Batwoman has confirmed a major Batman ally is dead in the Arrowverse. One of the most tantalizing mysteries in Batwoman is the question of just what's happened to Batman. The Dark Knight disappeared from Gotham City three years ago, and Gotham fell into chaos in his absence.
But Batman isn't the only one who's missing; all of his greatest allies are likewise absent. Both Robin and Oracle have been confirmed as part of the Arrowverse, but there's been no trace of them. Even the civilian allies of Batman, such as Commissioner Gordon, seem to have gone. One of the most glaring absences has been Lucius Fox, father of Batwoman's ally Luke, and the man responsible for creating most of Batman's technology and weapons.
The latest episode of Batwoman, "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury," finally reveals what happened to Lucius Fox. It seems he died in 2015, gunned down when he slipped out to get drinks to celebrate Luke's getting into MIT. It seems to have been a high-profile murder - understandably, given Lucius Fox's prominence in Gotham. Luke was supported by detective Stu Donnelly and ada Angus Stanton, and the killer was eventually identified and brought to justice.
Or so Luke believed. "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury" revealed Donnelly and Stanton were corrupt, and they worked alongside judge Raymond Calverick to wrongfully imprison countless men for crimes they hadn't committed. The cabal operated by identifying targets - usually poor and from a minority background - and planting evidence to frame them. They had been doing this for years, each profiting in their own way. And they hadn't cared that some of their victims were subjected to the death sentence. That raises the disturbing possibility Lucius Fox's true killer was never actually identified, and the person Luke holds responsible was framed.
If that is the case, then Lucius Fox's fate may point to someone targeting the Bat Family, systematically wiping them out. It's safe to assume their plans came to a head three years ago, when Batman himself mysteriously vanished. Both Kate Kane and Luke Fox are convinced Batman is still out there somewhere, but the death of Lucius Fox raises the sinister possibility the Dark Knight himself was also taken down by an unknown enemy. The exposure of one cabal could well have provided a clue to the existence of another dark conspiracy - and if so, it's one Batwoman and Luke will ultimately need to confront, lest they meet the same fate.