Supergirl finally learns the truth about Lena while tangling with Leviathan. J'onn J'onnz makes a discovery about his brother's whereabouts.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: How Lena feels about killing her own (evil) brother, all for her friends who've been lying to her the whole time.
- All Myths Are True: One of the past catastrophes Rama Khan is believed to have caused is Noah's Flood.
- And I Must Scream: Malefic's description of life in the Phantom Zone is unpleasant, to say the least.Malefic: Lifetimes of nothing. No air, no time, no sight, no smell. Nothing but my heart, suspended mid-beat. An excruciating suspense that never stops. A breath you can never exhale.
- The Atoner: J'onn chooses to try and make up for his crimes against Malefic, even risking his life by opening his mind to Malefic in order to mend the rift between them.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Lena gets away with Myriad free and clear, leaving a morally and emotionally devastated Kara trapped in the Fortress.
- Badass Boast: Rama Khan has quite a good one, but Kara isn't impressed.Rama Khan: You thought you could hide her from me? I am ancient. I am the earth! What are you?
Kara: Me? I'm just peeved you didn't knock. - Batman Gambit: Lena purposely puts herself in Leviathan's crosshairs to get Supergirl to rescue her and secure access to the Fortress of Solitude to steal the Myriad device for her own plans. It works perfectly.
- Been There, Shaped History: Leviathan's arrival on Earth wiped out the dinosaurs, while Rama Khan has been personally responsible for several "natural" disasters throughout history, including the destruction of Pompeii.
- Bittersweet Ending: The good: Alex and Kelly manage to avoid losing their relationship, while J'onn and Malefic appear to be reconciling. The bad: Lena has revealed her duplicity to Kara, railing against her for betraying her trust, then trapping her in the Fortress of Solitude while stealing Myriad for her mass-brainwashing plan.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: J'onn and Kara are seen sparring at the beginning of the episode.
- The Bus Came Back: Once again, M'yrnn J'onzz returns via a projection of his memories in J'onn's mind.
- Call-Back: With Myriad returning, Kara recalls the fight against her aunt and uncle's forces.
- Celebrity Paradox: An Avatar: The Last Airbender reference was made by saying "Earthbending", and Alex's reaction suggests the show exists in this universe. Phil LaMarr, who voices the Earth King, plays Malefic. If one counts The Multiverse, then there's Mark Hamill (Earths 1, 3 and 90 James Jesse) voicing the show's Big Bad and Clancy Brown (Wade Eilling) voicing a Recurring Character.
- Chekhov's Skill: Supergirl wins her sparring match with J'onn by using a backflip which leads into a face kick while she's flying. She uses the same move on Rama Khan when they battle at the Fortress.
- The Chessmaster: Lena rather impressively plays both Leviathan and Supergirl in order to get access to the Fortress of Solitude.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Lena foils Margot's assassination attempt in her apartment with a Deflector Shield, having anticipated that Leviathan would try to kill her for the amulet.
- Superman built an Anti-Luthor defense mechanism in the Fortress of Solitude.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Rama Khan has the power to control earth, drawing power from the planet. He's responsible for various natural disasters throughout history.
- Double Meaning: Lena remarks that the sonic cannon was "designed for evil, but perhaps we can use it for some good". As she said this immediately after spying Myriad, the audience is well aware of what she really means.
- Dramatic Irony: Little did Kara realise, the Fortress' anti-Luthor defense was actually quite right to detain Lena.
- Eco-Terrorist: Turns out that this is what Leviathan really is - they want to protect the Earth from the humans harming it.
- "Eureka!" Moment:
- Rama Khan has one when he can't feel Lena and Kara anywhere on the globe - because they are in the one place on the planet that is not of terran descent.
- Brainy has one, putting together all the clues of where Leviathan's headquarters are after the explosion improves his mind.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- A tragic example from an Anti-Villain; Lena believes that Kara's tears as she confessed to being Supergirl in the season premiere were nothing but Crocodile Tears, especially compared to her own emotional devastation.
- Subverted with Malefic; he initially dismisses J'onn's desire to reconcile as nothing but a lie, but after looking into his brother's mind, recognises his sincerity and extends a hand of friendship to J'onn.
- Evil Is Petty: As much as she denies being evil, Lena's resentment towards Supergirl sees her make some passive-aggressive digs at Kara, calling her an "excellent actress" for keeping her identity secret for so long, cheerfully commenting on the near-crash they went through on the way to Kasnia, trying to hide her anger at being desperate to save someone who can fly, and pointing out how bad an idea it is to bring a Luthor to the Fortress of Solitude.
- Fate Worse than Death: What Malefic describes his imprisonment in the Phantom Zone as, being trapped in the same moment for eternity.
- Foreshadowing: Brainy mentions being less inhibited, something that becomes very important three episodes later.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Kara blasts a huge hole into Rama Khan's torso with her heat vision, only for him to regenerate in moments.
- Heel–Face Turn: It's too soon to tell, but Malefic appears to be making one.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Fortress has a security protocol designed to imprison and possibly kill those with Luthor DNA, which targets Lena due to her relation to Lex. After Kara disables it, Lena reprograms the system to non-lethally subdue Kara so she can escape with Myriad.
- Home Field Advantage: Invoked by Supergirl when she realizes Rama Khan's power over the Earth doesn't extend to the non-Earthen Fortress of Solitude. By sealing the cracks he gained entrance through, he's deprived of his power.
- Internal Reveal:
- Kara learns that Lena's been lying to her, and that she killed Lex. She also learns that Lena already knew she's Supergirl because Lex told her.
- J'onn learns that Malefic wasn't sent to the Phantom Zone, though it's not yet clear if he realises that Lena was responsible.
- The heroes learn Rip Roar's dead.
- Kick the Dog: While she sees it as necessary, Lena exploiting Kara to further her own plans is quite low.
- Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: J'onn offers his mind to Malefic, at the risk of being killed. Instead, his brother sees his true self and intentions and forgives him.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Rama Khan retreats when Supergirl figures out his Logical Weakness and Lena blasts him with a sonic weapon, knowing he can't fight both of them when Supergirl has the Home Field Advantage.
- Lampshade Hanging: Lena even tells Kara that it is a bad idea to bring a Luthor into the Fortress of Solitude.
- Large Ham: Rama Khan acts extremely melodramatic.
- Literal Metaphor: When M'yrnn tells J'onn that his brother is still here, he doesn't mean in his mind - but across town.M'yrnn: Your brother is here.
J'onn: You mean here in my mind?
M'rynn: No, he's across town. - Literal-Minded: When Gamemnae makes a reference to "the snowflake generation", Rama Khan asks "what, do they melt?".
- Logical Weakness: Rama Khan has power over the Earth; he has no power over elements that can't be found on Earth, such as the Fortress. Supergirl exploits this by sealing the cracks he used to enter the Fortress.
- Lured into a Trap: Leviathan lures Brainy and Alex to Rip Roar's corpse, blowing it up.
- Motive Rant: Caught red-handed while stealing Myriad, Lena bitterly explains her motives to a shocked and heartbroken Kara.Lena: I shot my own brother in the chest. His final words to me were that I was a fool. That my best friend, that every friend I had was lying to me. With his dying breath, he told me you were Supergirl.
Kara: Lena, you have to believe me, I never meant to humiliate you.
Lena: No, when I came to this city, I promised myself that I would never trust anyone again, and then, I met you. You chipped away at my armor with your warmth and your earnestness, and you convinced me to trust in people and in friendship again. And against my better judgment, I did. All the while, telling you about my Achilles' heel: betrayal. I confided in you that everyone in my past had betrayed me, about how much it hurt to have someone you love lie to you and betray you. I spelled it out to you over and over again, essentially begging you not to violate my trust, begging you not to prove that once again, I was a fool! You reassured me ad nauseam that you'd never lie to me, that you'd never hurt me, and all the while, there wasn't a single honest moment in our friendship—
Kara: No, no, that is not true!
Lena: NO! I KILLED MY BROTHER FOR YOU, FOR OUR FRIENDS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!
Kara: When you found out, why didn't you come to me right away, so I could explain—
Lena: "Explain"? Yeah?
Kara: [crying] If you hate me so much, why not out me at the Pulitzer party?
Lena: Because I wanted you to experience what you did to me. Feel what I felt. - Mythology Gag: Lena and Kara's confrontation in the Fortress mirrors the one between Clark and Lex in the Smallville Season 7 finale "Arctic." Both confrontations end with a Luthor getting one-up on the other party.
- Offscreen Teleportation: After a failed assassination attempt, Margot instantly disappears into the shadows.
- Older Than They Look: Rama Khan has been on Earth for millions of years, but looks no different from a 60-year-old human.
- Phlebotinum Killed the Dinosaurs: The spaceship that brought Leviathan to Earth was the size of an asteroid, and it was what killed the dinosaurs.
- Plot Parallel: Lena and Kara's falling out mirrors J'onn and Malefic's reconciliation.
- Psychological Projection: While she does have some legitimate points, Lena shows signs of this during her rant against Kara, voicing a belief that Kara's crying in the season premiere was nothing but Crocodile Tears and refusing to accept or believe that Kara is or ever was her friend. She also claims Kara treated her like a villain, despite the fact that the bulk of her plans relied on Kara trusting her implicitly.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After revealing her treachery, Lena goes on a long rant against Kara, calling her out for lying to her.
- Recycled Title: The episode shares its title with the twelfth episode of the second season of Arrow.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Rama Khan is the red one, wanting to solve everything with brute force, while Gamemnae suggests subtlety and using technology instead.
- Shout-Out: Brainy refers to Rama Khan's power as Earthbending, earning a brief double-take from Alex. Brainy evidently doesn't get the reference, as it seems like a perfectly apt description to him.
- Shrouded in Myth: Rama Khan, despite having orchestrated several historical events.
- That Liar Lies: When J'onn expresses his desire to make amends with his wayward brother, Malefic furiously shouts "LIAR!".
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Much as she denies it, Lena's descent into extremism is based heavily on being treated like her villainous relatives. Believing Kara did so is the last straw.Lena: I'm not a villain. You shouldn't have treated me like one.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Not only does M'yrnn know that Malefic is still on Earth, but he knows he's held captive by Lena. M'yrnn tells J'onn he has to find out on his own who's holding Malefic prisoner. He also tells J'onn he alone has to decide whether to send Malefic back to the Phantom Zone or take a chance to reconcile.
- Time Abyss: Rama Khan, and presumably Gamemnae as well, has been around since the extinction of the dinosaurs (their arrival on Earth being what caused said extinction), making them over 65 million years old at minimum. Furthermore, Rama Khan refers to an "elder" who tasked him with protecting Earth, implying the existence of someone even older.
- Took a Level in Badass: After the explosion of Rip Roar's body destroys Brainy's inhibitor, the peripheral vision of his mind expands, making him even smarter.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The episode's given synopsis prior to airing blatantly says that Kara finally finds out the truth about Lena, even though in the episode proper this doesn't happen until the ultimate climax.
- Villain Has a Point: Lena's issues with Kara have a fair bit of basis in reality; regardless of her reasons, Kara did lie to Lena during their entire friendship.
- We Used to Be Friends: Lena finally comes clean to Kara and admits that she has been manipulating her all season. She gives a villain rant claiming that Kara betrayed her and was never really her friend. Tellingly, after this (and also in the next episode) Lena only refers to Kara as Supergirl and not by her real name, implying that Lena now considers Supergirl her true identity and that Kara was the fake alter ego.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Rama Khan sees himself as a caretaker for the Earth, protecting it from the ravages of humanity's impact on nature. Meanwhile, Lena wants to use Myriad because she believes that Humans Are Bastards but a little Brainwashing for the Greater Good will alleviate untold suffering by removing man's inhumanity towards man.
