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WARNING: This article contains spoilers for "Through the Looking-Glass," the latest episode of Batwoman.

There is no denying Alice has had a terribly sad and truly horrific past. She was held hostage by a madman and was psychologically and physically tortured for years. All of that absolutely makes most of her actions if not excusable, but in their own mad way, explainable. Her tortured past especially explains her deeply held and red-hot hatred for Catherine. After all, it was Catherine who convinced the world, and Jacob, to stop looking for Beth, which led to the creation of Alice in the first place.

However, Batwoman's Alice does not deserve a redemption arc. The tragedy of her character is Kate provided many opportunities for redemption, but Alice rejected them all and doubled down on her villainous ways. Now, it is too late.

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Alice lost the privilege of redemption the moment she tortured Mary by murdering Catherine right in front of her. In "A Mad Tea-Party" Alice poisoned both Mary and Catherine and only provided one antidote. The cruelty of this moment is directed at Mary in a completely inexcusable way that proves Alice is beyond the point of no return.

Alice hates Mary because she feels Kate replaced Beth with Mary. This simply is not true. Several times throughout the season, Mary has expressed her frustration that Kate never truly accepted her as a sister. She also says she never wanted to replace Beth, but she wanted to build her own relationship with Kate yet never felt embraced by her. Alice being so cruel to Mary for essentially no reason shows she has crossed too far over the line to ever be redeemed.

There are parts ofAlice's character that are compelling and would be interesting to see play out in a redemption story. The problem is most of them were corrupted beyond forgiveness when Catherine died in Mary's arms. For example, her relationship with Mouse is quite endearing. They are two children who suffered their whole lives but found a sanctuary in their friendship. It is a genuinely sweet idea. But, this relationship is also tainted by the murder of Catherine. Mouse wore a mask and pretended to be Jacob in order to poison Mary and Catherine, therefore coloring their whole relationship with the same, non redeemable, brush.

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Alice is so desperate for Kate to accept and join her, but she is clearly more interested in her life of crime and chaos than in that relationship. She only wants Kate on her terms and will not accept anything less. Her love for her sister is a sympathetic component of her character and could have been the source of her redemption, just as Kate had wanted from the start. However, Alice threw that away in favor of killing Catherine. Not only did she torture Mary in that moment, but she also framed Jacob. Kate was deeply troubled by Jacob's imprisonment, and it only further alienated Alice from Kate.

In "How Queer Everything Is Today" at the tea party Mouse and Alice have at Catherine's grave, Mouse confronts Alice andlays out the factsthat Kate will never accept Alice after what she has done. While Alice continues to be a villain, Kate will never truly be her sister again. Alice's response to this is to further desecrate Catherine's grave and dig the knife in deeper. She continues to show how selfish, remorseless, and beyond redemption she really is when she will not even admit it is her own fault her relationship with Kate is rapidly deteriorating.

"Off With Her Head" explores some of the painful details about Beth's time with the Cartwright's on the farm. Alice left Cartwright for Kate with a note about "Mommy Dearest." She knew their mother would be a particularly sensitive emotional trigger to Kate because it was exactly that which turned Beth into Alice. She knew Kate would push for the truth about what the note meant, and she knew that it would push Kate to do something impulsive and driven by blind hatred rather than justice. She does not deliver Cartwright for justice; she delivers him as part of her sick game.

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In "Through the Looking-Glass," Alice confirms she is past the point of redemption. She brags to Kate that she manipulated the situation with Cartwright and goaded Kate into killing him. She says she wants to prove Kate is just like her. After a majority of the season has consisted of Kate doing everything she can to bring out Beth and find the redeemable qualities in Alice, Alice has no interest in changing her ways. She further cementsthe fact that she is beyond the point of redemption whichhas been clear ever since she tortured Mary.

In the beginning, Alice had all the components for a compelling redemption arc. Now, it is too late, and she is well beyond deserving a redemption. She has caused too much pain and suffering and burned too many bridges. She is past the point of no return. Now that she is locked away in Arkham, maybe she will learn that error of her ways and receive the treatment she desperately needs, but even that will not be enough to atone for her sins.

Created by Caroline Dries and developed by Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott, Elizabeth Anweis and Nicole Kang. The series airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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Margaret Lockyer was born in raised in Brampton, Ontario. She has a degree in English and History with honours in Apocalyptic literature from the University of Prince Edward Island where she also played varsity ice hockey. She also has a diploma in Writing for Film & Television from Vancouver Film School. She likes practicing yoga, talking about movies, and petting dogs.

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Batwoman's Alice Isn't Worthy of Redemption | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources