WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for "Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 2," which premiered Tuesday on The CW.
The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" certainly threw fans for a loop in the second part of the crossover event when Kevin Conroy's Earth-99 Bruce Wayne was revealed to be a hero gone mad. He killed a bunch of villains and murdered Superman in a brawl that left the Dark Knight needing a robotic exoskeleton in order to walk.
The older Bruce eventually tries to assault Supergirl with Kryptonite as the heroes come seeking the Paragon of Courage, only for Kate Kane to save Kara from the Bat who gets electrocuted and dies in the scrum. In the wake of this shocking confrontation, though, it's time to forget all about the Batman v Superman stories because The CW's officially teased Batwoman v Supergirl.
When Kate tries to reason with Bruce and come to terms with why he turned dark, it's clear he lost himself in the belly of the beast. He broke his no-kill rule after seeing numerous family members perish at the hands of his enemies, including Kate whom he believes was too naive and tried to stay on the good side for too long. When she died, that broke the Bat, and he went on his crusade, cynical as ever, which caused a rift between him and Clark Kent.
"Strange visitor from another planet comes to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men?" Bruce said. "Clark. Clark always said yes to anyone with a badge or a flag. He gave them too much power. My parents taught me a very different lesson: life only makes sense if you force it to."
The Dark Knight reiterates that Kal-El of Earth-99 was a god and Boy Scout who couldn't be trusted because if he turned rogue, the entire world would crumble at his feet. It's why he killed his former colleague and seeing another Man, well, Woman of Steel, arrive at the Wayne mansion in Kara, he takes the same actions using Kryptonite. "A little souvenir from the old home town," he explained, while Kate shielded Kara with her body. "The Kate I knew didn't trust anyone, let alone a Kryptonian."
But when his exoskeleton is broken in the melee, Bruce is shocked to death before leaving Kate a warning. "Kate, listen to me," he tells her. "There is no hope." Bruce's death clearly shook Kate but she soon learns that she's the Paragon of Courage. With this responsibility on her shoulders, Kara goes to her in the Waverider's quarters to comfort her about the burden. They bond over loss and trying to find hope to move forward but it's here Kate spots a red flag as Kara makes it clear she wants to find a way to use the Book of Destiny to bring back Earth-38 and Argo. She's still torn over the anti-matter wave killing her family and people, but Kate reminds her the Monitor spoke out against this.
The repercussions would be too dire and could further harm the Multiverse but Supergirl is adamant it's something she has to try to accomplish, especially as she's bitter the Monitor brought Lex Luthor back to life. Kara insisted heroes like Green Arrow and the billions of innocents who died get the same treatment but the Monitor emphasized this was all part of the plan. Kate accepted it but Kara hasn't and as she walks off, Kate pulls out a piece of kryptonite she took from Bruce. She looks pensively at Supergirl as she knows the Kryptonian could become a danger to them due to her desperation.
It's interesting to see Batwoman following this dark route but it's completely understandable. When the moment of truth comes, though, when Kate tells Kara she could doom them all with her selfish actions, it's a test of both characters. Batwoman warns her against using the Book and Kara asks if she can stop her, to which Kate says, "You'd be surprised." Luckily, Kara walks away, leaving Kate breathing a sigh of relief. Still, Kate's been wrestling with her own violent tendencies and giving in to the very thing she fears -- becoming a killer.
But when it's all said and done, Batwoman fought for the greater good by taking on the Woman of Steel in this verbal and oh-so intimidating joust. In the final act of the episode, when Supergirl thanks Kate for sticking up to her, Batwoman offers her the kryptonite as a peace offering, only for Kara to let her keep it, revealing she believes Kate will have the courage not to use it when the time comes. Hopefully, it doesn't because as a feminist World's Finest, they have great chemistry and people don't want to see the dynamic broken by them going to war someday.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" continues Tuesday, Jan. 14, on Arrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT and on DC's Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT.