Despite John Cena’s helmeted hero getting bailed out of prison by the 11th Street Kids, he isn’t out of the picture entirely. In fact, he joined forces with A.R.G.U.S. agents Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) and Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows) to form an organization called Checkmate.
The group spelunks through the pocket dimension to look for something. But what will they find?
Salvation
There were a couple of big surprises in the season finale of Peacemaker, which aired on HBO Max this past Monday. The episode teased the re-emergence of Checkmate, a long-time ARGUS henchman who will make its debut in the overarching DC Cinematic Universe, while also showing us what will happen to Salvation, a distant planet that appears in the story of the 2027 film Superman: Man of Tomorrow.
Showrunner James Gunn had teased that this season would build into Man of Tomorrow, and indeed that’s what happened. But while many fans were left disappointed by the lack of “big” revelations, the season finale did give some clues about where things are heading.
One thing is certain: the 11th Street Kids are going to have a busy, and hopefully fun, future in the DCU. They have established their own agency called Checkmate, which will take over from ARGUS after the death of its director. The Kids will likely be the backbone of this new entity, as they are able to bring together a diverse team of heroes from all walks of life.
Chris and Harcourt also have a romantic night that leads to them starting their own relationship. But it’s not all good news for the Kids, as their friend and cyborg ARGUS agent Sasha Bordeaux breaks up with Flag. She reveals that he’s plotting to turn Salvation into a multidimensional prison.
Checkmate
Checkmate is the end of the game, and in chess, it’s the goal of every player to give their opponent this devastating move. This occurs when one of your pieces blocks the enemy’s king’s escape squares or pushes him to the edge of the board, where he cannot escape.
There are several different types of checkmating patterns. One of the most common is known as the “smothered mate.” The smothered mate happens when your enemy has no space to escape by moving his king. This is especially common after you castled, or moved your rook from the back rank to the front row of the board.
Another popular checkmating pattern is the two-rooks mate. This is one of the more basic mating patterns, and it involves pushing your opponent’s king to the edge of the board, then using your rooks to cut down on his escape squares.
This mate is also known as the rook-rolling mate, or the lawnmower mate. It’s a simple way to checkmate your opponent and is often the first checkmating pattern you learn.
Peacemaker Season 2 ended its eight-episode run on HBO Max with a big reveal for John Cena’s aspiring do-gooder. The episode teased the arrival of the group’s new covert agency, Salvation, a distant planet that could serve as an antidote to Earth’s metahuman problem.
Rick Flag Sr.
John Cena reprises his role as the jingoistic vigilante dubbed Peacemaker, this time in a parallel universe. He confronts a version of himself from Earth-2, who blames him for his son’s death in the first episode and calls upon him to kill himself. Despite the two men’s differences, they are able to bond over their shared loss of family.
During a visit to Belle Reve, Flag Sr. learns that his son had leaked details of Project Butterfly. He then tracked down a copy of the QUC and used it to destroy the Butterflies. Having previously worked with the agency, he now considers himself to be responsible for the deaths of both his son and the other agents he had commanded.
The 11th Street Kids form their own peacekeeping agency, Checkmate, in this episode. It marks the debut of the organization in the DCCU, though it is likely to see more big-picture action with the arrival of the Justice Gang members who starred in July’s DCU kickstarter Superman. The finale also teases the appearance of Salvation, a distant planet that was introduced in 2007’s comic book event Salvation Run. Showrunner James Gunn explained that he had always planned for this to become a major element in the series. He has also hinted at a larger reveal related to the alien race that inhabits the distant planet.
The Finale
The second season of Peacemaker wraps up with a pair of game-changing reveals. The first is the 11th Street Kids forming their own agency, Checkmate, marking the organization’s debut in the DCU. The other is a revelation that sets up the distant planet of Salvation as a key setting for future adventures in the franchise.
After an ill-fated showdown with Flag, Economos pays for the team’s failure in the alternate dimension. Meanwhile, Harcourt receives a tempting offer from the man she loved in the other world, while the rest of the team scrambles to keep him safe and together.
Finally, Sage shows vulnerability during a bedside chat with Godolkin and a wounded sense of loss when she visits Sean Patrick Thomas’ Polarity. Regardless, she and the others rally around her to start a new life, complete with a motel apartment, and their own bald eagle named Eagly.
Despite being a bit shorter than some fans might have hoped for, the finale doesn’t lose momentum. It paints a thrilling portrait of a man who has it all and flushes it down the drain with sheer arrogance, while also setting up The Boys in surprisingly profound ways. And if you weren’t already excited for Season 5, now you have even more reason to be.