WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Rule #1," the latest episode of Batwoman, which aired Sunday on The CW.
As it turns out, Kate Kane never strayed too far from Gotham City. "Rule #1," the latest episode of Batwoman, revealed she has been held captive by Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, since her plane crashed in the Season 2 premiere. To make matters worse, he also has some dire plans for her.
When the episode picked up, Team Batwoman finally got some closure -- or so they believed. After Julia Pennyworth found "evidence" of Kate's death, the Kane family held a small funeral to say goodbye. However, Ryan Wilder did not attend since she had no civilian connection to her predecessor, and so memorialized Kate by writing another letter to her.
"Unbeknownst to us, Julia Pennyworth spent months with the recovery team, combing the ocean floor for any sign of you," Ryan revealed in a voice-over narration. "She found something called a parietal skull bone in the shores outside of Bludhaven, had three different labs match it to your DNA. It was enough to confirm you're gone."
Unfortunately for Kate, tales of her death were wildly exaggerated. She is alive, if not well; as shown last week, she has sustained some grievous injuries, particularly to her face. What's more, she is currently being held in a dingy cell somewhere deep in Gotham's underbelly, where Roman Sionis -- dressed as Black Mask -- appeared to her with bad tidings. "Your family has declared you dead, Kate Kane," he told her gleefully. "But sit tight. We'll make them believe in life after death."
Of course, Sionis is more than the leader of the False Face Society. In his public life, he is the CEO of Janus Cosmetics, which gives him power over the public in addition to Gotham's criminal underbelly. In fact, after he orchestrated the Gotham City Police Department Commissioner's death as Black Mask, Sionis t0ok to TV to lambast the GCPD's failures.
"You know, it shouldn't take a business person to step in here, but I have made a career out of concealing blemishes and quite frankly, the makeover this city needs comes from an ugly I've never seen before. So yes, I am here to speak on behalf of the people without a platform, like the hundreds who work for me who say they're scared to death," he said. "They are scared to death of the criminal element lurking behind masks. But I'm not here to beg for help today. I'm here to offer it to the law enforcement in charge of protecting us. What can we do, hm? How can we help you? Because enough is enough."
Even as Sionis made moves as both Black Mask and Janus' CEO, Team Batwoman was on his heels, even if they didn't know it yet. As they investigated the Commissioner's death, Sophie Moore's sister Jordan came forward as a witness. She wasn't able to give them many details, but one resonated personally with Ryan. When Jordan pointed out that the getaway driver wore a bracelet shaped like a key, Ryan realized it was part of the matching set her ex-girlfriend Angelique gave her -- which indicated Angelique was involved.
So Ryan struck a deal with Angelique. If Angelique promised to turn on her accomplices, Ryan promised Batwoman and Sophie would protect her. After some initial hesitation, Angelique agreed in order to get back into Ryan's good graces, but Ryan wasn't the only one who noticed Angelique's change of heart. Black Mask sent his men to kidnap her and coerce her into taking the fall for the Commissioner's death for such a betrayal.
Once she realized Angelique had been abducted, Ryan flew to her aid. Upon infiltrating the False Face Society's hideout, she took out several of his men, but was soon outnumbered. They knocked her out and tied her up, with Black Mask himself presiding over her near-execution. Before he killed her with a giant buzzsaw, however, he revealed his vendetta against Batwoman and defended himself after she called him "a sadistic drug lord."
"Okay, I can see why you might think that, but it's Gotham that's sadistic, not me," he rebutted. "They say the best way to change the system is from within."
"You're not changing crap," Ryan spat.
"And you are?" Black Mask shot back.
"Doing my best," she retorted. "Every damn day."
"Your best isn't good enough," he hissed. "And I know that better than anyone. My daughter was imprisoned by the Crows, then killed by Batwoman." When Ryan insisted she hadn't killed anyone, he continued, "But you've taken on the symbol of the woman who did, so tell me: is that change, or is that just pandering to a sick city that worships extremist Crows and Bats? Maybe you wouldn't bother me so much if I said I was a squirrel."
"You've really convinced yourself this creepy mask is a symbol for, what, a concerned citizen?" she asked, to which he replied, "No. It's a symbol of liberation from people like you: people who think they'll never be held accountable as long as they pretend what they do is justice."
Once he'd had enough of their conversation, Black Mask signaled his henchman to kill Ryan. Fortunately, Sophie arrived just in time to save her, thanks to a tip from Luke. They managed to rescue Angelique and get away safely, but the damage was done. Black Mask threatened to kill Ryan if Angelique didn't confess to the murder, and so that's exactly what Angelique did. As a result, the Crows sent her to prison, deeply upsetting everyone who knew the truth.
Meanwhile, Black Mask returned to Kate's cell, this time with a friend: Enigma, the woman who helped Safiyah erase Alice's memories of Ocean. When she saw Kate, Enigma wondered what had happened to her face. "She fought my men while they were pulling her from the plane. Didn't go so well for her," he explained.
"I suppose it's for the best," Enigma mused. "Facial recognition leads to memory recall. Leave us."
Without another word, Black Mask obliged, leaving Enigma and Kate alone together in the cell. Enigma bent down beside Kate and introduced herself. Then, with a look of disgust, she pulled Kate's necklace away. "You won't be needing this anymore," she announced. "It's time to say goodbye to Kate Kane."
With that, the episode closed on a dire note for Kate. Since Enigma can erase and change memories, she can help Black Mask mold Kate into whoever he wants her to be. Considering she told Kate to say goodbye to her own identity, they're likely working to transform her into an entirely new person, with potentially fake memories. Further, since Krypton alum Wallis Day is coming in to play a new version of the character, Kate won't even look the same, which means her friends and family won't recognize her -- even as she fails to recognize herself. This could send her on a collision course with Team Batwoman just as they come to terms with her "death."
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, Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton-Kane and Wallis Day as Kate Kane. New episodes air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
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