Original Air Date: July 14, 2024
Written by: Jake Wyatt
Jimmy and Kara race back to Earth to stop Brainiac's invasion, while Lois finds herself trapped in a dream-like reality where Superman never left Krypton as she works to save Clark from Brainiac's control.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: The simulation's versions of Jor-El and Lara are verbally abusive towards Clark, deriding him as weak for preferring scientific research over being a warrior; it's implied that they've done this for a while, as Clark mentions that he's always felt "different" because of it. That said, they're clearly constructs influenced by Brainiac's own belief that Virtue Is Weakness, not accurate reflections of what Clark's biological parents were really like when they were alive.
- Adaptation Distillation: Exaggerated; the Lois and Clark subplot of the episode is a very condensed and altered adaptation of "For The Man Who Has Everything", similarly depicting Clark trapped in an illusory world by the Black Mercy where he remained on Krypton, but the specifics are heavily changed to fit the context of the show's current story.
- All Animals Are Dogs: Aside from its very alien head, the baby Sun-Eater Clark is looking after in the simulation resembles a dog, and it even wags its tail when it sees Clark.
- All for Nothing: Amanda building up countermeasures against a possible alien invasion over the years ends up being for naught: Superbrainiac defeats Task Force X in seconds, the Kryptonite-powered Metallos are rendered useless after Brainiac activates his anti-Kryptonite shielding, and to rub salt in the wound he easily hacks the Metallo army and turns them on Superman and Kara.
- Alternate Self: The Black Mercy creates new simulations of Clark's biological parents to keep him subdued. Unlike the Virtual Ghost of Jor-El, who was opposed to Krypton's warrior ways and proud of Clark using his powers for peace, the Black Mercy's simulations of Jor-El and Lara are closer to Brainiac's Virtue Is Weakness mindset, considering Clark weak for valuing science over warfare and being willing to fight him when he starts to break free of his brainwashing. It's clear that whatever Jor-El and Lara were like in life is nothing like how the simulations act, and these simulations are also fully aware they're not the real deal.
- Battle Couple: With Lois having superhuman capabilities in Clark's mind, she and Clark are able to fight back against the Black Mercy's Kryptonian simulations together.
- Big Damn Heroes: Perry White and Vicki Vale confront Waller on her arrest of Lois, Jimmy, and Kara after seeing the events on Jimmy's livestream, distracting her long enough for Steve Lombard to swoop in and free the three before making a getaway.
- Big Damn Kiss: Clark and Lois have one as the former fully recovers his memories and the two affirm that they truly do love each other, making amends and presumably moving past their previous break-up.
- Bilingual Bonus: "Mortigi Kodon" means "kill code" in Esperanto.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends on Clark and Kara incapacitated by Kryptonite poisoning, Task Force X's Metallo fleet being turned against them, and all of Metropolis being at the mercy of Brainiac's forces.
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: After Steve is able to rescue Jimmy, Lois, and Kara from Waller while Perry and Vicki distract her and he makes their escape with them, Waller orders Wilson to recapture them but he's stopped when Brainiac arrives to Earth to start his invasion.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Task Force X's Agents Wilson, Martin, and Damage, all three of whom have given Superman trouble on their own in the past, attempt to take on Brainiac in Superman's body. Brainiac, who does not have Superman's Thou Shall Not Kill mindset, shows them just how outclassed they really always were and defeats them with one blow each.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Even though there is still one episode left, this episode finally has Lois and Clark reunite after several episodes of heartache and romantic betrayal, solidified with a Big Damn Kiss.
- Enemy Mine:
- Perry and Vicki put aside their bitter rivalry to work together to save Lois, Jimmy, and Kara from Task Force X.
- Downplayed with Waller, who is understandably angry when she thinks Lex is ordering the Metallos to fire upon Superman and Kara, rather than Brainiac's drone army. Lex has to explain that he isn't controlling the Metallos; Brainiac is.
- Eviler than Thou: Brainiac decisively proves himself a greater threat than Task Force X when the two finally encounter each other in this episode. In Clark's body, he effortlessly repels a simultaneous assault by Atomic Skull, Damage, and Deathstroke, with Brainiac exploiting their reliance on repurposed Kryptonian technology by easily seizing control of their forces, leaving all of Metropolis at his mercy. Worse, Brainiac and Kandor have shielding specifically to counter Kryptonite, meaning Lex's enhancement of the Metallos with the substance just makes things harder on Clark and Kara—the only people in any position to stop him.
- Feed by Example: Clark brings an imprisoned Lois some cake within the Black Mercy simulation, but (due to her own memories initially being suppressed) she suspects that it may be poisonous. He then takes a bite to prove to her that it's safe.
- Fisher Kingdom: After Clark regains his memories, Lois gains Kryptonian abilities within the simulation because she was never "just a human" to him. The two of them overpower the enemy AI and break the simulation's limits.
- Fun with Subtitles: Before Lois restores his memories, the closed captioning refers to Clark exclusively as Kal-El to represent Brainiac's attempted Death of Personality.
- Good Costume Switch: Once Clark regains control of his body, his costume switches back to the usual colors, though the design is changed slightly to include Kryptonian shoulder pads.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: The attempts by the simulation of Lara and Jor-El to erase Lois' mind only reset the scenario to the moment she entered, leaving her opportunity to evade Jor-El apprehending her and attempt to jog Clark's memory.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: In the final simulation loop, Lois takes Clark back to her crashed spaceship, knowing Jor-El and Lara would disregard it long enough for her to snap Clark back to himself. By the time they figure out she's not at the lab as in previous loops, she's succeeded.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Luthor redesigned the Metallos with kryptonite components in an effort to make the perfect countermeasure for Superman and any other Kryptonian threat. Not only does Brainiac have countermeasures for this specific weakness, but he then hacks into the Metallos and uses them to incapacitate Kara and Superman, removing the only thing standing between him and Earth's destruction.
- Hope Spot: Despite Clark coming back to his senses (and wearing new clothes) and Kara finally teaming up with him to defeat Brainiac, Brainiac overpowers them both when he takes over the Metallos and knocks them both out cold.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Done accidentally on Clark's behalf through Brainiac, demonstrating just how outmatched Task Force X is against a being on Clark's power level. It takes a mere single blow each to incapacitate foes that gave Clark a tough showing, and it's implied they're lucky to still be breathing after that.
- I'm Standing Right Here: While keeping Lois in custody, the constructs of Lara and Jor-El in the Black Mercy keep referring to her as "the glitch," which Lois protests because the glitch has a name.
- Invisible Wall: The Black Mercy simulation has a hard limit in the sky when Clark and Lois fly into a red barrier that suddenly appears out of nowhere. Working together they manage to punch through it and free themselves from the Black Mercy.
- Join or Die: Brainiac offers to make Earth the jewel of the new Kryptonian Empire, or he can burn their world to ash. Waller responds by ordering her empowered soldiers to attack, all of whom get swatted away like flies.Superbrainiac: It is to be fire, then.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind: Lois uses the Black Mercy to dive into the program Brainiac constructed to brainwash Clark.
- Kryptonite-Proof Suit: Brainiac has a countermeasure against Kryptonite by transforming himself and Kandor into a white form that's impervious to it.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: For all of their talk about the world not needing Superman and their attempts to kill him for their self-deluded plans, Task Force X ends up having their asses kicked with Brainiac uses his control over Superman to beat their top agents effortlessly, protects his soldiers from their Metallo drones' kryptonite weapons, which he then hacks into to incapacitate both Kara and the now-freed Superman. Waller and Luthor are forced to watch as their work ends up blowing up in their faces.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Not only does Clark have no memories of his time on Earth while trapped in the Black Mercy's simulation of Krypton, entering the Black Mercy causes Lois to lose her own memories as well, complicating her plan to rescue Clark. Lois quickly recovers her memories during her first encounter with Clark, and Clark gradually regains his own through repeat meetings with Lois.
- Light Is Not Good: Activating Kryptonite shielding causes the black on Kandor and Brainiac's drones to become stark white.
- Love at First Sight: Even with both suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia while trapped in the Black Mercy's simulation, all it takes is one meeting for Clark and Lois to begin to fall for each other again.
- Meaningful Echo:
- Steve's "Nah!" catchphrase from "You Will Believe a Man Can Lie" makes a much more triumphant return, this time to support Jimmy rather than demean him and show his willingness to defy Task Force X to protect his friends.
- Lois repeats Livewire's "love is not for cowards" line to Clark himself as she helps him recover his memories.
- Mythology Gag: This isn't the first time Clark has tried to care for a baby Sun-Eater, even if it's only in a simulation.
- No-Sell: Brainiac and Kandor are revealed to have built-in radiation shields to protect them from the effects of Kryptonite, proving Brainiac's lack of concern regarding Jimmy using the substance against him wasn't just a bluff.
- Not Quite Dead: Brainiac's primary body survived his battle with Kara, albeit in a damaged state, allowing him to quickly recover and continue the invasion when Clark regains control of his body.
- Oh, Crap!: The final shot we see of Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller in the episode has them completely dead to rights against the Brainiac-hacked Metallo drones. While Waller bravely looks on with gritted teeth, Lex has an expression of utter shock and fear as he realizes they are outmatched and their efforts to prevent the invasion were for naught.
- Otherworld-Exclusive Superpowers: Due to the Black Mercy's simulation being set inside Clark's consciousness, his view of Lois' strength of character ends up being translated into literal Super-Strength, making her just as powerful as him while they're inside.
- Out of Focus: When Jimmy and Kara return to Earth, their ship immediately falls under attack and incurs major damage. Kara calls out to Monsieur Mallah, at the pilot's station, to leave Earth immediately while she flies down to rescue the falling Jimmy and Lois. We see Mallah for maybe one second before the ship vanishes into a portal.
- The Power of Love: Since they are trapped within his consciousness, Clark's love and admiration for Lois literally empowers her to superhuman heights against the Black Mercy's defensive programs. He believes that she's strong enough to do anything, which means that within his mind that drive and strength of character becomes physical.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Despite her vehement anti-alien stance, Waller isn't so short-sighted as to attack Superman and Kara when they're helping to resist Brainiac's assault, which is why she snaps at Lex for seemingly attacking their current allies. Lex then explains that the drones have been hacked.
- Properly Paranoid: Brainiac has developed shielding to protect his technology from Kryptonite radiation, which he deploys once he realizes that humanity has developed Kryptonite weaponry.
- Removed Achilles' Heel: When Lex deploys the Metallos against Brainiac, Brainiac activates anti-Kryptonite shielding on himself, Kandor, and his drones, rendering them immune to the radiation. It's not entirely clear how long he's had this countermeasure, though given he took possession of File X in the previous episode, it's not a stretch to assume he was able to adapt the material of the container to his own ends. He then co-opts the drone army and turns it against Clark and Kara, who don't have the shielding to protect them.
- The Reveal: While previously implied by Jor-El in "Hearts of the Fathers", this episode definitively confirms Kryptonite exists in the show's universe since Brainiac and Kandor have shielding to protect against it—all known instances of Kryptonite beforehand were from (or otherwise the result of) alternate universes.
- Shout-Out: The episode title is a reference to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. In addition, several of the fights between Superbrainiac and Kara take after Dragon Ball Z.
- Something Only They Would Say: Even after regaining his memories, Clark at first believes he isn't talking to the real Lois but rather a simulation, since as a result of their break-up he thinks the real Lois would never come for him. An angry Lois proceeds to rant about everything she did to find him, including teaming up with Livewire to break into S.T.A.R. Labs and steal a spaceship... which finally convinces Clark, because only the real Lois would do something that insane.
- Spanner in the Works: Lois impulsively entering the Black Mercy causes untenable glitches in the system, since it was only designed to house one mind. Although her memory is initially wiped, she regains it soon enough, and attempts to delete her mind entirely only reset the scenario to the moment she entered, her memory still intact. She ultimately breaks Clark's brainwashing and then breaks him free of the Black Mercy to retake control over his body.
- Taking the Bullet: Unable to stop Brainiac from firing Kandor's Wave-Motion Gun at Metropolis, Kara, still weakened by residual Kryptonite poisoning, uses her own body to shield the city from the laser, badly injuring her. Brainiac responds by simply firing another, fully aware another blast would kill her. Fortunately, this buys enough time for a restored Clark to step in to block the next attack in her stead, allowing them to begin pushing back against Brainiac.
- Underestimating Badassery: Task Force X and Waller have been convinced their re-appropriation of Krytonian technology was the best defence against a follow-up Zero Day invasion, and their efforts have seemingly had some effect in that Clark struggles when facing each individual member in a fight. However, under Brainiac's control, the malevolent AI decisively demonstrates that those struggles were due to Clark holding back out of fear of hurting them, taking down Slade, Damage, and Atomic Skull in a single blow each, moving so fast it seems like a single movement. And to add salt to the wound, as he is Kryptonian technology, Brainiac can hack all of Task Force X's defences to turn them against Earth, including the kryptonite-wielding Metallos, giving him a home-created robot army to subjugate Earth with alongside his own invasion fleet.
- Villainous Breakdown: Brainiac has one when Clark regains control of his body. Enraged that Clark and Earth would dare resist his invasion rather than be "grateful" for his offer to integrate them into the Kryptonian Empire, Brainiac opts to get payback through his usual plan of planetary genocide.
- Villain Override: Brainiac manages to hack into and seize control of the Metallos from Lex, turning Cadmus' greatest weapons against them.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While they were never real to begin with, the Black Mercy simulation featured both Kara and Zor-El in the previous episode. Both of them are completely absent here.
- The Worf Effect: Slade, Damage, and Atomic Skull are incapacitated in mere seconds by Brainiac, whereas all of them gave Superman a tough fight solo and lasted a decent amount of time even when fighting both him and General Lane. This is very evidently because Brainiac, lacking Clark's moral restraints, is using more of what Clark is actually capable of when not holding back against them. They're honestly lucky to still be in one piece.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Kara expresses her doubts that she can be a hero given her warmongering past and the fact that she couldn't even hurt Superbrainiac, Steve points out that Superman gets beat up on a regular basis but still pulls through in the end, while Jimmy points out that regardless of whatever others intended for her to do, only Kara herself gets to decide who she really is. This motivates Kara enough to make one last stand against Superbrainiac.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: Since Superman truly believes that Lois is the strongest person he knows, within his mind, she is granted powers equal to his own, able to perform superhuman feats that help her fight the simulation and help Superman break free from Brainiac's control. She even gets glowing eyes like his.