‘Krypton’ Season 2, Episode 7 ‘Zods and Monsters’ Recap: A Monster’s Memory

From hero to a monster. This week’s episode on Krypton definitely did right by that. Doomsday’s origins was a treat to see. But, there’s that tender undercurrent that this episode presented making his story a little bit more emotional. Add that to the amazing graphics and you’ve got a sympathy shower for Krypton’s most feared killing machine. Then, when you pitch in that little surprise at the end of the episode, it’s quite the emotional rollercoaster. Overall, the directing and writing for this episode gave it a special place in the season. And now, I can’t wait for the next episode which sadly reminds me that we only have three episodes left. Because right now, there are some things I need to be explained.

Though this week’s episode of Krypton was a revelation episode, it quite literally left the future up in the air. Zod’s (Colin Salmon) trip to the Outlands deemed successful. Now, he has Doomsday. And though he’s realized that they have more in common than he thought, it remains unclear if he’ll be able to use him for his ambitions. On the other hand, Seg (Cameron Cuffe) proved more resilient to Brainiac (Blake Ritson) than he let on. However, just because he was able to outsmart Brainiac once doesn’t mean he’ll be able to outsmart him forever. Unfortunately, for this episode, Seg may just have made the biggest mistake of his life.

Greater Ambitions

Though Doomsday took a seat back due to the rebels taking the focus, Zod has never forgotten about the monster. And now that he has him in his hands, he can further his ambitions. He said as much in his speech to the Kryptonians. Now they won’t be the conquered but, they’ll be the conquerors. But, to weaponize Doomsday, Zod needs full control of his mind. To get there, they have to get through his remaining memory sequences to know what makes him tick.

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In the first memory that they uncover, there’s a woman named Enaj (Danielle Galligan) and her husband Dax-Baron (Staz Nair). Dax is the only soldier that has the unique genetic mutation the Zods and Els are looking for. And it turns out, this mutation would allow them to turn him into a superhero by exposing him to different harsh conditions. Enaj pleads for Dax to reconsider. But, his resolve to end the civil war between Argo and Krypton is rock solid. Dax, however, promises Enaj that he’ll come home. Doing a little gesture of promise and love, Dax settles his pointer on the glass and Enaj mirrors the action on her side of the glass. With total cooperation, Wedna-El (Toni O’Rourke) and Van-Zod (Dempsey Bovell) begin the first of many tests.

Meanwhile, Seg has found a way to finally get Brainiac off his head. Instead of taking Brainiac to his ship, Seg heads to the Fortress. Once Brainiac realizes his plan, he immediately takes control of Seg’s body forcing Nyssa (Wallis Day) to take control of the skimmer mid-air. With a baby in her arms and an incapacitated Seg, she gets them all safely to the Fortress. (See how badass this woman is?)

Commander Kem

Up in Wegthor, Val (Ian McElhinney) and the rebels have refocused their efforts on tracking down the remaining Sagitarii on the moon. Val assigns Kem (Rasmus Hardiker) to head the operation. And a little pang of jealousy hits Adam (Shaun Sipos) though he quickly buries it away. He instead forms the resolve to join the team. But, that means having to further lower his pride and ask for Kem’s permission. And Kem being Kem, he doesn’t let this little thing pass. He even puts in a little scare to Adam like how you would a kid. It’s honestly one of my favorite moments in the episode. Sipos and Hardiker just have the best banter on screen.

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On the mission itself, Kem sends his scouts ahead to scour the tunnels. And while he and Adam were alone, Adam does something very uncharacteristic of him, something sweet actually. After getting over the initial hesitation, Adam tells Kem that he’s proud of him. Though Kem doesn’t respond to it, he does pull another prank/ lesson on Adam. Later on, when they regroup, Kem’s scouts report that they’ve found a group of people hiding out in one of the mines. Against their advice, Kem directs the team to do more recon.

Jor-El

Back in the Krypton, Seg could barely move. Upon inspection by Val’s hologram, Brainiac’s nanomites have nested in Seg’s brain stem. And Seg wants it gone once and for all. Val starts up the machine but Brainiac takes control of Seg’s body again and destroys it. With the machine destroyed, they now have to do the operation manually. And since Val’s just a hologram, the task falls on Nyssa against her protests.

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Seg tries to convince her with a wonderful speech. But, as Nyssa said, it’s not going to help her slice him open and get an alien parasite out. Fortunately, Seg has a way with words. He knows just the right things to say at the right moment. And in the end, he convinces Nyssa to do it. Holding her hand steady and doing her best to concentrate, Nyssa successfully does the procedure. And take note, it was her first time holding any kind of techy scalpel.

With Brainiac’s nanomites contained and out of his body, Seg finally felt confident holding his own son. As he enjoys the moment, Nyssa tells him that she wants their son to be an El. The Vex name has been far too tainted. And she didn’t want her child carrying the burden of its history. Val respectfully interrupts and tells them that traditionally, when taking the El surname, they take the first name of one of their ancestors. And Val suggests his father’s name in light of his father being a kind-hearted man that puts family first before any kind of prestige and power. Without hesitation (cue the superhero music) Seg names his son Jor-El.

Standing Ground

Back in Wegthor, Kem is adamant on following protocol despite his scout’s advice to attack immediately. He doesn’t believe that the people they’ve found are hostiles. Adam tries to convince him otherwise but, Kem stands his ground. The only things he asks of Adam is he listen for once. Then, he heads into the mines alone.

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While he was gone, Kem’s scout remains restless. Her judgment remains that they should head in and attack. However, Adam stands up for their commander. And thankfully, he has enough effect on them to get them to stand down. Soon enough, Kem reappears with the sick and malnourished Sagitarii. And the first command he gives is for his team to give them their food. It turns out when Kem first checked them out, their heat signatures were oddly low. And growing up in the Rankless district had Kem knowing a thing or two about what hunger looks like.

After getting a little bit of refreshment, Kem brings back the Sagitarii to the rebel base with the promise of provisions and care. As he found out, Zod sent these Sagitarii to the mines while the negotiations for Lyta were ongoing. When the negotiation collapsed, he abandoned them there. So, Kem took them under his wing. After the congratulations, Adam apologized to Kem and vice versa. But this time, Kem gave a sincere thanks to Adam for backing him up.

A Monster’s Heartbreak

Meanwhile, Zod continues to probe deeper into Doomsday’s memories. And in the next one, he finds the tests conducted on Dax to turn him to Doomsday. After a couple of tests that have severely deformed Dax and juggled him through life and death, Van-Zod tries to convince Wedna-El to stop the procedure. He can’t take what they’ve done to Dax. However, Wedna is adamant that it is what must be done to save their people. Finding no other way out, Van continues the treatment. At this point, it’s like the tables have turned painting an El as someone merciless in light of what must be done.

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Later on, Enaj storms the lab demanding to know where her husband is. The war is over. Jo-Mon has brought peace to Krypton. However, Wedna won’t let anything stand in the way of perfecting a weapon that could protect them forever. Hearing grunts from the container, Enaj demands to be let in. But, Wedna breaks her heart when she tells her that whatever’s in there isn’t her husband anymore. Van intervenes and sincerely apologizes on behalf of the Zods and the Els. So, Enaj turns back to the glass encasement.

What responds to her call, however, doesn’t have one semblance to the man she once knew. What faced her was the monster currently known as Doomsday. But at that point, it seemed that he didn’t lose everything of himself yet. In a tender moment, he raised his pointer and put it on the glass, their gesture. Heartbreakingly, Enaj’ terror overcomes her and she flees.

After watching the memory play out, Zod knew what he needed to control Doomsday. Saying Enaj’ name out loud causes the monster to stir until he has a pair of black eyes staring back at him.

The Blood of El

After christening Jor-El with his name, Seg puts on the El insignia. Unfortunately, the happy moment is disrupted by Brainiac’s nanomites disappearing from where it once was held. And Seg knew Brainiac could already be in one of them. One by one, Val checks Jor and Nyssa but, thankfully there’s no parasite in them. Before he could get to Seg, Val’s hologram starts to disappear and what stands in place of him is no one but Brainiac.

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Back in Krypton, Brainiac’s ship has begun to move again. Even Zod jumps out of his seat once he sees the colossal ship looming above the city. In the Fortress, Brainiac invites Seg to join him in his quest to preserve unique cultures and knowledge all across the universe. But, Seg rejects the offer. Surprisingly, Brainiac respects his decision. And though Seg didn’t keep up his side of the bargain, Brainiac has rescinded his quest to bottle up Kandor. Although, his objective remains the same, to preserve the best of Krypton. Before, he thought Kandor was it’s best. Now, he realizes that it’s something far more precious, the blood of the Els. And before Seg or Nyssa could do anything, baby Jor-El vanishes from their sight along with Brainiac’s ship outside of Kandor.

Krypton continues next Wednesday, July 31st, with “Mercy” at 10/9c on SyFy.