Why does anyone want to be a superhero in the first place?
To save others or to preserve oneself?
For the most part, the latter appeared to be true in Christopher Smith's case, as he
was saving himself throughout "Peacemaker" Season 1 by keeping a vow he made to his dead
brother, Keith, whom he accidentally killed, and thus, under the weight of this trauma,
he decided not to kill anyone without a "reason," but instead kill them in the name of peace,
thereby becoming a complex superhuman known as "Peacemaker."
Because murdering people, no matter what the reason, is ethically wrong, James Gunn offers
Chris a decision at the conclusion of "Peacemaker" Season 1 that determines his fate as a superhero.
Even though Chris takes the correct decision towards the conclusion of Butterfly Invasion,
the past pursues and haunts him once again as the ghost of his father, Auggie Smith,
appears in front of him, which is not a spirit but rather his mind's trickery.
Without further ado, let's see what happens at the end of Season 1 of "Peacemaker."
Following Murn's death, Leota contacts her mother, Amanda Waller, and informs her of
the extraterrestrial cow that is feeding the alien butterflies, requesting that she authorize
the Project Butterfly team to infiltrate Coverdale Ranch and eliminate the creature before the
butterflies transfer it away.
As a result, Amanda not only appoints Agent Emilia Harcourt as the new squad leader, but
also informs the illustrious Justice League in order to rescue the day.
The gang predicts that the nice and pampered superheroes would arrive late, as is customary,
and that the cow will have been relocated out of the facility by that time, so they
decide to take matters into their own hands and ambush the alien butterflies on their
own.
They plan to utilize Peacemaker's Sonic Boom helmet, whose power we saw in "Peacemaker"
Episode 1 to demolish the barn.
For the operation, Leota inserts a walkie-talkie inside the Sonic Boom helmet so that it may
be activated from a safe distance, while John Economos disguises himself as a watchman to
place the helmet inside the barn, where he eventually sees a massive extraterrestrial
life-form that looks like a cow.
As planned, Leota triggers the Sonic Boom helmet, which emits fatal waves that kill
all the butterflies in the area while also causing damage to the teleportation equipment
that the aliens had used to take their cow to the Eastern Base in Maine.
The butterflies are taken aback by Chris and his gang of brothers.
However, the struggle results in serious casualties, with Vigilante and Harcourt being shot, and
Economos breaking his leg.
Following Detective Sophie Song to the underworld where the butterflies have buried the "holy
cow," Chris and Leota witness the last battle between Queen Butterfly and Chris.
She, on the other hand, does not want to fight and instead requests Chris' assistance in
pulling the third lever, which would transport the cow to their grotto in Maine.
When Chris refuses to help, she attempts to persuade him that butterflies' radical views
are quite similar to Chris' pledge to murder people in order to keep the peace.
Finally, Queen Butterfly reveals their plans to rule the human world by telling Chris that
they came to Earth after their own planet became uninhabitable, but that when they arrived,
they discovered that the people of Earth were on a similar path of exploiting Earth's resources,
resulting in worsening living conditions, climate change, and widespread destruction.
As a result, the aliens took control of human bodies (killed them) and stripped them of
their autonomy in order to prevent them from repeating the error that the aliens did with
their planet.
Murn, on the other hand, did not agree with such extreme ideals, which is why Queen Butterfly
assassinated him to quiet the dissent.
Chris thought on his own behaviors and views that he blindly follows while listening to
all the weighty lectures about saving the world via authoritarian ideology.
As a result, this point in Chris' life becomes a watershed moment, giving him the opportunity
to redeem himself and become the superhero he's always wanted to be.
Instead of succumbing to his own ideals, Chris chooses to offer humans the opportunity to
be their own judges rather than allowing aliens to dictate their decisions.
When Chris ignites Leota's human torpedo helmet, it flies straight into the cow's massive bulk
and rips a hole large enough to kill it instantly.
Meanwhile, Chris kills Captain Locke and Sophie Song, but the Queen Butterfly who is trapped
within Song's corpse manages to flee.
The alien cow was these butterflies' only source of nourishment, and the surviving butterflies
will very certainly starve to death if they are eliminated.
The Justice League (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman) also appeared at the
end of Season 1 of "Peacemaker," with the available actors, Aquaman and Flash, exchanging
a few words with Chris, while Superman and Wonder Woman stayed in the shadows.
Harcourt was taken to the hospital after sustaining serious injuries in the last battle.
Vigilante was also shot, and despite his best efforts to maintain his anonymity, he had
to be admitted at long end.
In Harcourt's absence, Leota convened a press conference and disclosed Project Butterflies'
secret data.
She ultimately admitted to the press that it was her mother, Amanda Waller, who misused
her authority and exploited the convicted criminals of Belle Reve prison to form Task
Force X and employ them to carry out the government's nasty words in return for time off.
Leota even said that she put the journal in Peacemaker's trailer on her mother's orders,
implying that both Vigilante and Christopher Smith were government agents rather than freelancers.
All accusations against them are dropped as a result of their confession, and they are
free to travel.
The final montage also showed Economos returning to a closed-down Belle Reve jail, implying
that the government had already shut down the facility following Leota's public allegations.
Her revelation will almost certainly have a more serious impact on the government's
operations and Waller's job, but the episode avoids going into too much detail.