If there’s been a specific theme running through Batwoman’s first season, it’s loss. From the very pilot episode of The CW‘s latest Arrowverse series, viewers have seen the life of Kate Kane/Batwoman (Ruby Rose) defined the tragic loss of her mother and twin sister, Beth, when both died in a terrible car accident. While Kate later finds out that her twin did not actually die and has, instead, become the villainous Alice, that itself is a kind of loss and is followed soon by other losses as well. Kate’s stepmother, Catherine, is murdered because of Alice’s machinations and her father, Jacob, ends up in jail accused of the crime. One can even argue that Kate has to deal with the loss of an entire world thanks to the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, though the existence of the new Earth-Prime alleviates that and brings with it a bit of justice: a “good” version of Beth from another Earth who survived that car accident years before, offering Kate a chance to at long last have the sister she’s missed. Unfortunately, that peace doesn’t last long and in tonight’s “Take Your Choice,” Kate once again has to say goodbye to someone important to her — this time with a heartbreaking twist.
Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Batwoman, “Take Your Choice”, below.
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As was established at the end of the Batwoman midseason premiere, while there is now a “good” Beth Kane and the wicked Alice (both played by Rachel Skarsten) on Earth-Prime, something isn’t right. Both women are suddenly afflicted with horrific migraines and very quickly in “Take Your Choice” Kate (Ruby Rose), Luke (Camrus Johnson), and Mary (Nicole Kang) figure out why. Earth-Prime is literally only big enough for one Beth Kane which means that one of will have to die in order to stop the suffering of the other and restore cosmic balance. As Beth puts it, she is “an anomaly of galactic proportions”.
While Kate is understandably reluctant to deal with the idea that one of her sisters has to die the reality is that there is no avoiding it and a solution is found, thanks to Alice. When Alice had Catherine and Mary both poisoned, the antidote that ended up saving Mary’s life wasn’t just a fix for the poison. It was a cure for literally everything, so rare that the one dose Mary took was all that exists. That cure still remains as part of Mary’s blood meaning that the solution of how to stop the rapid and terrible cellular decline of either Beth or Alice is literally in Mary’s veins. The catch? They can only use Mary’s blood to cure one version of Beth Kane. Attempting to save them both would result in both of them dying. With time rapidly running out, Kate has to make a heartbreaking choice and she ultimately decides to save the “good” Beth, though she stays with Alice and holds her darker sister while the tortured woman breaths her last.
Alice dies. Beth lives. But it ends up being not quite that simple. Because Alice is being hunted by the Crows, Luke attempts to hurry Beth out of Gotham to safety. They make it away from the forces hunting her, but while Beth and Luke talk, Beth is fatally shot and not by one of the crows. She’s shot by Dr. Ethan Campbell who was previously in the episode revealed to be August Cartwright, Mouse’s father wearing a false face, who is determined to end Alice for turning Mouse against him. Beth dies in Luke’s arms.
And across town, Alice suddenly comes back to life in Kate’s and is none-to-pleased that her sister chose a “perfect” Beth over her. Kate made her choice and now, she will have to live with the consequences — whatever they may be.
Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.
