Inner (Para) Demons

Season 2
Episode 8

## All Season 2 Episodes

"**Inner (Para) Demons**" is the eighth episode of the second season of *Harley Quinn*, and the twenty-first episode of the series overall. It was released on May 22, 2020 on DC Universe.

## Synopsis

While Harley and Ivy deal with the ramifications of their caught-up-in-the-moment first kiss, Gordon prepares to take on Harley to end Gotham's darkest hour once and for all. But things suddenly take an even more drastic turn for the Apokoliptic with the appearance of Darkseid...

## Plot

Finally cleaned up, Gordon calls the President of the United States and reports that the last of the Injustice League has been defeated. The President is pleased, but notes that Harley Quinn, the face of public disorder in Gotham, is still at large, and requires Gordon to deal with her if Gotham is to rejoin the United States.

Harley Quinn herself is in the Gotham Mall, ruminating on her kiss with Ivy. Ivy finally breaks their awkward silence, and tries to brush off the kiss as an "impetuous" action after their near-death experience. Harley, though obviously disappointed, overzealously agrees with whatever she says.

Kite Man (whom Ivy doesn't tell about the kiss) is fretting over Ivy not reserving a table with his parents. He snaps out of it when hnotices Ivy seems despondent, but she brushes it off as nothing. She assures him that his parents won't be a problem for her.

Back in the Gotham Mall, Harley is trying to decide on something to fill her time and make herself appear busy. King Shark suggests they chill out, but Harley announces she wants to become the most feared supervillain yet, which Clayface and King find uncharacteristic of her. Doctor Psycho, however, speaks up in support of Harley's newfound warmongering.

At that moment Batgirl arrives, warning Harley of Gordon's plans; she sees Harley as a hero for toppling the Legion of Doom, Injustice League, and Joker. Harley, still trying to overcompensate, protests that she is 100% a villain, and sends Batgirl away.

To take on Gordon, Harley decides she'll need an army. Clayface and King again voice how Harley is acting strange, and that and even if they wanted an army, all the goons have unionized. Psycho says he has a "truly evil" workaround, which Harley eagerly accepts. Meanwhile, at Senor Mexico's [sic] Ivy impresses Kite Man's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, by tossing a couple out of the Browns' preferred restaurant booth.

*❝ There goes my new year’s resolution to not bite my nails or jump into any inter-dimensional portals. ❞*
— King Shark

Doctor Psycho's army plan requires a Mother Box, which creates a Boom Tube (inter-dimensional portal) to the planet Apokolips, where the tyrant Darkseid resides with a multitude of demonic armies. Harley swiftly beats the owner senseless, snatches the device, and Psycho uses it to open a the portal to Apokolips.

Back at Senor Mexico's [sic], Ivy has Kite Man's parents enrapt. When Kite Man briefly departs to wash his hands, his parents — who have superpowers of cryokinesis and flight — tell Ivy that they're delighted that she can give them superpowered grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were (and are) very disappointed that their son has no powers, and they belittle his kites, leaving Ivy disconcerted by how little they care about him.

*❝ Citizens of Gotham! You’re here today because you answered the call. We have an opportunity to save our beloved Gotham City and get back our rightful place in the United States. That means clean water, fresh food, and overpriced Internet providers! ❞*
— Commissioner Gordon

Meanwhile, Gordon is gearing up to fight Harley Quinn, but Batgirl arrives and tries to talk him down as she did with Harley. She warns that Harley might have an army, but what Gordon hears is that *he* now needs an army. He recruits said army by giving an impassioned speech at city hall that inspires Gothamites to rise up and take back their city.

On Apokolips, Harley briskly asks Darkseid for her army. However, the New God quickly senses she is blinded by "an anger, born from a want," and warns that her true desire neither is a Parademons army nor can it be fulfilled by such an army. Darkseid adds that Doctor Psycho himself attempted to procure a Parademon army, but was too cowardly to complete his requisite task: defeat Granny Goodness in combat.

Harley initially thinks the challenge will be easy, until Granny Goodness arrives with a blast of golden power, arrayed in golden armor and with her footsteps shaking the ground as she walks. Harley's attacks bounce off Granny Goodness, whose skull passively shatters Harley's bat. With a flick, she sends Harley flying into a rough tumble that incapacitates her. Clayface and King Shark cannot help, but they cannot interfere if Harley wants to receive her army.

Doctor Psycho is completely composed, however, and telepathically puppeeters Harley's unconscious body. With telekinesis, he lifts a boulder over Harley's hands, who uses it to crack a gloating Granny Goodness' skull. Harley is then released and wakes up standing over Granny Goodness' defeated form. Darkseid upholds his end of the bargain and transfers Granny Goodness' mantle and powers to Harley, and gives her control of the Parademon army.. Overjoyed, Doctor Psycho reopens the Boom Tube and teleports them all, the army included, back to Gotham.

*❝ You know what? Fuck you guys. Yeah, I said, fuck you. Because first of all, I'm the one who messed up the goddamn reservation, okay. Chuck asked me several times not to forget, because for some reason he cares about you two. And then, he took the heat for it because he cares about **me**, and for some reason, what you two think about me. So, yeah! He's a kind, loving, supportive partner. And the only miracle here is that you two ghouls somehow raised him. And another thing, he's not **lucky** to have me, **I'm lucky to have him**! So, fuck off! ❞*
— Poison Ivy's tirade to Kite Man's parents

As Ivy and Kite Man leave the restaurant, she asks why he lets his parents belittle him, to which Kite Man helplessly says they're his parents and that he has little choice. When his parents emerge, they continue to shower Ivy with praise, while again stipulating that their son is a simpleton. At this point, Ivy finally snaps and profanely tells them off, all while holding Kite Man close and expressing her support for him. Kite Man's parents are speechless, though Kite Man punctuates Ivy's tirade with a "Hell! Yeah!" When his parents are gone, he questions if they'll even come to the wedding, but is happy Ivy stood up for him.

Ivy and Kite Man's celebratory kiss is interrupted by a Boom Tube opening eastward. It is just over the Gotham Mall, so Ivy assumes that something horrible might be happening to Harley. Kite Man then flies Ivy toward the mall at the same time that Commissioner Gordon is closing in on the mall with his own army of tanks, police, and angry militia.

> ***Harley**Gordo, I have a flying army from a hell planet under my control.**Gordon**Well, I made my decision! And I never back down from my decisions. It’s a terrible quality that has ruined most of my personal relationships, so bring it!— Harley and Gordon's exchange*

Descending from the Boom Tube with Clayface and King Shark, Harley faces off with Gordon; neither she nor Gordon intend to back down. On cue, Psycho leads the Parademons through the "gaping sphincter in the sky." Absolute pandemonium ensues as Gordon's tanks unleash hellfire into the sky while Parademons literally tear the tanks apart and cut through his army like butter. Gordon himself only barely manages to kill a single Parademon with a volley of strategically aimed shots, finding himself cornered and disarmed by Harley. Before Harley can kill him, however, Ivy arrives and demands to know what's happening.

Harley cheerfully greets her, but Ivy questions why she wants to kill thousands of people "just because". Although Harley claims she's simply an "impetuous" agent of chaos who does this on the regular, Ivy implores her to reflect on what she *actually* wants, Harley looks around and seems to notice at last the gory destruction that she has wrought, and realizes this was all a wild coping mechanism. Gazing at her true desire, Ivy, Harley sheds a few tears, then breaks Darkseid's scepter over her knee, which horrifies Doctor Psycho. The broken scepter vanishes, taking Harley's golden armor and powers with it, and the Parademons are free to scatter.

Harley turns over the ablaze Gotham City to Commissioner Gordon. Doctor Psycho berates her weakness, and angrily resigns from her crew. Meanwhile, Gordon realizes that he actually won the battle and defiantly celebrates, failing to notice a sea of horribly injured people looking up at him from a chaotic wasteland.

In the aftermath, Harley explains that this was all to bury something she desperately needed to tell Ivy. Before Ivy can lend her ears, Kite Man pops in and gleefully tells Harley how Ivy defended him. Ivy affectionately says she didn't want them to "be assholes to the man I want to spend the rest of my life with," and they kiss right in front of Harley's wretched expression. After Kite Man leaves, Harley swallows her pain and just says she wants to help plan Ivy's bachelorette party.

## Cast and Characters

### Main Cast

* Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn
* Lake Bell as Poison Ivy
* Ron Funches as King Shark
* Tony Hale as Dr. Psycho
* Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon
* Matt Oberg as Kite Man
* Alan Tudyk as Clayface

### Guest Cast

* Briana Cuoco as Batgirl, Hostess
* Andy Daly as The President, Darryl, Mister Miracle
* Michael Ironside as Darkseid
* Jessica Walter as Wendy, Granny Goodness

### Cameos

* Oberon
* Forager
* The Arm (pictured; on Gordon's tattoo)

## Trivia

* The President's file on Harley Quinn is filled with easter eggs.
	+ The file number 09111992 can be read as 11th September 1992 which is the date Harley Quinn first appeared on *Batman: The Animated Series*.
	+ The content of the file lists all episodes of BTAS and *The New Batman Adventures* that heavily features Harley Quinn. The episodes listed are: "Over the Edge", "Mad Love", "Joker’s Favor", "Girl's Night Out", "The Laughing Fish, "Harley's Holiday", "Harley and Ivy", "Lock-Up", "Harlequinade", "Joker's Millions, "Holiday Knights" and "Almost Got 'Im".
	+ Lastly, it references the Suicide Squad project which Harley would be a part of in some incarnations in the comics.
* According to showrunner Patrick Schumacker the character being killed by Darkseid was originally going to be Lightray but DC told them they couldn't kill him so they changed it to Forager. Although Schumacker admits he still doesn't really know the rationale behind it.
* This episode is inspired from the arc in Harley Quinn's comic book run where she battles Granny Goodness and briefly becomes "Hammer Harley" a fury who frees the Olympian gods Granny captured. The Outfit she gets in the show after getting control of the Parademons is lifed from this arc.
* Harley compares the fiery warzone Gotham to *Game of Thrones* when telling Ivy "Look, I can explain the whole *Game of Thrones* Khaleesi thing, okay."

## Gallery

*See also: All images from "Inner (Para) Demons"*

TensionHarley and Ivy talk about their kiss"What is happening?"Harley gets the Mother BoxDarkseidHarley comands her armyHarley's parademon armyChaosGordon declares victoryGotham loses"What do you really want?"
### Video

Get to Know Darkseid Harley Quinn Season 2 DC Universe
## References

1. ↑ Harley Quinn Eps Talk the Evolution of Harlivy and Plans for Season 3 *Syfy.com* (June 26, 2020).