Chapter Summaries

Harrison Wells checked the future newspaper in STAR Labs’ Time Vault, hoping the timeline would return to normal after the Flash appeared. He-El arrived in Central City to study the Speed Force and encountered Barry Allen and Iris West outside STAR Labs.

• Harrison Wells asked Gideon to show him the future and saw that the expected Flash-related article was still missing from the 2024 newspaper.
• Harrison Wells told Gideon that the Flash would appear after that day, then left the Time Vault with Caitlin to prepare for his speech.
• After Harrison Wells departed, the future newspaper changed to show an image of ruins.
• He-El arrived in the world of The Flash TV series, identified Reverse-Flash as a source of knowledge about the Speed Force, and considered making Barry Allen his subordinate.
• He-El landed outside STAR Labs, changed his Black Suit into a fitted black suit, and silently joined the crowd protesting the particle accelerator.
• Barry Allen ran into He-El, who steadied him, and Barry and Iris West walked toward STAR Labs while talking about He-El.

He-El watched the events that would create The Flash unfold, then hid in Barry's forensics lab to observe the particle accelerator accident. Barry was struck by lightning and knocked unconscious, and He-El stepped out of hiding.

• At STAR Labs, Harrison Wells gave a speech as Barry chased a thief who had stolen Iris's bag, while He-El left to wait for Barry's transformation.
• He-El hid in the Central City Police Department's forensics lab as Eddie Thawne caught the thief and Barry returned to work.
• During the storm, Barry watched a live report of the particle accelerator malfunction and reviewed evidence about his mother's murder.
• The particle accelerator exploded, and a dark-energy shockwave swept through Central City.
• Lightning struck Barry through the skylight, throwing him into chemicals and leaving him unconscious, and He-El emerged from the shadows.

He-El connected himself to Barry’s newly emerged Speed Force, linking his fate to Barry’s time travel. At STAR Labs, Harrison Wells concealed his true intentions after Caitlin and Cisco left, then headed for the Time Vault.

• He-El studied the Speed Force’s emergence, absorbed its lingering lightning from Barry, and connected it to his own body.
• He-El left the forensic lab as Iris returned and found Barry unconscious, then called for help.
• Iris reported that Barry had been struck by lightning.
• Caitlin left STAR Labs after work, still grieving Ronnie, and Cisco offered Harrison Wells comfort before going home.
• After confirming Caitlin and Cisco had left, Harrison Wells dropped his helpless expression and drove his wheelchair toward the Time Vault.

Harrison Wells reviewed Barry Allen’s hospital surveillance and discovered He-El had been present when Barry became The Flash and collected Speed Force lightning. He-El identified himself as a passerby from another universe, leaving Harrison furious and alarmed.

• Harrison Wells ordered Gideon to display Central City Hospital footage and checked on the unconscious Barry Allen.
• Harrison Wells decided Barry needed a connection to STAR Labs so he could eventually take Barry’s Speed Force.
• Harrison Wells had Gideon rewind the surveillance footage to the moment Barry was struck by lightning.
• Harrison Wells spotted He-El collecting lightning from Barry and asked Gideon to identify him, but Gideon found no record.
• Harrison Wells feared He-El was stealing the results of his fifteen years of work and smashed his wheelchair into the wall.
• He-El appeared behind Harrison Wells and said he was a passerby from another universe.

He-El confronted Reverse-Flash in the Time Vault and defeated him by blocking his Speed Force hand blade and shattering his arm. He-El revealed he had come from another universe seeking the Speed Force and someone to replace The Flash, and Reverse-Flash agreed to become his subordinate before losing consciousness.

• Harrison Wells activated the Speed Force and attacked He-El, but He-El tracked his movements and watched him retrieve and put on the Reverse-Flash suit.
• Reverse-Flash asked who He-El was, then attacked while He-El began to answer.
• He-El used psychic power and a biological magnetic field to block Reverse-Flash’s vibrating hand blade by matching its vibrations.
• He-El changed the vibration frequency of his hand and fractured Reverse-Flash’s arm, blasting him into a wall and leaving him unable to summon the Speed Force.
• He-El told Reverse-Flash he came from another universe seeking the Speed Force and someone to replace The Flash, then offered him the role.
• Reverse-Flash agreed to become He-El’s subordinate before losing consciousness.

He-El healed Reverse-Flash and showed Eobard Thawne the future in which his role in killing Barry’s mother led to his erasure. He-El offered him a chance to escape that fate by helping replace The Flash in another universe, and Eobard asked what he needed to do.

• He-El healed Reverse-Flash’s shattered arm and asked whether he wanted to see other universes.
• He-El transmitted Eobard Thawne’s future to him, including his role in training The Flash and his eventual erasure.
• Eobard struggled to accept that The Flash’s mother’s death was part of a causal loop and that his fate might be inevitable.
• He-El warned Eobard against resisting and explained that he could replace The Flash with either The Flash or Reverse-Flash.
• Eobard understood that He-El was offering him a chance to escape erasure and asked what he needed to do.

He-El joined Harrison Wells, Cisco, and Caitlin at STAR Labs to study the Speed Force, while Reverse-Flash agreed to assist him in exchange for a promise that He-El would protect him if he lost to The Flash. The group prepared to collect Barry Allen from Central City Hospital, and Caitlin again tried to obtain a biological sample from He-El.

• Harrison Wells introduced He-El to Cisco and Caitlin as his former superior and collaborator.
• He-El left Reverse-Flash free to pursue his own plans, while Reverse-Flash agreed to help research He-El's Speed Force after learning about his future and receiving a promise of protection.
• Cisco welcomed He-El to STAR Labs, while Caitlin asked him for a biological sample and Cisco dragged her out of the hall.
• Caitlin explained that she had made the request as a biologist, and Cisco objected before she returned to the hall.
• Harrison Wells ordered Cisco and Caitlin to prepare a vehicle and biological equipment to pick up Barry Allen from Central City Hospital.
• Caitlin offered He-El the measuring cup again, but He-El declined, and she went to prepare the vehicle and equipment.

Barry Allen woke from a nine-month coma at STAR Labs, where He-El, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow helped him adjust and examined his changed body. Harrison Wells welcomed Barry back, leaving him to learn what had happened while he was unconscious.

• Cisco Ramon and He-El joked about Barry Allen's favorite song and his childhood sweetheart, Iris, while Barry lay unconscious.
• Barry Allen suddenly woke, and Caitlin Snow checked his vital signs as Cisco Ramon tried to calm him.
• He-El contacted Harrison Wells and helped Barry settle as Cisco introduced the STAR Labs team.
• Barry noticed his newly muscular body and learned from Caitlin that his cells had been regenerating while he was in a coma.
• Harrison Wells arrived and told Barry he had been unconscious for nine months, welcoming him back.

He-El invited Barry to join him in the future after Barry had lost everything, but Barry, focused on seeing Iris, declined. He-El left the possibility open as Barry headed out of STAR Labs to meet her.

• Cisco invited He-El to help his team defeat the Central City University cheerleaders in a Sunday skirmish, and He-El agreed.
• He-El ran into Barry after Barry spoke with Harrison Wells and learned that Iris had been visiting him.
• He-El urged Barry to become his subordinate if future grief and despair drove him to lose everything.
• Barry declined, explaining that he was content working for the Central City Police Department, and left to see Iris.

He-El spoke with Harrison Wells about Barry becoming The Flash and offered to take Grodd as his assistant. The chapter left He-El and Wells heading into the control room as Barry realized how fast he had become.

• He-El found Harrison Wells watching the ruined particle accelerator tunnel, and Wells said The Flash remained his lifelong nemesis.
• He-El considered Reverse-Flash too fickle to lead his planned Speed Force Legion, while Wells said they should wait and see.
• He-El and Wells discussed Barry's impending first run, and Wells mentioned Cisco Ramon had invited him to play paintball.
• He-El asked Wells about Grodd and said he wanted to train the gorilla as an assistant because his potential rivaled the Speed Force.
• Wells agreed He-El could take Grodd, and they entered the control room as Barry exclaimed that he had become really fast.

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.