Gotham: Ra's Al Ghul's Two Deaths, Explained

screenrant.com:

Alexander Siddig’s Ra’s Al Ghul died not once, but twice on Gotham – here’s the character’s two deaths explained. Immortal criminal mastermind Ra’s Al Ghul is a classic Batman villain, so the DC Comics fandom was understandably hyped to see him make his debut in Fox’s Bruce Wayne origin story series Gotham. Played by Game Of Thrones actor Alexander Siddig, Ra’s Al Ghul first appeared in the penultimate episode of Gotham season 3 in which he proved his worth as a villain by instructing a brainwashed Bruce Wayne to stab his guardian and mentor Alfred Pennyworth.

Gotham’s take on Ra’s Al Ghul incorporated some of the antagonist’s comic book traits, but the show put its own spin on the character too. Like his comic book counterpart, Alexander Siddig’s Ra’s Al Ghul wanted Bruce Wayne to be his successor but unlike the original character, there was only one way that he could be truly killed in Gotham – by a Kurdish dagger wielded by his true heir. Naturally, this Kurdish dagger played a part in Ra's Al Ghul's two deaths on Gotham.

Related: Batman: How To Pronounce Ra's Al Ghul Correctly

The first time Ra’s Al Ghul died in Gotham happened in the season 4 episode “The Blade’s Path.” After brutally killing Bruce’s friend Alex Winthrop in the previous episode, the villain was escorted to Blackgate Penitentiary and the young Batman-to-be vowed to kill him. To that end, Bruce infiltrated the prison and confronted Gotham's take on Ra’s Al Ghul but found he was hesitant to kill him. However, when the villain promised that should Bruce let him live he would hunt him down throughout his life and kill everyone he loved, the future Batman mustered up the will to go through with his plan and stabbed him to death with the dagger – proving