Warning: Contains spoilers for Poison Ivy #23!!

Poison Ivy was an early addition to Batman’s rogue gallery, and the two have spent decades dancing around one another. At a glance, it’s just another hero and villain rivalry, but the truth is more complex. Beneath tactics and lines drawn between “good” and “bad”, the two want the same thing: to save Gotham City. They’re more alike than different, and Pam’s thoughts in her last moments prove it.

In Poison Ivy #23 – written by G. Willow Wilson, with art by Haining – Pamela finally defeats the Floronic Man, but the victory comes at an extremely high price. If Ivy truly does succumb to her injuries, it will be the end for the environmental warrior, but she seems to learn several lessons in her final moments.

Those realizations represent many parallels she shares with Batman, and the mistakes they’ve both made in their quests to save the city. Both Pam and Bruce operate as loners, defined by wrongs done to them, but they could both be something more.

Poison Ivy’s Death Scene Drives Home Her Similarities With Batman

Poison Ivy #23 – By G. Willow Wilson, Haining, Arif Prianto, & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Batman’s presence in Poison Ivy has been cameos and memories, but as with any Gotham-set DC story, he still looms large. As the series has consistently emphasized, Batman and Ivy approach the same problem from different angles. Despite that, they’re guided by many similar ideas, especially about themselves. Both look at themselves as people who work alone, who are ready to do what’s necessary to save the world, yet they’ve managed to surround themselves with people who fight for them. To Ivy, it took “a disaster” to realize how many people cared, and it’s a lesson Bruce has yet to fully embrace.

Even with the Bat Family behind Batman, and Harley and the Hunting Shack Crew supporting Ivy, both struggle to escape their pasts. It’s ultimately what Pam gives her life to do. Her desperation to be rid of Jason Woodrue seemingly leads to her death, just as Batman’s fixation on the death of his parents spurs him to pull on the cowl every night. In her last moments, Harley begs Pamela to realize she’s, “bigger than the things that made [her].“ The words could easily apply to the Dark Knight, too, as he still defines his life by his tragic past.

Batman And Poison Ivy Need To Learn The Same Lessons

They Both Need To Grow

Ivy and Batman both have noble goals, regardless of labels, but their baggage holds them back: their intense focus prevents them from cultivating important relationships and neither can move away from the wrongs they’ve endured. If she somehow survives the horrific encounter with the Lamia zombies and Jason Woodrue, Pam could become a more self-aware, stronger person than she already is. Bruce will likely never heed what she’s learned and follow suit, but they would both be more powerful with the knowledge. Poison Ivy and Batman may be enemies, but the wisdom gained with her death could help them both.