Krypton Recap – Season 1 Episode 6 – ‘Civil Wars’

Krypton’s leading man, Cameron Cuffe, made an analogy about the first 5 episodes of the show leading up to this point. He said that episodes 1-3 were setting the board, episode 4 was beginning the game, and episode 5 flips the table. The show you thought you were watching all this time turned the narrative on its head and episode 6 establishes the final 4 episodes of Season 1. Adam was wrong. Brainiac always comes to Krypton and takes Kandor. The time traveler Adam was warned about is General Dru Zod, come to save Krypton from exploding in 200 years. This turn of events places our hero, Seg-El at an impasse, questioning his faith — in Adam, Lyta, Kandor, Krypton and in himself.

Krypton Recap: Season 1 Episode 6: “Civil Wars”
Airdate: April 25, 2018
Written by Doris Egan

“You are asking me to sacrifice all of it for an idea.”

Faith is a notion that asks you to believe there is a greater purpose. You are here for a reason, you are presented with certain tasks and challenges for a reason, and you must have faith that you will find that reason. There are moments in time when life presents us with impossible choices and the decisions we make can affect the present and the future. The choice laid upon Seg in this episode is to side with Dru Zod and save Krypton from extinction, or help Adam preserve the timeline in order to ensure Kal-El is born and sent to Earth where he will be known as The Last Son of Krypton. To Adam, Superman is the savior of the universe, to Seg, he’s just an idea. Seg must search within to find the right answer, he must have faith he is making the right choice.

Perhaps the most fascinating part for the audience is, both Dru and Adam are right. Wouldn’t you do all that you could to save your world? The people you know and care about in the present bare a stronger significance to you than hypothetical grandchildren you have never met. Dru Zod is right. He is sworn to defend his city and his world and with the knowledge of Krypton’s demise, he is there to stop it. He has faith he is doing the right thing. Of course, Adam is also right. Protecting Superman’s existence is essential to the fate of not only Earth, but to the entire universe. Wouldn’t you do all that you could to save the universe? Adam also has faith he is doing the right thing.

An impossible choice for Seg and the decision either way will cause a break between himself and someone he cares about. Lyta bonds immediately with her future son, especially after she hears him recite the Zod mantra, “our duty and our proud privilege” and Seg’s instinct is going to be to side with Lyta, after all he has faith in her. He and Adam are new friends and though they have grown close, which you can see in both Adam and Seg’s eyes during their tense conversation, the fact that Adam omitted some key details pushes Seg to choose saving Krypton; the lie breaks his faith in Adam.

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: Colin Salmon as Black Zero — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

Dru Zod only recognizes Seg as his dearest friends father, and that is not lost on Lyta. She tells Seg she thought perhaps now that he was gilded they could be together, however this time traveller has her worried for their future, but she still has faith in them. Seg’s love for Lyta and desire to have a life with her has to be weighing on his mind while making these decisions, and we don’t blame him. He loves her. Seg proves to, at the very least, be thinking logically when it comes to the weapon behind the Zod-El door. Adam and the Cythonnites tell him it’s Doomsday, a soulless killing machine that cannot be destroyed or controlled and he agrees they save Krypton but don’t release Doomsday (for now).

Did you ever expect to be rooting for Dru Zod? Nope, me either. But here we are. Krypton has done such a wonderful job creating this world, the thought of it blowing up, of Lyta and Seg not having a happy ending seems sad and while we, as the audience, know how important Superman is, we can’t help but want him to succeed. The themes and ideas presented in this episode of faith and love were so nuanced, we find ourselves understanding Dru Zod. His major contention with Superman comes down to assimilation. He feels Kal-El, an immigrant from Krypton, buried his heritage and didn’t wear his Kryptonian culture proudly. For him, a person whose family has protected Krypton for generations, this is a great offense. Of course, we know why Kal-El is Clark Kent and why he hides who he is and why Superman is a secret identity, but here we are again, agreeing with all sides of the argument. It’s an odd place to be.

KRYPTON — “Civil Wars” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Ann Ogbomo as Alura, Elliot Cowan as Daron-Vex, Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex — (Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

It’s odder when you find yourself somewhat agreeing with Daron-Vex. After a heated argument with Jayna in which we find out Daron married into House Vex (I guess this society has the “lesser” party take the name of the more prominent house), coming seemingly out of nowhere, she accuses him of only looking out for himself. He agrees with her but he also says its important for Kandor to be released from the religious hold the Voice of Rao has on them so they can unite with the other 8 cities of Krypton. He has faith that the world will only improve when the cities work together. The ends may not justify the means where Daron is concerned, but his umbrella philosophy isn’t wrong, he’s just maybe going about it the wrong way.

Religious faith plays an important part this episode as well, when the Voice of Rao, now infected by Brainiac, attempts to understand the significance of faith in Kandor. Ona provides him with answers as she explains why she has faith. She believes everything has a purpose, that it is good and that she will see her mother again. She believes in eternal life for the faithful and that Rao loves them. Brainiac/Voice soaks in this information and it is my assumption he is using this to determine how best to win over the people of Kandor.

(Photo by: Steffan Hill/Syfy)

It is Dev’s faith in Jayna that leads him to side with her and carry out the assassination attempt on the Voice of Rao. It is this faith that is perhaps the most displaced in the episode as it manages to put Dev in a most precarious situation. Brainiac reveals himself during the assassination attempt to the Sagitari for yet another cliffhanger ending.

If you cannot stop thinking about the choices and decisions made in this episode, you probably aren’t supposed to. It’s odd when you find yourself agreeing with every party in a disagreement and I have faith that the show-runners are leading us down an interesting and intriguing path to the end of Season 1.