By: Atiya Irvin- Mitchell
We open the episode with Bizzaro (Jack Quaid) killing a lot of robots, partly because they were about to kill Clark (Jack Quaid) and partly because he’s in some sort of trance. He’s about to kill more of them, but Clark stops him and comforts him. Once Bizzaro is mostly calm again, one of the Brainiacs (Michael Emerson) asks Clark why he saved them from Bizzaro, especially when Bizzaro could’ve turned on him, and Clark can’t defend himself in his current state. Clark just says that Bizzaro needed his help. Brainiac reluctantly says he sees and that they were mistaken, and now they see his strength. The robot kneels and declares that Clark is the last true Lord of Krypton. But Clark says he doesn’t want anyone kneeling. However, he does really need his powers back, which begs the question: If Brainiac didn’t send him the voices and visions of Rao in the fire, who did?
Brainiac explains that Rao is Krypton’s living sun; he’s dead, but many children survived him, and one of them powers the fortress. Then, Brainiac takes him to the center of the fortress and shows him a blazing sun, but gives him a warning. Rao wasn’t just a sun; it was also a God, and it could give Clark his powers back or it could or it could kill him. Clark mulls over the possible risks, and Rao is whispering his Kryptonian name: Kal-El.
We don’t immediately see Clark’s decision, because we cut away and see Jonathan (Darren Criss) coming to after being knocked out by the Eradicators (Steve Blum). It’s unclear how long he’s been out, but when he looks around, he sees a lot of destruction and realizes that there are two Eradicators and Kara (Kiana Madeira) and Lara (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) aren’t winning in the fight against them. After one of the Eradicators throws Lara to the ground, Jonathan checks on her. Lara explains that when Jonathan cut the Eradicator in half, it split into two Eradicators. Hearing this upsets Jonathan, who says they keep losing to the Eradicators. Lara tries to reassure him by saying their father will help, but Jonathan says Clark isn’t coming back. It’s just them, Jonathan says, and they aren’t enough. But Kara interrupts the spiral and says they will never know if that’s true if they don’t try. While the Kryptonians are talking, the military is shooting at the Eradicators, but the bullets and missiles don’t seem to be harming it. Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson) temporarily instructs the troops to pause, and the Eradicators destroy the military’s robots. Then it takes aim at Lois (Alice Lee) and Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid), but Kara stops one of them and reminds him that she told him to stay away from her family.
The Eradicators tell Kara that she isn’t enough to defeat them because they’ve evolved and she hasn’t. But Kara says they won’t defeat them and flies one of them away from Kara and Jimmy. The new approach is for Kara, Jonathan, and Lara to try attacking the Eradicator at once. Then Lara and Jonathan each grab one of the Eradicator’s arms, and Kara punches a hole through his chest. This appears to finally be the wound the Eradicator can’t recover from, because it disintegrates. Still, there’s another Eradicator left, and he observes that he’s outnumbered by Kryptonians. But the Eradicator ominously asks if they’re willing to sacrifice their loved ones to defeat him. With a snap of his fingers, he resurrects the robots and has them turn on Lois, Jimmy, Amanda, Slade (Chris Parnell), and Lex (Max Mittelman). Jonathan and Lara go to defend the humans, and the Eradicator tells Kara that he does understand them and what makes them weak.
There is a lot of carnage happening, and Amanda orders the troops to retreat. This horrifies Lois, who accuses Amanda of leaving the Kryptonians to die. But Amanda says they can call their own retreat. This isn’t good enough for Lois, so she runs towards the battle while Jimmy would like to stay, but is physically pulled away by Slade. The soldiers, plus Jimmy and Lex, are being evacuated onto a plane, and Lex is trying to tell Amanda about a discovery he’s made, but he’s pushed back by a soldier before he can get the words out.
As the plane is flying away, Jimmy and Lex talk, and Jimmy asks if he thinks he found a way to stop the Eradicator. But Lex says it doesn’t matter anymore, but Jimmy replies that it matters to Supergirl and to him. Jimmy tells Lex that if his creation gets through Lara, Kara, and Jonathan, it’s going to matter to most of humanity. Lex starts to apologize, but before he can finish, there’s an explosion.
Down below, Lois takes a machine gun and is shooting the robots. Elsewhere, Jimmy and Lex are mostly uninjured, and they’re found by Slade. Lex tells Slade that he might have a way to fix this, but he can’t use it if he takes them in. Then Lex admits that Slade was right about everything, which appears to be what Slade needs to hear because he tells Amanda that he hasn’t found Jimmy or Lex. Slade lets them go, and Lex thanks him.
Kara, Lara, and Jonathan are still trying to fight the Eradicator and not quite winning. The Eradicator tells them that he’s killed versions of each of them in many timelines and each time he evolves. Then he puts the dead Eradicator back together and creates more Eradicators and tells them to kill them all. Jimmy is watching from a not-so-safe distance, and things don’t look good for Kara, Lara, and Jonathan, which is why he tells Lex to hurry. The Eradicator subdues Lara and Jonathan, and is about to try to kill Kara when it stops. Lex hooked a device up to his brain that allows him to control the Eradicators because he used a piece of his own brain to create it. The Eradicators resist Lex’s control and tell their “father” he’s overstepping. Also, he says that whether or not he realizes it, if Lex can get in his head, the Eradicator can get in Lex’s. The Eradicator invading Lex’s mind causes him to pass out. And the Eradicator attaches itself to the replicants to become a Super Eradicator.
On the ground, a horrified Lois checks on Jonathan and tries to comfort him. Jonathan is sorry for not being enough to save everyone. Lois says he was always enough and she’s sorry for failing him. But Jonathan says they come from a dark future and Future!Lois did her best. The Eradicator prepares to send a heatwave to kill them, but is stopped by Superman. He’s wearing Kryptonian armor over his suit, but Clark has his powers back. Kara wants to know where he got the armor, but it’s a long story. Lara hugs him, but Jonathan is still angry and doesn’t trust Clark. But instead of getting mad back, Clark tells Jonathan he’s sorry for leaving him alone and that he had to carry so much. Clark adds that he’s proud of how brave Jonathan had been for so long, but he doesn’t have to be Superman anymore. This seems to be what Jonathan needed to hear, because he tears up and hugs Clark. Clark adds that they can’t do this without him, and Jonathan agrees.
After the emergency family therapy session is complete, the Eradicator tells them none of them will live out the day. Because even as the Lord of Krypton, Clark prefers not to fight when words could work, he tries to reason with the Eradicator. But the Eradicator says he can’t have peace while any of them are still breathing. So, Clark is resigned to a fight; the kids, Kara, and even Bizzaro are on board to fight. Everyone bulletproof takes on an Eradicator replicant, and the brains of the operation asks why they’re bothering to protect humanity. He points out that he wouldn’t exist if the humans didn’t fear and want ot eradicate them. The Eradicator tells Kara specifically that she doesn’t even belong on Earth, to which she says, “Enough.” Kara says she came to Earth to destroy it, but her friends gave her a home. They chose her, Kara says, so she won’t let the Eradicator take them away.
At full strength, in what might be a Dragon Ball Z reference, Kara, Lara, Jonathan, and Bizzaro power up and punch through an Eradicator and shatter it to pieces. Above them, it’s Clark and the Eradicator in charge facing off. The Eradicator tells Clark what he told the rest of the House of El about defeating them in every timeline earlier, but he adds that one person always escapes. Some ally, he says, a child, or a lover. He is annoyed that Clark’s bloodline and friend group are so resilient, but he resolves that this time he won’t leave any survivors and breaks Clark’s armor.
The Eradicator mocks Clark for still not being strong enough despite everything he did to get his powers back. Instead of being afraid, Clark laughs because, unlike the Eradicator and Lex, he doesn’t sit around thinking about who the strongest people are. Clark says he thinks about the people he loves and that most normal people do that, so what’s wrong with the Eradicator? The Eradicator says his father, Lex, fears what he can’t control, and the Eradicator embodies Lex’s fears so he can’t rest until Clark is eradicated. But Clark actually says that that answer isn’t good enough. He powers up and takes the Eradicator into the sky and says it’s not acceptable that he caused all this pain and death out of fear. Clark says he won’t let the Eradicator cause more misery out of fear, and in a sequence anime fans will enjoy, he lands his final blows and punches the Eradicator down to Earth. Being Clark, he offers the Eradicator one final olive branch and a chance to be brave, but the Eradicator says he’d rather die and disintegrates. Clark apologizes to what’s left of the Eradicator because no one taught him how to live. Then he happily reunites with Lois. Lara is pleasantly surprised that they won, and Jonathan is too, but says he always knew they would. Kara teases him because she saw many of his doubts firsthand.
An unspecified amount of time later, the kids are being sent back to the future. Lara says she’ll miss everyone, unless they’re all there in the future. Jonathan asks Lois how they know the future will be okay, and Lois says, because they’ll keep fighting for one they deserve. Clark, Lara, Jonathan and Lois share a group hug and the time travel device takes them forward.
Bizzaro goes back to the ice cream stand, and Jimmy and Kara are out buying celebratory scoops. Jimmy updates Kara on his business ventures: 1)The Superman comics are selling well. 2)His investment in W.O.R.M.S is paying off. Kara wonders if Jimmy is still using the app, but Jimmy promises he wants to focus on their committed relationship; at the same time, Kara says friendship. Jimmy is confused, but Kara reminds him he said he wanted to be a better friend, and now she’s giving him a chance to do that.
Likely due to all the carnage his inventions caused, Amanda Waller is putting Lex in jail. She says Slade sends his regards and asks him why he did all this. Lex explains that if Amanda had looked out into space and seen the new galaxies and stars Lex saw after Kandor was destroyed, she probably would do anything to feel safe again. At that, Amanda does seem a little frightened.
Back on the farm, Kara is playing Krypto while Clark and Lois talk. First, we learn that Lois used her government ID to adopt Krypto. Then, we realize Clark didn’t explain how he became Superman again. Clark says he made a deal, and that his parents sent a friend with him to Earth, and he knew what needed to be done. Lois wants to know what it cost Clark. In lieu of an answer, we get a flashback of Clark burning and screaming. He tells Lois that it didn’t cost him anything he wasn’t willing to pay.
Realizing he’s not going to go in-depth, Lois changes the subject and tells Clark she got him something. Lois says she can’t choose what’s coming, but she can only choose how she faces it, and she wants to face it with Clark. Then she pulls out a box with the miniatures Clark was obsessed with on them and inside there’s a ring. Lois gets down on one knee and asks Clark to marry him. Clark is surprised, but he says yes to Lois.