Supergirl makes a new ally. Lena and Lex battle for control of Luthor Corp.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Nyxlygsptlnz's father King Brpxzout, out of fear of being replaced, killed his son and then banished Nyxlygsptlnz to the Phantom Zone.
- Amoral Attorney: Lex has the new DA under his thumb, since winning his trial got the old one fired.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: Silas, an important character in the previous episode, has been turned into a phantom offscreen by the start of this one.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Lex's reaction to Lena giving away his millions to the children's wing of a hospital? Set fire to the hospital.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lex seems completely incapable of wrapping his head around Lena voluntarily walking away from Luthor Corp and giving up on their rivalry.
- Expy: Evil, soul-sucking creatures that cause coldness and act as prison guards? The Phantoms obviously take more than a few cues from the Dementors.
- Fate Worse than Death: Alex calls Kara being trapped in the Phantom Zone this.
- Ghostly Chill: The Phantoms cause nearby objects to freeze from their mere presence.
- Heroic BSoD: Alex is still undergoing one, until Kelly finally manages to snap her out of it.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Lena dissuades Brainy from killing Lex, as she knows what it brought her and she doesn't want him to be tainted as well.
- It's All My Fault: Kara says this about her dad's capture, since he only came along because she refused to quit.
- The Jeeves: Lex has one named Philippe.
- Kick the Dog: Lex has Otis burn down the child care wing of the hospital in retaliation for Lena donating the money from his illegal weapons department to it.
- Leeroy Jenkins: M'gann going against J'onn's orders almost gets her turned into a Phantom.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Brainy is so overwhelmed by his emotions that he plans to outright murder Lex, and after being calmed down by Lena, he breaks down crying over his hatred of him.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Lena fails to catch Brainy's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock reference.
- Power Limiter: Nyxlygsptlnz wears a bracelet that seals her magic, aside from being able to see others through a crystal ball. After some encouragement from Kara, she manages to destroy the former with the latter, breaking both her physical and mental shackles.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The Phantoms' Viral Transformation powers threaten a Zombie Apocalypse upon the world, and mirror the real-life COVID-19 Pandemic that is ongoing when this episode was written, filmed, and aired.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Lena leaves Luthor Corp for good, reasoning that continuing to fight with Lex will only bring her misery, while Lex will self-destruct if left to his own devices.
- Shout-Out:
- The title (though not much else) is an obvious one for The Phantom Menace.
- When Brainy breaks down in front of the TV listening to Lex's self-congratulatory interview, he says that Lex should be haunted by the sound of a Kryptonian heart beating under his floorboards.
- Sibling Rivalry: Lex and Lena fight for control of Luthor Corp.
- State The Simple Solution: Brainy points out that the best way to stop Lex from his rampage would be to simply kill him. Lena vetoes the idea.
- Viral Transformation: Anyone scratched by the Phantoms eventually loses their life force, which migrates to the Phantoms' nest, and becomes a new Phantom. With each new Phantom, conversions happen progressively faster. They were sealed in the Phantom Zone because they were a plague upon the galaxy.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Nyxlygsptlnz mentions that wounds don't heal in the Phantom Zone. Ever. This may explain why the Phantoms can't reproduce there. Thankfully, her magic is able to override that once she recovers it.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: The Phantoms steal the souls of those they infect, which causes them to mutate into a new Phantom. Silas suffers this fate, along with various random civilians, and M'gann only narrowly avoids it thanks to J'onn swapping the part of her essence they shared during their binding into her just as her soul left her body.
