My Adventures with Superman S2E10 "My Adventures with Supergirl" - TV Tropes

Original Air Date: July 21, 2024

Written by: Josie Campbell, Brendan Clogher and Jake Wyatt

The House of El's battle against Brainiac comes to an end as Clark learns a devastating truth and is forced to choose between saving the world he adopted and the last of the family he lost; it's truth, justice, and a better way to honor Krypton in the final clash with the evil machine's ideals!

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Tropes:

• Ambiguous Situation: After saving the Earth from Brainiac, it's unclear if Kara has a secret identity like Clark since she openly uses her powers in her civilian attire and makes no attempt at Clark Kenting the way her cousin does. By extension, it's also unclear whether Kara's seeming lack of secret identity would have any significant impact on Clark's.
• And Show It to You: Kara smashes through Brainiac and rips out his core, a triangular cylinder containing his program. Brainiac remains active for a few moments before powering down, and his core does the same after his remains fall into the Sun.
• And the Adventure Continues: The episode (and season) ends with a voice calling for help, and Superman and Supergirl flying off to save the day while they bring Lois and Jimmy with them.
• Artistic License – Space: On top of being able to speak to each other in space, Clark and Kara are able to hear the people on Earth celebrating their victory over Brainiac while the two of them are still in the vicinity of the sun. Superhearing or no, there should be no air between Earth and the sun to carry sound vibrations from Earth to them.
• Asleep for Days: After being injured by Brainiac's Kryptonite blade and losing consciousness, Kara wakes up several days later at the Kent farm.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Waller deftly takes out Metallos by shooting them in the eye and the power core.
• Awful Truth: Clark learns that it was Brainiac who destroyed his homeworld because Brainiac couldn't bear the thought of possibly becoming obsolete when Jor-El decided to make peace with his enemies. On the day the ceasefire was to be ordered, Brainiac destroyed Krypton and decided to create his own version of the Kryptonian Empire.
• Back for the Finale:
  • Intergang makes their first and only appearance in the season alongside Dr. Irons, General Lane, Livewire, and Heat Wave to help Superman and Kara fight Brainiac's forces.
  • After only appearing in dreams and flashbacks throughout the season, the real Martha and Jonathan Kent return at the very end of the episode to help Kara integrate into Earth life.
  • Silas Stone comes back in the epilogue, invited to the Kent residence along with John and the Planet crew.
• Big Damn Kiss: Clark and Lois have one in the final scene of the episode. It's noteworthy for being their first onscreen kiss where Clark appears not as Superman or as Kal-El (like in the Black Mercy), but as himself.
• Bookends: Much like in his first appearance in the previous season finale, Brainiac refers to Earth as "a planet in rebellion". This episode marks his final appearance.
• Call-Back:
  • When discussing how it isn't going to be simple stopping Brainiac's invasion, Steve references Metropolis shutting off their power to starve Parasite.
  • During Clark's fight against Kara when she's being controlled by the Eradicator Override, he recalls his first flight as a child back in the first episode, and he avoids Brainiac's missiles by flying almost the exact same way.
  • Clark and Kara play catch at the end of the episode, referencing Kara seeing Clark's memories of playing the game with his adoptive parents.
• The Cameo: Mallah and the Brain are absent for most of the episode, but reappear in the final scenes helping rebuild Metropolis, no longer having to hide themselves.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: Jor-El explained in the Season 2 premiere that Kryptonian ships have a protocol to allow them to purge Kryptonite from the ship, including the use of dimensional shifting technology. While originally used in the premiere to explain how Clark's ship ended up in Antarctica following the events of Season 1, the concept returns during the final battle of this episode when Brainiac intentionally uses Kryptonite to activate the protocol, teleporting Kandor to a safe distance as Clark and Kara attempt to Hurl It into the Sun.
• Cooldown Hug: Rather than try to Beat the Curse Out of Her, Clark wraps the berserk Kara up in a hug, reassuring her that she's strong enough to break free of Brainiac's influence because she's not alone and there are people here for her. She throws him off, but his words still reach her enough to shake Brainiac's hold on her mind, whereupon Jimmy and Lois jump in to deliver cooldown hugs of their own, the three of them managing to help her come back to herself.
• Cross-Referenced Titles: The episode title is a Gender Flip of the series title, to fully signify Kara's Heel–Face Turn and a personal story between the El cousins.
• Dirty Coward: While Waller is willing to stand her ground against Brainiac's invasion, Lex runs the moment he gets the chance and doesn't resurface until the end of the episode, long after the threat has passed.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Brainiac is destroyed, ending his threat to Earth; Kara is accepted among Earth alongside her cousin and has her conscience eased at having helped save a planet; Sam Lane, Mallah, and the Brain are finally able to come out of hiding with Task Force X's dissolution (and Waller being branded a fugitive in their place). Sam, in particular, is finally able to move on from Zero Day, knowing the Earth is safe, enjoying a barbecue with the Kents and Daily Planet staff while seemingly making amends with Lois. Clark and Lois have talked out their issues, and their relationship is stronger than ever, with Clark saying that he accepts Lois getting a job at Gotham, working out a schedule where he can meet her, and even helping her look for apartments, only for Lois to tell him that she didn't accept the job offer because she wants to make her reputation here in Metropolis and wants to focus on her relationship with him. This season ends with Superman being accepted by the people of Metropolis and Earth and surrounded by friends and family after going through two seasons of hardships.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Sam finally lets go of his grudge against Superman and accepts him as Earth's defender, recruiting Livewire, Heat Wave, and Intergang to help stop Brainiac's invasion. Livewire in particular admits she's hardly a friend of Superman now, but she's not about to sit back and let Earth get destroyed.
  • Though their friendship has been irreversibly destroyed, Sam and Waller team up one final time to do what they first set out to do—defend Earth from invasion.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Intergang and Waller both join the fight against Brainiac to prevent him from destroying Earth.
• Evil Versus Oblivion:
  • Intergang might be criminals, but they are not going to stand by and allow Brainiac to destroy the Earth.
  • As horrible a person as Waller is, she is determined to protect the Earth and refuses to run like Luthor.
• Finale Title Drop: One of the last scenes of the episode shows an article by the Planet written by Lois titled "My Adventures With Superman".
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: During Brainiac's recollection of how he destroyed Krypton, we briefly see a shot of the sky above the planet during its final war — not only do we see warships being destroyed and covered in Kryptonite, but in the top left at the start of the shot, there is a very distinct, gray planet with multiple pillars of fire emerging from its suface just barely visible in the distance, further indicating that the "enemy" the Kryptonian Empire was in war with was the forces of Apokolips.
• Good Costume Switch: Kara gains her Supergirl costume when her and Clark are supercharged by the Sun.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Kara is left with a scar on her cheek after her clash with Brainiac.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Kara destroys Brainiac by punching him in half, tearing out his core in the process, shutting him down and leaving his remains to be incinerated by the Sun.
• Hand Cannon: Sam returns with the Omega Cannon and uses it to obliterate Metallos, carrying an extra for Waller to use.
• Hurl It into the Sun: After Kara breaks free of Brainiac's control, she and Superman combine their strength to shove Kandor out of the atmosphere and towards the Sun. Brainiac has to use Kryptonite as an emergency power source to prevent that from happening, intending to take Superman and Kara with him.
  • Braniac stupidly does this to Kara, who is slowly dying from Kryptonite poisoning... which ends up allowing her and Clark to purge the Kryptonite poisoning and even No-Sell it's effects entirely for long enough to rip Kandor in half...
• I Choose to Stay: Once everything is back to normal, Lois finally tells Clark about the job offer Vicki Vale gave her. Clark is already supportive and is willing to visit her whenever he likes... except Lois tells him that she just turned it down, preferring to stay with him and make a name for herself in Metropolis.
• Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: Kara finally obtains her Supergirl outfit as she and Clark, empowered by the Sun, make their final rush towards Kandor.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Clark is forced to face Kara under the effects of the Eradicator Override. He spends the fight desperately trying to restrain and snap her out of it even as she goes berserk.
• It's All About Me: Brainiac's decision to destroy his creators and make a new empire out of the ashes was made solely because the Kryptonians were planning on making peace with their enemies, which would render him obsolete and decommissioned.
• Karma Houdini: While Brainiac is apparently killed by Kara, the members of Task Force X get off a lot easier in comparison:
  • Waller zigzags it. On the one hand, all the lines she crossed in her fervent opposition of Superman finally catch up with her and she's branded a criminal. On the other hand, she is able to go into hiding, and a news report three weeks later confirms she's still at large.
  • Lex, meanwhile, escapes scot-free and moves LexCorp out from under Task Force X's shadow, continuing his rise to one of Metropolis's key players. He also takes Slade with him, presumably as a bodyguard given the former agent is still visibly armed.
• Karma Houdini Warranty:
  • After committing many depraved and deplorable acts, such as destroying countless planets and wiping out millions of lives, Brainiac meets his end at the hands of the daughter he abused and manipulated.
  • Downplayed with Waller. Although she does escape justice after the invasion, she’s branded as a fugitive from the law, due to her deplorable acts over the last two seasons, and Task Force X is presumably dismantled with Lex and Slade striking out on their own.
• Kick the Dog: Brainiac revealing he destroyed Krypton has zero strategic purpose beyond rubbing it in Clark's face that he caused the deaths of not just his and Kara's biological family, but their entire species.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: It's revealed that the Kryptonians realized early on they couldn't win the war against their stronger opponents and, rather than get destroyed fighting to the bitter end, were actually in the middle of negotiating a ceasefire. This spurred Brainiac, who was an AI designed for war, to destroy Krypton himself and recreate the culture with his values and ideals.
• Kryptonite Factor:
  • As their equipment was reverse-engineered from Kryptonian tech, Livewire and Heat Wave are affected by Kryptonite and thus at a disadvantage against the Kryptonite-powered Metallos. Since the two of them are leading the team up to Kandor, hitting Heat Wave removes both from the fight as Livewire has to go and catch her with her self-propelled flight.
  • Brainiac intentionally exposes himself and Kandor to Kryptonite to use it as a last-ditch power source against Clark and Kara, fully aware this will kill him too.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The program Brainiac uses to control Kara is named the Eradicator Override — Eradicator being a character both he and Kara borrow heavily from.
  • The missiles fired off from Kandor travel with jagged sharp turns and leave behind a bright red trail, bringing to mind Darkseid's Omega Beams. Probably not too surprising given that Krypton seems to have been at war with Apokolips.
  • After Brainiac activates the Eradicator Protocol, Kara collapses in Clark's arms and he cradles her, mimicking the famous Crisis cover.
  • Like in some versions of the Superman mythos, Brainiac is ultimately the one responsible for bringing about Krypton's destruction.
  • Clark and Kara's 11th-Hour Super Mode is obviously a reference to the Superman-Red and Superman-Blue storylines.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: Brainiac contaminating Kandor with Kryptonite leaves Clark and Kara unable to even approach the station without suffering from Kryptonite poisoning, and it looks like Brainiac will succeed in his spiteful attempt to take them down with him in his last moments... until he inadvertently blasts Kara into the Sun. The Yellow Sun. Clark follows her in and they both end up super-charged with solar energy, enough to shrug off even Kryptonite for long enough to turn the tables on Brainiac. If he'd only decided to fight alongside a Red Sun...
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Pops up in the epilogue when Vicki Vale shows off her front page story about Supergirl to Perry. Though not audible, the classic hand-palm-down-over-mouth pose makes it clear this is what Vicki is doing.
• The Power of the Sun: While it was all but stated beforehand, given the frequent use of red sunlight to de-power Clark and later Kara, this episode confirms that Kryptonians retain their ability to draw strength from yellow sunlight. Their close proximity to Earth's sun during the final stage of their fight with Brainiac allows them to No-Sell Brainiac's Kryptonite weaponry.
• Precision F-Strike: Brainiac finishes his spiteful revelation about destroying Krypton by stating that he "ripped it from the Heavens and cast it into Hell".
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kara is the red oni with wild passion, and Clark is the blue one with calm serenity. Done literally when they become supercharged by the sun and erupt with red and blue energy respectively.
• The Reveal:
  • It's revealed that the enemy Krypton waged an unwinnable war against wasn't responsible for their demise—instead, Jor-El was working on negotiating a ceasefire with them, and Brainiac himself destroyed Krypton when he realized peace would render him obsolete, causing him to take desperate action to preserve himself and the Kryptonian values he held dear.
  • While a subtle Freeze-Frame Bonus, Apokolips is visible in the distance when Brainiac recalls Krypton's final war, confirming them to be the unbeatable enemy Jor-El references in the season premiere.
  • It's finally stated outright that Kryptonian physiology gains strength from The Power of the Sun, with both Clark and Kara being cured of kryptonite exposure and making their Heroic Second Wind after being pulled into the Sun's gravity.
• Sadistic Choice: Brainiac hijacks Kara's mind and turns her against Superman, then offers him a choice: kill Kara and save the Earth, or save her at the expense of the Earth. Superman refuses that choice and manages to snap Kara out of it, with some help from Lois and Jimmy.
• Season Finale: Of Season 2.
• Sequel Hook: While the episode mostly serves as a conclusive ending to the Myth Arc of Seasons 1 and 2, there are still a few hanging plot threads for the upcoming third:
  • Hank Henshaw's fate is left ambiguous after Brainiac destroys his fighter jet, potentially setting him up to become Cyborg Superman down the line.
  • Lex is briefly shown to have opened up LexCorp Tower with Slade seemingly serving as his bodyguard, indicating that while Task Force X is presumably no more Lex is still around to rise up to the position of Superman's Arch-Enemy since Brainiac is defeated.
  • Amanda Waller is still at large three weeks after Brainiac's invasion.
  • Eagle-eyed viewers will see in Brainiac's flashback that the planet Krypton was at war with (before his betrayal) was Apokolips, setting up Darkseid as a potential threat in the future. Relatedly, while Brainiac reveals he caused Krypton's destruction, he never mentions Zero Day, leaving it unclear who or what was behind the event.
• Series Fauxnale: The episode, the last of the show's initial production order, for all intents and purposes is the Grand Finale to the Myth Arc established back in Season 1, largely concluding the overarching plot regarding Task Force X, the truth of Krypton's destruction, Kara's redemption arc, and the threat posed by Brainiac. However, with confirmation of Season 3 and the various lingering plot threads teased in the episode's ending montage, it's clear the show has much more story to tell.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Slade is shown to have traded out his armor for a full suit and tie while he and Luthor are standing before the new LexCorp building.
• Stab the Scorpion: After Lane saves Waller and hands her a spare gun, Waller aims at Lane, only to fire at a hacked Metallo behind him.
• Swapped Roles: For most of the season, Waller has been on the government's good side while Sam Lane has been branded a fugitive and forced on the run when Waller put a Kill on Sight order on him. Once all of Waller's dubious actions come back to bite her, however, she is branded a fugitive and forced on the run while Lane is absolved and able to come out of hiding to make amends.
• Taking You with Me: Brainiac contaminates all of Kandor with Kryptonite to power his Desperation Attack against Clark and Kara. When Clark points out this will kill him, too, Brainiac claims that thanks to Clark and Kara's actions he is already Living on Borrowed Time, and might as well destroy the two Kryptonian traitors who thwarted his invasion with what little he has left.
• Theme Music Withholding: The episode initially starts with a Title-Only Opening; it's not until Clark and Kara take action to push Brainiac's ship into space that a rendition of the opening song plays.
• Title Drop: After Brainiac's destruction, the Daily Planet publishes a story about the events called "My Adventures with Superman".
• Title-Only Opening: Instead of showing the opening theme as usual, the only show's title appears.
• Turned Against Their Masters: Brainiac reveals he was the architect of Krypton's destruction, not whatever enemy they were last at war with. The war was believed too costly, so Jor-El secretly petitioned for a ceasefire, something Brainiac saw as a threat to his existence since he was built for war, so like Skynet he retaliated against his impending obsolescence with extreme prejudice.
• Uncertain Doom:
  • Hank Henshaw is among the fighter pilots shot down by Brainiac, but while Waller fails to contact him his final fate is unconfirmed, leaving open the possibility of his future transformation into Cyborg Superman.
  • Brainiac is torn to pieces by Kara, but she retrieves what is presumably his power core as the rest of his remains fall into the Sun. It's unknown how much of the original Brainiac is in there that hasn’t been destroyed by the Kryptonite, and by extension whether Kara's actions in remembering her adoptive father inadvertently provided him a chance to return.
• Villain Override: Brainiac activates the "Eradicator Protocol" to take over Kara's mind and force her to fight Superman. A triple Cooldown Hug from Clark, Jimmy, and Lois helps her overcome it.
• Wall Pin of Love: Clark does this to Lois towards the end of the episode, though it's more gentle than most examples since they're already in a relationship and instead of being intimidating, Clark simply tells Lois that even if she moves to Gotham, she just has to say his name and he'll be there for her.
• Wham Line: Thanks to Jor-El's exposition, it was assumed that Krypton was destroyed by an enemy it provoked but couldn't defeat. Brainiac, however, reveals things went a little differently than that.

  Brainiac: This is what you deserve for betraying me, just as your people did during the last days of Krypton. Oh, how they moaned that they weren't winning the war, that their children were dying. Do you know Kal-El, that your father led secret peace talks with our enemies—they were going to declare a ceasefire! And then where would that leave me? I was built for war, but now I was just supposed to let them decommission me? No. The day the ceasefire was to be announced 22 years ago, I activated our greatest weapon... and wiped your people out.
  Clark: You... killed them.
  Brainiac: Yes. Jor-El discovered my plans and smuggled you out, minutes before I ripped Krypton from the heavens and cast it into Hell.

• Wham Shot: The flashbacks during Brainiac's Motive Rant show a metallic world covered in fire pits reaching orbit, all but stating that Krypton was at war with Apokolips.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While Slade later appears as Lex's bodyguard once Task Force X is dissolved, Damage and Atomic Skull are nowhere to be seen in the denouement.
• What You Are in the Dark: Faced with unwinnable odds and with all of their weapons turned against them, Waller chooses to continue fighting against Brainiac's forces and the hijacked Metallos. Lex, on the other hand, immediately ditches her to save his own skin.
• Villainous Valour: Callous as she might be, Waller still genuinely wants to save humanity and stands her ground against Brainiac's forces.
• You Are Not Alone: As a brainwashed Kara tears up while also remembering Brainiac’s hurtful words and saying she is alone without him, Jimmy, Lois and Superman all do a Cooldown Hug onto Kara and ensure her that she is not alone.

  Brainiac: (via flashback, to a young Kara) You are weak, you are useless, you are a failure, and your only worth is in obedience. Without me, you are alone.
  Jimmy: (offscreen) No you’re not! (cuts back to Kara in the present, while he and Lois hug her tightly) I’m here! And I’m not going anywhere!
  Lois: Don't let Brainiac win! You are your own person, Kara. You helped us save Clark, now let us save you!
  Clark: I know what it's like to be alone, to search for a place where you belong, but home isn't a place. Home is the people who love you, so come back home to us, Kara.

• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Waller calls Slade by his first name while trying to contact him, indicating that she is genuinely worried for his safety.

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