Fans are wondering what did the guards do to Arthur Fleck’s Joker in Joker 2: Folie a Deux. This question is rather unsurprising, as a significant portion of the film’s runtime sees Joaquin Phoenix‘s titular character spend time in prison and the court, where he details his experiences with prison conditions and relationships with the guards and fellow inmates. So, did the guards beat and abuse Arthur? Did they wound him or kill him?
Here is everything you need to know on what the guards did to Arthur in Joker 2: Folie a Deux.
What did the guards do to Arthur in Joker 2: Folie a Deux?
The guards led by Brendan Gleeson’s Jackie Sullivan take Arthur to the shower room in Arkham State Hospital and brutally beat him up and return him to his cell half-naked. This is in retaliation for Arthur disclosing their unfair and cruel treatment of him in prison at the court. They also kill his fellow inmate and friend Ricky by strangling him to death after he confronts them for abusing Arthur.
Later, at the end of the film, Sullivan leads Arthur to his demise when he summons him to meet a visitor. Arthur, on the way to meeting said person, is stopped by a fellow patient who asks him to tell a joke and subsequently stabs him to death.
Ricky’s death at the hands of the guards served as a catalyst for Arthur renouncing his Joker persona soon after, during the closing statement of his court trial. It also made him realize that using the Joker persona never changed anything for him, and that everything around him was negative regardless. Todd Phillips confirmed these sentiments in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview.
“He realized that everything is so corrupt, it’s never going to change, and the only way to fix it is to burn it all down,” he said. “When those guards kill that kid in the [hospital] he realizes that dressing up in makeup, putting on this thing, it’s not changing anything.”
Joker: Folie a Deux is currently playing in theaters. Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga headline the film as Arthur Fleck and Lee, respectively.