Initiate Self-Destruct

"This is a rescue mission, not a school field trip."

—Batwoman to Alice

"Initiate Self-Destruct"
Information
Season 2 » Episode 12
Episode number	32 of 51
Original airdate	May 2, 2021
Written by	Story by: Zack Siddiqui Teleplay by: Jerry Shandy
Directed by	Glen Winter
Chronology
Preceded by	"Arrive Alive"
Followed by	"I'll Give You a Clue"

"Initiate Self-Destruct" is the twelfth episode of the second season of Batwoman, and the thirty-second episode overall. It aired on May 2, 2021.

Synopsis

Ryan is faced with a difficult decision that could expose her as Batwoman, creating a rift in the Bat Team. Meanwhile, Black Mask's plans for Kate Kane begin to unfold. Alice is reunited with someone from her past, and Sophie must decide where her loyalty lies.[src]

Plot

Kate Kane as Circe Sionis

Black Mask monologues to Enigma and Kate Kane, the latter of whom is still heavily bandaged up. Black Mask places a mask — a replica made of the face of his daughter — onto Kate, and Enigma triggers her into forgetting all of her memories. Kate then "becomes" Roman's daughter, Circe Sionis.

Alice tries to sneak out after a night of hooking up with Ocean, but members of the False Face Society show up and beat them both up, kidnapping Ocean.

Sophie further investigates whether or not Ryan is really Batwoman, and butts heads with Agent Tavaroff. She then gets into an argument with Jacob about The Crows trying to test and identify a sample of Batwoman's DNA. Sophie turns on the Bat-signal and meets with Batwoman, who is more focused on finding Angelique.

Luke and Mary become worried about Batwoman's identity being unveiled, but Ryan decides to scout out Angelique's location first. She finds Alice torturing the False Face Society members in Ocean's apartment, and they each reveal why they're looking for Angelique and Ocean. The two of them reluctantly agree to team up, and drive in the Batmobile to the location Alice believes both Angelique and Ocean are being held captive. Angelique and Ocean are held at gunpoint to make Snakebite, and Alice and Batwoman begin to fight through the goons. Batwoman realizes that Alice is in love with Ocean, which only makes the mission a bit more personal. After they talk more about their personal MOs, Batwoman handcuffs Alice in place and goes into the warehouse alone.

Kate — as Circe — stops by Alice and holds her at knifepoint, asking for Batwoman's location. One of the False Faces shoots Ocean, but Batwoman shows up and saves them both — only for Kate to arrive and the two of them to fight. Alice shows up and fights alongside Batwoman, ending with "Circe" holding Alice in a chokehold. Alice tries to appeal to Batwoman, revealing that she does remember murdering her mom, but Ryan walks away.

Sophie later visits the Crows' DNA lab to try to destroy the DNA sample, but doesn't have any luck. Mary goes to the Crows' headquarters and sneaks in a device that can help Sophie destroy the DNA profile. From Jacob's computer, Sophie discovers that the Crows have the profiles listed anonymously, and she doubts whether destroying all of those profiles of suspected killers and rapists would be worth protecting Batwoman so instead she acts on her suspicions and deletes Ryan's DNA profile from the system so the DNA sample has nothing to match to. Sophie later discovers the Snakebite hiding in Jacob's desk.

Mary brings Jacob to her new and improved clinic, but he begins to point out flaws in her setup. She doesn't care anyway, since it's just a distraction while Sophie scrubs the DNA profile. Sophie later visits Mary at the clinic, and tells her about the Snakebite.

Angelique visits Ryan and asks her to go into Witness Protection with her, but she refuses and they part ways.

Alice wakes up held prisoner in Sionis' mansion, with "Circe" by his side. He almost has "Circe" kill Alice, but decides he has another purpose for her instead.

Cast

Starring

• Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman
• Rachel Skarsten as Beth Kane/Alice
• Meagan Tandy as Agent Sophie Moore
• Nicole Kang as Mary Hamilton
• Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox
• Dougray Scott as Commander Jacob Kane

Guest starring

• Peter Outerbridge as Roman Sionis/Black Mask
• Wallis Day as Kate Kane
• Laura Mennell as Dr. Evelyn Rhyme/Enigma
• Nathan Owens as Ocean
• Bevin Bru as Angelique Martin
• Jesse Hutch as Agent Russell Tavaroff

Co-starring

• Jessica Garcie as Crows Lab Tech
• Christian Sloan as Patchwork
• Cooper Bibaud as Teardrop
• Mat Yanagiya as False Face Sentry

Gallery

Videos

Batwoman 2x12 Promo "Initiate Self-Destruct" (HD) Season 2 Episode 12 Promo

Trivia

• Arkham Asylum had a fire in "A Secret Kept From All the Rest".
• Batwoman tells Sophie that the Bat-Signal is "not a pager". This is a reference to the movie Batman Forever, where Batman tells Dr. Chase Meridian, "The Bat-Signal is not a beeper."
• The deck that Ocean and Angelique were being held hostage on by Black Mask's gang is the infamous McBarge, which was formerly a floating McDonald's that was left abandoned after 1986 in the real world.
• While using her night vision, Batwoman's coordinates were shown as being 42° 5' 23" N, -75° 6' 13" E, placing Gotham City in the real-world location of Delaware County, New York, on the north of the Pepacton Reservoir.
  • This is different to the location shown on Cisco's map of Earth shown in "Marathon", which showed the city as being on the west of Lake Michigan.