WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Peacemaker, Season 1, Episode 8, "It's Cow or Never," available now on HBO Max.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Peacemaker is how intimidating Amanda Waller continued to be. She kept watch over the A.R.G.U.S. team by planting her daughter, Leota Adebayo, as a spy, eager to ensure they wouldn't backstab her like they did in The Suicide Squad.
However, just when it seemed like Waller would reap the credit for the team saving the day against the Butterflies, the Task Force X boss suffered a nasty betrayal that brought her vision for the Squad to a grinding halt.
The betrayal was telegraphed before the finale with Adebayo hurting over the diary Waller wanted her to hide in Peacemaker's trailer. Once they killed the Butterflies, the cops were meant to find it and deem Chris a domestic terrorist, making him a scapegoat with no credibility.
When the Butterflies did just that, framing him for a slew of murders, he lost it on Adebayo, admitting she was no better than her manipulative mother. This wore on her because as much as she helped the marksman find his humanity, she was healed by being around him. Adebayo realized she was neglecting Keeya (her wife) and their dogs, becoming emotionally distant and using people like pawns.
Thus, she needed to change, knowing this guilt would haunt her forever. The catalyst came when she and Chris killed the cow, cutting off the Butterflies' food source. She was stunned he didn't help the aliens because they wanted peace, but Chris admitted it'd have led to Adebayo's death, as well as the other A.R.G.U.S. teammates. Driven by this show of heart and soul, Adebayo outed Waller at a media conference regarding the clean-up, confessing she was Waller's daughter and Waller was indeed a tyrant. Adebayo shared on live TV how the sinister boss rigged bombs to people's heads and had convicts do her dirty work in fear of being killed, leaving her mom flabbergasted over her traitorous daughter.
It was a weight off Adebayo's chest as she hated carrying around these lies, losing herself to the monster her mom was creating. Adebayo promised to cooperate with the investigation, leaving fans wondering if the other teammates would snitch, what would ultimately be Waller's fate and what the government would do about the Suicide Squad being in the public domain.
It may lead to a revamped Squad where folks willingly sign up, maybe with Harcourt and Adebayo in charge in the office, and Chris running point in the field. Or it could be that Waller has trump cards up her sleeve to cover up everything and keep running the project her way. Only time will tell, but what's for certain is Waller will have Adebayo in her crosshairs for breaching their work and family code.
All eight episodes of Peacemaker Season 1 are streaming on HBO Max.