Kara challenges Rhea in a final confrontation.
Tropes in this episode:
- 0% Approval Rating: Rhea, apparently, as her fleeing troops don't bother to transmat her back to her mothership even though all the soldiers were picked up. Admittedly, this could just be a case of Screw This, I'm Outta Here, due to the sheer urgency of the situation.
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Played with. Mon-El is able to survive the atmospheric lead poisoning longer than the other Daxamites because he's spent so much time on Earth under a yellow sun. He hasn't acquired full immunity, but superior resistance through super-powers.
- Advertised Extra: Zod's appearance is heavily promoted leading to the episode. He "appears" in the actual episode as a hallucination.
- Always Someone Better: Superman admits that Kara is this to him, both after she beats him in combat and when admitting that he doesn't think he could make the choice to save the world at the cost of losing Lois.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Kara, even after nonchalantly admitting to others her feelings for him, finally admits she loves Mon-El, believing she'll never see him again.Kara: (sobbing) I should have said it before, but I do.
- Arch-Enemy: Turn's out Superman's nemesis in this incarnation is Zod. To such a degree that he seems completely willing to kill him.
- Artistic License – Chemistry: Lena says that the bomb will fill the atmosphere with enough lead to poison any Daxamites, but be harmless to humans. It doesn't take very much lead to poison humans, so it must be a very small amount of lead. But if Daxamites are susceptible to such a small concentration, then even the trace amounts that are already in the atmosphere and the water should be enough to do noticeable damage. Add to this, the bomb was originally designed (by Lex) to do the same thing but with kryptonite, so as to prevent any Kryptonians from being on Earth. But Lex seems to have overlooked that kryptonite is radioactive; even though its effects are near-instant to Kryptonians, it's been shown in the comics that prolonged exposure will cause radiation poisoning in humans, and it doesn't get more prolonged that everyone on the planet breathing it in around the clock.
- Back for the Finale: M'gann returns after leaving for Mars in the middle of the season.
- Batman Grabs a Gun:
- By activating the remote that triggers the lead bomb, Rhea is killed, meaning Supergirl has effectively violated her Thou Shalt Not Kill rule. Superman doesn't offer any protest, either, and accepts that Kara did what needed to be done. Admittedly, Kara's intent was to drive the Daxamites off the planet, and she couldn't have anticipated Rhea not being beamed back up to her ship.
- Superman, mistaking his cousin for Zod, goes completely berserk and seems very willing to kill "him".
- Big Damn Heroes: When things are looking bad for J'onn and Superman, M'Gann returns, bringing a small battalion of White Martians with her.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Daxamite invasion is stopped and Rhea is killed, but Mon-El is forced to leave Earth and now absolute xenophobe Lillian Luthor is trying to claim credit for Cadmus.
- Bookends:
- The season starts and ends with Mon-El in a Kryptonian escape pod.
- The first two episodes of the season have Cat and Superman. They both return in the last two episodes.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rhea corrupted Superman with silver Kryptonite when he showed up on her ship so that he would see Kara as his greatest enemy — General Zod.
- Buffy Speak: When introducing himself to Superman, Mon-El separates himself from his invading people by describing them as the "kill-y ones."
- But Now I Must Go: Mon-El has to leave Earth because of the lead in the atmosphere.
- Call-Back: The device Lillian took from Lex's vault is revealed to be a bomb meant to scatter Kryptonite into the atmosphere. Lex didn't finish it, so it's given to Lena and modified to spread lead instead.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Lena to Lillian, see What the Hell, Hero? below.
- The Cameo: Zod appears in Clark's hallucinations.
- Celebrity Paradox: Played for Laughs. Cat says that she has never seen Star Wars, the film franchise which provided the Star-Making Role for the husband of her actress.
- Continuity Nod: Cat comments on how the Daxamite invasion is much worse than the Myriad incident on National City. She also mentions the various stories Kara covered this season, such as the alien death matches and Slaver's Moon.
- Combat by Champion: Kara invokes an ancient Daxamite rite, Dakam Ur, challenging Rhea to single combat for the fate of the Earth.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Rhea's second-in-command is ordered to take out Superman. The fight lasts about a minute before Superman throws him out of CatCo like a rag doll.Superman: Well, at least he tried.
- Kara vs Rhea is this before it's revealed that Rhea has Kryptonite-infused blood, since Rhea hasn't had nearly enough time to build her strength up to that of the Kryptonians. Even then, Rhea never really hurts Kara.
- Just about every fight between the Daxamite invaders and any of the alien heroes. It turns out that engaging somebody much stronger than you in hand-to-hand combat is a good way to get your ass kicked.
- Averted in the fight between Supergirl and Superman. They're shown to be evenly matched, with Kara winning the fight by the skin of her teeth and passing out from exhaustion right afterwards.
- Rhea's second-in-command is ordered to take out Superman. The fight lasts about a minute before Superman throws him out of CatCo like a rag doll.
- Didn't See That Coming: Kara is confident that she won't have to activate the lead bomb because she's sure she'll beat Rhea in combat. She does beat Rhea, but she doesn't account for Rhea not honoring her end of the deal.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Cat once again in regards to Clark. Kara is not amused.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Winn's man crush on Superman hasn't abated, and it's just as obvious as ever.
- The Extremist Was Right: Lillian insists this, citing the Daxamite invasion as proof, ignoring that other aliens saved the planet.
- Fan Disservice: Supergirl and Superman are shown in Sexy Soaked Shirts... while fighting each other to the death due to the latter being Brainwashed and Crazy.
- Fighting Your Friend: Kara has to fight her brainwashed cousin at the opening of the episode.
- Flashback: The final scene flashes back 35 years to Krypton's destruction, showing that a third group managed to launch their own infant, with intentions of conquest.
- Godzilla Threshold: Kara uses the atmospheric lead bomb when it becomes clear Rhea will destroy Earth regardless of whether she wins or loses.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: J'onn subconsciously calls out to M'gann while comatose, and she brings a small team of like-minded White Martians with her to Earth to help.
- Graceful Loser: Clark has no hard feelings that Kara defeated him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Crowning off his season long Character Development, Mon-El is quick to push his friends to use Lena's fail safe weapon to save Earth from Daxam, though his friends choose to formulate another plan. After their plan fails he does not hesitate to urge Kara to use it, with a solemn yet firm nod of go ahead, to repel the Daxamite invasion after Rhea's treachery. Even if it means his own life, he is willing to die from lead poisoning than allow his friends suffer subjugation under his tyrannical mother. Yes Kara is able to get him off Earth in time, though doing so will separate the two, it's a far cry from the selfish playboy prince he used to be.
- For that matter, Kara choosing the Earth over Mon-El. Even Clark admits that if it was Lois, he might have chosen her over the Earth.
- Heroic Second Wind: Thanks to the kryptonite in Rhea's blood weakening her, Rhea gains the upper hand against Supergirl. When she boasts that she'll destroy city after city, however, Kara manages to put in a burst of effort and knocks her back.
- I Lied: Despite being beaten in combat, Rhea does not honor the rules of Dakam Ur, and continues to proceed with the invasion.
- In Spite of a Nail: One of the locations that Rhea threatens to destroy is Star City, making it yet another location that Earth-38 shares with Earth-1, despite not having a Green Arrow or Black Canarynote .
- Internal Reveal:
- Cat tells Clark that James is Guardian.
- Turns out Mon-El already knows that his mother killed his father. Whether he learned it from Kara or Rhea herself is never revealed.
- Kneel Before Zod: Superman hallucinates Supergirl as the Trope Namer in action."Zod": The people of this planet will kneel before me!
- Leeroy Jenkins: Rhea mentions that she tricked Superman so easily because he charged in without a plan.
- Let's You and Him Fight: When Superman showed up on the Daxamite ship, Rhea corrupted his mind with silver Kryptonite, causing him to see his worst enemy instead of his allies. She sets him on Kara when she shows up on her ship. It takes a lot out of her (she passes out almost immediately after), but Kara takes him down. This battle cements that Kara is her cousin's superior.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Rhea crumbles after turning into stone.
- Loophole Abuse: Rhea uses every trick she can to stack the deck in her favor when fighting Kara. Her ships attack the city and deliberately target innocent civilians, and Rhea herself has Kryptonite in her blood. Ultimately, she doesn't even honor the arrangement.
- Man of Kryptonite: Or woman of kryptonite, as Rhea's blood is laced with it.
- Mythology Gag:
- Rhea tells Kara that she will bleed.
- Mon-El being sent to space to survive is directly taken from the comics, except there he was sent to the Phantom Zone.
- Superman and "Zod"'s battle is basically a Broad Strokes of their (in)famous one in Man of Steel. Specifically, Superman stops "Zod" from "hurting" an innocent family by attempting multiple Neck Snapping (which is how Supes killed Zod in the film) techniques to subdue him.
- The final part of the invasion, with the hero(ine) dueling against the Big Bad while ships are attacking the city. Very similar to how Superman and Darkseid fought in the Justice League Unlimited finale. Even Darkseid's speech about how all the death and destruction on Earth are on Superman's hands was mirrored here, albeit two episodes ago.
- The heroes attempt to end the conflict by digging up some ancient Trial by Combat law. The villain tries to cheat in combat, while on the heroes' side, a Well-Intentioned Extremist is working on a chemical weapon against the aliens. A hero is less susceptible to the weapon, and so survives the effect. Once again, a repetition of the transition ark between seasons 3 and 4 of Lois & Clark
- No Endor Holocaust:
- Despite the citywide destruction from several waves of Daxamite soldiers and ship bombardments, people are cheering in the streets, there don't seem to be any casualties, and Catco headquarters are back up and running the very next day.
- The atmosphere of the entire planet is laced with lead, so much so that there is no place on earth for Mon El or any other Daxamite to live. Sure is nice that Lex's device keeps every human on earth from inhaling it and dying of lead poisoning.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The fight between Supergirl and Superman consists of both sides delivering this to the other. By the end, they're completely exhausted, reduced to flailing clumsily at each other and Kara passes out immediately after managing to knock her cousin unconscious.
- Noodle Incident: Superman evidently fought Zod in this continuity. We're left to wonder how that went down, though Superman obviously won.
- Not So Above It All: When comforting Kara, and applauding her and Mon-El placing others before their love, Clark openly admits that if it came down to the world and Lois, he might have chosen Lois.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Cat here acts just like she did back in season 1, and is still mispronouncing Kara's name as "Keira". But after Kara heads off to her fight with Rhea, Cat's attitude shifts and she quietly says "Go get 'em, Supergirl," proving either she was never really fooled by Kara and J'onn's plan, or she figured it out afterwards.
- Obviously Evil: The third pod is launched from a building marked by a skull, the people within are wearing black cloaks, the pod is black with red highlights, and the crying infant is quieted by being anointed with blood. Yeah, it's safe to assume this pod does not bring good fortune.
- Out of Focus: James only appears for a single scene, and it's not even as Guardian.
- Parting-Words Regret: Inverted, the last thing Rhea hears before she died is her son's words about his dad.
- Poisonous Person: Rhea has Kryptonite in her blood from Daxam's destruction, making fighting her even more difficult for Kara.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Kara narrowly beats her Brainwashed and Crazy cousin in battle, but falls unconscious immediately after.
- Protagonist Title: The title basically describes how much of a Plucky Girl Kara is.
- Put on a Bus:
- Mon-El is forced to leave the Earth, in Kara's old pod, once the Earth's atmosphere becomes uninhabitable to Daxamites.
- Superman flies back to Metropolis after everything is said and done.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: The third pod is black with red highlights.
- The Reveal:
- Cat really knows that Kara is Supergirl.
- Turns out Clark did arrive to help last episode. He just got there early and was brainwashed immediately.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode title refers to a statement about United States Senator Elizabeth Warren that was originally meant as an attack on her but was subsequently taken up as a feminist rallying cry.
- Season Finale: The second one.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: As Kara leaves her office, Cat says under her breath, "Go get 'em, Supergirl." Last Kara knew, she had successfully convinced Cat that she was not in fact Supergirl.
- Sequel Hook: Mon-El's pod gets sucked up by a mysterious portal and a flashback reveals that another branch of Kryptonians sent another pod to Earth, apparently up to no good.
- Series Continuity Error: The Pilot Episode and most of Season 1 establishes that Krypton exploded between late 1979 to early 1980. The Stinger explicitly says it happened 35 years ago, meaning late 1981 to mid 1982.
- Shout-Out:
- Cat mentions that they have Wi-Fi in the Himalayas. Probably a reference to Doctor Strange (2016).
- Supergirl gets called the Woman of Tomorrow at some point in the episode, a moniker close to one her cousin has had numerous times in the comics.
- Spirit Advisor: M'gann appears to J'onn in his coma, telling him his friends need him to wake up.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Thanks to the atmosphere becoming toxic to him, Mon-El has to leave Earth and Kara behind in the end.
- Stock Footage: The flashback to Krypton exploding uses the opening shot of the entire series.
- Taken for Granite: Irradiating the Earth's atmosphere with lead induces this in Daxamites. Most of the Daxamite footsoldiers are able to transmat back to their ships before it kills them, but Rhea turns to stone and crumbles. Mon-El survives long enough to get put into a Kryptonian escape pod.
- There Is Another: The closing scene of the episode reveals that a third unknown pod was able to escape Krypton's destruction.
- Trial by Combat: Kara and Rhea engage in one with Earth on the line. Kara wins.
- Trash the Set: The already-wrecked CatCo Offices suffer an even harsher round of destruction, including the shattering of the iconic pink cat statue.
- Unexpected Character: While under the influence of silver Kryptonite, Superman sees Kara as General Zod!
- Ungrateful Bastard: Lillian is able to use the Daxamite invasion to get some good press for her anti-alien sentiments; despite the fact the Earth was saved by aliens.
- Villains Want Mercy: In her last moments, Rhea asks Mon-El to save her. He coldly points out that his father wasn't offered such a courtesy.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Lillian is hailed as a hero who fought in the Alien Invasion, (which is technically true), but being Lillian she's trying to take credit for all of it.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Alex proposes to Maggie on the spot immediately after the battle.
- Wham Line: As Kara leaves Cat's office to save the city from a fire:Cat: Go get 'em, Supergirl.
- Wham Shot:
- After Mon-El leaves Earth, his pod is unexpectedly grabbed by a wormhole.
- A flashback shows a cult of some kind launching their own infant to Earth, which is either there already or will be soon.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- The real Hank Henshaw isn't seen or even mentioned, despite being a key player in the plot in the previous episode.
- It's not revealed what became of Jeremiah Danvers.
- Lyra, who was supposed to team up with Guardian and Winn, isn't seen either.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Lillian tries to call Lena out on being manipulated so easily by Rhea. Lena quickly gives it back to her, noting that Lillian was such a terrible mother that Lena was willing to trust the first person who actually behaved like a proper mentor figure.
- Worf Had the Flu: Discussed. Kara suspects silver kryptonite should have weakened Superman so she could win. Superman denies it and says he fought with all his strength.
