Episode Recap: Zods and Monsters

Remember when General Zod ventured deep into the Outlands with his big ass bio-weapon and set free an imprisoned Doomsday, only to subjugate him under his command? Yeah, that's what he did. And he told everyone in Kandor about it via hologram transmission. The news is supposed to rally them against the rebels on Wegthor. It pretty much does that. 

In the skimmer, Seg is trying to conceal his thoughts and words from Brainiac, so he can't anticipate their next move. He wants to Nyssa and Cor-Vex to the Fortress to extract Brainiac from his consciousness so that he won't be able to regain his former potency. When Brainiac learns of the plan, he paralyzes Seg's hands, so that Nyssa must take over the ship. Onward, Nyssa!  

Nyssa and Seg arrive at the Fortress just in time as Seg is falling under Brainiac's sway. Hologram-Val shows up to assist, but Seg doesn't even have the strength to tell him where the boo-boo is. This is going downhill fast. 

Meanwhile in the capital, Zod is consulting with his weapons expert about how to make Doomsday tractable. While they're butting heads, we go back in time about... a thousand cycles. Before Doomsday became Doomsday, he was a guy named Dax. Krypton was experiencing another civil war (surprise, surprise), and this Dax fellow volunteered to be part of a military study. His unique DNA made him a great candidate for mutation, so said the mad scientists he consigned his body over to. Unfortunately, instead of making Dax a superhero, the wonks made him a super-creep.  

Turns out, the way that the Doomsday experiment goes is like this: the trial hosts kill Dax by all kinds of methods (burning, gassing, breaking of bones), and then "resurrect" him, and try killing him again after he's become invulnerable. So, it's pretty traumatic stuff.

In the Fortress, we learn that Brainiac has fused to Seg's brainstem, so Nyssa is going to have to use a scalpel to prize the parasite from her baby-daddy's head. She's never heard of a scalpel before, much less used one, so this is going to be exciting. 

She does it! After a successful surgery, Seg is feeling his old self again. He's also feeling a little fatherly; now free of Brainiac's brain-nanites, he wants to hold his baby, and takes Cor-Vex in his arms. Nyssa looks upon this idyllic tableau, and instantly disavows her family name, and wants the baby brought up in the El House. With Val's admonition, they name the kid Jor-El. Jor-El??!! That Jor-El??! Yes, that Jor-El! 

Meanwhile, on Wegthor, Kem is leading a team of rebels through the underground tunnels, with Adam as his second-in-command. They come upon a mine, outside which they read some activity, and Kem decides to venture in alone. For better, or worse.  

Back in the weapons room, Zod is looking for the key to restart Doomsday's consciousness. What is it? Love. Or, more specifically, the memory of his wife who ran away from him when she saw him in monster form. That's a tough one to dredge up, but, hey, whatever gets you going in the morning.  

On Wegthor, when Kem returns from the mines, he's followed by a ragtag crew of Sagitari who've been marooned by Zod and exposed to lethal doses of radiation. They're starving and near death. So, Kem orders his team to hand over their meals to them. What a guy!  

In the Fortress, there's trouble with the first family, as Brainiac's nanites have crept their way into hologram Val and hijacked him/it. He's back! Now embodied, Brainiac summons his ship to start and hover over the Fortress. As he prepares for liftoff, he makes Seg one more offer: come with him and harness the power of the universe. Seg's not about it, and lets the green alien take his solo trip.  

Except not. Because before he goes, Brainiac takes little Jor-El with him. Oh snap!