Chapter Summaries

He-El awoke aboard the damaged Dawn Explorer and discovered that his father, Jor-El, had secretly altered the ship’s course and left it drifting with almost no energy. He confronted Jor-El about the betrayal, leaving their relationship fractured as the ship faced an uncertain fate.

• Dawn awakened He-El from cryostasis after the ship’s energy reserves fell critically low.
• He-El spoke with Jor-El as he walked to the main control room, recalling their life together on Krypton.
• He-El ordered Dawn to report the ship’s status and learned that its engine had only 3% energy and its navigation log was blank.
• He-El confronted Jor-El, accusing him of changing the course and leaving the ship to drift aimlessly.
• Jor-El admitted that he had deliberately made his decision before copying his consciousness onto the ship.

He-El admitted that he had orchestrated a revolt and planned to replace Krypton's upper echelon so he could control the planet. Joe-Jor-El revealed how he uncovered the scheme and said he was fortunate to send He-El into space before he was ready.

• He-El stopped hiding his ambition after Joe-Jor-El accused him of wanting to rule Krypton.
• Joe-Jor-El explained that Zor-Jor-El and Lara's repeated praise of He-El made him investigate what his son truly wanted.
• Joe-Jor-El discovered that He-El had created clones of Krypton's upper echelon and stirred up a lower-class resistance led by someone called the New God.
• He-El argued that Krypton's rigid class system made its destruction inevitable and insisted the upper echelon would never act on warnings about the planet's core.
• He-El admitted that he wanted to use the lower-class people to control Krypton and would accept becoming their god afterward.
• Joe-Jor-El concluded that He-El could not be saved and said he was fortunate to have sent him into space before he was ready.

He-El confronted Jor-El about Krypton’s destruction and revealed that he had prepared to escape aboard the ship. Though Jor-El believed He-El was trapped in deep space, He-El claimed victory and vomited a white object onto the control room floor.

• He-El told Jor-El that he had genuinely regarded him as a father and had wanted to save Krypton, but said he had won by surviving its destruction.
• Jor-El confirmed that Krypton had exploded and explained that the ship’s remaining energy was gone, leaving He-El stranded without a nearby yellow sun.
• He-El revealed that he had proposed separating the ship’s systems from the Cryo-Pod life support to prevent the ship’s intelligence from controlling everyone aboard.
• Jor-El concluded that He-El’s ambition would eventually destroy him and urged him to return to the Cryo-Pod.
• He-El laughed in the control room, then forced himself to vomit a white, fish-bladder-like object onto the floor.

He-El used a hidden key and his secret system Zero to erase Joe-El’s control of the Star Explorer and take command. Stranded millions of light-years from Earth, he entered his Traversal Vortex and discovered it could carry his physical body to other worlds.

• He-El revealed the Three-Headed King Octopus stomach he had hidden inside himself and retrieved a key that let him activate Zero and format Joe-El’s consciousness.
• Joe-El warned He-El that he could still prepare an irreversible hell for him, but He-El insisted he had manipulated Joe-El into sending him away from Krypton.
• Zero confirmed that it had taken control of the Star Explorer, and He-El ordered it to chart a route to the wandering planet MT745 while noting Earth was about 2.94 million light-years away.
• He-El decided to leave the ship’s basic life support running and travel through the Traversal Vortex rather than risk dying in deep space.
• He-El entered the vortex and realized it had pulled his physical body in with him, allowing him to travel between worlds bodily.

He-El appeared in Earth’s stratosphere and endured a painful awakening of his Kryptonian genes as he absorbed sunlight and fell toward the ground. He crashed into Gipsy Danger at the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force base in Anchorage, where workers discovered that the meteor was a rapidly healing person.

• He-El appeared forty-eight kilometers above Earth and began absorbing sunlight, triggering his Kryptonian genes.
• He-El’s body transformed as his cells activated and divided, while sunlight and super healing repaired damage caused by his painful descent.
• He-El fell like a burning meteor toward the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force base in Anchorage, Alaska.
• Raleigh and Yancy tried to move Gipsy Danger, but He-El struck its knee and left the giant Jaeger half-kneeling.
• Base workers approached the crater and found the unconscious He-El healing amid the wreckage.

NASA detected He-El appearing through a wormhole in the stratosphere and falling toward the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force base in Anchorage. As the staff struggled to explain his arrival and survival, Robert alerted the base and contacted the president.

• Robert entered NASA's satellite monitoring hall after an alarm sounded and asked Gale what had happened.
• Gale reported that a meteor had suddenly appeared in the stratosphere, and NASA staff noticed it had a humanoid shape with a face and limbs.
• Robert ordered the footage slowed, and the staff saw a vortex appear, release He-El, and vanish.
• An operator calculated that He-El was falling at Mach 2 toward the Anchorage base and reported that he had not lost mass or slowed down.
• Robert ordered the Anchorage base warned and the president contacted while NASA staff questioned how He-El could withstand the heat and speed of his fall.

At Anchorage Base, Dr. Ciri reported that He-El’s body was nearly indestructible and changing as it adapted, with a base strength of at least 8,000 tons. Marshal Stacker realized He-El could be a humanoid mech without needing a Jaeger, then was summoned to an urgent meeting of the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force nations.

• Marshal Stacker watched He-El in the treatment room and recalled how a crane had been needed to move his 1,700-kilogram body.
• Dr. Ciri reported that scalpels and bullets could not pierce He-El, ordinary instruments could not measure him accurately, and his body was changing like a star.
• Dr. Ciri estimated He-El’s base strength at 8,000 tons, leaving Marshal Stacker stunned by the thought that He-El alone could be a mech.
• Tendo told Marshal Stacker that the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force nations had called an urgent meeting, and Stacker headed to the conference room.

Dr. Ciri became obsessed with the unconscious He-El after his mental rejection, while Marshal Stacker learned that the nations feared He-El was an alien who had arrived through a wormhole. The chapter ended with fifteen nations backing a plan to kill him before he woke.

• Dr. Ciri touched He-El’s shoulder despite trying to restrain her urges, and a voice in her mind told her to get lost.
• Twenty-one nations summoned Marshal Stacker, increased funding for the Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force, and ordered him to transfer to Hong Kong while military forces and biomedical teams went to Anchorage Base.
• Stacker demanded an explanation and learned that the nations believed He-El was an extraterrestrial who had arrived through a wormhole.
• Stacker argued that He-El might be able to communicate, but the national representatives debated whether to kill him before he woke.
• Fifteen nations supported killing He-El, while Stacker looked across the screens as the meeting remained divided.

Anchorage Base came under military control as troops and biomedical teams gathered to prepare for the alien’s examination. Ciri confronted Tongus, then joined the research team after General Augustine intervened, leaving the scientists to study her preliminary findings.

• General Jericho deployed defenses while General Augustine took command of Anchorage Base and ordered its staff to continue repairing the mecha.
• Biomedical teams led by Tongus arrived to examine the alien, and Tongus encountered Ciri outside the treatment room.
• Ciri and Tongus traded accusations, recalling their bitter history at Harvard Medical School and Ciri’s retaliation against Tongus.
• Tongus ordered his disciples to remove Ciri, but General Augustine authorized her to join the research team.
• Ciri entered the treatment room, berated the researchers, and ordered them to read her preliminary examination materials.

Tongus reported that the alien’s strength had reached at least 30,000 tons and that its cells could produce a nutrient solution that extended lifespan and granted superpowers. The nations first agreed to keep the alien alive, then fought over control of it and voted to dismember it and divide the body among themselves.

• Ciri’s experiments produced extraordinary changes in lab animals, and Tongus presented the alien’s immense strength, resilience, and growth potential to national leaders.
• Tongus revealed that the alien’s cells could yield a nutrient solution that increased lifespan tenfold, prompting leaders to cancel the execution and consider imprisoning the alien for continued extraction.
• Tongus showed footage of lab animals developing superpowers, and the leaders grew wary of letting any single nation control the alien.
• Stacker condemned the leaders for using the alien’s body to pursue their own interests, and General Augustine had soldiers escort him out of the meeting.
• The leaders argued over where to imprison the alien, then voted to dismember it and divide its body among their nations, ordering the process to begin within three hours.

Ciri violently opposed the nations’ plan to dismember He-El and attacked Tongus during the biomedical meeting. After being restrained, she visited He-El in the treatment room, where she confessed her longing for him, before Tongus had her taken to solitary confinement.

• Tongus announced that the biomedical teams had one hour to create a plan for dismembering He-El, prompting Ciri to erupt in anger.
• Ciri attacked Tongus with folding chairs and tried to overturn the table before soldiers restrained her and dragged her outside.
• Ciri blamed Tongus for using her Cell Enhancement Nutrient Solution to support the decision to dismember He-El, then went to the treatment room.
• Ciri sat beside He-El and expressed her regret at failing to save him, along with her desire to belong at his feet and escape the society she hated.
• Tongus and the experts found Ciri touching and licking He-El, so Tongus ordered soldiers to take her to solitary confinement.

Tongus led the authorized dissection of He-El, but the pressure saw stopped at the alien’s wrist when He-El awakened and pinched it. The chapter ended with He-El staring at Tongus with open black eyes.

• Tongus ordered the treatment room prepared for the dissection and had the pressure saws and glass containers tested and positioned.
• Representatives from twenty-one nations watched as the United States authorized the operation.
• Tongus and five biomedical experts entered the treatment room while seven others prepared to collect blood cells.
• Tongus ordered the saw to cut He-El’s wrist, but it stopped at the wrist artery.
• He-El opened its eyes and pinched the saw between two fingers, leaving Tongus stunned.

He-El awakened during the dismemberment procedure at Anchorage Base, killed Tongus with Heat Vision, and demonstrated that the weapons and nerve gas had no effect on him. Surrounded by the forces General Jericho had assembled, He-El faced the order to open fire.

• Tongus panicked when the circular saw failed to harm He-El, and He-El killed him with Heat Vision that also pierced the base's dome.
• He-El flicked away the saw, freed himself from his restraints, and tested his strength while explaining that he had meditated to master his body.
• Soldiers threw grenades into the treatment room, but He-El was unaffected by the bluish-green gas.
• General Jericho's forces surrounded the treatment room with soldiers, artillery, tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets.
• After an officer reported that the nerve gas had failed, General Jericho ordered the forces to open fire.

He-El survived gunfire and nerve toxin at Anchorage Base, then used his biological magnetic field to slaughter the soldiers attacking him. He-El continued advancing through the base, killing people by making their biological magnetic fields collapse.

• General Jericho ordered soldiers to fire rifles at He-El, but the bullets could not harm him as he walked out of the nerve toxin mist.
• General Jericho ordered heavier weapons to fire while the soldiers retreated, and He-El stopped the bullets and shells in midair with his biological magnetic field.
• He-El released the suspended ammunition, sending it back through the firing soldiers and into Anchorage Base structures, killing and crippling many.
• He-El connected his biological magnetic field to a soldier's and crushed the soldier into blood mist.
• He-El walked through the battlefield and continued turning soldiers into blood mist with his biological magnetic field.

He-El defeated the soldiers and Gipsy Danger after Earth’s leaders chose to capture and dissect him, and he resolved to punish them for their decisions. As he considered what he needed from Earth, artillery began pounding his position.

• General Augustine ordered two men placed in Gipsy Danger and planned to abandon Anchorage Base and bombard it if the machine failed.
• He-El demonstrated that his biological magnetic field could control living bodies, then flew toward the twenty-one screens while injured civilians fled.
• Gipsy Danger attacked He-El, but he stopped its punch with one finger, shattered its arm, and reflected its plasma cannon shot back into the machine.
• He-El declared that he would stay and punish the leaders who had planned to kill, imprison, or dissect him, then destroyed Gipsy Danger with Heat Vision and killed its pilots.
• A shell tore through the base wall, and He-El caught it before artillery shells began bombarding his position.

He-El endured the military’s assault on Anchorage Base and destroyed its tanks, command vehicle, helicopters, and fighter jets. As the sun rose, he welcomed its light while fleeing civilians watched him suspended in the sky.

• General Augustine ordered tanks, armed helicopters, and F-22 Raptors to attack He-El, devastating Anchorage Base and killing civilians nearby.
• He-El emerged through the smoke and used Heat Vision to slice apart the M1A2 tanks and destroy their crews.
• Sidewinder missiles struck He-El without harming him, and his Heat Vision cut through the remaining tanks and General Augustine’s command vehicle.
• He-El chased down the armed helicopters and struck them into the square, then destroyed six Raptor fighter jets with Heat Vision.
• Sunlight reached He-El, who spread his arms to bask in it as fleeing civilians stopped to watch.

Ciri escaped her detention cell by using Blue Poison to corrode the lock, then collapsed in the toxic fog as He-El arrived and discovered her recessive monster genes. Meanwhile, leaders from twenty-one nations debated how to stop He-El and considered using nuclear weapons.

• Ciri opened hidden test tubes of Blue Poison and synthesized a corrosive compound to destroy her cell’s lock.
• Ciri escaped into the corridor and spread toxic mist until she slipped, fell, and lost consciousness.
• He-El entered the poisonous fog, examined Ciri’s DNA, and identified her as a human with recessive monster genes.
• Leaders from twenty-one nations watched He-El survive their military assault and discussed surrendering or attacking him with nuclear weapons.
• The leaders noted He-El’s speed and worried he could evade a nuclear missile, then agreed they needed an opportunity to hit him.

He-El explained Ciri’s past and his plans to conquer Earth, then waited in Anchorage City for a nuclear strike to prove he could survive it. When the military did not attack, he decided to return to Anchorage Base and begin taking over Earth.

• Ciri told He-El that her Precursor father had burdened her with the fate of two planets, and she was relieved to let He-El make the choices for her.
• He-El and Ciri changed clothes in a boutique while he described his plan to conquer Earth within a year, test a system for granting humans superpowers, and gather energy for his ship.
• He-El revealed that he was waiting for a nuclear bomb to demonstrate his invulnerability and make humanity more willing to accept his rule.
• When no nuclear strike came, He-El decided that he and Ciri would return to Anchorage Base and start taking over Earth.

He-El returned to Anchorage Base after his battle with the U.S. Military and ordered Stacker to prepare a global press conference and release surveillance footage. He planned to use the exposure to begin controlling human civilization, while Ciri offered to treat the injured and research his cells.

• Ciri flew within He-El's bio-magnetic field as he brought her back to Anchorage Base, where survivors confronted him with fear and grief.
• Stacker shielded a grieving teenager, and He-El reminded him that he had chosen to serve as the buffer between humanity and He-El.
• He-El ordered Stacker to release footage of his arrival and battle, then gather reporters for a press conference on February 29.
• He-El told Stacker to focus on keeping human civilization from clashing with him, and instructed Ciri to intensify her research on his cells.
• Ciri asked to treat injured people and regenerate lost limbs, and He-El allowed her to help them after completing her assigned research.
• He-El went to the command room to assemble a temporary artificial intelligence for monitoring the world.

He-El built a growth-oriented artificial intelligence called Dawn and assigned Tendo to guide her. Dawn began taking control of the network, while He-El ordered her to prepare to control global finance and banking.

• He-El ordered Tendo to gather Anchorage Base's keyboards and tablets, then used his bio-magnetic field to code an artificial intelligence.
• He-El named the AI Dawn and made Tendo responsible for maintaining and guiding her, warning that her development depended on him.
• After seven hours, He-El sent Dawn into the network to gather information, grow, and take control of it.
• Dawn appeared on the command room screen as a little girl in a red dress and reported that edited surveillance footage had received one hundred thousand views.
• He-El ordered Dawn to post the complete footage everywhere, focus on global finance and banking, and wait for his command to lock down Earth's economy.