Batwoman season 2, episode 12 saw the tension between Ryan Wilder and Alice take a new turn - with Batwoman 2.0 borrowing a "No-Kill Rule" trick from Christian Bale's Batman. Played by Javicia Leslie, Ryan discovered the Bat-suit by pure chance following a tragic plane crash. Seizing the opportunity, however, she claimed possession of it in order to seek vengeance against Alice (Rachel Skarsten). Flashbacks revealed that Alice's Wonderland Gang had been responsible for the murder of her adoptive mother, Cora Lewis (Shakura S'Aida). Ultimately, Ryan would take up the mantle full-time to honor the legacy of Kate Kane (Wallis Day) and protect Gotham. Regardless, her desire to see vengeance reaped upon Alice remained intact.
In Batwoman season 2, episode 7, "It's Best You Stop Digging", Ryan got a chance to exact that revenge personally. Having bested Alice in a fight, Ryan looked set to finally accomplish the goal of killing her — only to refrain at the last moment. Chided by a ghostly vision of Cora, the new Batwoman opted to let Alice go and maintained the traditional rule of "No Killing" followed by Bat-family members. During Batwoman season 2, episode 12, "Initiate Self-Destruct", however, Ryan exploited a loophole in said rule. Confronted by Kate Kane - now twisted into a dark villain by Black Mask (Peter Outerbridge) - Alice ended up trapped in a seemingly fatal predicament. Rather than step in to save her, though, Ryan turned and left.
The respective moments shared more than a few shades with Bale's Bruce Wayne — especially during Batman Begins. After emerging as Batman, he was confronted by the real Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson). Their subsequent battles eventually concluded on an out-of-control monorail train. Having finally been defeated by his former student, Ra's asked whether he'd "finally learned to do what is necessary?" In answer to that, Batman said, "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" before making a dramatic exit and leaving Ra's al Ghul to his fiery fate.
Though Ryan Wilder's similar moment unfolded across multiple episodes, the parallel remained crystal clear. Ryan even delivered a similar sign-off during the equally dramatic moment. As a now-masked and brainwashed Kate Kane choked the life out of her, Alice looked to Batwoman for assistance. In response, Ryan merely said, "You can't save everyone!" before making a decisive exit - throwing back in Alice's face the earlier antiheroic advice that she'd offered. The moment ultimately didn't prove as deadly for Alice as as the one in Batman Begins did for Ra's. Regardless, Ryan Wilder's intention had been very much the same.
The move posed some interesting questions and intriguing dilemmas for the future. Though Ryan's animosity was justified, the refusal to the see Alice's humanity and ignore that which should provoke sympathy could ultimately diminish the new hero. The aforementioned moment already ran that risk — since Ryan's abandonment of Alice came right after Alice had actively gone out of her way to save her. Alice could've easily just escaped and vanished. Instead, she demonstrated her further potential for redemption by opting to seek out and rescue Batwoman right at the crucial moment. Part of the reason the Bat-family steadfastly maintained the "no-killing" rule was in the hope that villains could one day be rehabilitated and redeemed. Alice demonstrated that such hope was far from futile. As such, Batwoman 2.0 now seemed poised to fall into the trap experienced by Kate Kane in Batwoman season 1.
The commitment of Bale's Batman to that particular rule was, itself, murky at best. In The Dark Knight, for example, he refused to let Joker (Heath Ledger) die but had a hand in the death of Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart). It shall remain to be seen how the fallout of Ryan's decision are explored on the show. After all, the moment might simply have been a one-off homage. If it was to constitute an on-going pattern of symmetry, however, it could undercut the legacy of Ryan Wilder being the hero that Gotham deserves on Batwoman.