Recaps

He-El took Grodd from the STAR Labs sewers and used psychic power to teach him in a dream, awakening his intelligence and shaping his worldview. Grodd accepted He-El as his father and chose to become a researcher, while He-El continued studying the Speed Force.

• He-El found Grodd in a steel cage beneath STAR Labs and soothed his chaotic psychic power, putting him to sleep.
• He-El used a Thought Imprint to teach Grodd in a psychic dream, then pulled him from the cage with his biological magnetic field and brought him to STAR Labs.
• He-El reviewed Speed Force research and considered how to create a Speed Force of his own without becoming subject to its will.
• Grodd woke, called He-El his father, and explained that He-El's teachings had given him wisdom and a new future.
• He-El let Grodd choose his path, and Grodd put on a lab coat and decided to study psychic power and the universe.

After returning from The Flash, He-El learned that a new Traversal Vortex had appeared and received Zero’s report on events in the Three-Body Problem Universe and across the Solar System. The chapter ended with an invitation to dinner from The Father, ruler of New Genesis.

• He-El returned to the Moon’s Zero Universal Mothership after leaving a clone behind in The Flash universe.
• He-El discovered a third Traversal Vortex had formed in his consciousness space.
• Zero reported that the Trisolaran Civilization had been defeated and exposed the Solar System’s location, while the Willpower Corps defeated a Quantum Probability Cloud Ghost Civilization.
• Zero reported that New Krypton’s palace and the Divine Realm’s magical legions were ready, and that Superman was demanding an explanation from He-El.
• Zero told He-El that The Father of New Genesis had invited him to a dinner party.

He-El welcomed New Genesis to the Solar System and prepared a gift for its leader, The Father. He removed the Mother Box from Steel Bone and transformed it into a limited Mother Box Construct, which he ordered to go dormant.

• He-El learned that New Genesis had appeared at Mars's former location and instructed Zero to welcome The Father and prepare a generous gift.
• He-El asked about Ciri and learned that she was healthy and expected to give birth in two months.
• He-El visited the detained Steel Bone and used the AllSpark to extract the Mother Box from his body.
• He-El transformed the Mother Box into a humanoid Mother Box Construct with limited functions.
• The Mother Box Construct greeted He-El as its master, and he ordered it to go dormant as a gift for The Father.

The Father explained to Orion that Darkseid was an indispensable force in the universe and that killing him could destroy the balance of existence. He revealed that a Kryptonian in every universe was destined to oppose Darkseid, and that this universe’s Kryptonian Emperor might be essential to stopping Darkseid from finding the Anti-Life Equation.

• The Father reflected on his painful struggle against Darkseid and feared that killing him would destabilize the universe.
• Orion told the Father that the Kryptonian Emperor of Earth had accepted New Genesis’s banquet invitation and questioned why they needed his help.
• The Father said his original self had warned him that Darkseid was part of a multiversal plan and that every universe would produce a Kryptonian enemy for him.
• The Father explained that Darkseid must be stopped from finding the Anti-Life Equation and joining with Darkseids from other universes.
• The Father identified the Kryptonian as the hope of the universe and the key to New Genesis’s mission.

He-El prepared to attend The Father's dinner on New Genesis, while people on Earth watched New Krypton's spectacular departure and treated him as their representative. He left aboard the Honor Marshal-class Battleship with a vast fleet escort, vanishing into the sky toward New Genesis.

• New Krypton announced He-El's trip to New Genesis, and humanity on Earth anticipated the exchange as a historic first contact with an alien civilization.
• The Honor Marshal-class Battleship transformed into a half-open-deck warship as thirty thousand warships formed an escort led by three General-class Cruisers.
• He-El wore a black-and-gold imperial outfit chosen for the diplomatic dinner and walked out of the palace with fifty thousand subordinates.
• When an official asked whether to drive away the Earth reporters filming from nearby rooftops, He-El refused and smiled at a camera.
• He-El boarded the Honor Marshal-class Battleship, which rose into the sky with its escort fleet and disappeared from Earth's view.

He-El visited New Genesis and rejected The Father's proposal to join forces against Apokolips, judging that New Genesis was unprepared for war. The Father then offered to trade the truth of the universe for New Krypton's assistance.

• The Father welcomed He-El to New Genesis and showed him Supertown, whose peaceful citizens He-El considered sheltered and unprepared for war.
• At a banquet, The Father asked He-El to join New Genesis in attacking Apokolips and killing Darkseid.
• He-El refused, citing New Krypton's recent losses and his belief that New Genesis could not withstand Apokolips.
• The Father dismissed Orion and offered He-El the truth of the universe in exchange for New Krypton's assistance.

The Father showed He-El how powerful beings sent clones into newborn universes to fight over the Source, and He-El learned that Kryptonian civilization originated from one such clone’s corpse. He-El ended by asking The Father whether he was one of those beings too.

• The Father told He-El that the universe was nearing collapse and showed him universes forming like marbles beneath immense black shadows.
• The black shadows and The Father sent clones into the universes, where they fought, formed alliances, or founded civilizations from their remains.
• He-El recognized that the Life Codex and Kryptonian gene chains had originated from a black-shadow clone’s corpse.
• He-El asked The Father if he was one of the beings who sent clones into the universes.

The Father explained Darkseid’s plan to destroy the multiverse and revealed that he sought He-El’s help because a Kryptonian would become the universe’s hope. He-El realized The Father meant his son.

• The Father told He-El that Darkseid had become part of countless universes and planned to use the Anti-Life Equation to reach and control the Source Universes.
• The Father explained that his avatar had an independent soul and feared merging back into his true self when the universe ended.
• The Father revealed that Athena had been seeking true independence and had placed her hopes in He-El.
• The Father asked He-El to help stop Darkseid, saying the universe’s hope would appear in a Kryptonian.
• He-El realized that The Father’s prophecy referred to his son.

Steppenwolf arrived at New Krypton’s Sea of Death, killed the Magic Corps squad that discovered him, and demanded an audience with Hades. Inside Hades’s palace, Steppenwolf asked whether Hades wanted true freedom.

• Steppenwolf emerged from a Boom Tube into New Krypton’s territory, where a Magic Corps squad tried to conceal itself and report the anomaly.
• Steppenwolf recognized the squad’s emblem and killed all thirty warriors with an axe strike and a burst of force.
• Steppenwolf called out to Hades across the Sea of Death, and Hades formed a portal and invited him into the Underworld.
• Steppenwolf entered Hades’s palace and found Hades seated against a bound, screaming corpse.
• Steppenwolf sat down before Hades and asked if he wanted true freedom.

Steppenwolf told Hades that the Forbidden Chapter of the Book of Oa foretold a deathly power called Blackest Night, which could give Hades a chance to escape his fate as a Divine Avatar. Hades agreed to consider joining Darkseid’s attack on Oa Star to seize that power.

• Steppenwolf asked whether Hades yearned for freedom, and Hades demanded to know what he meant.
• Steppenwolf explained that the Forbidden Chapter of the Book of Oa recorded Blackest Night, a power of death that would destroy all life.
• Hades questioned Darkseid’s plans, and Steppenwolf confirmed that Darkseid intended to destroy the universe and seek the Anti-Life Equation.
• Steppenwolf told Hades that Blackest Night would emerge before Oa Star was destroyed and offered him a chance to obtain it by joining Darkseid’s attack on Oa Star.
• Hades said he would consider the offer, and Steppenwolf smiled.

Athena investigated the deaths of thirty magic students and discovered that Steppenwolf had arrived through a Boom Tube near the Sea of Death. As she prepared to contact He-El and Zeus, Raven reported that Hades had appeared and seven thousand people at Base No. 189 had fallen asleep.

• Raven told Athena that thirty magic students at Practical Training Site No. 189 had vanished and were confirmed dead.
• Athena reviewed the team's final recording and recognized a Boom Tube as the source of the spatial disturbance.
• Athena saw Steppenwolf kill the training team and decided to notify He-El and Zeus.
• A message summoned the magic academy's teachers to the principal's castle.
• Raven reported that Hades wanted to see Athena and that seven thousand faculty members and students at Base No. 189 had fallen asleep.

Hades met Athena at Base No. 189 after killing its seven thousand inhabitants and trapping their souls, demanding to see New Krypton’s emperor. Athena forced him to return the souls, but Hades revealed information about Doomsday’s flesh and blood that she agreed to report to the emperor.

• Hades arrived at the empty Base No. 189, where he had killed seven thousand people and taken their souls.
• Athena emerged from a portal with her clergy and confronted Hades over his alliance with Steppenwolf and threat to New Krypton.
• Hades demanded a meeting with New Krypton’s emperor and displayed the seven thousand souls he had captured.
• Athena declared that Hades would face her conquest unless he returned the souls, so Hades released them back to their bodies.
• Hades claimed to know the location of Doomsday’s flesh and blood, and Athena agreed to report the information to the emperor.

He-El refused The Father's request but considered Hades's proposal to join Darkseid in attacking Oa Star, where Doomsday's flesh and blood was sealed. He accepted the alliance after Hades promised to arrange a meeting with Darkseid, and Athena remained behind for He-El to discuss something with her.

• He-El refused to help The Father attack Apokolips, then stopped Athena from leaving so he could speak with her later.
• Hades asked He-El to keep his proposal from Athena, and He-El let Hades shield her senses before hearing him out.
• Hades invited He-El to join Darkseid's attack on Oa Star to obtain the Guardians' sealed dark power of death and Doomsday's flesh and blood.
• He-El demanded confirmation that Doomsday's remains were on Oa Star and threatened Hades if he had lied.
• Hades promised to arrange a meeting with Darkseid, and He-El agreed to join the alliance.

He-El brought Athena into the Three-Body Problem Universe after explaining Hades’s plan to attack Oa Star with Darkseid. When He-El withdrew the Traversal Vortex, Athena felt an unfamiliar change and asked if she was free.

• He-El told Athena that Hades had asked him to join forces with Darkseid and attack Oa Star for Doomsday’s flesh and the Book of Oa’s authority over death.
• Athena realized the Olympian Pantheon would have to defend Oa Star to protect Earth, and feared she could not warn Zeus while He-El watched her.
• He-El led Athena through the Traversal Vortex into the Three-Body Problem Universe, where she felt strange changes within herself.
• He-El withdrew the Traversal Vortex, and Athena trembled, began to cry, and asked, “Am I free?”

Athena discovered that He-El’s universe had severed her connection to her original self, giving her the freedom she had spent ages seeking. She pledged herself to He-El and asked to become his lover and bear his children.

• Athena realized she was an independent soul in He-El’s universe and wept with joy.
• Athena knelt before He-El, abandoned the Olympian Pantheon, and pledged her loyalty to him.
• He-El recognized that other Divine Avatars might also choose freedom if he could sever their ties to their original selves.
• Athena asked to become He-El’s empress, then corrected herself and said she wanted to be his lover and bear his children.

Athena asked He-El to make her his lover, and he accepted after considering her loyalty and usefulness. They returned to the DC Universe, where Athena offered to bless Ciri’s 320 unborn children and promised to discuss the children with Ciri.

• Athena pleaded to become He-El’s lover while remaining his loyal subordinate and minister.
• He-El weighed Athena’s devotion and work for New Krypton, then accepted her proposal.
• Athena asked whether He-El wanted her to bear him a child in the Three-Body Problem Universe.
• He-El opened a Traversal Vortex and returned to the DC Universe with Athena, explaining that she still had work to do.
• Athena said Ciri’s 320 children were part of their family and offered to gather Olympian blessings for them.
• He-El told Athena to discuss the children with Ciri.

He-El and Athena walked across a neutron star before their meeting with Darkseid, discussing Ciri and Athena’s plans to become closer to He-El. Athena then proposed trapping Divine Avatars in an isolated Inner Universe to study their powers, and He-El approved as they reached the appointed location, where Darkseid was waiting.

• He-El and Athena walked together across the neutron star and discussed Ciri’s lessons about intimacy.
• Athena declared that she could follow Ciri’s example, while He-El dismissed the idea as unnecessary.
• He-El asked Athena about bringing all Divine Avatars under his command, and she warned that their main bodies could become a danger.
• Athena proposed creating an Inner Universe to isolate Divine Avatars from their main bodies and study their knowledge and powers.
• He-El praised Athena’s plan, and the two reached the meeting place where Darkseid was waiting.

Hades brought He-El, Darkseid, and Steppenwolf together to form an alliance against Oa Star, where the Guardians of the Universe held formidable power. After He-El and Darkseid clashed, Hades mediated and asked Darkseid to explain his plan.

• He-El and Athena arrived at the meeting on the neutron star, where Hades and Steppenwolf were waiting for Darkseid.
• Darkseid revealed himself and challenged He-El over cooperating with a Kryptonian, and the two unleashed clashing auras that shook the neutron star.
• Hades urged He-El and Darkseid to focus on their shared goals, and they ended their confrontation.
• Hades explained that Apokolips, New Krypton, and his Underworld Legion together were still no match for the Guardians' forces, then asked Darkseid to present his plan to attack Oa Star.

Darkseid demanded cooperation to attack Oa Star, but Hades and He-El challenged his arrogance and stressed that they had their own interests. After agreeing that their plans would not be leaked, Darkseid had Steppenwolf open a Boom Tube, and two figures began to emerge.

• Darkseid told Hades and He-El that obeying his commands would get them what they wanted.
• Hades rejected being treated as cannon fodder and warned Darkseid that this was their only chance to cooperate before the Olympian Pantheon might oppose Apokolips.
• He-El questioned why Darkseid needed allies when his plan to attack Oa Star was already known throughout the universe.
• Darkseid restrained his fury, insisted that failure was unacceptable, and asked how they would keep his plan from leaking.
• Darkseid signaled Steppenwolf, who opened a Boom Tube, and two figures began stepping through.

Darkseid explained his plan to use Scarface and Sinestro to split the Green Lantern Corps into seven rival divisions, while each conspirator pursued their own goals. He-El secured a place in the alliance by revealing that New Genesis had asked him to help attack Apokolips, and Darkseid agreed to his role restraining New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon.

• Sinestro and Scarface arrived at the neutron star meeting, and Darkseid explained their plan to divide the Green Lantern Corps and rebuild the Seven Lantern Corps.
• Darkseid outlined how he would exploit the divisions among the Lantern Corps to weaken them and attack Oa Star, while Scarface and the others intended to use him for their own aims.
• Darkseid questioned He-El's contribution, and He-El offered to restrain the Olympian Pantheon.
• He-El revealed that The Father had invited him to New Genesis and proposed cooperating in an attack on Apokolips.
• Darkseid reconsidered the value of He-El's support and agreed to his role in keeping New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon from disrupting the plan.

Darkseid demanded that He-El commit New Krypton’s forces to Apokolips’s assault on Oa Star, but He-El refused and insisted his forces had to contain New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon. Darkseid rose from his throne and challenged He-El to prove he could stop The Father and Zeus.

• Darkseid complained that He-El’s duties to restrain New Genesis and the Olympian Pantheon would keep him from fighting at the front of the assault on Oa Star.
• Hades pledged the full strength of the Underworld to fight alongside Apokolips and hold back a Guardian of the Universe.
• Darkseid ordered He-El to give up at least eighty percent of New Krypton’s army and populace as Parademon vanguards, but He-El refused.
• Scarface recalled her painful past and accepted her defeat by He-El, while her psychic power rose to another level.
• Darkseid rose from the Obsidian Throne and challenged He-El to show how he would stop The Father and Zeus.

He-El and Darkseid fought on a neutron star, testing each other with pure physical strength and regeneration. Their battle destroyed the star, and they continued fighting at its core.

• He-El challenged Darkseid to a fight, and Athena, Hades, Scarface, Sinestro, and Steppenwolf withdrew to watch from space.
• Darkseid struck He-El and sent him flying, but He-El recovered and provoked him into another attack.
• He-El and Darkseid clashed fists, tearing apart their arms before their regenerative powers restored them.
• The two continued exchanging blows without using their other abilities, and the neutron star shook and caved beneath them.
• Darkseid and He-El pushed against opposite sides of the neutron star, forced their way through it, and resumed fighting at its core as the star split apart.

Athena proposed using the Three-Body Problem Universe to lure Divine Avatars into a trap, where He-El could imprison and study them, but her first method carried serious risks. He-El asked her to explain the second method before deciding how to proceed.

• After assessing his recent physical clash with Darkseid, He-El considered how to defend against the Omega Effect.
• Athena said they needed to connect an Inner Universe to Heavenly Blood to attract the gods' main bodies and draw their avatars in.
• Athena proposed routing Heavenly Blood through the Traversal Vortex into the Three-Body Problem Universe, then sealing the vortex to isolate the trapped avatars.
• He-El judged that method too risky because he could not control Heavenly Blood's effects and did not yet fully control the Three-Body Problem Universe.
• He-El asked Athena to tell him her second method.

He-El accepted Athena’s advice to seek a universe where he could create a genuine universe, then entrusted her with greater authority over New Krypton while he was away. When he entered the new Traversal Vortex, a deadly premonition warned him that crossing over would put his life at risk.

• Athena proposed that He-El create a complete, self-sustaining universe that Heavenly Blood would recognize as genuine.
• He-El decided to try creating a universe and gave Athena permission to manage New Krypton and the Divine Realm in his absence.
• He-El showed Athena Zero and introduced her to Ciri and the three hundred and twenty children she carried, whom Athena blessed.
• After Athena returned to New Krypton, He-El entered his consciousness space and formed a new Traversal Vortex.
• He-El tried to enter the vortex, but every cell in his body warned that doing so would endanger his life.

He-El prepared to enter a universe that threatened to kill him by leaving his physical body behind and weakening his psychic form. After reducing his power to the bare minimum, he entered the Traversal Vortex and lost consciousness as the vortex disappeared.

• He-El sensed that the universe beyond the Traversal Vortex posed a lethal threat to him and concluded that his physical body could not safely enter.
• He-El ordered Zero to seal and defend the meditation chamber, then left his body in a minimal-consumption slumber.
• He-El sent his psychic body toward the Traversal Vortex but felt that even it remained too powerful to enter safely.
• He-El steadily drained his psychic power until the danger warning faded and he was weaker than an ordinary healthy person.
• He-El entered the Traversal Vortex, lost consciousness as an energy began constructing a physical body around him, and the vortex vanished.