Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy
The second episode of Krypton picked up right after the first episode ended, with Seg-El in the Fortress of Solitude with Adam Strange talking about Superman.
This entire episode was instrumental in taking two major characters on Krypton and moving them forward in their own personal journies. The first is Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) himself, who is in this episode a reluctant hero. The second is Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell), who has started to stand up for what she believes in.
Krypton: The journey of Seg-El
When it comes to Seg-El, it was a typical hero’s journey. He lost his grandfather as a child and his parents as a young man. Now, he has a strange man in a Detroit Tigers ballcap telling him that he comes from the future and it is up to Seg-El to save the world.
Related Story: Krypton pilot recap: Can the Superman prequel soar?
More from Show Snob
- The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
- Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
- Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
- Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”
Seg-El wants nothing at this moment but revenge. Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) needs to convince him that Brainiac is coming and if he doesn’t do something it will cost millions of people their lives. He tells Seg about how Brainiac captures worlds and enslaves them, but it is too much for him to believe.
At the moment, Seg-El is supposed to marry Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) and join the House of Vex. He then asks for Daron-Vex (Elliot Cowan) to allow him to join the Science Guild and continue his grandfather’s work — not the work that got him killed, but the work that helped make Krypton a better place.
However, Seg-El wants to kill Daron-Vex and tells Adam Strange that if he doesn’t prove something to him that day, he is going to kill the man who executed his grandfather and caused the death of his parents.
However, while Adam Strange does find something, that is not what changes Seg-El’s mind.
Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy
Seg-El Meets his Grandfather again
Daron-Vex tells Seg-El that his grandfather was spouting nonsense about an alien that was coming to enslave their world. At that moment, Seg-El realizes that Adam Strange is telling the truth.
After Nyssa-Vex snuck Seg his parent’s ashes (which was against the law since they were traitors) he heads back to their home. He has a short meeting with a rankless woman and little girl who pay their condolences with a rock carving of the El symbol, and Seg heads back to the Fortress of Solitude.
While there he finds a control board and when he translates the words that it is connected by blood, he cuts his hand and lets it fall over the El symbol. At that moment, the machines kick on and his grandfather Val-El (Ian McElhinney) is back.
However, much like Jor-El in the Superman movies, this is not Val-El but the holographic image with Val-El’s memories that can communicate with Seg-El. It turns out that Val-El knew that Seg was going to be his heir to the science realm and set this up to help him.
He admits that Brainiac is coming and they have to find a way to stop him.
In a great moment here, Val-El admits that he created the device that allowed him to travel to other dimensions in something he called — the Phantom Zone.
After this meeting, Seg-El goes back to Daron-Vex and says that he refuses to marry his daughter and refuses to take on the name Vex. He said that he would rather die rankless. When Daron was about to retort, the Voice of Rao came in and said that he approves it, and Seg will be ranked as part of the Science Guild without marriage.
The kicker here is that Daron-Vex knew about the ashes and was working with his daughter to win over Seg’s trust. The two seem to be working together to control Seg and the Voice of Rao even said that having him as just a member of the Science Guild will give them the control that they need.
KRYPTON — “House of El” Episode 102 — Pictured: Georgina Campbell as Lyta-Zod — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)
Lyta-Zod takes control on Krypton
Remember back to the Krypton premiere when Jayna-Zod (Ann Ogbomo) fought her daughter and stabbed her in the hand by telling her that they show no mercy? That comes into play here — just one week later.
Lyta’s unit is preparing for an attack on the unranked led by her commanding officer Quez-Ul (Gordon Alexander). Lyta knows that this will cause a large amount of bloodshed against the innocent rankless citizens of Krypton. When she asks Dev-Em to reconsider, he refuses.
Lyta talks to her mother, and she is angry that she would even consider the rankless above her orders. This also makes Quez angry so Lyta challenges him to a duel to the death for the right to lead the unit.
Watch your favorite shows on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!
This is also the first time that Jayna shows any care or concern for her daughter. However, Lyta refuses to stand down and says that she believes in herself even if her mother does not.
It turns out well but has a shocking conclusion. Lyta holds her own against Quez and finally takes the advantage. However, when Quez asks for mercy, she snaps his neck and kills him, repeating her mother’s line about never asking for mercy.
As she is sworn in as the new leader of the Fourth Squadron of the Sagitari — effectively ending the planned attack on the unranked — her mother tells her that it only gets harder from here.
A new relationship also started to form here as Lyta and Dev-Em (Aaron Pierre) have a history together and he tells her that he believes in her. While there is little known about this man, it is clear he loves Lyta and hates Seg, he has a tortured past and is unforgiving of the unranked, and — in the comics — he is a murderer sentenced to the Phantom Zone.
KRYPTON — “House of El” Episode 102 — Pictured: (l-r) Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El, Shaun Sipos as Adam Strange, Rasmus Hardiker as Kem — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)
Adam Strange in action on Krypton
The last bit of this week’s Krypton involved an adventure where Adam Strange and Seg’s buddy Kem (Rasmus Hardiker) head out to investigate a meteor shower. After trading his Tigers’ cap and his watch, someone sneaks them out to the area of Krypton they wanted to go without detection.
The entire interaction between Strange and Kem is great, and it is clear already that these two supporting cast members are already more interesting than the hero – Seg-El. The two also get the best lines (Strange tells Seg — “I’m kind of a big deal back where I come from.”)
Strange and Kem seem ready to freeze to death in the frozen wastelands of Krypton when Adam Strange finds debris that proves something crashed there. What he finds changes everything.
Next: Santa Clarita Diet Season 2 Recap
When Seg-El shows back up, Adam Strange and Kem show him a small device — a pod from the crashed probe. Strange reveals this is something that Brainiac sends to planets he is planning to take and this means that he isn’t coming — Brainiac is already here.
Krypton airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on SyFy.