The Season 2 finale of Peacemaker, “Full Nelson,” has arrived. And as promised, it sets up BIG things for the future of the DCU. Specifically — and spoilers past this point — the prison planet Salvation, which is straight out of a HUGE DC Comics storyline.
Briefly, let’s recap what happened in the season finale, then we’ll get to the Peacemaker Season 2 ending explained — and what we know about Salvation from DC Comics, as well as Checkmate.
Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Recap
Jumping way back to a month ago, which we discover over the course of the episode is about the same time Superman took place, we see just what happened with Chris Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland). They got drunk at a Big Belly Burger, wandered into a Nelson concert on a party boat, and kissed.
Meanwhile, in the present, Chris is in jail after giving himself up to Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo) and ARGUS in the prior episode. He doesn’t want to see anyone, thinking he’s the Angel of Death — and ARGUS is using the opportunity to explore the QUC (Quantum Unfolding Chamber).
Inside the QUC? It’s basically a bloodbath, as the red shirts of ARGUS, including Harcourt and Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows) explore whatever doors are open. Only thing, more and more of Lex Luthor’s (Nicholas Hoult) men are working on the outside including a returning Sydney Happersen (Stephen Blackehart), Otis Berg (Terrence Rosemore), and Amanda Marie McCoy (Natasha Halevi).
That’s bad news. The worse news? All these dimensions are terrible. They find the imp dimension mentioned in the first episode, where it turns out the adorable little imps are deadly and carnivorous. Then there’s a black hole, a screaming skull-head spider universe, a zombie universe… We know Flag is looking for a universe with an Earth-like atmosphere, but why?
Meanwhile, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) convinces Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) to part with his blood money so she can pay Chris’s bail. He doesn’t care, and clears out of town.
Back to ARGUS, they find a planet that does have livable atmosphere… And Rick’s plan, which is really Luthor’s plan (probably) is revealed. Consulting with the council from Superman, he reveals the planet is called Salvation — and what he’s going to do is send villains to this prison planet, and leave them there. Now that they have control of the QUC, they’ll pop up a door in a different place each time, so nobody can ever escape.
Bad news for everyone! But there’s more…
Peacemaker Season 2 Ending Explained
After finding out about the plan, Sacha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) decides this is all wrong, and meets to talk with Harcourt, then Adebayo. They track down Chris, who has been hiding out at a seedy motel, and basically have a “you’re a nice guy” intervention.
The only thing Chris cares about, really? Whether the kiss on the party boat meant anything to Harcourt.
“Of course it did, you fucking asshole,” Harcourt says. “It meant everything.”
One week later, they’re all dancing to a Foxy Shazam concert on the party boat, and they’ve started a new company. Along for the ride with Harcourt, Adebayo, Peacemaker, and John Economos (Steve Agee)? Judomaster (Nhut Le) and Fleury.
After a brief interlude where Fleury quizzes Judomaster about spiders, and Eagly settles his beef with John, we find out what this company is called: Checkmate, making the world better. As for what they do? Read on about that.
But there’s one last kicker: Chris gets abducted by ARGUS, and thrown into Salvation — ostensibly to test what it does to a human body, but really because Chris killed Rick’s son.
“This is for Ricky, you piece of shit,” Flag says as he leaves Chris on Salvation. In the distance, beasts roar and yell. Yuh-oh. So yeah, ARGUS has the QUC, Peacemaker is trapped on Salvation, and Checkmate has no idea where he is. See you in Season 3?
Does The Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Have Any End Credits Scenes?
If you want any follow-up on that… Sorry. There’s a post-credits scene of the council talking about creating a “bug zapper” type electric fence around Salvation, and then a longer scene of Economos trying to distract ARGUS with a terrible joke. Oh, and there’s a behind-the-scenes on making Season 2 with Cena, James Gunn, and more. But that’s it!
Will There Be A Peacemaker Season 3?
So you would think Peacemaker Season 3 would be coming but… No. At least, not yet. Because first we’re getting a secret TV show that should hopefully be announced shortly — probably either Salvation Run, Checkmate, or both — as well as Man of Tomorrow, the sort-of Superman sequel.
As for Peacemaker Season 3, it will likely happen (it has yet to be announced by HBO Max). But the direct plot thread left off here won’t be resolved there, most likely. Instead, it will happen much sooner in the DCU.
What Is Salvation In DC Comics?
Salvation Run was a seven issue miniseries written by Bill Willingham with art by Sean Chen which found pretty much exactly what happened here on Peacemaker happening, with some variations. Amanda Waller and Rick Flag round up the worst supervillains in the world and deport them to an alien planet. They’re given their weapons and tools, and left there.
It’s supposed to be a harmless planet but… It’s not. Not only do the villains divide into factions ruled by Lex Luthor, The Joker, and Vandal Savage, but the planet itself is filled with deadly creatures, weird mechanical traps, and other threats. Basically, it’s a death trap — and not only that, it’s a deathtrap that is part of Darkseid’s empire. Specifically, it’s a training ground for Parademons, Darkseid’s shock troops.
Oh, and also Martian Manhunter is there in disguise, monitoring the villains for Batman.
And one last thing: this is all part of the lead-up to what is called Final Crisis, an enormous event that changed the DC Universe “forever.” Part of that event was the kick-off, where the villains came back from Salvation and were pissed off. So we might end up getting something similar in the DCU.
What Is Checkmate In DC Comics?
The short version is Checkmate is an international spy agency, similar to ARGUS. They had Kings and Queens and a whole cheese board thing, and Sasha Bordeaux is a big part of it. But here in the DCU, it seems likely they’re keeping checks on ARGUS.
Peacemaker Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Peacemaker season 2 premiered on HBO Max on Thursday, August 21. The season will be eight episodes long, with one episode premiering per week.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Peacemaker Season 2, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, August 21, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 1
- Thursday, August 28, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 2
- Thursday, September 4, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 3
- Thursday, September 11, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 4
- Thursday, September 18, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 5
- Thursday, September 25, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 6
- Thursday, October 2, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 7
- Thursday, October 9, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
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