A journey filled with love, laughter, wonder, nostalgia, peak superhero amusement, and emotional conflicts comes to an end with My Adventures With Superman season finale episode titled Hearts of the Fathers. In the previous episode, Clark was able to escape from General Sam Lane’s captivity, even in his depowered form. He battled with a Kaiju-sized, empowered Parasite armor-clad Dr. Ivo and emerged victorious with the help of Lois, Jimmy, and the citizens of Metropolis. Sam’s initial belief about Superman being a weapon of invading alien aggressors started to falter, and realizing this, Amanda Waller craftily ousted him from his role as Task Force X chief. On the other hand, Clark learns that denizens of his birth planet, Krypton, were behind the Zero Day invasion twenty-two years ago (coinciding with his arrival on Earth), which led General Sam to believe Superman to be a threat. Lois lets go of her paranoia as her chemistry with Clark grows stronger, while Jimmy gets to know about the existence of evil superheroes across the multiverse.
My Adventures With Superman finale beautifully weaves through multiple story arcs to present a gratifying conclusion to the series’ unique mystery of the Man of Steel’s origin and leaves enough hints that can be explored in future seasons.
Spoilers Ahead
Worst Fears Realized: Why Did Clark Return to Jor-El?
My Adventures With Superman Episode 10 begins with Clark finding himself in the cornfields on the Kent farm, Smallville, as he faces one of the alien enforcers leading a new invasion. Clark notices Lois and Jimmy are being chased by alien tech constructs, but he is unable to save them as the enforcer incinerates them right in front of him. Anguished, Clark turns to the enforcer, only to see that he himself is the said enforcer. Even though it was a nightmare, Clark is shaken after seeing a glimpse of such a prospect, and he at once flies back to Smallville. By activating his arrival spaceship, he meets with the holographic consciousness of his father, Jor-El, and informs him that he will never become the weapon Krypton wanted him to be and that he will defend Earth against any form of assault from their side. Jor-El tries to state that the truth is far from what Clark considers it to be, but an enraged Clark leaves before he can do that.
After the revelation of the previous episode, it was expected that a sensitive, kind person like Clark would be troubled; the guilt and remorse would dawn heavily upon him, and the nightmarish awakening was a result of that overburdened mind. It has affected Clark to such an extent because he always questioned the purpose of his existence, his place in the world, and his identity, all of which were tarnished by the revelation in the penultimate episode that he belongs to the same alien race that invaded Earth two decades ago and caused devastation. In his grief, Clark berates his biological father, but there is more to this story than meets the eye, which gets revealed later in the episode.
Thanksgiving Day: What Surprises Await The Trio?
It’s the eve of the harvest celebration, Thanksgiving Day, and Lois, her father, and Jimmy are invited to Kent Farm for the special dinner. As Clark, Lois, and Jimmy head for the Daily Planet, the calcified Parasite armor in the middle of the city (a really on-point replica of Godzilla) reminds them of the grim reality of Superman being hunted by Task Force X. Clark asks Jimmy and Lois to assist him in tracking down the General, the same person who tortured him, as he wants to learn more about the Kryptonian invasion. Jimmy secretly reveals to Lois that he knows about the Superman X file, too, and Lois asks him specifically not to reveal its details to Clark, as it might break him emotionally.
At the Daily Planet, the Editor in Chief, Perry White, surprised the trio by promoting them to full-time reporters—an acknowledgment of their honest efforts. Additionally, their report on Superman saving Metropolis from Ivo makes the headline and front page splash as well. Perry grants them their deserved holiday leave as well but stops Jimmy as he wants to discuss his massively popular online community, Flamebird, with him.
A Family Reunion: How Did Clark Learn About Superman’s X File?
At the Kent household in Smallville, John and Martha are overjoyed to meet Lois, and they have even framed the day’s Daily Planet front page to celebrate the trio’s achievement. Martha thanks Lois for being there for Clark. She states how, after his powers began to show up at a young age, Clark became more and more reserved in fear of hurting somebody by mistake until Lois came into his life, with whom he could share everything. It was a really sweet moment, with the two most important female figures in Superman’s life having an honest, endearing conversation.
However, the rhythm gets a bit spoiled with the appearance of Lois’ father, Samuel Lane, the infamous General. Clark is at once alarmed at his sight as he recognizes him, and adding to it, Sam’s rude tone, which even Martha recognizes as displeasing, dials up his misery. Having a moment alone with his daughter, Sam tries to salvage their estranged relationship but realizes that they are too distant from each other. As Clark joins in the conversation, Sam tries to remember where he has seen him previously, to no avail.
All of a sudden, Jimmy arrives and gets pulled away everywhere as everyone except Sam tries to confide in him. Jimmy takes Lois and Clark to return their belongings, about which they forgot and left at the Daily Planet and mistakenly drops the orb that contains the details of the Superman X files. Clark picks it up, activates it, and sees the horrors his evil counterparts have unleashed. He gets horrified despite Lois trying her best to comfort him. However, the situation still worsens as the Kryptonite kept inside the orb hurts Clark, activates the emergency protocol of his arrival spaceship, which was hidden in the ground of Kent Farm, and the ship initiates offensive measures.
How Did Clark Put an End to the Second Invasion?
The sight alerts Sam, who has been anticipating something like this since the last invasion, and he calls Waller to send all the available weaponry they have created so far in Task Force X. Clark’s nightmare has turned into reality, and he quickly jumps into action, starting with taking his parents to a secure location. John is worried about how he can tackle the threat, but Martha is confident in his son’s abilities, and the duo embraces their son as a gesture of encouragement. Meanwhile, Lois and Jimmy get chased by some of the robots released by the arrival ship and get separated. While Jimmy learns that the Kryptonite inside the orb repels the robots, Lois realizes that the General who tortured Clark and created Task Force X is none other than Sam Lane, her father. Superman saves the duo from the attack of an enlarged robot unit.
The Kryptonian ship activates a portal, which allows the gradual entry of another, larger mothership into Earth’s atmosphere, a repetition of the Zero Day event. Jimmy reveals that just like its effect on Clark, Kryptonite hurts other Kryptonian constructs as well. Clark now realizes what he has to do to save the Earth from this threat and prepares to take the Kryptonite to the arrival ship’s core. Lois is terrified at the prospect of losing Clark, and they share a kiss before Clark blitzes inside the ship and pushes it into space right through the portal. All the remaining robots chase him into the ship, and with the help of Jor El’s holographic construct, Clark manages to destroy the ship’s core by inserting Kryptonite inside it. The portal gets closed once again, destroying half of the entering mothership, rendering it ineffective, and saving the Earth from a possibly disastrous situation.
In doing so, Clark is fatally infected with Kryptonite poisoning, and Jor-El comes to his son’s aid. He is surprised to learn that Clark was prepared to sacrifice his life to protect Earth, which he calls his new home. Blessing his son, Kal-El, again for the last time, Jor-El sends a depowered Clark back to Earth through an escape pod as the arrival ship gets destroyed, possibly destroying Jor-El’s holographic construct with it as well.
Almost mimicking his first arrival on Earth, the escape pod crashes near Kent Farm, and Clark somehow exits from it. However, Sam Lane has arrived with the Omega cannon, prepared to end Superman’s life. Lois interferes and tearfully pleads with her father to spare Superman’s life. A hesitant Sam does so at the end and disappears. Later, at the Thanksgiving dinner, only Sam’s seat is seen to be vacant, further emphasizing the increased estrangement between father and daughter. As the rest of the attendees enjoy the meal, Jimmy drops the bomb: he has sold Flamebird to Perry and has become a millionaire in exchange, much to everyone’s surprise and delight.
Was Zod behind the Kryptonian invasion?
During My Adventures With Superman Episode 10’s ending, the other side of the portal is shown. After the mothership gets destroyed after the portal closes, a subordinate droid reports to its superior about its failure to capture the planet. Viewers see a planet getting razed under the superior’s command, who states his wish to make the resistance kneel under him. While the identity of the superior one is not revealed, the choice of word (kneel) reveals his identity to be Dru Zod, the tyrant Kryptonian general.
