Poison Ivy helps guide Harley Quinn out of a toxic relationship with the Joker and helps her become a better version of herself in the Harley Quinn HBO Max series. However, Ivy gets this much and more out of her time bonding with Harley and going through their unhinged adventures. She’s going on her own journey of learning to trust others through her bond with Harley from friends to lovers. Ivy is the heart and soul of Harley Quinn because, like Harley, she learns to live more authentically and open throughout the first two seasons and beyond.
Ivy’s (Lake Bell) journey differs from Harley because of their acceptance of others. Harley (Kaley Cuoco) is constantly throwing herself into peril physically and emotionally and accepts new allies on a whim. She lets Clayface (Alan Tudyk) and Dr. Pyscho (Tony Hale) into her team while barely knowing them and let Clayface invite King Shark (Ron Funches) — a giant, talking threatening shar — into the group. Ivy, rather, is less willing to put that much faith in others. She admits in the first episode that psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel helped her be around people, although she still says that “I hate it, but I can do it without vomiting.” She later argues that people can never change and that “You are who you are at your core, now and forever.” Ivy still has major trust issues with everyone from a deep resentment towards humanity from her poor relationship with her dad to her prior relationships. That belief comes out of a need for protecting herself from harm but has cost her happiness, and she knows it.
It's why she, at first, hesitates from being with Harley romantically: her fear. Granted, Harley can be impulsive and jump into harmful situations as a façade, like summoning an army of Parademons rather than admitting she loved Ivy. That risky lifestyle does not push Ivy away from Harley as a friend – in fact, Ivy says she’s “ride or die” with her as the Parademons nearly destroy Gotham. Rather, that makes Ivy believe that Harley will just “run from one thing to the next, and at some point, that’s going to be me.” And she goes as far as saying “I trust you with my life, but I don’t trust you with my heart.” Namely, Ivy does not want to see their friendship jump out of a plane as Harley does rushing into a battlefield. She’s seen Harley change her mind and her plans without thinking too many times. Ivy has put too much faith in Quinn to lose the bond of the person who helped her trust people again and then saved her life.
So instead, Ivy initially stands by her decision to date and nearly marry Kite Man (Matt Oberg). This version of Kite Man is certainly a weaker villain who tries to fight an on-site coordinator instead of Bane (James Adomian), jumps into Ivy’s bed ready for sex unannounced, and changes his apartment number from 66 to 69. However, he does have a simple charm and unabashed confidence (which you need to be flying around on a kite all day) to make for a decent husband. If you love him and Ivy clearly does not.
Every step of their relationship is hard for her. She first will not be seen in public with him, dressing up, as Harley put it, like “a '40s housewife who’s fucking her husband’s boss” to go on dates with him. She takes forever to distinctly tell Harley she’s dating Kite Man, only doing so when they’re fighting for their life on a giant’s beanstalk. And even then, she deflects to make jokes about the giant’s loin size. Granted, everyone else in Harley’s crew knew they were dating, but it’s not like Ivy was excited to date him. She also turned down his marriage proposals twice – which also came at bad times, but Ivy also said the ring Kite Man stole for her was not her type. Ivy even struggles to fully say “I love you” directly to Kite Man’s face. One exchange captures her feelings towards Kite Man perfectly: Dr. Psycho asks her, “This guy really does it for you?” Ivy starts to say he’s better one-on-one but then stops and says, “I don’t know.”
Kite Man is a nicer guy than it may seem, and he is nice to Ivy. But he does nothing to excite her. The show makes it very clear that love “isn’t safe” and “doesn’t have limits” from King Shark’s monologue. Ivy’s relationship with Kite Man is “milquetoast.” She feels like Kite Man gives her a person she feels comfortable around and will not leave her, as Harley may. He is less of a risk, but not satisfying for Ivy. Kite Man tells Ivy to her face that he had to do everything in their relationship “over and over and over,” bluntly saying, “I’m not the person for you.” He noted how she squirmed during their vows, unhappy with the thought of having four kids in a suburban home. She stayed with Kite Man for justifiable reasons given her nervousness around people, but Ivy deserves more.
This leads us back to Harlivy. In the first episode, Ivy tells Harley she loves her. Okay, that’s platonic, but she admits that she loves Harley “in a very hard-to-articulate way,” and she proves that throughout the show. She shows Harley why the Joker (Tudyk) is not good for her. She joins Harley on some of her missions to get the Legion of Doom’s attention despite hating them. She helps her get revenge on the Injustice League after they tried to kill her — even ditching Kite Man as they tried to secure their wedding location. She stays with Harley multiple times despite every reason to let her fall through the wayside — namely after Harley ditches her crew to hang out with Joker again. She may not fully trust Harley all the time, but Ivy still loves Harley. That connection they forged when Dr. Quinzel helped her back then has remained, and they act the most comfortable around each other.
Harley figures out they should be together romantically first — or at least she admits it first — but Ivy finally admits that she’s open to her. She does see that Harley has tried to grow and better herself. Yes, she caused a mess at her wedding but to save her and everyone from being arrested by Commissioner Gordon (Christopher Meloni). Yes, she fell back into being with Joker, but she also went out of her way to save Ivy’s life at the chemical plant. Ivy can see Harley going the extra mile for her every step of the way. Not to mention Ivy just enjoys going on capers and breaking into museums and killing enemies and saving the environment.
Poison Ivy is her best self when she is around Harley. She helped Harley become a better version of herself and realized being with her made her happier. Ivy’s growth has embodied the empowerment and freedom Harley Quinn has thrived on and her journey is only on the first leg of the Harley Quinn Highway.