DISCLAIMER: This recap of the Peacemaker episode “Stop Dragon My Heart Around” has spoilers. Prepare to rock out with Eagly and proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, arbitrators of peace! Peacemaker debuts its penultimate episode this week with the consistently spectacular “Stop Dragon My Heart Around.” John Cena pulls out all the stops with a gut-wrenching dramatic performance, delivering his best work on the show thus far. He brings Christopher Smith to life with much heart, tenderness, pathos and biting humor.
James Gunn is one of the few writers in the superhero scene that strikes the perfect balance between snappy humor and heartbreaking poignancy. Behind the bawdiness and raunchiness, there’s a heaping helping of heart. Gunn pours his everything into these scripts.
Ready to dive into “Stop Dragon My Heart Around”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with young Chris and his brother Keith rocking out to Mötley Crüe‘s “Home Sweet Home,” which Cena played beautifully on the piano in last week’s episode. A friend of Auggie’s leads Chris and Keith into a pit outside, where they fight, no holds barred, while spectators place bets on who will win.
Unfortunately, Chris inadvertently kills his brother by punching him too hard. Auggie (Robert Patrick) vehemently blames Chris for murdering Keith without stopping to think, “Maybe I shouldn’t pit my children against each other for money?”
We see scenes of present-day Chris, a.k.a. Peacemaker (Cena), grappling with the trauma of this painful memory. Chris reels from the discovery that Leota planted the fake diary in his trailer. At the same time, the news segment featuring Locke (Christopher Heyerdahl), Detective Song (Annie Chang) and Detective Fitz (Lochlyn Munro) serves as background noise.

Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) tries to coax Peacemaker out of the bathroom. The pair notice Judomaster escaped his restraints, but neither gives it a second thought.
Chris decides they should flee and hunt down the cow on their own. Meanwhile, Auggie and his white supremacist dickheads pinpoint Peacemaker’s location via tracking devices in Chris’s helmets.
After Viggy voices his belief that Peacemaker would construct “bomb” poetry, Economos (Steve Agee) enters the fray. He reluctantly joins the duo (plus Eagly) in finding the cow.
I’d 100 percent read a Peacemaker poetry collection.
Next, Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) confronts Leota (Danielle Brooks) after the latter’s betrayal. Harcourt chastises Leota for planting the diary, but Leota asserts she was following Waller’s orders. That’s when Harcourt discovers that Waller is Leota’s mother.
Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) breaks up the bickering party by reminding the pair that they need to track down the cow ASAP. Locke might be a butterfly now, but he still retains the memories of his formerly human self, so he’ll know their location.
Oh, and he knows about Leota’s connection to Waller and the diary. Murn knows everything.
Meanwhile, Judomaster (Nhut Le) munches on his trademark Cheetos outside a convenience store. A couple of dudebros tease him, and, even though Judomaster barely flinches, we know they’ll receive their comeuppance soon enough.

Then, Peacemaker, Viggy, Eagly and Economos make a beeline for Coverdale Ranch to kill the cow. Chris reminds Economos that there’s never a wrong time “to rock.” Even Eagly puts his smooth moves on display. We see Auggie fly above their van while donning his White Dragon suit, and the white supremacist dicks are also in pursuit, tracking the Peacemaker helmet.
Suddenly, Auggie flings himself into the side of our heroes’ van, toppling it. Eagly, Economos and Peacemaker escape while Viggy fires on the white supremacists. Viggy puts the finishing touches on his barrage of bullets by detonating a grenade, which also sends him flying backward.
Viggy ducks behind a tree to rest for a spell because of his injuries from the grenade blast. The White Dragon and his lackeys continue pursuing Peacemaker. Chris realizes Auggie can track him via his helmet, so he quickly disposes of it.
Judomaster makes quick work of those dudebros poking fun at him, then steals their car, because why not?
Meanwhile, Harcourt and Leota watch Locke, Song and Fitz break into Murn’s apartment. Chris attaches his helmet to a raccoon, throwing the white supremacists off his tail. Viggy hijacks one of the baddies’ cars and flees, but he’s too injured to drive. Thus, he falls asleep at the wheel and slowly veers offroad into the woods.

Murn tells Leota and Harcourt that it was a pleasure working with them as the butterfly police burst into his quarters. Song fills Murn with bullets, killing him. Then, she grabs the Murn butterfly as it escapes his body. Song communicates with the dying butterfly, scolding him for not joining their cause. She casts the butterfly aside.
The butterfly police leave the scene, deciding to make a break for the cow before our protagonists arrive.
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Harcourt and Leota find Murn’s lifeless body and his fatally wounded butterfly. Harcourt gently cradles the alien in her hands, comforting him while he passes. RIP, Murn. The best butterfly to ever butterfly.
Before the pair can process Murn’s death, Judomaster barges into the apartment with vengeance on the brain. Harcourt and Judomaster partake in a brief skirmish, ending in Leota tasing Judomaster in the heart until he doesn’t get up. I love me some good ole fashioned girl power!
Peacemaker and Economos find Viggy asleep in the driver’s seat, so they wake him and attempt to drive away. Chris discovers that Viggy retrieved all of the Peacemaker helmets, thinking they were expensive. So, Chris heads into the woods to throw them away.

Unfortunately, Auggie and his goons finally locate Peacemaker. Economos dashes into the woods, wherein he finds Viggy relieving himself, giving us “full moon” vibes. Hey, he can’t pee if clothes are touching his butt, which is normal.
A full-on brawl erupts, with Eagly trying to protect Peacemaker from Auggie’s henchmen. Viggy bursts onto the scene, attacking the white supremacists. The White Dragon knocks Eagly aside, injuring the poor creature. How dare he hurt an innocent CGI animal? Admittedly, this moment got me.
Peacemaker and The White Dragon duke it out while the latter lists all of his son’s “faults,” including his bisexuality. Well, we did have that threesome scene with Peacemaker, Viggy and Amber in an earlier episode, so there’s that. But now it’s confirmed (yay)!
Anyway, Chris fights back, doling out punches like candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. After Peacemaker brandishes a gun, Auggie taunts him, fully believing his son doesn’t have it in him to pull the trigger. Then, he does.
Bye, Felicia!
Chris falls to his knees, sobbing, which Viggy misinterprets as him doing his “facial exercises.” Viggy tries to comfort his bestie awkwardly. Cena kills it in this scene.
Leota and Harcourt have a heart-to-heart after the Judomaster battle, wherein the latter tells Leota she’s excellent at her job. Harcourt doesn’t seem to harbor any ill will at this point. Then, the dynamic duo rushes to a local pet clinic, where Viggy holds three workers hostage after they treat Eagly’s wounds.

Thankfully, Economos, Harcourt and Leota persuade him to tie them up instead of murdering them. Leota returns Keeya’s calls and reassures her that she’s on her way home (we know that’s a lie).
Peacemaker prays to God that Eagly wakes up, fully healed of his injuries. Again, Cena’s dramatic turn is surprisingly nuanced. Leota watches from afar and is astonished when Eagly rises and hugs Peacemaker. Chris finally gets a few selfies featuring him and Eagly embracing. That’s going on the ‘gram!
The group reunites to strategize, and everyone agrees that Harcourt should lead them into battle. She informs the group that the butterflies transported the cow from their homeworld so that they’d have a food source on Earth. Now, they plan on teleporting the cow to another location.
Sure enough, we see the butterflies arrive at Coverdale Ranch with teleportation devices in tow.
Our gang takes the vet clinic’s vehicle and starts their journey to Coverdale Ranch. Chris watches Viggy feed Eagly, and Leota seizes the moment to apologize for the diary. However, Peacemaker doesn’t accept her apology and tells her he can’t wait until the mission ends so they can part ways. Ouch.
Meanwhile, Song, Locke and Fitz stand before the once-enigmatic cow, a massive extraterrestrial that bears no resemblance to bovines. It also appears to have one pointy tooth? Anyway, we see the butterflies “milk” it for its precious amber goo, a.k.a. breakfast, lunch and dinner!
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I’m glad that Gunn’s a Stevie Nicks fan (the episode title is a play on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”) — I hoped we’d hear her song in this episode, but it wouldn’t fit the “glam metal” energy this show emits.
“Stop Dragon My Heart Around” sets the stage for what’s sure to be an explosive, edge-of-your-seat season finale (there will be a Season 2 — manifesting that now).
Chukwudi Iwuji was a brilliant addition to this cast, and he infused the stoic Murn with vulnerability and intriguing layers. I’m sad Murn’s gone!
Do you think Peacemaker and Leota will make amends in the finale (I hope so!)? Will we get any surprise DC cameos? On a scale of one to 10, how badly do you need a Peacemaker-themed poetry reading with Viggy performing a lyrical dance routine to complement said poetry?
The Peacemaker season finale will stream on Thursday, February 17, on HBO Max.
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