WARNING: This article features major spoilers from Batwoman season 2, episode 18, "Power."
Batwoman season 2 has finished its run, as the Arrowverse drama wrapped up multiple plot points while setting up new mysteries for the third season. The global pandemic was not the only thing to factor into Batwoman's sophomore season as it had to work around restrictions and few episodes. After playing Kate Kane for one season, Ruby Rose gave up the cape and cowl, leading to the Arrowverse creating a brand new heroine to take over her mantle. As Javicia Leslie came in as Ryan Wilder, Batwoman season 2 got to do something that other Arrowverse shows have never done before by having a new lead take over as the titular hero.
However, it did not take long for The CW series to bring Kate back as Krypton star Wallis Day got cast as Bruce Wayne's heroic cousin. Even though they brought Kate back, she returned with a twist as the former Batwoman became a villain herself. Batwoman season 2 also increased its villain presence as the DC Comics characters Safiyah Sohail and Black Mask got introduced into the Arrowverse. While they had more villains than ever, Batwoman season 2 gave more than one new hero as Luke Fox finally became Batwing.
Even though Lucius Fox died years ago, he had left behind one final gift to Luke as he had created a Batsuit based on his son's drawings from when he was a kid. Unfortunately, the wait for Batwoman season 2 was a long one due to the global pandemic. Luckily viewers will see the third season in less than six months as Batwoman will return on Wednesday, October 13. So what went down in the Batwoman season 2 finale, and what did it set up for Batwoman season 3?
Disclaimer: this is the final spoiler warning as the following sections will go deeply into Batwoman season 2, episode 18, titled "Power."
The final episodes of Batwoman season 2 had been building up to Black Mask wreaking havoc upon Gotham City in order to overthrow the government. The riot led to the city losing all its power, both literally and metaphorically, as the Bat-team had to rely on little to no technology. Since Kate (as Circe) had stolen Batman's trophies and Ryan's Bat-suit, the new Batwoman had to partner up with Alice in order to stop Black Mask. While Roman Sionis was not killed off, the Batwoman season 2 finale did pay tribute to the comics regarding why he always has to wear a mask.
As Black Mask and Alice had their showdown, the latter sprayed Roman's face with Joker's acid flower before shoving his mask on him. In the comics, Roman's Black Mask fused to his skin after a battle with Batman. While the Arrowverse took a different approach, it's safe to say that if Roman ever shows up again in Batwoman season 3 or beyond, viewers will be seeing a version of the character closer to this comic edition. Another Black Mask loose-end was Russell Tavaroff, who was losing his mind because of Bane's venom. Thankfully, Luke showed up as Batwing and stopped Tavaroff from getting Mary killed.
The Batwoman season 2 finale wrapped up Kate's Circle phase as Ryan and Alice were able to release her from Black Mask's brainwashing. However, despite Day being the Arrowverse's new Kate, the former Batwoman decided that she is not sticking around. Towards the end of "Power," Kate formally passes the Batwoman torch over to Ryan. Because of Kate's internal struggle of not being able to save Beth truly, she has decided to leave Gotham City in order to go and look for her cousin Bruce finally.
Kate will first go to see her incarcerated father and pay a visit to National City to see Kara Danvers before starting her search for Bruce. While Day will not be back as a series regular for Batwoman season 3, showrunner Caroline Dries did reveal to Entertainment Weekly that the door is always open for Kate to come back. However, for the time being, this was Batwoman season 2's farewell to Kate, as Arrowverse fans will not be seeing her for the foreseeable future. On the upside, at least Kate has now gotten a proper ending, rather than simply going missing after a plane crash.
While Batwoman season 2 finished its Black Mask storyline, the Arrowverse's usage of Batman villains is not stopping anytime soon. When Kate was still Circe, she had raided the Batcave and stolen most of Batman's trophies that belonged to iconic villains like Poison Ivy, Penguin, Mad Hatter, and many more. That was one of the reasons why Ryan had to go after Kate to get those items back before they fell into the wrong hands. During the final showdown, Kate's backpack fell into the river and floated away. Thankfully, the Batwoman season 2 finale did not neglect that fact in the final moments as Ryan tells the team they're going to retrieve every single trophy that got stolen.
However, in true Arrowverse fashion, the Batwoman season 2 finale ended with a major cliffhanger regarding those items. The last shot sees all of the trophies floating around in a river near or outside Gotham City. Penguin's umbrella and Mad Hatter's hat were two of them while Poison Ivy's vines had begun to move around onshore. While Oswald Cobblepot, Jervis Tetch, and Pamela Isley may not necessarily pop up in Batwoman season 3, Dries did assure fans that there will be multiple threats when the show returns in the fall. This likely means the Arrowverse will be creating 2.0. versions of some iconic Batman enemies.
Batwoman season 2 explored Ryan's background when she got introduced while still leaving many aspects about her a mystery. However, the season finale dropped a big bomb on the viewers and Ryan herself, thanks to Alice. While Alice was arrested and sent to Arkham Asylum, Ryan paid her a final visit as she was ready to put the villainess behind her. With Alice being Alice, she decided to reveal a big secret to Ryan regarding her biological parents. Even though Ryan had thought this entire time that her mother died from childbirth, Alice explained that she is actually still alive.
According to Dries, they had known since the beginning that Ryan's biological mom was always alive as they intended to set that up as a big storyline in Batwoman season 3. They did not explore that in Batwoman season 2 because they wanted to let Ryan Wilder find her place in the Arrowverse properly. Since Ryan has come to terms with her role as Gotham City's one-and-only Batwoman, finding her real mother can be tackled more organically next season. However, the bigger question is whether Ryan will be thrilled or terrified when she locates her lost parent.
Although Ryan was an original Arrowverse creation for Batwoman season 2, could her mother actually be someone from the DC Universe? It would not be a stretch for the franchise to do that, as they have always tinkered with the DC mythology in one way or another. Luckily, fans will not have to wait for almost a year to find out the identity of Ryan's birth mother as Batwoman season 3 returns to The CW this fall.
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June 29, 2021 at 12:13AM
