'Harley Quinn' Season 1 ending explained: A battered Bat, a rousing reunion, and a tease for No Man's Land
Spoiler alert for the season finale of 'Harley Quinn'
The season finale for 'Harley Quinn' brought things full circle as Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) goes head to head with the Joker (Alan Tudyk). Like the first episode, the season finale covers a lot of ground, and there's a lot to unpack from the blockbuster episode.
The Joker vs. Harley Quinn
The Joker may have scored a victory over all of Gotham, but the only victory he really wants is one over Harley Quinn. Even the capture of Batman (Diedrich Bader) isn't enough to lift the Joker's spirits for long. He realizes that his feelings for Harley Quinn are just not going away and that it's about more than just professional jealousy. The Joker wants Harley Quinn gone from his heart, permanently. To that end, he plans to erase her identity entirely - not by ending her life, but by throwing her back in the vat of acid that turned her into Harley Quinn. The green, bubbling Ace Chemical vats that first turned the Joker and Harley Quinn into pale-skinned, mentally unstable villains can apparently turn someone back to normal just as easily. The Joker wants to erase the Harley Quinn persona entirely, and leave Harley as a normal human being.
It's unlikely that this would have worked quite the way he intended, as through the season we've seen that Harley Quinn was unhinged before she ever met the Joker. Nonetheless, the prospect terrifies her, implying that her transformation is a bigger part of her personality than the show's implied so far - or at least, that's what Harley believes. It turns out not to be her undoing, however, but the Joker's, as with a little help from Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), the Joker is tossed into the vat himself, unable to escape.
How is Poison Ivy alive?
Ivy returns from the grave this episode, looking glorious with a torn version of her regular costume, flowers growing in her hair, and black tears out of her right eye. It's a striking look, though Ivy's dry but loving personality seems to remain intact despite her death and resurrection. How is she back, though? Well, episode 12 explained that Ivy is part plant, with a more malleable biology, as demonstrated when radioactive fertilizer was able to see a significant growth change for her. With her brain intact, her time buried underground allowed nature to regenerate the injured hole in her chest.
As much as Harley would like to believe that it was the healing power of her friendship-tears that brought Ivy back to life, Ivy confirms that it was the power of nature - although Harley's tears, watering the roses over Ivy's grave, may have sped up the process.
The destruction of Gotham teases No Man's Land
The Joker, drowning in the acid that created him, refuses to let Harley have the last laugh. As is supervillain tradition, the Joker has his tower set to self-destruct when things aren't going his way. The explosives that the Joker set aren't restricted to his tower, however, and subject Gotham City as a whole to an earthquake that registers as an 8.6 on the Richter scale. It's evocative of the major Batman crossover event, 'No Man's Land,' which saw Gotham City abandoned and walled off from the rest of America after a 7.6 earthquake left it devastated. 'No Man's Land' has added significance for 'Harley Quinn' - a 'Harley Quinn' special set during the event introduced the character to the DC comics continuity. 'No Man's Land' saw Gotham being divided up into factions led by gangs, with Poison Ivy creating a sanctuary in Gotham's central park.
The crossover began with Batman missing, and the Batman on 'Harley Quinn' has gone missing as well. None of DC's heroes are available to help, in fact, leading to the all-important question:
Where have all the heroes gone?
The Justice League is apparently still trapped in the Queen of Fables' (Wanda Sykes) book of fairy tales, although with the Legion of Doom also destroyed, the world can perhaps do without saving for a little bit. Gotham is in flames, however, so where is Batman (Diedrich Bader)?
Teaming up with Harley Quinn turned out disastrously for the Dark Knight, ending with his quick capture. While captive, however, Batman was subject to something that's unprecedented in comic book history - Scarecrow (Rahul Kohli) removed the Batman's mask, revealing to the Joker that the Batman is billionaire Bruce Wayne. This proves to be quite a disappointment for the Joker, who preferred the mystery of Batman to finding out that Batman is just a rich playboy with parental issues.
Batman manages to free himself by the end of the episode, though, and over the vats of Ace Chemicals, he risked his life to save Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. What happened next isn't sure - he might be dead, he might be injured, or, more worryingly, he might have fallen into a chemical vat and become Joker-ized himself. For now, however, he is presumed missing as his city burns to the ground.
The Joker may be cured
Harley may be ending the season in a happy place, with the Joker dealt with, her crew back to full strength, and Gotham City in complete chaos, but there's one surprise in store for her in season 2. A pale hand is seen bursting from the rubble, with the Joker heard cackling wildly. The white of his hand pales to a normal human skin tone, though, as his high pitched voice turns to something a little more normal. The implication is that the Joker has been cured by the same vat he sought to cure Harley with, turning him into a completely normal man.
What that means for Season 2 is a matter of wild speculation. Is the Joker's cure permanent? Can Harley trust the man who used to be the Joker? Will Harley even recognize him as a normal human? What role will he have to play in Harley's life?
Whatever the answers, assuming that Season 2 doesn't completely reset the status quo - which it absolutely could, given that 'Harley Quinn' is still set in a fantastical comic book universe - the new world of Harley Quinn is all set to explore a darker, more dangerous world.