WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for this week’s episode of Krypton, “Civil Wars,” which aired Wednesday on Syfy.
The destruction of Krypton is central to the mythology of Superman, who's rocketed from his home world as an infant, like an intergalactic Moses, to find refuge on Earth. The cause of that apocalypse has varied in the past 80 years, from a build-up within the planet's uranium core to the machinations of terrorist group to a supernova, yet the result always remains the same: the planet is obliterated. The same holds true on Syfy's Krypton, although still some 200 years in the future, but this week's episode introduces a twist on the inevitable event so novel that it threatens to upend the very premise of the series.
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From its initial trailers, the drama has warned of an existential threat posed by Superman's greatest enemy, who's traveled from the future to destroy Krypton, ensuring the Man of Steel is never born. The consequences to the universe are so grave that Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) has risked so much to warn the superhero's grandfather Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) about the imminent invasion by Brainiac. However, the events of "Civil Wars" cast that into doubt, and drives a wedge between Seg and Adam.
The complication begins, as so many do with General Zod (Arrow alum Colin Salmon), not quite properly introduced last week as Lyta-Zod's son from the future, who's been in the past for who knows how long in search of a weapon to stop Brainiac. Or at least that's what he says. Adam immediately recognizes him, and warns Seg and Lyta (Georgina Campbell) that he's Superman's greatest enemy, and should be killed to ensure that he can't help Brainiac to destroy Krypton.
There's a slight flaw in Adam's logic, of course, because if the planet were to be wiped out a generation before his birth, then Zod would never exist. Adam's heart is in the right place, though, and Zod, for all his menacing charm, almost certainly can't be trusted. But as the Man of Steel's infamous foe explains the timing of his visit, Adam's own mission begins to unravel, and Krypton's past becomes much more interesting.
"History tells us that this is when that creature ripped Kandor City away from the planet, and made it part of his collection," Zod says. "I'm here to prevent that tragedy."
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Although at first blush that statement doesn't seem particularly revelatory -- anyone versed in Superman comics knows the fate of Kandor -- but it forces the audience to reexamine part of Krypton's premise, and the characters to doubt the story they've been sold by Adam. If Zod is to be believed, Brainiac isn't from the future. "Brainiac didn't travel through time to launch this attack," Zod continues. "This is what he's always done."
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That's only the first domino, however, as Zod continues his lesson in "elementary Kryptonian history," describing the theft of Kandor as "the beginning of the end for our civilization." "Brainiac takes Kandor City, which destabilizes Krypton's core, causing the planet to explode in 200 years."
It's a neat retcon, if that's the appropriate term in this case, that makes Brainiac responsible for Krypton's destruction, instantly elevating him on Superman's list of enemies. (The Man of Steel has speculated in the comics that Brainiac might have caused the planet's sun to go nova, but that was never confirmed.) But it also undercuts Seg's trust in Adam, who never quite got around to divulging that his world will no longer exist in two centuries.
"I didn't tell you because it was hard. It's not a conversation anyone wants to have," Adam tells Seg, even as he begins to doubt himself. "Look, I don't know. Maybe Zod's lying. Maybe ... maybe I was wrong. All I knew was Superman's enemy was going back to change the timeline, which means that your grandson will never be born."
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Seg cuts at the heart of Adam's mission, exposing that he hadn't even gotten the full story before traveling by Zeta-Beam through time and space to prevent the destruction of Krypton, at least at this point. But it occurs to Adam that, if the warning he received wasn't about Brainiac, then it must have referred to General Zod. "And if we're to preserve the timeline," he concludes, "then maybe we have to step back ... and let Brainiac take Kandor."
That's a difficult -- heck, impossible -- argument to make to three people who would see the city, and the people, they care about yanked from the planet, and placed in Brainiac's collection. It probably would've been easier for Adam to broach the subject of Krypton's ultimate destruction, perhaps over drinks at Kem's bar. At least then General Zod wouldn't have been around to further complicate the argument by wondering is it might be better to sacrifice the life of "one immature survivor" -- that is, the infant Superman -- that to lose millions of lives when, or if, the planet explodes. But of course General Zod would say that.
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 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.