WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Supergirl Season 6, Episode 19, "The Last Gauntlet," which aired Tuesday November 9th on The CW.
The Supergirl series finale has finally arrived. In part one of the two-part finale, titled "The Last Gauntlet," the Super Friends are backed into a corner after the 5th Dimensional Imp Nyxly and super genius sociopath Lex Luthor kidnapped Esme in last week's episode. Lex leaves a video for the team instructing them to hand over their five totems, as well as the Destiny Totem that has yet to be claimed, in order to get Esme back. Alex and Kelly are obviously upset, with Alex threatening to kill Lex to get Esme back.
The Super Friends desperately search for Lex and Nyxly as Supergirl tries to calm Alex down and promises to get her daughter back. Over at Lex's lair, the evil couple return with Esme. Nyxly attempts the gauntlet for the Love Totem, but the trial fails to start. Instead, the rose petal tattoo on Esme's neck begins losing its petals, signifying the Love Totem will transfer to a new host when the last petal falls.
Lex insists that they have to remove the Love Totem before its too late, but Nyxly is firm on not hurting Esme under any circumstances. He tries again, telling her that she perished last time because she used magic to complete the Love Totem gauntlet. Nyxly makes Lex swear not to hurt Esme, which he does while ominously inspecting the Mxy-powered crystal ball.
Back at the Tower, Andrea arrives as Acrata to try to save William. She instead runs into Lena and learns she was too late to prevent William's death. Andrea admits to her fault in William's death and reflects on how she can't fix it, though Lena insists Andrea can still be a better person.
Meanwhile, J'onn and Kara talk about their failure in protecting William and Esme. Kara's guilt over William's death pushes her to end the conflict. She resolves to do whatever is necessary, even using the Allstone, to save Esme and stop Lex and Nyxly.
Lex plays a chess game against himself while reflecting on whether or not he should obey Nyxly's request. He receives an unexpected visit from his mother, Lillian. Lex informs her of his genuine love for Nyxly, something Lillian is not a fan of due to Nyxly's alien status.
She tries to force Lex to choose between Nyxly and his family. Lex chooses Nyxly without a second thought. Lillian leaves in a huff, clearly not finished trying to interfere.
Nyxly attempts to bond with Esme once more, as she promises to return Esme to her mothers. She tells the little girl about how much Nyxly used to love drawing. Unfortunately, her father destroyed her art supplies as he found art to be useless.
Nyxly uses the story to tell Esme that going through bad experiences doesn't mean someone is destined for only bad experiences. Even with that connection the gauntlet fails to begin and more petals fall off the rose tattoo. A cutaway shows Lex watching the security feed, staring at the Mxy-orb once again.
While trying to get weapons together for the rendezvous, Alex has a breakdown and Kelly comforts her. The two agree to do whatever it takes to get Esme back. Meanwhile, Brainy hooks Nia up with the Dream Totem to look for Esme in her dreams. Brainy offers to go to the Dream Realm with Nia after she expresses fear over possibly seeing William's death.
Brainy and Nia find the Destiny Totem and tell the team that they sensed Esme is safe for the time being. Supergirl flies off to get the Dream Totem, revealed to be a statue of the thread of life spun by the Fates of Greek mythology. Taking on the gauntlet, Supergirl is shown a glimpse of her destiny, seeing the world in flames thanks to Lex and Nyxly.
To Supergirl's surprise, Alex arrives and takes the Destiny Totem from her sister. Kara tries to convince Alex against trading the Totems by telling her about the Destiny Totem vision, but Alex is relentless in her quest to get her daughter back. Alex admits that she would never be able to forgive Kara if her plan got Esme hurt, showing just how much Alex loves her daughter. She leaves with the Destiny Totem, leaving Supergirl behind to ponder her next move.
Back at the bunker, Nyxly meets Lillian and she tries to manipulate Nyxly into not trusting Lex. Nyxly insists that, as a powerful 5th Dimensional Imp, she can't be controlled, though Lillian is wise to Nyxly's current lack of power. The former princess insists that Lex wants nothing in return, but the seeds of doubt are placed in her head before the Luthor mother leaves.
Supergirl and the team work on a new plan for stopping Lex and Nyxly. Brainy suggest using a U.S. satellite designed to harness the Sun's solar rays to make Supergirl invulnerable to 5th Dimensional magic while heightening her powers. The only drawback is that the Sun would need six months to fully regenerate, leaving Earth subject to the environmental impact during that time.
Lena tries to talk Supergirl out of this plan. She states Kara will be playing God just as Lena did with Project Non Nocere. Like Alex, Supergirl insists she has to do it, too driven by her need to stop Lex and Nyxly and save her niece.
As Brainy, J'onn and Supergirl prepare to use the satellite, Nia and Lena go off to join Alex and Kelly in getting Esme back. On the eviler side of things, Lex decides to act against Nyxly's wishes and works to extract the Love Totem from Esme. Splitting open the Mxy-ball and releasing Mxy's essence, Lex successfully jump starts the Love Totem trial.
Nyxly intervenes and accidentally completes the gauntlet by protecting Esme from Lex. She leaves with Esme for the rendezvous, no longer trusting Lex and telling him so to his face. Nyxly and Esme then meet with Alex and Kelly at the designated location, a bridge where technology and superpowers are negated.
The exchange of Totems results in the Allstone being formed, though Lex and Lillian interrupt by blowing up the bridge. As that's happening, Supergirl uses the satellite to absorb the Sun's power, sending National City in distress as the Sun dims. The arrival of the U.S. military to stop the Super Friends, as well as the citizens' pleas, convinces Kara that obtaining absolute power is wrong and she stops using the satellite.
The Super Friends duke it out with Lex, Lillian and Nyxly for possession of the Allstone. Supergirl and the others arrive on the scene just as Esme picks up the Allstone and breaks it into three parts. Lex, Nyxly and Supergirl each grab a piece, with Lex and Nyxly battling each other for the other's piece. Lena attempts to stop the two with magic, only for Nyxly to fire off a shot at Lex that Lillian jumps in front of, getting seriously injured.
The use of the Allstone pieces turns the two villains into lizard-like gremlins, as they move their fight to National City and cause mayhem. Brainy explains that the villains are absorbing the traits of the Totems from humanity, i.e. Love, Truth, Dreams, etc. The team regroups at the Tower where Lillian is stabilized, but on the verge of death. Lena works on saving Lillian with magic while Supergirl flies off to think about what the best course of action is.
As she flies around the city, Kara hears a beacon of hope among the chaos. She heads over to find Orlando, the man she helped reunite with his brother after he was freed from prison, encouraging the citizens to stay strong. Supergirl flies back to the Tower, telling J'onn she knows what they need to do as the first part of the two-part series finale comes to an end.