Fans talk about why Emilia Harcourt is the way she is in Peacemaker

Another Rick Up My Sleeve, the third episode of Peacemaker's second season, fleshed out the backstory of an unexpected character: Emilia Harcourt. The opening scene of the episode reveals something that very few people suspected: Harcourt's association with a certain Suicide Squad character, Rick Flag Jr., played by Joel Kinnaman.

The opening scene reveals that Harcourt was friends with Kinnaman's Rick Flag Jr.; they were friends who were intimate with each other. This moment from this episode is set three hours before Flag Jr. set out for the Corto Maltese mission that played out in Suicide Squad, where he met his end at Peacemaker/Christopher Smith's hands.

Now we know why Harcourt hates John Cena's Christopher Smith in Peacemaker Season 1:

The opening scene of the episode shows Rick Flag Jr. and Harcourt waking up from bed, with the latter dressing up for work at A.R.G.U.S. Flag Jr. reveals that he intends to break up with his girlfriend, June (Enchantress), for something serious with Harcourt if she wants. She doesn't give him any answer and instead points out that he has to leave for Corto Maltese, and the episode shows the events of The Suicide Squad, including Flag Jr.'s death.

This flashback scene explains why Harcourt absolutely hates Peacemaker in the first season. While it is unclear if Emilia had any feelings for Flag Jr., she was still his close friend. In the climax of The Suicide Squad, Task Force X ignored Waller and decided to help the nation of Corto Maltese as Starro the Conqueror attacked the city. Harcourt, John Economos, and some other A.R.G.U.S. agents helped Task Force X in defeating Starro.

This is why Waller punishes Economos and Harcourt by assigning them Project Butterfly, in which they have to work with the Peacemaker. Emilia is angry that Waller has punished her in the most twisted way possible, forcing her to work with the man who murdered her closest friend. If that's not ever, Waller is further punishing Harcourt by supposedly blacklisting her.

Even though it was Leota Adebayo (Amanda's daughter) who exposed Waller's Task Force X scandal in the Peacemaker Season 1 finale, she is still her daughter. Therefore, Waller probably went for an easy target in the team, which turned out to be Emilia. As Emilia struggles with unemployment and going broke, she also has to struggle with the fact that she is friends with Christopher.

While Chris is in love with Harcourt, it is unclear what she feels, even though she repeatedly tells Leota that she has no feelings for Chris in the latest season 2 episode. A promo from an upcoming episode also shows A.R.G.U.S.'s Rick Flag Sr. extending an olive branch to Harcourt in exchange for her help in imprisoning Christopher. Thus, Emilia's DCU character arc has dramatic potential in the upcoming five episodes of the second season.

What does Flag Sr. have against Christopher?

The second episode opens with Flag Jr.'s father, Rick Flag Sr., being appointed as the new director of A.R.G.U.S. The first thing he does is use his authority to get the file containing the information regarding his son's death. Right after learning his son's killer, Flag Sr. orders surveillance on Christopher. He is waiting for Christopher to slip up and commit a worthy transgression that will justify his imprisonment.

Looks like Flag Sr. in this season is focused on avenging his son's death by bringing down the man who took his son's life.

"In season 2, Peacemaker discovers an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be. But this discovery also forces him to face his traumatic past and take the future into his own hands."

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Did you like this addition to Harcourt's backstory in the latest episode of season 2? Let us know.

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