WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker Episode 2, "Best Friends, For Never," streaming now on HBO Max.

In Peacemaker, the protagonist's father, Auggie Smith, doesn't make the best first impression. Veteran character actor Robert Patrick plays him as a curmudgeon irritated at his son's early return from prison. Peacemaker's mission with the Suicide Squad doesn't earn him any respect with his father either, especially after he learns that the rat-phobic Bloodsport is the one who shot him in Corto Maltese.

Auggie comes off as a bad father and a bigot who encourages his son to use his helmets to kill anyone who's not a white Protestant. He does seem to have one redeeming quality over the comic book Peacemaker's father, in that he's not a literal Nazi ghost haunting his son. However, the second episode of Peacemaker shows that Auggie fails to clear even that low bar when it's revealed that he's the DC Extended Universe version of a white-supremacist villain from the Suicide Squad comics.

RELATED: Peacemaker Confirms Batman’s Strangest Doppelganger Exists in the DCEU

Auggie is set up by Peacemaker's handlers to take the fall for his son's run-in with Butterfly Annie Sturphausen, which left her dead. Any sympathy he might elicit for being railroaded by a black-ops team is negated when he arrives in prison. After he threatens a Black inmate's life for being in his "spot," it's revealed Auggie is the White Dragon, who commands the loyalty of the prison's white-supremacist inmates.

Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith in Peacemaker

The White Dragon is a supervillain identity that's been passed around a bit. The first White Dragon, William Heller, has a history with the Suicide Squad. That started in 1987's Suicide Squad #4, by John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Todd Klein and Carl Gafford. Heller had a personal connection with Deadshot: They were acquainted as children since they both came from wealthy families. Although it would be a stretch to call them friends, Deadshot sympathized with his loner nature and drive to be the best at everything he did.

RELATED: Peacemaker: One ARGUS Team Member Hides a Massive Secret

In a spin on Batman's origin, only child Heller lost his parents in a race riot. He was radicalized by his Nazi sympathizer grandfather, who was alleged to have done business with Germany in World War II. After his grandfather's death, Heller inherited his fortune and used it to fund multiple white supremacist groups. That included one he founded himself, the Aryan Empire.

In an attempt to further his goals, he took on the identity of William Hell, a vigilante who publicly vowed to clean up a troubled neighborhood but only arrested minorities (something Auggie hoped Peacemaker would do with his helmet). That put him on the Squad's radar. Impersonating William Hell, Deadshot gave a speech of racial unity, drawing the real Hell out. That allowed the Squad to discredit him in front of his followers with some help, as Atom villain Chronos insured Hell would lose a game of William Tell. After Deadshot unmasked him, Heller's reputation was ruined.

RELATED: HBO Max Presents the Venn Diagram for Peacemaker, Titans and Doom Patrol

Heller took on the White Dragon identity when he joined the neo-Nazi villain team The Fourth Reich. That included an armored upgrade to his costume. He joined their mission to wipe out the descendants of patriotic superheroes. The group was able to achieve some of their goals, but they were ultimately defeated by the Justice Society of America, with Hawkman taking down Heller. That left him open to being drafted to the Suicide Squad in Ostrander's 2007 return to the title, alongside artists Javier Piña, Jesús Saíz and Robin Riggs.

White Dragon DC Comics

Heller was recruited by Amanda Waller but couldn't handle taking orders from her and attempted to kill her. Waller easily thwarted him by booby-trapping his armor with electric shocks. When presented with the opportunity to side with the General, Captain Atom's old handler who went rogue and implanted his brain in the body of indestructible villain The Shaggy Man, Heller jumped at it. Their attempt to overthrow Waller's loyalists was foiled, with Heller being killed by Plastique, who was avenging her friend Twister's death at Heller's hands.

Making Chris Smith's father the White Dragon in Peacemaker is an interesting choice, especially given that he's the man behind Peacemaker's helmets. He could have easily been the original Peacemaker, which would explain his resentment of his son not living up to his standards, racist and otherwise. Writer-director James Gunn combined the White Dragon with Peacemaker's Nazi father from the comics to create a character that helps explain why Chris is the way he is. He also can't help but make Peacemaker look better by comparison, a "generational step up," as Gunn puts it.

To see Peacemaker's brutal family dynamics, catch the first three episodes on HBO Max. New episodes air weekly on Thursdays.

KEEP READING: Peacemaker Reveals Batman's Public Image Has Changed Dramatically Since Justice League