Batman: Assault on Arkham

Waller sends the Suicide Squad into Arkham to recover a thumbdrive hidden inside the Riddler's cane. The drive contains highly sensitive information about the squad members that could expose government secrets. To ensure compliance, she implants nano-bombs in each member's neck, giving them a limited time to complete the mission or be killed.

Waller's need for the Riddler's cane was established early when Batman returned him to Arkham, making the thumbdrive the primary objective.

Harley breaks out the Joker after he taunts her while she's locked in her own cell. Enraged by his mocking, she steals a guard's gun and shoots open the Joker's cell door, inadvertently creating the structural weakness he later exploits to escape Arkham himself.

The Joker's taunting of Harley during her capture sets up her emotional explosion that leads to the breakout.

Killer Frost reveals he is a former Squad member who knows how to disable the nano-bombs. He offers to help the others remove their bombs in exchange for assistance in escaping Arkham, using his inside knowledge of Waller's technology to give the squad a chance at survival.

Waller's control through the bombs was established as the primary leverage over the squad from the start.

The Joker escapes by noticing the structural weakness Harley created when she shot open his cell door. He uses an electroshock device to short-circuit the damaged door mechanism, freeing himself and initiating a chaotic breakout to cover his escape.

Harley's reckless decision to shoot the Joker's cell door created the exact vulnerability he needed.

Waller detonates the bombs after the Riddler uses an electroshock device to fry the nano-bombs, disabling her remote control over the squad. In retaliation, she detonates the remaining devices hoping to crush the mutiny, though the explosion only kills King Shark and Black Spider, both immune to the electric pulse, while the others survive.

The Riddler's device was always intended as a potential countermeasure against Waller's control.

Batman subdues Black Spider and takes his suit to infiltrate the squad's ranks. By wearing the suit, Batman can move among the villains undetected while working to stop both the Suicide Squad's heist and locate the Joker's hidden bomb.

Batman was already tracking the squad's infiltration before confronting them directly.

The Joker attacks Deadshot because he discovered Deadshot's one-night stand with Harley Quinn. Viewing this as a betrayal of their relationship, the Joker attacks Deadshot in a jealous rage, forcing Harley to intervene and convince Deadshot to forgive her.

Harley and Deadshot's intimate encounter at the Iceberg Lounge planted the seeds for this conflict.

Batman deduces that the Joker hid his dirty bomb inside Harley's mallet. The mallet, recovered by the squad during their infiltration, contains the bomb that was set to trigger a catastrophic event in Gotham. Batman disarms it in time during the final confrontation.

The squad's recovery of Harley's mallet proved significant when Batman connected it to the Joker's plan.

Deadshot targets Waller from a distance because he holds her responsible for forcing him into the deadly mission, manipulating him with the nano-bombs, and causing the deaths of his teammates. After being reunited with his daughter, he quietly watches Waller, waiting for his chance at revenge.

The squad's resentment toward Waller grew throughout the mission as they faced death at every turn.

King Shark is killed when Waller detonates the nano-bombs, despite his thick skin making him immune to the electric pulse. The bombs still cause enough physical trauma from the blast itself to kill him, while Black Spider also dies in the same detonation.

King Shark's invulnerability was established earlier, making his death surprising and demonstrating Waller's ruthless solution.

Batman rescues the Riddler from a covert black-ops team attempting to capture him for their own purposes. Rather than let them take him, Batman returns the Riddler to Arkham Asylum, unknowingly setting in motion Waller's interest in the thumbdrive hidden inside the villain's cane.

This decision directly leads to Waller assembling the Suicide Squad to infiltrate Arkham.

The Riddler's cane contains a thumbdrive with highly sensitive information about the Suicide Squad members. This stolen data is what makes the mission valuable to Waller, as it could expose government secrets and the identities of the coerced criminals.

The cane was introduced early as the squad's primary objective during their infiltration.

Killer Frost is killed in the chaos of the Joker's breakout when he frees all the inmates. As the prison descends into violence and confusion, Frost is murdered in the ensuing chaos while Captain Boomerang is left behind and the rest of the squad scatters.

Waller's earlier order for Frost to kill the Riddler had already put him in danger.