SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Red Dawn," the latest episode of Supergirl.


The Children of Liberty just opened Pandora's Box. In "Red Dawn," the latest episode of Supergirl, Brainiac-5 was taken into custody by the deputized anti-alien hate group, who then proceeded to torture him. After they electrocuted him, they accidentally rebooted him, unleashing his inner Brainiac.

As Brainy pleaded with the Children of Liberty to spare Nia Nal, aka Dreamer, they taunted him for his lack of powers and shocked him several times, until he appeared to glitch. With a voice that cracked and modulated, he sputtered out a string of memories, but his rambling soon took an insidious turn.

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"You're just primitives," he spat. "You people forget that time travel is also space travel too... My point is, I'm from the future. What I'm trying to tell you is that my species has ancestral memory -- and my ancestors, very bad people. They were collectors, conquerors. I remember everything!" he sobbed.

Suddenly, he stopped. His face went slack and he emitted a whirring sound. "In short, you rebooted me, aligned me with my more emotionless ancestors, and that was a calamitous mistake," he told them coldly. At that, he plugged into their computer system and released himself. He took down each one down brutally and easily, until he was standing among a pile of bodies.

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J'onn J'onnz showed up in time for the aftermath. He noticed something was wrong but, in his haste to save Dreamer, pushed that aside. This turned out to be a major mistake, with harsh consequences for both Nia and himself. When Brainy found Dreamer, he didn't release her; instead, he instructed her to go through a portal with the other alien refugees, then astral project to tell him their location. Only then did he plan to liberate the camp and stop Lex Luthor.

When Brainy informed J'onn of this, J'onn was none too pleased. Unfortunately for J'onn, Brainy took this into his calculations. "We double our odds if you're taken through the gate with her," he said. With that, he immobilized J'onn and left him to be captured. As a result, both Nia and J'onn were sent through the portal with the other aliens who had been rounded up by the Children of Liberty.

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As his name suggests, Brainy is a descendant of classic Superman villain Brianiac, an emotionless alien cyborg who captures and catalogues other alien species. Unlike his ancestor, Brainy has been shown to experience a variety of emotions, up to and including love. Indeed, he even dedicated his life to helping others by becoming a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Now that he has been "rebooted," Brainy has reverted to his ancestral ways. Because he does not factor emotion into his thinking, he has now risked the lives of Dreamer and Martian Manhunter in an attempt to solve his problem. For now, he appears to be continuing his DEO mission. However, the longer he stays like this, the more he is at risk of becoming just like Brainiac. It may not be long before he realizes there is no logic in traditional heroism and takes a villainous turn.

Airing Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.