Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 1Harley Quinn Season 5's premiere is full of exciting Easter eggs and status quo changes as Harley and Poison Ivy move to Metropolis. Tired of life in Gotham, Harley and Ivy are looking to shake things up in a brand-new DC city. While some are happy to have them, others aren't nearly as thrilled by the duo's big new change and what it might mean for Superman's City of Tomorrow.

As was seen in the previous season of Harley Quinn, Harley and Ivy faced various struggles in Gotham as Poison Ivy tried running the Legion of Doom while Harley ed the Bat-Family. Now, the couple is on to bigger and better things in Metropolis (especially now that Gotham is falling apart). To that end, here's our recap, ending explainer, and all the biggest Easter eggs/references we found in Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 1.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 1 Recap

"The Big Apricot"

• Gotham is in shambles following the Bat Family's disbandment, and The Gotham City Sirens broke up a year earlier before Nightwing's stolen body was found.
• Riddler and Clock King accuse Harley and Ivy of never going out and being stuck in a rut, which gets to Harley's head.
• Harley convinces Ivy to go with her to the Superman Museum opening in Metropolis, as Superman owes her for saving his life.
• Harley and Ivy meet Lena Luthor, Lex's sister and Bruce Wayne's new girlfriend (who also funded the Superman museum).
• Automated drones protect the museum and Metropolis with such speed that Superman is left with nothing to do and no one to save.
• The drones kick Harley and Ivy out, so they break in by pretending to be part of the performing acrobat troop so that they can take the museum's most prized artifact.
• After getting the box and fighting off the drones, Lena Luthor covers for Harley and Ivy by pretending it was all part of the act.
• The next day Harley and Ivy are invited to lunch by Lena, who wants to be their friend and offers Ivy a job running Metropolis' new green initiative.
• Harley convinces Superman to take a sabbatical and leave Metropolis, as he's been feeling down about all the drones making him feel obsolete.
• Harley and Ivy agree to move to Metropolis permanently.
• The drones secretly belong to Brainiac, who is displeased with Harley and Ivy being in Metropolis.

Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 1 Ending Explained

What Does Brainiac Want WIth Metropolis?

Revealed to be the one behind Metropolis' army of new security drones at the end of Harley Quinn Season 5, episode 1, Brainiac is looking to bring Metropolis to 100% perfection. A classic Superman villain from the comics, the alien Coluan is often depicted as a seeker of total perfection and a collector of various specimens from across the galaxy. This includes entire cities, as Brainiac is most famous for shrinking and bottling the lost Kryptonian city of Kandor in the comics.

As such, it stands to reason that Brainiac wants Metropolis operating at peak efficiency and the picture of total perfection before he likely tries to shrink and bottle the City of Tomorrow just like Kandor. With Superman taking a sabbatical at Harley's prompting, one would think that Brainiac should have no trouble at all claiming Metropolis for himself. However, that was before two certain someones decided to make a major life change.

Harley And Ivy Staying in Metropolis Won't Be Good For Brainiac's Plans

As shown on Brainiac's monitors about his skull ship, Metropolis was nearly at 100% perfection before it suddenly dropped from 99% to 86%. As such, the source of the drop is Harley and Poison Ivy's decision to stay in Metropolis for the long term. As such, the implication is that Brainiac is going to do everything in his power to get Harley and Ivy out of Metropolis before they cause too many delays and disrupt his goals, which they most certainly will in the episodes still to come.

The Biggest Easter Eggs And References in Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 1

• Gotham City Sirens - The beginning of Harley Quinn's Season 5, episode 1 confirms that the Gotham City Sirens broke up despite having formed at the end of Season 4.
• Nightwing’s Body - Harley confirms they never found Nightwing's body, which had been dug up and stolen from his grave, but Harley Quinn's Season 4 finale confirmed Talia al Ghul and Damian Wayne's Robin resurrected him using the Lazarus Pit.
• Suicide Squad's Enchantress - The Enchantress makes a brief appearance in the Gotham City Sirens flashback, and she looks to have been patterned after her appearance in 2016's Suicide Squad movie by director David Ayer.
• Man-Bat - The classic Gotham villain is quickly shown grabbing a Gothamite in his claws before taking off again.
• Lois Lane's Expose - Harley Quinn's Season 5 premiere confirms Lex Luthor is in jail thanks to an exposé written by Lois Lane. This is not unlike what happened to Luthor in the CW's recently concluded Superman & Lois series.
• Gotham's Darkness and Metropolis' Light - The pan from a dark Gotham at night to the immediately bright Metropolis during the daytime is a fun nod to how Superman and Batman's cities are most often depicted, reflecting their respective characters.
• Lena Luthor - Lena Luthor is a new character in Harley Quinn Season 5. A character originating in the comics, Lena Luthor was well-known for her recurring role in the CW's Supergirl series.
• "He Calls Me Martha" - Lena's joke about her and Bruce's love life is a hilarious callback to Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman and its infamous "Martha" scene.
• Eclipso - Eclipso emerges from Lena's broken necklace, a classic supernatural villain from the comics with power on par with the Spectre (only for Harley to decapitate him with her baseball bat).
• Undo Lois’ Death - Superman confirms that the last time he took a "vacation" was when he went to space to alter the Earth's rotation to turn back time and undo Lois' death, a nod to the original Superman movie directed by Richard Donner where Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel did the same thing.
• Enter Brainiac - Voiced by Stephen Fry, Brainiac is revealed as the new season's overarching villain, though he was first teased at the end of Harley Quinn's spin-off series Kite Man: Hell Yeah!

Metropolis' Superman Museum Easter Eggs In Harley Quinn Season 5, Episode 1

• Multiple Superman Costumes - Suits from the original comics are shown on display, including Superman's black resurrection suit and even his blue and red containment suits.
• The Black Mercy - The alien parasite known as the Black Mercy is shown from the classic Superman story, "For The Man Who Has Everything"
• Multiple Types of Kryptonite - Each color variant of kryptonite is on display: green, red, gold, blue, white, and pink. Each one lists its specific ability as well.
• A Nod to Henry Cavill? - A Space Marine's power armor from Warhammer 40K is seemingly shown high above in the museum. This is likely a nod to Superman actor Henry Cavill who famously loves the game and is currently developing a live-action Warhammer series with Amazon.
• Krypto The Super Dog - Krypto briefly makes a brief appearance in the museum taking pictures with Superman. Krypto is set to make his live-action big-screen debut in 2025's Superman from director and DC Studios head James Gunn.
• More Classic Superman Artifacts - Other items include the Phantom Zone Projector, Superman's rocker he flew in from Krypton, the large key to The Fortress of Solitude, and finally his first cape he was wrapped in as a baby, the museum's most coveted piece.

New episodes of Harley Quinn Season 5 air Thursdays on Max.

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