'Batwoman' Season 1 Episode 19: Secrets of Lucius Fox's journal tease the coming of Azrael
Spoilers for 'Batwoman' Season 1 Episode 19 'A Secret Kept from All the Rest'
The hunt for Lucius Fox's journal has ended and its secrets have been deciphered, both by Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) and, more dangerously, Alice (Rachel Skarsten). While those secrets tease a possible crossover with 'Supergirl,' there is another secret tucked in its pages for those who looked closely enough at the translated images.
Instead of getting the book deciphered, Alice reads it using special glasses designed by Lucius Fox, obtained from Batwoman/Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) in exchange for Luke Fox and Julia Pennyworth's (Christina Wolfe) lives. The glasses allow Alice — and the audience — to see the book's proper translation hovering over the actual coded text. The answers Alice gets from the book, on pages we don't get to see, reveal to her that Kryptonite is somehow the key to piercing Batwoman's bulletproof armor, making Kryptonite a shared weakness between Batwoman and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist).
The page that can be read, however, makes a significant reference to another hero entirely — Azrael. Azrael, or Jean-Paul Valley, is an agent of the Order of St Dumas, brainwashed to be their champion. Azrael took over as Batman when Batman's back was broken by Bane. However, Azrael's mental instability caused him to grow into a more extreme, violent, and reckless version of Batman, whom Bruce Wayne had to return to take down. Azrael has since recovered and grown to be an important ally to the Batfamily. Most recently, a member of a team led by Batwoman herself.
Lucius Fox's journal makes reference to Geoffrey De Cantonna, the Suit of Sorrows and the Order of St Dumas, all very important parts of Azrael's story. The Suit of Sorrows is, in fact, the very suit of armor that Jean-Paul Valley dons when taking on his Azrael persona. The journal shows that Batman retrieved the suit from Talia al Ghul after the resurrection of Ra's al Ghul (a reference to another classic DC storyline). Though he initially discounted rumors of the suit causing insanity, he found that wearing the suit was slowly driving him insane.
What this has to do with the current Batsuit is uncertain, though the very next heading in the journal is titled 'The Means of Penetrating the Batsuit', implying that the Suit of Sorrows was somehow instrumental in the construction of the current Batsuit.
It's a short, blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference, but Gotham's roster of characters is still relatively unexplored in the Arrowverse. And Azrael would be quite an interesting addition to the 'Batwoman' team in Season 2, making his reference in the journal a perfect set-up.
The next episode of 'Batwoman' airs on May 17 on The CW.