SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "A Better Yesterday," the latest episode of Krypton.
General Zod's plan just went sideways, and his mother Lyta paid for it with her life. In "A Better Yesterday," the latest episode of Krypton, Jax-Ur made good on her promise to kill Dru-Zod's second-in-command and slit her throat on Kandor's public broadcast.
Just when Lyta appeared to quash the rebellion on Krypton's moon Wegthor, Jax-Ur unleashed her secret weapon. During a negotiation between Lyta, Val-El and Jax, the former Black Zero leader revealed her missing eye doubled as an electromagnetic generator, with the ability to discharge energy buildup. With this, Jax mowed down Lyta's snipers and took Lyta hostage. She then used Lyta's codes to access Kandor's broadcast system and issue her demands to Zod: withdraw the Sagitari from Wegthor in an hour, or Lyta dies.
Unfortunately for Lyta, Zod tried to have his cake and eat it too. He told Jax and the rebel forces that he would pull the Sagitari off the moon. However, in classic Zod fashion, he lied. He disguised his prisoners of war as Sagitari and sent them down the space elevator, while leaving his real army behind. Kem discovered the hidden Sagitari and reported his findings to Jax just as Zod's time ran out. Faced with a split-second decision, Jax carried through with her threat. As all of Kandor looked on, Jax slit Lyta's throat, and the episode cut to the credits.
Of course, not everyone agreed with Jax's choice. Val was horrified by her actions, believing that it made them as bad as Zod himself. However, Jax's intention was to put Zod between a rock and a hard place: "If Zod risks losing this war just to save his mother, it goes against everything the Sagitari are taught: loyalty to Krypton above all else. But if Zod lets Lyta die, the people of Kandor will see him just as they did Daron: just another tyrant desperate to stay in power." Thanks to his own actions, Zod fell into the latter category.
It is unclear how Lyta's death will affect Superman's timeline. After all, Dru-Zod is the son of Lyta and Seg-El. Now that Lyta has died, that disrupts the future as Adam Strange knows it; theoretically, Dru should no longer exist. It's possible the Codex, the technology that creates children on Krypton, still carries Lyta's genetic material and thus will allow him to be born. Until the next episode, though, we won't have any answers.
Of course, Krypton has provided many ways for Lyta to come back -- eventually. As established in Season 1, cloning technology exists in this universe. What's more, it has proven successful, since Daron-Vex used it to bring his daughter Nyssa back to life. Further, thanks to her reconditioning, Lyta's memories are stored somewhere in Kandor, though only Zod knows where.
Airing Wednesdays at 10 pm 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 Jayna-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.