Krypton's Hero Is Doomed to Lose His Fight Against Brainiac

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the pilot episode of Krypton, which debuted Wednesday on Syfy.

Superman's home world is doomed. Although elements surrounding its destruction have changed over the decades (why it exploded, how many people survived, and so on), its fate remains a constant, leading the infant Kal-El to be rocketed to Earth, where he grows up to become its greatest hero. But Syfy's Krypton begins its story some 200 years earlier, with a focus on the Man of Steel's grandfather, an impetuous young man determined to restore his family's honor and now tasked with protecting the planet, and the entire universe, from an existential threat.

The problem is, Seg-El is predestined to fail. Not in saving Krypton from its ultimate destruction, mind you -- that apocalypse is for his son Jor-El to fret over, a generation later -- but instead from the looming conquest by Brainiac. Hey, you were warned about spoilers.

Developed by David S. Goyer (Man of Steel) and Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1), Krypton is an entertaining hodgepodge, sort of Game of Thrones meets Romeo and Juliet meets the DC Universe. A rigidly hierarchical society under the religious authority of the mysterious, many-faced Voice of Rao, Krypton is nearing a boiling point, with the radical group Black Zero committing acts of terror within the capital of Kandor City, and the science-denying government willfully blind to the danger lying beyond the stars.

Against that backdrop, young Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) must not only deal with the revelation that his grandfather Val-El (Ian McElinney of Game of Thrones) wasn't a traitor but instead a brilliant scientist who tried to warn the ruling council about extraterrestrial life, and the ultimate sacrifice by his parents to preserve the secrets hidden within Val-El's Fortress of Solitude.

Arriving in the middle of all of that is Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos), the Earthman who travels across space and time to Krypton to deliver to Seg-El a Sunstone Crystal, and a warning: that someone from the future is coming to destroy the planet in order to prevent his unborn grandson from becoming the greatest hero the universe has ever known.

"This isn't just about your grandson, Seg," Strange later elaborates to the despondent young man. "This thing that's coming, it's not just going to stop at Krypton. It is coming for everything. It moves from planet to planet, conquering civilizations, destroying billions of lives. It is known as the Collector of Worlds, but its true name is Brainiac."

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That's a heavy burden to place on the shoulders of someone who's already lost so much. But while we know Brainiac won't succeed in his mission (Superman does exist in the future, after all), neither, ultimately, can Seg-El. Not entirely. The evidence is in Krypton's setting -- its specific setting -- and in the glimpse inside the iconic skull-shaped ship of the Collector of Worlds.

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Those haunting, colorful globes cradled by tendrils in the vessel's bowels aren't for lighting or merely decorative purposes; they're miniaturized cities, souvenirs of the planets Brainiac has devastated. You see, he earned his epithet, this Collector of Worlds. Likewise, Krypton's capital is also known by another, longer name, one more familiar to comic book fans: the Bottle City of Kandor.

Traditionally, Kandor, with its 6 million inhabitants, was miniaturized and stolen by Brainiac years before the destruction of Krypton. Decades later, Superman discovered the bottle city in the possession of the villain when he arrived on Earth, intending to add to his unique collection. The Man of Steel then relocated Kandor to his Fortress of Solitude, hoping to one day discover how to return the city, and its inhabitants, to full size.

We can certainly argue that the Collector of Worlds actually did the Kandorians a favor by rescuing them from a doomed planet, but its miniaturized fate has been a part of Superman's mythology for 60 years. Mind you, Krypton has, and will yet, tinker with elements of long-established lore ("What you thought you knew about Krypton, you can forget," showrunner Cameron Welsh has said). However, it seems unlikely the producers would play up Brainiac's ominous alias, and offer a foreshadowing glimpse of his stockpile of pint-sized cities, only to spare Kandor of its well-established destiny. That would be a cheat.

It may mean, then, that Seg-El will gain a fleeting reprieve for his beloved home world, at the cost of Kandor, which some might view as an acceptable loss, considering the stakes. It's cold comfort, however, considering Krypton will inevitably explode, mere moments after the vessel bearing the infant Kal-El -- the future Superman -- charts a course toward Earth. In that, Seg-El can claim victory, even if he'll never live to see it.

Airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy, Krypton stars Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Shaun Sipos as Adam Strange, Georgina Campbell as Lyta Zod, Elliot Cowan as Daron-Vex, Ann Ogbomo as Alura Zod, Rasmus Hardiker as Kem, Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex, Aaron Pierre as Dev-Em, Ian McElhinney as Val-El and Blake Ritson as Brainiac.