Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn season 3.Many "Harlivy" shippers are worried that the romantic relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is doomed and a breakup is inevitable in the wake of the Harley Quinn season 3 finale. Despite the episode ending with Harley and Ivy affirming their love for one another, it also established a major shift in the status quo for Harley Quinn season 4 that places Harley and Ivy on opposite sides of the law, despite their shared status as anti-heroes. This seems sure to spark a conflict that may prove to be more than their love can cope with.
The final two episodes of Harley Quinn season 3 tested Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn's relationship, with Ivy abandoning her plans to turn Gotham City into a jungle in order to save Harley's life, The resulting conflict ended with Harley being viewed as a hero by the people of Gotham City and Ivy being given a job offer from Lex Luthor, who wanted Ivy to lead a new Legion of Doom. While Harley claimed to be supportive of Ivy's opportunity, she also seemed to be subconsciously sabotaging Ivy's plan to kill the mayor of Gotham City as an audition for the new job. This was particularly telling given that the new mayor was Joker, who Harley shouldn't have had any issues with killing.
The events of Harley Quinn season 3, episode 10, "The Horse and the Sparrow," highlighted a key moral difference between Ivy and Harley. While Harley is an anti-hero with no qualms about killing in defiance of the usual Bat Family no-kill rule, she is motivated by an honest desire to help people. This is shown when Harley drops everything while in the middle of Ivy's scheme to talk Bruce Wayne out of an apparent anxiety attack. First and foremost, despite everything that has happened in her life, Harley is a healer. By contrast, Poison Ivy is generally apathetic to innocent people being hurt by her work and more malicious in dealing with her enemies. While Ivy is technically an anti-hero by virtue of her pursuing a noble goal, she is far more willing than Harley to utilize questionable means to achieve those ends, up to and including working for a corporate patriarch like Lex Luthor, who represents everything Ivy hates. This philosophical divide is significant and suggests an inevitable break-up in Harley Quinn season 4.
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Thankfully, while the Harley Quinn season 3 finale establishes multiple problems for Ivy and Harley's romantic and professional lives, it also affirms their commitment to working past those problems together. When Ivy is confronted with the fact that she's accidentally enabled Harley's codependent tendencies by allowing her to work with her even when Harley didn't want to, she is quick to address the issue and ask Harley if she was only killing Joker to help her. The two ultimately agree that they can have separate careers, with Ivy leading the Legion of Doom and Harley becoming a hero in Harley Quinn season 4, while still being "Harlivy,"
It remains to be seen if Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn can make their romantic relationship work while nominally working against each other professionally. However, the fact that they are willing to work at it and are open and honest with each other regarding their needs bodes well for their future together. In any case, Harley Quinn season 4 promises to be interesting, whether or not they are ultimately successful in staying together.
Harley Quinn is available exclusively on HBO Max.