WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Prior Criminal History," the latest episode of Batwoman, which aired Sunday on The CW.
Only a few days into her Batwoman career, Ryan Wilder is already grappling with one of the biggest conundrums of the mantle. When faced with the opportunity to exact her revenge on Alice, she was willing to kill, leading to a high-stakes fight and a fierce debate over what that means for the Bat's legacy.
Although Ryan gave up the Batwoman suit in the Season 2 premiere, she found herself drawn right back to it in "Prior Criminal History." When she visited Mary's secret clinic to have her Kryptonite wound checked out, she was faced with Team Batwoman's latest conundrum. Footage of the Crows shooting to kill Batwoman without warning had leaked to the press, so a protest was organized in support of the Scarlet Knight -- and Alice had terrible plans for that event. As such, they recruited Ryan to pose as Batwoman and urge the protestors to go home so everyone would be safe from Alice's machinations.
Ryan agreed to this plan, and so she appeared on a nearby rooftop dressed in the Batwoman suit during the protests. She told the protestors to go home, but they were too excited by her arrival to listen. She was busy trying to get this message across that she didn't notice Alice's arrival until she appeared on the rooftop behind her.
"You've got them fooled," Alice chuckled as she stepped onto the roof. "But not me. I don't know who you are, but you're not Batwoman."
Without saying a word, Ryan turned and jumped off the ledge, circling closer to Alice. "Ryan, talk to me," Luke said urgently, only for her to shoot him down: "I'm a little busy right now."
"Do not engage, because she's a killer," Luke insisted nonetheless.
"I am well aware of that," Ryan snarled.
"What exactly are you doing in my sister's hand-me-downs?" Alice asked, her lip curling in disgust.
"The one thing she wouldn't do," Ryan spat. "I'm going to kill you."
That startled Luke, who immediately tried to deescalate the situation. "Okay, look. I know what she did to your mom and I get what she took away from you, but Batwoman does not kill," he told her.
"Well, like you said: I'm not Batwoman," she shot back.
"I cannot let you do this," he said, only for her to reply, "Don't think you're in a position to stop me." With that, she disengaged her comms so that she could face Alice alone, without Luke and Mary in her ear.
A fight between Alice and Ryan ensued, while Luke and Mary debated what to do next back at the Batcave. "I knew we should have never let her near that suit," he announced, turning an accusing eye on Mary, who retorted, "Can you blame her? After everything that Alice has done?"
When Luke expressed surprise at her reaction, Mary's expression changed to cold fury. "You know what I'm really not okay with? Everybody just expecting me to get over the fact that Alice killed my mom, and maybe if Kate had done what Ryan is trying to do, she'd still be alive!" she cried.
"You willing to bet Kate's legacy on that?" he asked, but they never had a chance to find out, because Alice used her defeat at Ryan's hands to launch her plan. As toxic bats descended on the protestors below, Ryan was forced to choose between exacting her revenge on Alice and the innocent lives at stake. She ultimately let Alice go to save the people instead, leaving the Wonderland Gang leader alive to fight another day.
Ryan isn't the first Bat to grapple with this particular problem. In Season 1, Kate strangled Dr. August Cartwright to death in a fit of rage when he revealed he had desecrated her mother's body. Although she tried to resuscitate Cartwright, it was too late, and so she had broken Batman's cardinal rule. This left her in a tailspin as she processed her guilt and second-guessed her worthiness to wear the cowl.
As it turns out, Kate wasn't alone in that. To assuage her guilt over Cartwright's death, Luke heavily implied Batman had killed the Joker. "Ever wonder why the Joker hasn't reared his head in five years? He's not in Arkham, Kate. Both you and Bruce stared into the abyss. The question is: how long are you going to let it stare back at you?" he said at the time. However, Luke's tune seems to have changed in the wake of Kate's disappearance, as it appears he does not trust Ryan as much at this point in the narrative.
Airing Sundays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, Batwoman stars Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, Rachel Skarsten as Alice, Meagan Tandy as Sophie Moore, Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox, Dougray Scott as Jacob Kane and Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton-Kane.
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