Theo Galavan Could Rise Yet Again On 'Gotham'

The former Theo Galavan-turned-undead warrior Azrael is certainly the most formidable villain in Gotham's history. However, Oswald Cobblepot isn't buying his transformation, leading the Penguin to kill Azrael on Gotham in this week's "Unleashed." At least, that's what it looked like happened when Cobblepot shot him with a rocket launcher — but I still have to wonder if Galavan is really dead. The explosion and the flaming remains sure make it seem like he's gone, but as Victor Fries, Firefly, and Azrael himself have proven, dying in Gotham City doesn't mean that you stay dead forever. In the case of Azrael, the only problem is, he may have made some additional enemies along the way that could doom him to another thousand deaths if he somehow survived this one. His biggest enemy could actually be his sister, who he attacked possibly fatally.

Tabitha helped Harvey and Jim break into her grandfather's crypt (which, oddly, is in Gotham City, even though the Dumont family was supposedly forced out of the city generations ago). In it, they find the "original" sword of Azrael, which is immediately taken by the still super-strong Galavan and used to stab Tabitha — like his attack on Captain Barnes last week, it seems like she may not be long for this world. For now, she's in a coma. The person most affected by Tabitha's traumatic injury is Butch Gilzean, who can't even bring himself to tell her that he's in love while she's unconscious, becoming too overcome with emotion. Is there a single character on Gotham even half as devoted and loyal as Butch?

And in that vulnerable state, Butch once again meets up with the Penguin, his former boss and closest friend, in order to form the plan that left Azrael as a smoking pile of ashes. Penguin, of course, is still reeling over the deaths of both his mother (by Tabitha's hand) and his father (an unrelated murder, but one that left him with his villainous edge back). After Jim Gordon, Alfred, and Bruce Wayne all unsuccessfully attempted to kill Galavan — who was surprisingly resistant to normal bullets — it was Penguin who got to strike the killing blow. Of course, that doesn't mean there might not be more Azrael in future episodes.

After all, Strange was at one point experimenting on what looked like a whole room of Galavan clones. Even if Azrael really was destroyed, there could be a whole army of Galavan's coming after our future heroes when Gotham returns.

Images: Jeff Neumann/FOX; Giphy