Batwoman: How That “Pilot” Twist Compares to the Comics

The CW’s Batwoman officially made its debut tonight, providing a unique twist on the origin story of Kate Kane/Batwoman (Ruby Rose). The first episode included a pretty interesting mix of comic-accurate elements and new narrative territory — down to one iconic moment from Batwoman‘s most beloved comic run. The episode’s final scene put a major plot twist front and center in Kate’s mind, which may have made a major impact on where the series is going next. Spoilers for the Batwoman pilot below! Only look if you want to know!

The episode saw Kate Kane returning to Gotham City under unexpected circumstances after her ex-girlfriend Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy) was kidnapped by members of the Wonderland Gang. At the center of the gang was Alice (Rachel Skarsten), a mysterious woman who clearly had a bone to pick with Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and with the Batman-less Gotham at the start of the series. Over the course of the episode, Kate began to question her relationship with the Caped Crusader, after she believed he was responsible for the deaths of her mother and twin sister, Elizabeth.

Ultimately, Kate learned that Batman was none other than her cousin Bruce Wayne, and that he had spent years feeling deep regret over the Kane family’s deaths. She then decided that the best way to rescue Sophie would be while wearing a Batsuit, and asked Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) to modify Bruce’s suit so she could wear it.

Wearing the modified Batsuit, Kate confronted the Wonderland Gang as they attempted to blow up an outdoor event in Gotham City. She saved Sophie, but not before being attacked by a dagger thrown by Alice. Later on, Kate inspected the dagger — and realized that it contained the same gemstone that Elizabeth wore around her necklace as a child. As if it wasn’t clear enough, Alice held a Polaroid photo taken of Elizabeth and Kate shortly before the crash, and remarked that she and her sister would rule Gotham together.

Yes, that’s right. Kate and Alice are sisters.

While new fans of the series will surely be surprised by this notion, it was originally explored in a surprisingly-different way in Detective Comics #857, the final chapter of the iconic Batwoman: Elegy arc. After Alice and her Religion of Crime set out to drown Gotham in poisonous gas, Batwoman quickly intervened. The pair began to fight on the wing of a plane, and Kate tried to grab of Alice before she fell. Alice ultimately remarked “You have our father’s eyes”, revealing her true identity to Kate, before stabbing her with a poisonous knife and plunging to her death.

While this revelation has impacted Kate and Elizabeth’s relationship in subsequent Batwoman arcs, the notion that Kate knows the twist this early on is certainly unexpected.

To an extent, the moment feels similar to the end-of-episode revelations during other Arrowverse pilots, which helped set the stage for their respective villains. Arrow revealed that Moira Queen was potentially working for the bad guys, The Flash established that Harrison Wells knew about the coming “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, and Supergirl established General Astra, Kara’s vengeful aunt. Still, considering where the Alice reveal impacts Kate in the comics, revealing it this early on adds some interesting color to upcoming episodes of Batwoman.

Batwoman airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.