WARNING: The following article includes spoilers for Batwoman Season 1, Episode 7, "Tell Me the Truth," which aired Sunday on The CW.

Ever since Batwoman premiered, Kate Kane’s romance with Sophie Moore, and its abrupt ending, has been a source of pain and conflict for both the superhero and the second-in-command of the Crows. The latest episode, “Tell Me the Truth,” delved deeper into what happened between the pair in military school and where they stand today.

During a recent Q&A, showrunner Caroline Dries and actor Meagan Tandy, who plays Sophie, talked to CBR and other outlets about Sophie’s ongoing conflict over her sexuality, Jacob’s role in the breakup, and why Kate will struggle with her identity as Batwoman.

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We’ve known since the first episode that Kate and Sophie’s relationship was in violation of their military school’s rules and that, while Kate stood up for the relationship and got kicked out, Sophie denied it and graduated. Dries explained the thinking that went into the storyline.

“The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ was innate to the actual comic books that we’re emulating," Dries said. "And what we did is we just did a spin on it because Sophie and Kate were a little bit too young to be in the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ climate, but they would have maybe felt the affects of it at West Point if they had gone there. So… we created Point Rock Academy, which was a fictional school, that had the same sort of rules as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.'

“Then I felt way more comfortable working within our timeline and staying true to historically what happened… To the point of being as conscientious and aware of the history as possible because it is totally a big deal and… I’m feeling like kids who watch this show, like the younger teens where being gay is accepted, it’s weird to think in the military… there was literally something called ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ So I think it will be interesting for people to watch.”

Yet, while Kate is out and proud, Sophie is far more conflicted, even in the present-day storyline in which she’s married to a man. “There’s been a lot of online criticism about how we’re handling Sophie….,” Dries acknowledged. “[Fans] feel like we’re not going fast enough with Sophie’s story and her coming out and her being comfortable with who she is, facing her love for Kate, stuff like that….

“You have to remember that Sophie is so deeply closeted that the amount of shame fogging everything she does and every step she takes is so debilitating and uncomfortable for her. And that’s where we’re coming from for this character. It’s just pure shame…. It doesn’t just go away overnight, there are all of these baby steps to being comfortable with who you are…. I think there’s a very long journey and I want Meagan’s character to be able to go through that…”

Yet, Tandy said that Sophie was relieved to share her past relationship with Kate with her husband, Tyler, although it has the potential to lead to more uncomfortable questions. “Now that [Sophie’s] finally told [Tyler], that in and of itself is a weight completely lifted off her shoulders,” Tandy observed. “Especially at the very end [of the episode] there, she’s like ‘Hey, it’s all about you, you’re the one I’ve always loved.’

“But I think naturally this is a bomb [Sophie’s] dropping on him that he never even knew in the past and I think he’s going to have some questions about it. And I don’t think he’s just going to leave it alone at that. He’s going to want a little bit more information about it.”

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Tandy also talked about the reason behind Sophie’s past decision. “I think part of why she made that choice in military school is so that she can have these types of opportunities to be second-in-command [of the Crows],” Tandy said. “And so for Sophie it’s not anything that’s ever really handed to her…. It’s something that she worked for and earned and trained for, which is one of the very reasons why she stayed at the military school.”

Yet, it was only after a discussion with Kate’s father and Sophie’s current boss, Jacob Kane, that Sophie decided to torpedo her relationship with Kate and do what she needed to stay in school. Despite his role in what happened, Dries said she didn’t feel Jacob was the bad guy in the situation.

“We didn’t think of [Jacob Kane] as ruining [Kate and Sophie’s relationship],” Dries noted. “When Natalie [Abrams] and I wrote [the episode] we were like: what is the most grounded way of making Jacob approach this? He is… very pragmatic. And is like, ‘here are the facts’ And Kate is like ‘we got this, we can do this and her hope blinds her.’ Whereas Jacob is like, ‘Look I’ve been out in the real world. This is how the real world works. You do you.’

“And I think he gave [Sophie] a gift," Dries added, “because the reality is [she] probably would have gotten kicked out. What’s your next step? [She] and Kate go on a yacht together and then [she realizes], ‘Oh I don’t have a job, I don’t have a college education.’ And it’s just the whirlwind of Kate would have died out. So I think of him as giving [Sophie] everything. But [she] still has to go on [her] next journey of figuring out who [she] is.”

While Sophie is still grappling with her sexuality, Kate will be struggling with different issues related to her identity as a lesbian. As the show continues, she’ll attempt to balance dating with her role as Batwoman, while also confronting the realities of having a secret superhero identity.

“I want to keep the fact that [Kate’s] a lesbian part of the fabric of the show,” Dries said. “So she’s going to continue to try to have a personal life outside of her superhero-ness or within being a superhero. She’s a person who falls in love, she’s a human being. So that is definitely going to continue to be a conflict.

“And also one of the things we’re going to explore is this idea that she is a gay woman who’s always been comfortable with being gay, it’s never been an issue. And now she’s literally changing her identity and Gotham is assuming that she’s straight. And that’s going to be something that starts to irk her.”

Why would the residents of Gotham assume Batwoman is straight? Dries would only say, “You’ll see.”

However, it comes about, though, Kate will be confronting the reality of her dual identities. “I think it makes her question, ‘What am I actually doing?’” Dries continued, “‘I’m a symbol. What is the point? What am I actually accomplishing being this person that nobody knows who I actually am?’ It makes her ask some hard questions. “

Created by Caroline Dries and developed by Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott, Elizabeth Anweis and Nicole Kang. The series airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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