Plot
The episode opens with a flashback to Bruce Wayne's past, when he was training with the magician Zatarra under the pseudonym John Smith, learning the skills of an escape artist in preparation for his future as Batman. He has a flirtatious relationship with Zatarra's daughter, Zatanna, though he appears to leave without acting upon their mutual attraction.
In the present day, Bruce Wayne is attending a performance by Zatanna, who has become a successful stage magician in her own right. Her performance involves having the money in the Gotham Mint vanish and reappear, and is watched over by a debunker of magic named Montague Kane. After causing the money to vanish successfully, Zatanna finds herself unable to make it reappear, and is arrested for its theft. Refusing to believe that she could be guilty of such a crime, Bruce dons the costume of Batman and begins to investigate.
Batman breaks Zatanna out of her police transport and the two travel to the scene of the crime. Along the way Zatanna questions why he would go to such lengths to prove her innocence, and asks if they have met before; Batman brushes off the question, answering her questions about having met by stating that he simply 'has one of those faces'. Upon exploring the stage on which she performed, Batman and Zatanna discover that the money was never there in the first place, and that somebody has enacted their own illusion on top of Zatanna's in order to frame her. Suspecting Montague Kane, the two proceed to his estate. Kane is not present, though they do find evidence to implicate him, as well as signs that indicate that he is attempting to flee Gotham on his personal jet.
Racing to the airstrip, Batman and Zatanna board the plane and, after a pitched battle with Kane and his henchmen, are able to bring them to justice. Talking afterwards, Zatanna questions why Batman would go to such great lengths to prove her innocence. Batman reveals that he was Zatarra's apprentice so many years ago. The two part as friends, with the implication that they could someday be something more.
Read more about this topic: Zatanna (Batman: The Animated Series)
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