WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8 of Pennyworth, “The Hangman’s Noose,” which aired Sunday on EPIX.
In the last episode of Pennyworth, John Salt became the leader of the Raven Union, and he planned on using Lord Harwood as his scapegoat. But with Harwood now dead, Salt had to change his plans. As the tension continues to rise between the Union and the English League, Salt has grown mad with power and has now decided to use the “Stormcloud” weapon on London. In order to do so, he stages a vote at the Raven Union headquarters, and every member of the council gives their support.
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But the real surprise comes when the last member of this council is revealed to be someone we know — someone who has been believed dead ever since the end of Season 1: Alfred’s father, Arthur Pennyworth.
Arthur Pennyworth appeared throughout the first season of Pennyworth. The character worked as a butler and was close to his wife and son. Unfortunately, Arthur was also revealed to be a devout member of the villainous Raven Society. In the final episode of Season 1, Arthur attempted to kill the Queen with a bomb, but was stopped when his son shot him. While the bomb still went off, Alfred was able to get the Queen to safety. However, as far as we knew, Arthur died in the blast.
In the latest episode, though, we learn that wasn’t the case. Somehow, Arthur survived, and he’s now one of the leading members of the Raven Union. The character is revealed to be alive in the closing moments of “The Hangman’s Noose.” Arthur joins the Union’s council meeting in a bulky wheelchair that is equipped with advanced machinery to keep him alive. This shows that he suffered extensive injuries in the explosion and that his life is being sustained by the Union’s scientific ingenuity.
Throughout Season 2, Alfred dreamed and/or hallucinated his father on several occasions. This showed that he was still processing his father’s death and the role he played in it. Only now, we know that the series was actually preparing us for Arthur’s return.
Since Alfred has imagined his father before, it’s all but a guarantee they will meet in the season’s final two episodes. Worse still, they will once again be on opposing sides of the conflict. Before, Alfred stopped his father by shooting him in the arm. This time, will he be forced to put his father down for good? Or has he created his worst villain?
Developed by former Gotham collaborators Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, Pennyworth stars Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, Ben Aldridge as Thomas Wayne, Jason Flemyng as Lord Harwood, Paloma Faith as Bet Sykes, Ryan Fletcher as Dave Boy, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett as Bazza, Jessica Ellerby as the Queen and Simon Manyonda as Lucius Fox. New episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on EPIX.
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