The Final Joke

"The Final Joke" is the thirteenth and final episode of the first season of Harley Quinn. It is the thirteenth episode of the series overall. It was released on February 21, 2020 on DC Universe.

Synopsis[]

In the season finale, Harley has her final showdown with the Joker, when [spoilers] [spoil] [spoilers]. Will they [spoiler]? Maybe. But you can bet they [spoiler]!

Plot[]

The crew gathers in Gotham Central Park to bury Poison Ivy. Harley and Kite Man are too distraught to speak, while Clayface gives a touching (albeit juvenile, having copied it from Star Trek) eulogy. After the burial is finished, an angry Harley is now driven to kill Joker once and for all, but is warned by Doctor Psycho that they will need a plan first. At the Bat Signal, Harley meets Batman and Commissioner Gordon, and convinces a reluctant Batman to help them take Joker down.

The crew approaches Joker's tower, with Clayface disguised as a tied-up Batman, while the real Batman drops into the tower from the air. Believing Clayface to be a birthday present, Joker insists on Harley singing him "Happy Birthday", to which she plays along. However, Clayface is unable resist singing along, giving the ruse away to Joker.

Harley launches a rocket at his tower and knocks the Joker aside, but this distracts the real Batman long enough for the Joker to escape into an air-tight chamber. Gas immediately floods the room, knocking Batman out. The Joker then captures the rest of Harley's crew and places a bounty on Harley's head.

Feminist torture — The Joker torturing Doctor Psycho with feminism

Joker spends the next week torturing his captives (prying out King Shark's for a necklace; forcing Dr. Psycho to watch non-stop footage of feminist rallies; spinning Clayface around like a clay jar in an art class; pushing Sy down a tall flight of stairs) while ruling Gotham with an iron fist (regularly telling jokes on TV and sending vans to kill anyone who doesn't laugh). He also taunts the populace by using the captured Batman in a giant cuckoo clock.

❝ Half the fun was the mystery between us. Now I know Batman is just some rich asshole with parental issues!"
"That's really reductive. ❞

— Joker vents about the ruined Dark Knight mystique

Eventually, though, he grows bored with the torture. Hoping to cheer up his ally, Scarecrow removes Batman's mask and reveals his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. Joker is outraged that Scarecrow ruined the "mystery," and so kills him with acid. while scolding Bruce about Wayne Enterprises' delayed electric car.

Uncertain of what to do and deeply missing her best friend, Harley returns to Ivy's grave, where she finds Kite Man and Frank having taken up residence at the spot. Kite Man informs Harley of Joker's plan to kill her crew to headline an 80's themed party, so Harley decides to confront Joker in a last-ditch gambit. As she walks away, one of the roses she placed on Ivy's grave blossoms and sheds a tear.

Harley old outfit — Harley Quinn back in her old outfit

Harley returns to Joker's tower with dynamite strapped to her chest, threatening to kill herself if he does not release her crew. Per her suspicion, Joker does want her alive, so he lets her into the tower. In his penthouse, Joker demands that she put on her old jester costume. Harley refuses and threatens to kill them both with her bomb; she is only stopped by the fact that her crew will also die in the blast. She finds herself reluctantly putting the costume on once more, and Joker releases her crew, who are touched that she would risk her life to save them.

Joker launches into a speech about how Harley needs him as much as he needs her. Harley feigns gullibility to get close enough to Joker and stab him. Unfortunately, he tries the exact same thing at the exact same moment, and the two get into a knife fight. Harley is ultimately overwhelmed and defeated. She dares the Joker to just kill her already, but Joker makes it clear he never intended to kill her, but rather "erase" her.

Harley is taken to a room with a vat of chemicals that Joker explains will erase her memories and abilities as Harley Quinn once she is thrown in. However, she notices vines starting to grow on the side of the vat, and grins knowingly. She convinces Joker to let her jump in as her one last act of defiance. He leaves her to it and struts away victorious.

Joker
You're nothing without me!
Harley
You always made me believe that, but it's not true! I have friends that love and care about me. I am moving on with my life with the people that matter, and that ain't you, Puddin'.
— Harley empowers viewers in abusive relationships

Joker, however, doesn't hear a splash, and when he turns around, Harley has been lifted up by the vines, which are being controlled by a resurrected Ivy. The vines quickly dispose of Joker's goons before hanging the madman himself over the chemicals. Harley scolds him for his treatment of her in the past and how she now has friends that treat her with the respect she deserves. At Harley's request, Ivy drops him into the acid. The two girls embrace, and Harley is in awe that her tears brought Ivy back to life. Although Ivy insists it was merely "the renewing power of nature," she adds the tears played a part in it to cheer Harley up.

Failing to escape the vat, Joker triggers a bomb that starts to destroy the tower and most of Gotham (with an 8.6 earthquake). Batman is able to escape his bonds and rushes to the chemical room just in time to save Harley and Ivy from a collapsing roof, but is apparently crushed himself. The two are forced to evacuate while unsure if the Dark Knight survived.

As Gotham descends into chaos, Harley and Ivy reunite with the crew on a nearby rooftop. Doctor Psycho and King Shark praise Harley, while Ivy points out she was able to get rid of Joker, the Justice League, and the Legion of Doom, as well as sending Gotham into anarchy. As they watch the city burn, Harley marvels wistfully: "It's so beautiful."

Joker transitions to normality — The Joker's hand changes color

In the rubble of his tower, Joker's hand emerges with a maniacal laugh. The hand's skin, however, changes into a normal flesh tone, and the man's laugh loses its raspiness and fervor; the acid has apparently taken effect, turning Joker "normal".

Cast and Characters[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Matt Oberg as Kite Man
Rahul Kohli as Scarecrow

Cameos[]

Trivia[]

Clayface borrows his eulogy speech at Poison Ivy's funeral from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The Joker's greeting card is a reference to the episode "Surf's Up! Joker's Under!" from the 1966 television series Batman.
Scarecrow was also the one to unmask Batman in Batman: Arkham Knight.
Joker is shown reading Infinite Jest, although Harley notes that his copy's spine lacks creases, hinting that he just pretends to read it.
Harley mockingly asks Joker if he wants her to put on Legally Blonde which is a call-back to the first episode.
Just like in Heroes in Crisis, Ivy's connection to nature allows her to survive a seemingly mortal wound.
When Ivy confronts the Joker, a vine is wrapped around her stomach, but in the next frame, the vine disappears.
Gotham is caught in an artificial earthquake, which is what happened in Batman: Cataclysm and resulted in the Batman: No Man's Land storyline.
- No Man's Land was also the crossover event that introduced the character of Harley Quinn to the comic continuity in Batman: Harley Quinn.
- The fact that the Joker is responsible for the creation of No Man's Land in Harley Quinn appears to be an allusion to the Gotham episode "A Dark Knight: No Man's Land", in which the show's version of the Joker also used explosives to cause the No Man's Land event.
The Joker's hand reaching out is a nod to the 1989 film Batman, but inverted here, as now his hand turns normal instead of discolored and deformed.
The reward on the wanted posters first reads as $10.000.000 (ten million) and later changes to $1.000.000 (one million) before turning back to $10.000.000 again.