Krypton Episode 9 Review: Hope

This Krypton review contains spoilers.

Krypton Episode 9

It’s a good thing the El name means “hope” because, after the arrival of Brainiac on Krypton, it’s pretty much all Team Seg has going for them. In what was a last-ditch attempt to defeat the Sentry/Voice of Rao, Kandor City lost most of its manpower when the Sentry/Voice of Rao got Black Zero and the Sagitari to turn on one another. 

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. “Hope” begins with Kandor City in chaos, unsure what to do in the wake of the Voice’s disappearance. It is in the midst of all of this that Seg and Lyta come together and, yep, create a child. It’s a pretty cool reveal that Dru-Zod is not only Lyta’s son, but Seg’s—it doesn’t seem to phase Dru very much, however. He still hates the House of El… even if it is a part of him.

It does make breaking through the seal keeping Doomsday tomb safely ensconced much easier. Dru doesn’t need a buddy to do it. He has both Zod blood and El blood inside of him. He somehow manages to convince Lyta to come along on this power-grabby mission, as well. This doesn’t ring very true for me. Lyta has always been one of the most even-keeled, rational characters on this show. And, while Dru may be her son, she doesn’t actually know him. 

Dru and Jayna have no such family allegiance, that’s for sure. When Jayna and Seg move Doomsday before Dru even has a chance to open the tomb, the two eventually turn on each other. They duel “without mercy” and, when it looks like Jayna is going to straight-up kill her grandson, Lyta makes a choice and shoots her mother in the side before Jayna can strangle the life out of General Zod. I feel like Lyta is going to feel pretty dumb about siding with General Zod once the chips have fallen, but I also think it’s pretty understandable not wanting your mom to kill your son. Those Zods love their drama!

Jayna doesn’t seem to think it’s understandable. To her, it is a betrayal… especially after Jayna sacrificed everything for her daughter. While Lyta is checking on Dru, a wounded Jayna rolls off into the shadows of the catacomb (apparently faster than a not-wounded Lyta can follow her). Eventually, a wounded Jayna is given relief from a figure in a hood with a weird eyeball. Never count Jayna out, my friends. She’s like the Voice of Rao: shoot her down and she will reassemble herself from the splotchy parts to fight another day. (OK, maybe she’s not that good, but she is very determined and probably my favorite character.)

While the Zod family is working through its issues, Jax-Ur is working through her issues with Daron-Vex. As you might have guessed from the character’s comic backstory, Jax was Val-El’s mentor before Daron-Vex and the Voice of Rao sentenced Val to death. The sentence inspired Jax to flee the guild system and form Black Zero. I would have liked to see Krypton back Jax-Ur a bit on this choice. What if Black Zero were not a straight-up violent terrorist organization, but rather a more democratic organization working through means other than bombings?

After Jax tortures Daron for information, the man escapes. (Jax really needs to train her minions better.) But Jax is one step ahead of him. While Daron may buy a skimmer and make it out of Kandor and into the Outerlands, Jax has implanted some kind of device into his neck. Once she finds out he’s fled, she activates it, crashing his skimmer into the frozen tundra.

While Daron is fleeing, Seg still has hope. His hope ends up getting a bunch of people killed, but he manages to survive, thanks to some last-minute help from Nyssa, who brings a Fortress of Solitude crystal to a gun fight. The two kiss, which feels a bit contrived, given that Seg was sleeping with Lyta earlier in the episode, but also makes as much sense as the Seg/Lyta relationship… which is to say: sure, everyone involved is hot, but Krypton has not totally sold me on the romantic connection between either of these couples.

Krypton ends the episode with Brainiac rebuilding himself from the Voice of Rao’s splintered body. More than anything else, this show knows how to raise the stakes. Just when you think things can’t get any worse for Kandor City and Seg-El, they do. With only one episode left in season one, anytthing could happen.

Additional thoughts.

Jax-Ur brings some of her minions to check out the guild’s collection of clones. Apparently, the elite of Kandor City (or at least Daron-Vex) were planning on living forever through the use of clone technology. This is some Dollhouse shit.

It will never not be endearing when, in the middle of a very intense strategy session, Seg turns to Val-El and says, “Grandpa?”

Do we think Jax-Ur is Nyssa’s mom? Discuss.

Seg’s dreams of Brainiac’s ship are impressively accurate.

Between the clones and the Voice’s Sith backlighting, this episode had some serious Star Wars vibes to go along with its usual Game of Thrones vibes.