Supergirl Season 3 Commentary – Random New Year Thoughts

I got into a Supergirl discussion where a few topics were raised and explored. No firm conclusions were reached, as is usual with these gabfests, but a fun time was had by our inquiring minds. I figured, as we are still in a hiatus period, I’d toss out a few of the talking points as well as tag on a small video I tried and failed to put together for yet another post on Kara’s alienness.

Kara’s Stuff

A subject we keep returning to is the question of what items were with Kara in her pod when she left Krypton/landed on Earth? While somewhat of an academic question at first, the revelation that Reign’s pod had a fortress-building crystal in it, as Kal’s obviously did (ref: Fortress of Solitude), really forces the very obvious question of: where is Kara’s fortress-building crystal?

The idea that Zor-El and Alura wouldn’t include a crystal in Kara’s pod when Kal had one seems completely ridiculous. As she was charged with protecting and effectively being a mother to baby Kal, it doesn’t seem likely that any of the El parents would risk her having to go completely native. Consequently, there is a Kryptonian crystal that is currently unaccounted for — at least so far as we know.

The most likely possessors are those who first took in Kara’s pod. It’s possible the crystal is still somewhere in the Danvers’ swanky home. This seems unlikely as the person who discovered Kara was Kal. It wouldn’t be surprising if he took it and has it stored for safekeeping somewhere — possibly also where he left the world’s supply of green kryptonite, maybe? Outside of those two friendly options, the most obvious next choice is the DEO. Whether it would be the Henshaw DEO or the J’onzz is a matter of timing and knowledge.

Beyond the crystal is the question of the other objects Kara would have brought with her. Not just the fancy Alura assistant AI hologram, but things like clothes, entertainment, survival supplies, precious metals & gems, etc. Being sent to a “primitive planet” would seem to require at least some amount of gear for the initial days. Even if Kara doesn’t want any of it for fear of being painfully reminded of Krypton, there’s still the question of who has it now? Kal? DEO? Thomas “collector of all things Kryptonian” Coville? Someone else?

Ruby

Since we learned that Sam is the Kryptonian science experiment/Worldkiller, Reign, we also have another unexpected element. Based on the conversation between Sam and her adoptive mother Patricia, Ruby is Sam’s natural-born child. Given Sam’s backstory, this raises a lot of questions about her daughter.

It’s tempting to say that Ruby is (at least) half-Kryptonian, but does Reign count as a true Kryptonian herself? Is she something sufficiently different that Ruby’s genealogy is confused? Assuming some basic Kryptonianness, why hasn’t Ruby exhibited any powers to this point? Is it a coming-of-age thing?

One of the more curious questions is: who is Ruby’s father? Given that she is about 12 years old* (given Sam’s comment on how Ruby was about to be a teen) that allows for the possibility of a Fort Rozz Kryptonian to have had a relationship with Sam at some point — assuming Fort Rozz landed at about the same time as Kara’s pod almost 14 years ago. Or it could be some other genetically compatible fugitive non-Kryptonian. Or, perhaps Kryptonians (or Worldkillers) are able to make babies with Humans — which seems unlikely.

If Ruby does start expressing some powers, what happens then? Will Reign/Sam be in any mental state sane enough to be helpful or nurturing? Will Ruby end up with Alex (as many assume) — someone who has some small experience with teenaged Kryptonian girls?

Will her unexpected/unfortunate existence end up being a problem for Reign regarding her own endgame?

* How old is Sam? Since she left Krypton at the same time a Kal and presumably landed on Earth at approximately the same time, that would put her at around 37-38 years old (allowing for some of the lack of continuity of tracking Kara’s age). But, if Ruby is 12-ish and Sam was kicked out of Patricia’s before she was 18, that puts Sam’s age at around 30. That’s quite the discrepancy. Perhaps she spent some time (say, seven years) in the Segara Beyal during her trip?

Worldkilling

What if Reign is successful in killing Earth…Earth-38, that is? Kara would presumably be forced to move as many people, and as much tech and artifacts to another Earth as she could before the end. What would that be like?

If she transplanted the Super-verse over to Earth-1, that would be a game-changer. We’ve already seen how incredibly overpowered she is there. That said, she is familiar with it and the president has already presented her as one of Earth-1’s heroes, so it’s safe to say she’d probably be welcomed.

Since Earth-1 doesn’t seem to have any Kryptonians, that suggests that: 1) no one survived Krypton-1’s destruction; 2) anyone who did survive didn’t come to Earth; or 3) Krypton-1 was never destroyed. Imagine the possibilities of an intact and thriving Krypton for Kara and Kal. Imagine the dangers to Earth-1 if Kryptonians find these émigrés doing well on that sparsely defended world. Could be interesting.

What if, instead, they went to a completely different Earth — say Earth 9-3/4s where magic is a thing — one of those canonical things that are a problem for Kryptonians? What if crossing while an Earth is being killed opens up a hitherto unknown highway to many more Earths than just the 52+X? So many possibilities for superheroic mischief.

Alien on an Alien World

And we’ll close with that video I mentioned. In short, it showcases what makes Supergirl different. Because of his upbringing, Superman is defined by what he can do — he’s an Earther in mind but not in body. He doesn’t know what it was like to not have powers or to take family vacations on other planets.

Supergirl is more defined by who she is. To her, being an alien refugee isn’t just a concept, it’s her reality. She lives on an Earth where she’ll break people if she hugs them as firmly as she did as a child on Krypton. Every time she is outside or looks out a window she sees a world that is too blue — no hint at all of the ruddy skies of home.

Some have complained that Kara talking about not being human is a new story element, but it’s been there from the start — as has her resentment. And it’s why she’s so much more interesting than Superman to me.