By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
We open the episode with Clark (Jack Quaid) tied up in front of the robots at the Fortress of Solitude. Bizarro (Jack Quaid) is in a suspended state, and in lieu of answering Clark’s questions, the robots ask Clark why he came to them in his failure. Clark says they sent him the visions, but the robots say they didn’t and that power belongs to conquerors, and all he has shown them is weakness. With that said, Clark realizes that he is talking to Brainiac (Michael Emerson). But Brainiac says he isn’t the twisted creature Clark met on Candor; he is the Brainiac of old Krypton, uncorrupted, and he can give Clark what he seeks. But first, Brainiac says, Clark must prove he is a conqueror. Clark says that hurting people doesn’t make someone strong. In response, Brainiac asks if strength looks like losing your powers to a mere human and shows him a hologram of his fight with Hank Henshaw. Then he hands down an ultimatum: does he want his powers back or not? So, Clark asks what he has to do, and Brainiac says he needs to learn what strength is. Then Brainiac transports Clark to a snowy simulation of ancient Krypton and tells him he has to prove he deserves his powers. Brainiac vows to make Clark “strong” again.
Elsewhere, Jimmy (Ishmel Sahid), Jonathan (Darren Criss), Lara (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), and Lois (Alice Lee) are very concerned about Kara (Kiana Madeira) because she still hasn’t woken up. Jimmy shares that she’s alive, but she needs real help. He admits that he doesn’t know what to do for her. Lara and Jonathan ask where Clark is, and Lois starts to explain, but then is interrupted by Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson). She says she’s taking command of the new “Kryptonian assets.” Lois isn’t happy to hear that and tells Amanda that they can’t be assets because they’re only teenagers. But Amanda says there is a monster on the loose, with no weaknesses, that managed to defeat Supergirl, and no one has any way of knowing when it’ll return. So, Amanda says, she needs Lois’s group of Aliens working for the U.S. But Lois says that the kids aren’t soldiers. In response, Amanda says it’s a post-Superman world, and no one is coming to save them. Reluctantly, Lois acquiesces, but only in part because Kara needs an infirmary and a normal hospital probably doesn’t know how to treat her. Amanda promises a medic to treat her. She leaves Jonathan and Kara with Lois and tells her to get the “assets” in line because she needs soldiers.
In the simulation, Brainiac tells Clark once again that he will need to prove his strength. He adds that Clark’s people were once like he is now, “weak,” but when invaders from the stars attacked Clark’s ancestors, but the first Kryptonians triumphed over them. Brainiac challenges Clark to defeat the invaders who tried to destroy Krypton back then without his powers, the way his ancestors did. But Clark isn’t sure how real the simulation is. Brainiac tells him that, despite where they are being a memory, if the conquerors kill him here, he will stay dead. Clark is conflicted, because he wants his powers back, but he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Brainiac opts to leave instead of respond, and the sky opens, and the conquerors arrive.
In the infirmary, Jimmy worriedly watches over Kara. Lois is nervous about trying to deal with her children without Clark, but she decides to push through. She tries to tell Jonathan and Lara that she talked to Amanda and they have a new plan to stop the eradicator, save the future, and get them home. Unfortunately, Jonathan is still pretty angry. He accuses her of planning to risk Lara and his life while she doesn’t take any risks. Lois says the plan is for everyone to do their part. Jonathan asks what Clark thinks of the plan, and Lois explains he left to get his powers back. This only makes Jonathan angrier, and he tells Lois that he and Kara are never enough for him. In every timeline, Jonathan says, Lois’s plan is to bring back Superman. He wants to leave with Lara, but Lara is a little more open to hearing Lois out. Jonathan accuses Lara of always siding with Lois and wonders why they should listen to Lois since she isn’t their real mother. This makes Lois angry, and she tells Jonathan that they should listen to her because their last plan to kill Lex unleashed an uncontrollable monster that almost killed Kara. At this, Jonathan seems sad; he says he’s sorry for saving her life and that he guesses he can’t do anything right before flying away. Lois tries to apologize, but Lara tells him that Jonathan is always “like this.” Lois blames herself and says whatever his future problems are, it’s probably because she made him that way.
In the simulation, Clark tries to bluff to get the conquerors to surrender. It doesn’t work, and with only a sword and shield, Clark ends up having to fight them. Almost winning a sparring match with one of the conquerors starts to give him his heat vision back. This surprises him so much he lets his guard down and gets thrown off a cliff with the conqueror.
Lois is with Lara and is going over their problems: Clark’s gone, Jonathan’s MIA, and the Eradicator is on the loose. She asks Lara which problem they should try to tackle first. Lara seems shocked that Lois is asking for her opinion, and we get the impression that Future!Lois doesn’t do that a lot. Lois admits she is at a bit of a loss, and Lara says she can’t make this kind of decision because she’ll screw it up. But Lois reminds her that it’s her life, so whether they work with Amanda or not, Lara needs to have a say in the decision. She encourages Lara to trust herself and gives her her father’s compass. But Lara already has Sam Lane’s compass because Future!Lois gave it to her. Lara explains that Lois gave her a similar pep talk before she and Jonathan left. This surprises Lois, and she’s relieved that the future version of her isn’t cold all the time, and Lara hugs her. Then they decide to go check on Kara, who is waking up much to Jimmy’s relief. Kara is perturbed that she lost to the Eradicator. But she’s also surprised that Jimmy stayed. Jimmy hugs her, explains he couldn’t leave, and promises to never leave her again. And Lois brought Kara hot dogs, which she loves. When Kara assures Lois she is recovered, Lois asks her to talk to Jonathan. Kara asks if Lois can’t parent him by herself, and Lois admits she hit a wall with him. When Kara asks where Clark is, she explains that he’s gone and she needs Kara to try talking to Jonathan.
At the Fortress of Solitude, we get a little more insight into how the simulation is working. Clark and Bizarro are under a trance, and Clark’s astral self is fighting the conquerors. In the simulation, Clark wakes up next to the conqueror he fell off the cliff with, and he takes off his helmet. But then he tries to attack Clark, and Clark tries to talk to him, but it doesn’t work. They spar, and something seems to come over Clark, and he overtakes the conqueror, and it seems like he’s going to kill him. But when he looks into the conqueror’s eyes, he snaps out of it and wants to help him instead. The conqueror seems pretty afraid of Clark, which isn’t helped by the large sword he’s holding, but Clark makes a makeshift sling for the creature’s arm. Then Clark says he doesn’t want to fight anymore and says he’d like to be friends.
On the moon, Jonathan is sulking and playing an angry game of asteroid catch with himself. Kara finds him, and Jonathan tells him to leave her alone. She wants to talk to him and wonders why she’s getting so much attitude from Jonathan despite saving his life. Jonathan admits he isn’t angry with her; he just feels like a failure. He blames Jonathan Kent for not saving the future; he blames himself for Lara going off mission and getting hurt, and he feels like he can’t get anything right. Plus, he feels like everyone wishes he was his “perfect” father and that no one wants Jonathan Lane. But Kara says that Clark isn’t perfect, but the people who love him see him that way because even in failure he doesn’t give up on them. So, Kara promises not to give up on Jonathan because the world needs them.
What Kara said must’ve made an impression, because Jonathan returns to see Lois with Kara. Lois is happy to see him, but Jonathan is still standoffish. Kara explains that he agreed to help them defeat the eradicator, but Jonathan says he won’t take orders from him or Amanda Waller. Mid-angry rant, Lois hugs him, which seems to shock him. Slade (Chris Parnell) interrupts the family time by telling the superteens he hopes they’re ready for a fight because Lex (Max Mittelman) noticed an anomaly in the timeline, which means someone has been time traveling.
In the simulation, Clark is trekking through the snow with his new friend, who is a green alien, and the alien is struggling to keep up. They camp out in a cave, and Clark promises to get him back to his ship and his people. But something is lurking in the shadows and tries to eat the green alien, but Clark stops him. Clark fights with the creature, and when it looks like it’s about to win, Clark says he can’t die here and seems to get some of his power back. Clark goes red-eyed and overpowers the creature. But it doesn’t last, and Clark feels scared about how much rage he felt during the fight. Seeing the alien on the ground, he runs to check on him and carries his wounded body back to the cave. Clark promises the alien that they’re both going to make it home.
Speaking of home, Amanda takes Lois, Jimmy, Lex, Slade, Kara, Lara and Jonathan to the site of Zero Day because she says it’s the location of the first alien attack on Earth. Now they’re using the site as an HQ, and unless Lex’s data was wrong, the Eradicator is coming there. Lex says he isn’t wrong and that they have 48 hours to prepare for his attack. Amanda says Lara and Jonathan are under Slade’s command, and Lois objects. She says Lara and Jonathan will fight, but they’re only taking orders from Supergirl. Amanda wonders who decided this and Kara announces that they decided together, as a family. Amanda agrees and says she hopes they’re all as super as they think they are.
We get a montage of Kara training with Lara and Jonathan. And a lot of old friends such as Livewire, Heat Wave, and John Irons come to help, which makes Lois happy. John makes the Superfamily personalized weapons, and the army supplies half a dozen robots. But Lex takes in all the action and slinks away. But Jimmy stops him and criticizes him for running away. Lex says he knows when to get off a sinking ship, but Jimmy reminds him that he created the ship. Jimmy tells him he has to face the problems he’s responsible for. Unfortunately, Lex is still blaming the Kryptonians for creating all the problems they’re dealing with.
This makes Jimmy angry, and he yells that it was Lex and not Kara, nor Clark, nor the children that created the monster. But Lex says he had no choice because he couldn’t let the aliens rule over them. Jimmy says he understands why Lex is scared because he’s human too, but the aliens Lex despises have taken a lot of hits because of Lex’s mistakes. Jimmy tells him to act like the hero he’s been pretending to be or admit he’s a villain, then he leaves.
Speaking of aliens, Clark is still carrying his new friend and makes it back to his ship, where his comrades are waiting. They’re happy to see their leader, but distrustful of Clark and point their guns at him. He says he doesn’t want to fight, and the interaction is interrupted by a baby crying in the ship. Clark takes in the other aliens, who are called Coluans. On the ship, he sees women and children and realizes that they’re not conquerors like Brainiac says; they’re refugees. But the armed Coluans don’t seem to want to hear it and are on the verge of attacking. Clark feels something coming over him again and begs them not to make him do this. But Brainiac encourages Clark to kill them. He doesn’t understand why Clark is hesitating because technically, they already died once before. Brainiac tells him to show them his strength. For a moment, Clark seems to go into a trance, but then breaks out of it. He tells Brainiac that he won’t murder the Coluans to satisfy him because that’s not what strength is. Then, Brainiac says Clark is going to die, and his family’s hope will die with him. But the Coluan leader tells his people not to attack Clark, which disappoints Brainiac. He still tells Clark he can perish in their weakness.
We cut away, and we learn that Lex decided not to bail. Everyone- aliens, humans, metahumans, and the robots are waiting, and the sky opens, and the Eradicator appears. He is amused that they were all waiting for him. The Eradicator starts to make a villain speech when Jonathan cuts him in half. Jonathan takes it as a win, but the Eradicator divides into two Eradicators. As Jonathan is proclaiming himself Superman, the Eradicators take him by surprise, and one of the Eradicators tells him they have no Superman to save them and he’s going to make sure they never have one again.
Clark is with Brainiac, and Brainiac reveals that the Coluans called him a friend in their language and that’s why she failed. But Clark points out that he won them over and defeated their leader. But Brainiac wanted Clark to dominate them, not make peace with them. He adds that it’s the Coluans’ fate to save them because it’s always the fate of the weak to serve the strong. Brainiac celebrates Krypton as an empire, but Clark points out that despite all the conquering, Krypton still burned in the end. But Brainiac doesn’t want to hear it and says if the weak don’t serve the strong, what was the point of all their sacrifice and the last 10,000 years? Clark then realizes that Brainiac was a Coulan once and not any Coulan but their leader. Brainiac says he’s right and that the Coulans are Krypton’s eternal servants. Clark doesn’t understand why, considering what his people did to them, and apologizes on their behalf. Instead of accepting the apology, Brainiac accuses Clark of insulting their millennia of service and prepares to execute him. But Bizarro snaps out of his trance and punches a hole through Brainiac.