Gotham: What’s Next for Theo Galavan?

Spoilers Ahead for Gotham season 2 fall finale episode, “Worse than a Crime!” Do not read further if you don’t want to be spoiled!

The fall finale of Gotham had major changes for several characters, with big moments for Bruce Wayne, Silver St. Cloud, Tabitha Galavan, Lee Tompkins, Jim Gordon, and even Alfred and Selina having a couple major moments.

But none (and this is your last spoiler warning) changed quite as much as Theo Galavan.

Theo was killed, and quite thoroughly so. Being brought down to the docks by Jim Gordon and Penguin, Theo was beaten nearly to death with a baseball bat, then shot, then had an umbrella jammed down his throat. The dude is dead. So why are we doing a “What’s next” article about him? Well, because of where he went after he died.

Theo showed up not in the morgue, but in the Indian Hill secret research facility. The person checking him in even ominously said, “Professor Strange has big plans for this one.” So, what did she mean? Here are a few of our best guesses as to what Theo could become.

Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday (at 8pm on FOX)

Solomon Grundy as a character has direct connections to Gotham City, and to resurrection. In the comics, he’s a man named Cyrus Gold who died in the 1800s. Resurrected as a zombie, he’s destined to die and come back in a vicious cycle. One of the times he was revived in the comics was by a character only called “The Professor,” who we could very easily use as an inspiration for Hugo Strange’s involvement here. Turning Theo “Dumas” into their version of Solomon Grundy would be a crazy jump into the supernatural, but it would also be an interesting way to tie two parts of Gotham history together.

Azrael

We’ve speculated already about what role Azrael will play on Gotham, since EP John Stephens revealed to us that he will be part of the Order of St. Dumas story. Perhaps here, we’ll see a resurrected/revived Theo Galavan fill that role for the Order. Returning with vengeance on the mind, Theo could then serve as a twisted inspiration to a young man who seeks revenge himself, giving us a unique completion of the circle between the Wayne and Dumas families.

A Talon of the Court of Owls

The other major tease we’ve received from an EP this year is that the Court of Owls is planned for a Gotham storyline – at least at some point. Bruce saying owls are his favorite animal in this episode was a nice little tip of the hat to that, but what if this is also the start of something more? In the comic books, the Court uses unique methods of resurrection to bring forth their near-invulnerable warriors known as Talons. They each have connections to Gotham City’s history, as well. We’ll call this one the least likely possibility for now, though, as showrunner Bruno Heller also told us he didn’t want the Court to muddle the Dumas story. That could’ve been throwing us off the scent, though, so it’s at least a possibility.