Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Creature Commandos Season 1 finale.

The new DC Universe is officially one-project-old, with the first season finale of animated series Creature Commandos now streaming on Max. The finale was characteristic of the season as a whole, effectively mixing zany, often graphic violence and humor with a surprisingly tragic emotional core. Here’s what happened. In the series’ present-day storyline, the remaining Creature Commandos prepare to complete their new mission of assassinating Pokolistani Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova), who the Amazon Circe (Anya Chalotra) has warned is planning a destructive conquest of the globe.

Meanwhile, flashback sequences depict the haunting origin of Commando Nina Mazursky (Zo? Chao). When Nina’s scientist father subjected her to an experimental treatment he hoped would heal a life-threatening lung condition she was born with, her body was ultimately transformed into its current, fish-like form, in which she can only breathe underwater. This led Nina to face mockery and fear from almost everyone she met in life other than the Creature Commandos and her father, who was himself accidentally killed by frightened law enforcement agents when they were in the process of capturing Nina.

Do the Creature Commandos Complete Their Mission?

In the present-day United States, the injured Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) briefly regains consciousness and urges A.R.G.U.S. director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to investigate Aisla MacPherson (Stephanie Beatriz), the expert in Amazonian mythology who confirmed the veracity of Circe’s story. When Waller and John Economos (Steve Agee) find MacPherson’s dead body and the remains of shape-shifting supervillain Clayface (Alan Tudyk) at the professor’s home, they realize that Clayface had impersonated MacPherson to trick Waller into believing Circe’s story and ordering the princess’ assassination. Waller desperately tries to contact the Pokolistani government and/or the Commandos to stop the killing.

Back in Pokolistan, the Commandos’ surveillance of Ilana is briefly interrupted by Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), who again declares his obsessive “love” for The Bride (Indira Varma). The Bride promptly shoots Eric in the chest multiple times, knocking him out a window, and the team subsequently resumes their mission. When Ilana goes for a swim, The Bride and Doctor Phosphorous (Tudyk) convince Nina that she must be the one to kill the princess, striking from deeper underwater, which Nina eventually, reluctantly, agrees to do. Moved by the resemblance Ilana bears to one of the children who befriended him before their horrific deaths, Weasel (Sean Gunn) manages to break away from The Bride and Phosphorous and alert Ilana, who disarms Nina before stabbing her multiple times in the stomach with her own knife, with the latter’s bloody body subsequently floating to the surface of the lake. Only then does Waller manage to make contact with the Pokolistani security forces, explaining the situation and preventing further clashes between them and the Commandos.

The Bride Discovers the Truth About Ilana

Ilana feigns friendly forgiveness for the misunderstanding and welcomes the Commandos back to her castle. However, The Bride confronts her and reveals that, shortly after Eric’s interruption, the team discovered video footage of Ilana meeting with Clayface. This led The Bride to deduce that Circe was right and Ilana did want to destroy the world and that she simply used Clayface’s impersonation of MacPherson to make Waller and company doubt this was the case. The Bride calls Ilana, “a power-mad, sadistic, narcissistic Disney princess,” and shoots her in the head, after clarifying that she is doing so not because of the threat Ilana poses to global security but because she killed Nina, who The Bride refers to as, “the only friend I have. And the only one of us with an ounce of kindness in her veins.” The Bride then leaves the castle with Phosphorous and Weasel before the Pokolistanis realize Ilana is dead.

Some Commandos Live To Fight Another Day

Upon her return to Belle Reve Penitentiary, Economos explains to The Bride that Waller has ordered part of the prison’s non-human interment wing refurbished so Task Force M/The Creature Commandos can live more comfortably during their incarceration, with The Bride confirming that she plans to remain on the team. Inside the redesigned quarters are Phosphorous, Weasel, a rebuilt G.I. Robot (Gunn), as well as three new recruits for the team. The latter trio includes fellow superhuman prisoners Nosferata, Khalis, and King Shark (Diedrich Bader), the latter of whom previously served as a member of the titular group in the film The Suicide Squad.

You Can't Keep An Immortal Stalker Down

In a post-credits scene, Eric is revealed to be alive. He is shown recovering from his gunshot wounds and sharing a meal of soup with the elderly female operative of his (Bakalova), who appeared in the season premiere. As they eat, it becomes clear that Eric’s obsessive fixation on The Bride remains as intense as ever despite the shooting, with him launching into another delusional tirade about how he interprets The Bride’s constant rejection of him as actually being a sign of affection. Talk about a guy who can't take a hint.

Creature Commandos Season 1 is available to stream on Max.

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