WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Harley Quinn Season 1, streaming now on DC Universe.
In DC Universe's Harley Quinn animated TV series, Harley and Poison Ivy's relationship has been fleshed out pretty well. Harley turned to Ivy to help her ger over the Joker and support her in wanting to start a crew to help her get into the Legion of Doom. The plan came to fruition but Harley got the promotion by mistreating her friends, which eventually led to Ivy getting snatched by the eco-terrorists known as the Planetwide Pavers.
With Scarecrow experimenting on her, the show's newest episode, "Harley Quinn Highway," finds the squad trying to get Ivy back but as they peer into her mind, they uncover her darkest secret. Interestingly enough, the secret they unlock could well lead to Harley and Ivy's romance from the comics.
In DC Elseworlds such as DCeased and the Injustice realm, Harley and Ivy have been romantically entangled, expanding on their close-knit bond from mainstream books like Gotham City Sirens. The relationship is so popular that fans have been vocal about wanting to see them together in a follow-up to Birds of Prey. The intriguing thing is the duo has always felt like an organic couple who genuinely care for each other and risk their lives time and time again, something that's been apparent in the animated Harley Quinn.
When Harley and her team do find Ivy in Scarecrow's lab, she's been tranquilized and they have to enter her mind using Dr. Psycho's mental powers, the same way they did for Harley earlier this season. In Ivy's mind, they find the tragedies haunting their friend, such as abusive parents, lack of friends and people who want to destroy the planet. But when they eventually find a reaper in her mind, the big mystery becomes who's under the hood. This person is the one Ivy fears most and when they finally manage to kill the ghoul, the crew is shocked to find it's Harley.
Eventually, they rescue Ivy and Harley keeps pressing her as to what the revelation means. She doesn't get why Ivy's scared of her. As they hunt Scarecrow's team down, Ivy tries to avoid it until a car chase where she confesses her feelings. It's not a romantic admission per se but Ivy is afraid of getting close to Harley because she might be betrayed. Now, on the surface, it could just be a friendly connection but when Ivy scolds Harley, there's clearly something beneath the surface. Ivy hates the idea of being abandoned by someone she trusts and she reveals she resents Harley for being with the Joker instead of helping her when she needed it. Ivy talks about how Harley keeps running back to Joker, and there's a bit of sting there as Ivy seems to have feelings for her long-time friend. Adding even more fuel to the fire is the fact Harley killed Kite-Man in Ivy's psyche.
Kite Man has been hitting on Ivy throughout but no matter what, even on a date, Ivy's distracted. It's clear her preoccupation now is with Harley and the reaper could represent her love for Harley killing off other romantic prospects. As for the fear, it may be that she's afraid if she eliminates all potential lovers, hoping Harley comes around, she could end up alone. Her sadistic parents teased her about being abandoned but it appears that Harley may be coming around, ready to reciprocate the feelings her best friend has.
DC Universe's Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Diedrich Bader, Alan Tudyk, Rahul Kohli, Christopher Meloni, Tony Hale, Ron Funches, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Jim Rash, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander and J.B. Smoove. New episodes are released on Fridays.