WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Legends of the Dark Knight #5 by Darick Robertson, Richard P. Clark, Diego Rodriguez, and Simon Bowland, on sale now.
Classic Batman villain the Riddler has recently revealed that he wants to retire and reassess his life. He was insulted Lex Luthor didn't think he was cutthroat enough in Year of the Villain, which caused Edward Nygma to pause his criminal career. He took a break to revaluate, and returned with a more monstrous outlook, as he realized he needed to push himself more.
In Legends of the Dark Knight #5, reveals the first real time Riddler wanted to retire and go legit, and it shows the Caped Crusader's most complex villain really does have a heart after all.
This story so far has focused on Gas-Mask, a Russian arms dealer who's peddling a unique chemical to a broken Gotham. This gas is the most poisonous toxin the city has ever known, and it's created a civil war among the rogues of Gotham City. It led to the Bat following a trail and being held prisoner by Quiz, the Riddler's new sidekick.
When the Riddler learns that Quiz has captured Batman, he's petrified. Still, Quiz wants Batman to help them get out of the deal with Gas-Mask and Scarecrow as things have become too dangerous for the pair. Her plan is to have Batman take out their enemies but Nygma is sure that if it came to that, the Caped Crusader would take them down as well.
However, the Dark Knight surprises the Riddler by agreeing to Quiz's deal once she gives him the drop-off point, although he warns that he will return for them if they betray him. Batman seems genuinely interested in allowing the Riddler to have a peaceful life with Quiz, who he appears to have fallen in love with.
It turns out Quiz was a bank dealer who lured Nygma in for a robbery and fled with him, making bombs, conjuring riddles and basically improving the operations. It's a story similar to that of Punchline, as she's turned into Riddler's keeper ever since, but now they just want to leave the drama behind.
Nygma finally has a reason to live as he's gone from a whirlwind romance to being completely in love. The Bat senses it's pure so he lets them off, hoping the retirement will stick. But despite the trust, seeing as Quiz fell in love with the Riddler's chaos and not this scared Nygma, the likelihood of that is very slim.