Batwoman returned to our screens this past Sunday, and it came with a new heroine beneath the cape and cowl. As has been much publicized, the Arrowverse’s latest vigilante is Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder, stepping into the shoes of Kate Kane following Ruby Rose exiting the franchise after just one season. Ever since that news was announced, fans have been wondering how Bruce Wayne’s cousin would be written out of her own show. And now we know.
Episode 2×01 “Whatever Happened to Kate Kane?” wastes no time in telling us, er, what happened to Kate Kane. It opens with Ryan sleeping in her van by Gotham Harbor when she’s awoken by a plane crashing into the river. She surveys the wreckage and soon comes across a bag containing the Batwoman costume. A cut to Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton then sees the pair realize that Kate was on that very plane, which was traveling back from National City after she went to meet with Supergirl.
Kate’s disappearance soon becomes city-wide news, with the billionaire’s loved ones – and enemies – struggling to come to terms with losing her. Jacob is determined to find her, after what happened to his wife and other daughter decades before, and he’s also blown away when he realizes that she is/was Batwoman. Meanwhile, Alice is furious that someone else got to kill Kate before she did, as it’s believed that new big bad Safiyah is the one who sabotaged the plane.
Effectively, what this explanation does is both get the character out the way quickly in order to switch the focus over to Ryan but also leave the door open for her to return to Batwoman if Rose ever fancies suiting up again for a recurring or guest spot. It isn’t categorically stated that Kate’s dead, after all, even though she’s presumed to be, so it would be easy to say she was laying low to fool her enemies and have her reemerge at a later time. Or, maybe she is dead and that’s the end of it?