The following contains spoilers for Poison Ivy #4, now on sale from DC Comics
Poison Ivy has been on the move recently, picking up from the changes that happened to her throughout the course of the "Fear State" crossover. She's even more or less returned to full villain status, with dark intentions for the whole world. But even beyond her conflicted feelings regarding her plans, she's shown quickly regretting a far more personal kind of betrayal.
Pamala Isley just slept with another woman besides Harley Quinn in Poison Ivy #4 (by G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara, Arif Prianto, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou), which Ivy recognizes is an emotionally regretful decision. If anything, it's the perfect showcase for the complications the pair will need to overcome if they resume their romance.
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Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were initially paired together in Batman: The Animated Series as unlikely friends, working together in episodes like "Holiday Knights" and "Harley & Ivy." This friendship carried over to the Post-Crisis DC Universe when Harley made her debut, with their bond turning into a lasting connection. In recent years, a romantic subtext that had been afforded them has become explicit. Their friendship turned romance forms much of the basis of HBO Max's Harley Quinn animated series, and the two finally shared a long overdue kiss during the events of the "Fear State" crossover. But in recent months, Poison Ivy has doubled-down on her own villainous intentions whereas Harley has embraced her surprising semi-redemption.
Poison Ivy charts Ivy's cross-country plan, which leaves a trail of bodies in her wake. Along the way, she repeatedly considers the final fight she had with Harley, which was more or less a breakup that Ivy seriously regrets. In Poison Ivy #4, Ivy's next step takes her to a stand-in for an Amazon Prime packing station, where she forges a quick friendship with a co-worker named Jesslyn. After learning of the abuse heaped upon the young woman by her employer, Ivy forces him to make peace with his mistakes before killing him. After informing Jesslyn, the two share a sudden kiss which Ivy knows she shouldn't run with, but embraces it. The pair retreat to Jesslyn's apartment and spend the night together, the whole while, Ivy thinks about how much she really misses Harley.
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It's a somber moment, as even these brief snippets of happiness are punctuated by an imagined Harley, watching Ivy sleep with someone else with a smile on her face. It's a tragic beat, as it's a reminder of how much Ivy and Harley mean to each other. It also comes not long after Harley and Catwoman found themselves in a similar moment of temptation, only to resist it out of their feelings for their respective romantic partners. But Ivy, aware that her plan will likely kill her, decides to enjoy at least one more night of passion with a woman she just met instead of trying to reconnect with the woman she knows she loves.
It's clear Ivy considers the act a selfish one, and it's at least an emotional betrayal of the bond the two women share (even if the pair are nominally broken up for the time being). This new complication could endanger any attempt for Ivy and Harley to get back together with ease down the line. While it's unlikely someone as physically liberated as Harley couldn't get past the actual act, the emotional through line of Ivy's actions might have a bigger impact on any resumed romance between them.
Coupled with Ivy's recently increased kill-count compared to the more heroic direction Harley has been trying to focus on, Ivy's actions have only proven to be more and more driven by her and no one else's views. It's a reminder that if, and when, Ivy and Harley are reunited, they'll have a lot to work through, even beyond the more absurd aspects of being a couple in a superhero setting.