Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Batwoman episode “Trust Destiny.” Read at your own risk!
Batwoman had two versions of Poison Ivy on the loose in its latest episode, sort of. Poison Ivy is, of course, a name that speaks for itself, but I daresay both versions were outshone by Marquis Jet, who effectively crowned himself as Batwoman's version of the Joker. Marquis and Ryan’s rivalry just got a lot more interesting, and it’s thanks in large part to Mary.
Mary seemed to embrace her Poison Ivy persona well enough and used her influence to invade Marquis Jet’s party/job interview for a new Board of Directors. The two shared a lovely dance, and Mary whispered in his ear something that was very intriguing. That little something turned out to be the identities of Batwoman and Batwing, and now Marquis knows all about his sister Ryan and Luke's side gigs.
The information all led up to a rooftop showdown, in which Batwoman held Mary hostage in an attempt to dissuade Marquis from killing Luke. Ultimately, Ryan’s only play was to use a serum to dehydrate Pamela Ivey (who is also Poison Ivy like Mary), which immediately incapacitated Marquis and, according to Luke, might kill him.
Luke isn’t sure Marquis’ death would be a bad thing, and I’m sure many Batwoman viewers agree. At the very least, Marquis is aware that Luke and Ryan are Batwing and Batwoman and possibly any more information that Mary knew like the location of the Bat Cave. Marquis Jet openly admitted he wanted to be the Joker to Ryan’s Batwoman, which is a pretty terrifying admission.
It’s clear that Marquis Jet can’t be allowed to fulfill his Joker fantasies, but at the same time, Ryan just can’t let her brother die. As she mentioned earlier in Batwoman, it’s still not certain if Marquis was always headed down this path or his childhood encounter with Joker (and his joy buzzer) is the root cause for all of this. If it’s the latter, it doesn’t seem right to let her brother die when there’s a chance his condition might be reversed, or at the very least managed.
Unfortunately, Ryan and Luke don’t really have an answer for how to save Marquis, stop his violent tendencies, or solve the problem of him knowing both their identities. Plus, they now have to worry about stopping two Poison Ivys, as the episode’s end saw Pamela Ivey brought back from her desiccated state by Renee. Basically, Batwoman has some major issues to face (thankfully not behind-the-scenes) in the back half of Season 3, so it’ll be interesting to see how she solves them.
Batwoman airs on The CW on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET in the 2022 winter TV season. I know it’s bad for Ryan, but I’m kind of hoping we see Marquis’ Joker realized before the end of the season. After all, it’s not often we see this character in live-action!
