate, appearing as a member of that government and going up against both Harley Quinn and Black Mask.

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