The previous episode of “Pennyworth” brought back Alfie’s sordid memories of his Army days, as he was forced to relive the haunting consequences of his mistake. Alfie managed to reunite Zahra with her father as they left for Kahlpoor. On the other hand, Martha fails to reach Thomas because he keeps ignoring her as much as possible. The government and Army exploiting PWEs (Persons with Enhancements) comes as a shock to Martha, who finds PM Aziz was well aware of the situation and indirectly shut her out of the investigation. The eighth episode sheds some light on the ordeal and piles up a few more questions atop earlier unanswered ones.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman’s Butler’ Season 3, Episode 8: Recap And Ending
The episode begins with the live telecast showing people of the country have taken to the street to express their grievances about the increasing number of PWE s. They love Gully Troy’s Captain Blighty but find themselves way less tolerant of others. This news breaks out at the subterranean level of the MI5 hideout, where Fox observes and takes care of PWEs, and the rest of the enhanced individuals are visibly worried. Gully Troy validates their concern to Fox and ponders about the sorry state of people’s perspective. Before they can continue their conversation, though, Troy faints and is carried to Fox’s lab to get connected to his energy source. Fox reveals that the effects of the stormcloud are taking their toll on Gully, and it’s sort of a miracle that he is still alive and carrying all his enhancements. A distraught, weary Troy states that he feels like he has outlived his purpose and wishes for a heroic send-off. Fox disagrees, stating Gully still has a purpose of leading or being an example for the rest of the enhanced individuals.
Alfie is still reeling from his experience at the Hebrides and is moping over Zahra’s departure. Daveboy, on the other hand, is enraged over the past incidence of him being on a prolonged high caused by Sally’s drugs and isn’t able to adjust according to her interests any longer. This results in their breakup pretty early in the episode. Both Alfie and Daveboy reach 10 Downing Street at the PM’s call. They meet Nelson Thursday, the former Raven Union member and current officer in the British Army. PM Aziz informs them the reason they were summoned is to restrain an enhanced individual with electricity manipulation powers who have seized control of the main power station. They have to assist Captain Blighty in the mission as Gully’s condition is gradually deteriorating. Aziz believes that to create a positive perception among the public regarding PWEs, it is necessary to maintain Captain Blighty’s image as a hero. General Wednesday, however, takes a staunch anti-stance as he ridicules Gully Troy and wants the Army to handle the situation instead of Alfie and co. Alfie takes the job and leaves for his office.
Sandra visits Alfie and informs about her being pregnant with their child, news that shocks him out of his wits. Turns out she tried to inform Alfie of this earlier through a letter, which Daveboy promptly ate while being under the influence of a lullaby drug given by Sally (given by Fuchs, basically). Unfortunately, even after getting the news from Sandra, Alfie lacks the courage or confidence to answer anything about the prospect of sharing any future prospects as parents. This hurts Sandra terribly, and she leaves.
Alfie and Daveboy join Martha, Fox, and Gully Troy on the mission to capture the rogue PWE, who turns out has already killed policemen and is holding people hostage. As they approach the location, an altercation ensues between Alfie and Daveboy, from which Gully comes to know that Alfie is about to become a father. The mission does not go as planned, as the team is forced to retreat. Seeing Daveboy injured and Alfie’s future as a guardian at risk due to the nature of the mission, Gully Troy knocks Alfie out to carry out the mission on his own. He manages to kill the enhanced individual, but not before being fatally wounded himself. In an emotionally heavy sequence, Gully Troy makes the ultimate sacrifice and manages to champion the role of PWEs, just what Aziz wanted.
Elsewhere, Patricia makes another surprise visit to Wayne House, London, in order to attend another exclusive event of Francis Fuchs. Martha gets to know from her that, at Gotham, Thomas has absorbed himself even more into work and has become even more uptight. As Alfie and co. engaged the rogue PWE, Martha shared her findings with Lucius Fox. It is revealed that Martha has cleverly deduced that Lucius was the unknown caller or leaker who informed her about the government discrepancies. She also states that General Thursday is in charge of weaponizing enhanced people, and as chief of the Army, he also took over the acquisition of John Salt’s illegal PWE experiments. Fox admits his role as an informer but is unwilling to agree to Martha’s request of infiltrating the program to shut it down as he fears he won’t be able to help the captive PWEs if he himself ends up getting incarcerated. Martha scoffs at him for this weakness and leaves. Later, right after the news of the death of Captain Blighty is made public, Fox calls to inform Martha that General Thursday has taken the rest of the captive PWEs in Level 7, and as it falls under his responsibility, Fox himself will deal with it.
During the wake of Captain Blighty, Alfie has a revelation as Daveboy reminds him that Gully Troy sacrificed his life to provide Alfie with a secure future as a father. Alfie responds that he will keep that promise he made to Gully Troy and goes on to visit Sandra at her penthouse, eventually asking her to marry. Meanwhile, Patricia visits the place where Francis Fuch’s event is hosted and is escorted by people in Guy Fawkes masks. At the dining hall, she finds a petrified Sally Prufrock, who asks Patricia not to drink the tea. Both stare at the end of the table, where Doctor Glubb has been stabbed to death.
Thoughts
After a couple of great episodes, Pennyworth presents another emotionally turbulent one that will cut deep for series fans. Gully Troy was not the ideal role model, not even close to it, as he was initially an abusive brute who didn’t hesitate to raise an arm at his wife. But after Melanie, his wife, left and he was rendered into an enhanced individual, he started spiraling down towards loneliness and depression. Not that it matters, but he was truly repentant about earlier actions. In earlier episodes of season three, we saw Gully suffering from an existential crisis as his new form had taken his life away from him. He felt that he had lost his purpose in life as it was rendered as insignificant as mechanical appliances. Alfie’s future and PWE’s cause gave Gully a sense of purpose, and he died as he wished, quite heroically. He didn’t want to die lonely and unloved, and thankfully Daveboy and Alfie were there at the end to keep him company. Even before taking the final stand, Gully even uttered the famous SAS motto, “Who dares wins”; he was a soldier through and through. It is Gully’s sacrifice that once again fills Alfie with a sense of responsibility, and we can see how that was later inculcated into Bruce Wayne. The fate of Patricia and Sally is unknown, just like it has been two episodes already since we last saw Bet Sykes and Thomas Wayne. With only two more episodes to go, this season still has many loose ends to tie up.
See more: ‘Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman’s Butler’ Season 3, Episode 7: Recap And Ending, Explained
