What Happened to Batgirl in ‘Harley Quinn’ Season 4? Is She Dead?

‘Harley Quinn‘ recently aired season four’s second-to-last episode, revealing a lot. The main heroine, Harley Quinn, struggles with her place as the hero of Gotham City, and Poison Ivy has been dealing with the consequences of Lex Luthor’s apocalypse. Bat Family is in shambles after Talia al Ghul took all of their resources, and some of the members dying, most notably Nightwing, complicated things more. Another member of the superhero group, Batgirl, spent her time solving her friend’s murder, but it seems that her life is in danger as well. So what happened to Batgirl in the fourth season of ‘Harley Quinn’? Is she dead?

Batgirl didn’t die in episode 9, season four of the ‘Harley Quinn’ series after Joker shot her in the back. In the show’s season four finale, we see Batgirl alive and well but paralyzed from the waist down. The scene from episode nine references the famous Alan Moore’s ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ storyline from 1988, when Joker shoots Barbara in the back, paralyzing her.

Despite being a parody show, ‘Harley Quinn’ showrunners love referencing famous storylines from the DC Universe, but it seems that the writers really killed off Batgirl for good – at least at first glance. If you’re interested, stay with us until the end.

Batgirl is frantic and lost after Nightwing’s death in episode 5 of ‘Harley Quinn’

One of the biggest plot points of ‘Harley Quinn’ season four is Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy’s new lives on opposite sides of the law. Harley becomes a member of the Bat Family, as she wants to help people in Gotham City, while Ivy becomes the co-CEO of Legion of Doom in Lex Luthor’s absence.

Both women struggle, with Harley having difficulties winning over Nightwing, while Ivy has the same issues with the members of LoD. However, as season four progressed, Ivy had much better luck with her efforts, while Harley couldn’t say the same.

Despite the difficulties of fitting in, Batgirl was always Harley’s biggest supporter, especially after Harley herself inspired her to become the hero and help the people of Gotham City.

Season two of the show is where Barbara Gordon assumes the mantle of Batgirl after helping Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy defeat The Riddler. Barbara was in a bad place after her parent’s marriage ended, and Harley and Ivy’s efforts to defeat the Riddler got her ‘out of the gutter.’

She quickly becomes a member of the Bat Family and joins efforts with Batman, Nightwing, and Robin to fight crime. However, after Batman ends up in jail for his efforts and failed attempt to resurrect his parents, the younger members need to find a way to continue, and Harley joins the group with Batman’s blessings.

Batgirl is the only Bat Family member who supports Harley joining the team, and it stays like that even after Nightwing dies. Barbara tries her best to find the real murderer and knows immediately that Joker’s confession is a lie.

She eventually exposes Joker to the public and tells the world he didn’t kill Nightwing.

What happened to Batgirl in ‘Harley Quinn’ series?

Of course, despite exposing Joker’s lies, Batgirl still needs to find her friend’s killer. She desperately looks for answers, and she (kind of) gets it in episode 9, titled ‘Potato Based Cloning Incident,’ The episode sees Harley’s potato-clone revealing the real Harley and the truth behind the Nightwing’s death – Harley herself killed Nightwing during her sleepwalking phase.

In shock, Harley gets her confirmation when Doctor Psycho probes her memories of the fateful night. Of course, the quirky woman is devastated, and even after the fight with her clone and even pinning the murder on it in front of Batgirl, Harley feels guilty.

Despite Batgirl believing her, Harley insists on leaving the Bat Family, which instantaneously triggers Barbara’s protests. Suddenly, the gunshot sound echoes through the area, and the bullet hits Batgirl in the back – she is shot by the Joker, who maniacally laughs from the shadows with the gun in his hands.

The moment shocks Harley, and screams in devastation.

Batgirl didn’t die in the ‘Harley Quinn’ show

Even though it was heavily hinted that Batgirl died in the arms of Harley Quinn in episode nine of the show, the season finale revealed that Batgirl is well and alive but paralyzed from the waist down. Of course, this was a relief for me, who thought that bold showrunners would kill off Babs. Thankfully, that didn’t happen at all. Babs is seen at the hospital, and Harley visits her regularly, “stuffing” her with a casserole and making sure she is okay.

If Batgirl died, Harley would go literally insane, but knowing that this show is mostly light-hearted fun with parodic onlook of the characters, this outcome was expected. Despite being paralyzed, Batgirl always showcased great knowledge of computers and hacking, which is a direct reference to Barbara Gordon as the Oracle in DC Comics.

Joker shooting Barbara Gordon in the back-references Alan Moore’s comic book story, ‘Batman: The Killing Joke,’ released in 1988, in which the crazed man shoots young Batgirl in the back and paralyzes her from hips down.

This moment doesn’t stop 19-year-old Barbara Gordon from fighting crime and becoming “Batman’s ears” – The Oracle. Now, Babs has been “soft-remade” in the past, with her being able to walk again after years of being in the wheelchair as the Oracle. It seems that the showrunners wanted to use the notable moment for Babs’ character and steer her toward the Gotham City Sirens, a variation of the famous all-female group of vigilantes from Gotham City, Birds of Prey.

I personally liked this outcome, especially seeing Selina Kyle returning to Gotham and rejoining her old Cobb Squad teammates, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

It seems that ‘Harley Quinn’ will get another season, and hopefully, we will see the Oracle leading her teammates, Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman, protecting Gotham City without the limiting rules.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!