Chapter Summaries

He-El examined Zero’s planetary form and its immense fleet, built around overwhelming defenses and planet-destroying weapons. The chapter left He-El eager to wage interstellar war, convinced that superior firepower could overcome any opposition.

• Zero pinned Chester with magnetic confinement beams and began timed genetic scans while He-El rushed to the command room.
• Zero presented the planetary form, explaining its Energy Converter, Planetary Turbine, internal systems, defenses, and living areas.
• Zero described the planetary form’s supporting fleet, including hundreds of thousands of reconnaissance ships, frigates, and destroyers, along with thirty cruisers and seven battleships.
• He-El imagined the fleet’s weapons aimed at other planets and recalled the saying that every fear stemmed from insufficient firepower.

He-El examined Zero’s three combat forms and approved Zero’s plan to turn Unicron’s AllSpark into a last-resort radiation weapon. He began channeling the AllSpark’s energy into Zero’s transformation while bringing Ciri and Chester into space to witness the process.

• He-El reviewed Zero’s planetary, cosmic mothership, and Transformers forms, noting their immense firepower and combat mobility.
• Zero explained that he planned to repurpose Unicron’s AllSpark as a secret, last-resort weapon that could corrupt matter and minds through radiation.
• He-El praised Zero’s plan and discussed further modifications before they finalized minor design adjustments.
• He-El ordered Zero to begin the transformation and went to retrieve Ciri and Chester.
• He-El took Ciri and Chester into space, expanded the AllSpark to a thousand kilometers above the military base, and prepared to channel its energy into Zero.

He-El watched Zero transform the unfinished space mothership into Zero Star, a metal planet that could also become a colossal mothership and Transformer. He-El entered Zero Star with Ciri, declaring it the base for his great undertaking.

• He-El used the AllSpark to give Zero control over the mothership and begin rebuilding it.
• Zero transformed the mothership into the metal planet Zero Star, complete with energy systems, weapons, production facilities, and atmospheric defenses.
• Zero transformed Zero Star into a twelve-thousand-kilometer space mothership, and He-El hailed it as the base for his ambitions.
• At He-El's command, Zero transformed into a towering armored humanoid form, astounding Ciri.
• He-El ordered Zero to return to its planetary form, then entered Zero Star with Ciri.

He-El tested whether Chester’s Kryptonian genes had survived their restoration and yellow-sun exposure, then decided to awaken the seven million Kryptonians held in Kandor City. He planned to tell them what Jor-El had done and destroy everything his father had built.

• He-El toured the Zero Star with Ciri, who rushed into its biology lab, while Zero continued building a vast Transformer war fleet.
• He-El ordered yellow-sun rays to irradiate Chester and confirmed that Chester’s Kryptonian genes activated normally.
• After Chester woke and threatened to report He-El, He-El struck him unconscious again.
• He-El considered the possibility that psychic power had affected his genes and resolved to deal with Jor-El and investigate his own genetics.
• He-El decided to awaken the seven million Kryptonians in Kandor City and tell them how Jor-El had violated Krypton’s prohibitions and exiled him.

He-El prepared Zero Star to receive Kandor City's seven million Kryptonians, transferring the city's machinery and setting up housing and a monarchy. He chose the Labor Council's members to be restored first, intending to fulfill his promise to them, while anticipating resistance from Krypton's former ruling councils.

• He-El ordered Zero to prepare a plaza, Kryptonian-compatible atmosphere, basic housing, currency, and an absolute monarchy on Zero Star.
• He-El restored Kandor City's social machinery and had Zero sort it for storage, recycling, research, and use by the residents.
• He-El ordered Zero to organize footage of Krypton's destruction to show the resurrected Kryptonians.
• He-El considered the risk that Kandor City's former elite would challenge his authority and resolved to crush any opposition.
• He-El chose the Labor Council's members to be restored first because they worshipped him and had long hoped he would lead a reform.

He-El restored three hundred thousand members of the Poor People's Reform Army and his former assistants to normal size while replacing their collapsing Kryptonian genes with the AllSpark’s data. As the crowd rallied around him, He-El told them that Krypton had already been destroyed.

• He-El arranged the reduced Kryptonians across the plaza and expanded the AllSpark above them.
• He-El used the AllSpark’s Kryptonian gene data and his size-altering ability to restore the three hundred thousand people, replacing their collapsing genes as they returned to normal.
• The awakened crowd panicked until Van-Zee recognized He-El and identified him as the New God Cult’s god.
• New God Cult followers and other poor citizens cheered He-El and voiced their anger over the injustices they had suffered.
• He-El quieted the crowd and declared that Krypton had already been destroyed.

He-El showed Kandor City's people a documentary revealing the events that led to Krypton's destruction and the actions of Jor-El, General Zod, and He-El. The footage ended with Jor-El sending his infant son Kal-El away from Krypton as it faced destruction.

• He-El ordered Zero to show the people recorded footage explaining Krypton's destruction.
• The footage revealed that Jor-El dismissed warnings about Krypton's core while He-El secretly tried to save the planet and planned to replace its leaders with clones.
• Jor-El exiled He-El into space, then altered records and helped convict General Zod after Zod's failed uprising.
• The footage showed Jor-El and Lara breaking Krypton's ban on natural reproduction, and Jor-El transferring the Codex into their unborn son.
• Jor-El sent the infant Kal-El away from Krypton, calling him the planet's new hope.

After watching an unaltered documentary of Krypton’s destruction, Kandor’s people mourned their lost home and condemned Jor-El for blocking attempts to save the planet. He-El then brought the middle class and council leaders to watch the same footage, leaving them awake and furious at Jor-El.

• The first crowd watched Krypton explode and learned that Brainiac 6 had saved Kandor City by shrinking it and carrying it away.
• The survivors grieved for Krypton while cursing its corrupt leaders, and He-El watched their reaction without changing the documentary.
• He-El ordered Zero to move the first crowd aside and brought sleeping residents from the middle class and Kandor City’s councils into the square.
• The AllSpark restored the newcomers to normal size, and they watched the documentary of Krypton’s destruction.
• The middle-class citizens and former council leaders cursed Jor-El for stopping He-El and General Zod, losing Krypton, and leaving their homes, families, and lives behind.

He-El revived the last hundred thousand people of Kandor City and showed them the documentary about Jor-El, whose actions left the newly awakened Kryptonians grieving and furious. Kyra-El confronted He-El, accusing him of slandering her son and asking how he could do that to his father.

• He-El revived the final hundred thousand Kryptonians, many of whom were intelligent people with ties to the House of El.
• He-El showed them the documentary, and they learned that Jor-El had obstructed efforts to save Krypton and sent only his own son away with the Codex.
• The newly awakened Kryptonians grieved for their lost loved ones and suspected Jor-El meant for his son to rule a New Krypton.
• Kyra-El told He-El that Jor-El had warned her he was an ambitious schemer, then accused him of twisting the truth and slandering his father.

He-El openly declared his ambition to become Krypton's god, promising the people food, safety, and dignity. As the crowd rallied behind him and condemned the House of El's failures, Kayla-El accused him of disguising his ambitions and betraying the family that had helped him.

• Kayla-El denounced He-El as a traitor whose ambition would bring war and disaster to Krypton.
• He-El asked why he should not become a god and promised to provide for the people and uphold justice.
• A young man in the third plaza voiced support for He-El, and Kayla-El condemned him for rejecting Krypton's ideals.
• People accused the House of El of diverting aid to officials and causing suffering among the poor.
• He-El promised the crowd food, warm homes, justice, and the freedom to choose their talents, and many people cheered for him.
• Kayla-El accused He-El of using the crowd's anger to reinvent himself and forgetting the House of El's help.

He-El recounted how more than thirty-eight major inventions had been credited to Jor-El and given to the House of El to secure Jor-El’s promotion, while revealing how Krypton’s rigid hierarchy had thwarted his effort to save the planet. Kyla-El dismissed his contributions as his duty, and a researcher in the square began to challenge her.

• He-El listed the inventions he had given the House of El and explained that they had helped secure Jor-El’s appointment as deputy director.
• He-El said he had hoped Jor-El’s position would let them investigate Krypton’s failing core, but Jor-El’s fellow deputy directors had kept him powerless.
• Researchers and other people in the square recognized that Krypton’s scientific establishment barred talented outsiders from advancement.
• Kyla-El called He-El’s inventions his duty to the House of El and accused him of being unworthy of its crest and the S on his suit.
• A researcher from Kandor City stepped forward to tell Kyla-El that He-El’s inventions could have transformed Krypton and deserved respect.

He-El confronted Kyla-El over the House of El’s power and proposed letting Kandor City decide whether to restore Krypton’s parliamentary system. Kyla-El accepted confidently, believing the people would reject his ambitions.

• Professor Jinda and Dr. Xadu defended the value of He-El’s inventions, but Kyla-El silenced them by asserting her noble status.
• He-El reflected on his failed efforts to save Krypton and accused Jor-El of planning to sacrifice the civilization to create Superman.
• Kyla-El condemned He-El as a power-hungry would-be dictator and insisted that the House of El had given him his status and respect.
• He-El proposed that if more than half the people supported restoring parliamentary government, they would not have to worship him as a god.
• Kyla-El declared that Kryptonians would see through He-El’s ambitions and invited Professor Jinda and Dr. Xadu to step forward.

Professor Jinda publicly chose He-El as Krypton's ruler, while Kayla-El argued that absolute monarchy would endanger the people and sought support from the officials gathered in the square. As the crowd remained silent, she singled out a House of El loyalist and demanded that he state his choice.

• Professor Jinda remembered how He-El had inspired his hopes for Krypton, secretly supported him, and tried to change society by cloning the leaders before Jor-El sent him into space.
• Professor Jinda removed his glasses and declared that he chose He-El as God.
• Kayla-El rejected Professor Jinda's choice and defended the council system as a safeguard against absolute monarchy.
• Dr. Xadu refused to support Kayla-El, believing that the old council and its hereditary rulers had no place governing the seven million Kryptonians.
• Kayla-El broke the square's silence by ordering the director of the Kandor City Real Estate and Housing Bureau, a House of El loyalist she had promoted, to state his choice.

Kayla-El tried to command Kandor City’s officials to support the House of El, but Director Veller and Dolph-El rejected her authority. He-El then forced everyone to choose between restoring the old Council system and creating New Krypton.

• Director Veller chose He-El, rejecting Kayla-El and explaining how the House of El had forced him to flatter its members to earn his position.
• Director Veller denounced the upper class, stirring anger among Kandor City officials who had suffered similar treatment.
• Kayla-El ordered Dolph-El to rally his subordinates, but he addressed her as Madam Kayla-El instead of Grandmother.
• Kayla-El insisted He-El’s challenge was a plot, while He-El declared that Krypton’s past had to be settled before he could establish New Krypton.
• He-El raised red and blue buttons from the ground and told everyone to choose between supporting Kayla-El and restoring the Council system or supporting him and creating New Krypton.

Kyra-El urged the Kryptonians to restore the Council system, but her claim that the upper class should continue governing drove them to support He-El instead. As the plazas filled with blue pillars, Kyra-El lost control and collapsed into a public breakdown while He-El watched from above.

• Kyra-El voted for herself and called on the Kryptonians to restore the Kryptonian Council system.
• When a citizen asked who would govern under the Council, Kyra-El said the upper class would continue to rule, prompting the citizen to vote for letting old Krypton die.
• Dr. Xadu pressed the blue button and declared his support for He-El, citing He-El’s efforts to save Krypton and its people.
• Kryptonians across the plazas chose He-El, and people whose buttons Kyra-El forced to red switched them back to blue.
• Kyra-El cursed the crowd, cried for Jor, and collapsed into a tantrum as He-El watched from the sky.

After imprisoning the deranged Kyra-Jor-El, He-El faced General Tyler Wicks, who demanded privileges for the military in his planned New Krypton. The confrontation ended with Kal-El Zod volunteering to earn his rank through military merit.

• He-El sealed Kyra-Jor-El underground as the crowd reflected on Krypton's corrupt ruling families.
• He-El singled out Kandor City's military, and General Tyler Wicks refused to accept his orders without guarantees.
• He-El said New Krypton would welcome many races and that status would depend on ability, not Kryptonian identity.
• Tyler demanded superior status and political influence for the military, but He-El challenged Kryptonians to prove themselves through competition.
• Kal-El Zod stepped forward and pledged to earn the rank of general through military merit.

He-El confronted General Tyler Wicks and Kal-El Zod after Kal-El and his troops pledged loyalty to him. When Tyler tried to bargain for authority by claiming He-El needed his army, He-El revealed a vast fleet and ordered it released, leaving the Kryptonians stunned by his military power.

• He-El recognized Kal-El Zod, recalled their past training and rivalry, and ordered him to rise.
• Kal-El declared He-El his supreme commander and condemned Tyler Wicks for his lack of discipline and leadership.
• Tyler argued that his seventy thousand troops would not obey He-El without guarantees for their interests, seeking to preserve his power in New Krypton.
• He-El asked Zero whether the fleet was ready, and Zero confirmed that it had been assembled.
• He-El ordered Zero to release the fleet, and battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and scout ships emerged from the ground and filled the sky.

He-El used the AllSpark and Zero to transform a vast fleet into warships and Transformers that bowed before him. He then asked the terrified General Tyler-Wicks what use he had for Tyler-Wicks’s army.

• General Tyler-Wicks dismissed the fleet as crude and imagined refitting a personal vessel, while He-El recognized his ambition.
• He-El summoned the AllSpark and ordered Zero to build warships from the fleet’s metal.
• Zero transformed seven battleships into Marshal-class Transformers, which knelt and greeted He-El.
• He-El transformed thirty cruisers, two hundred thousand destroyers, one hundred and fifty thousand frigates, and one hundred thousand scout ships into a fleet of Transformers.
• He-El sat on an iron throne and asked General Tyler-Wicks what he needed Tyler-Wicks’s army for.

He-El crushed Tyler-Wicks’s rebellion, took control of Krypton’s survivors, and proclaimed the founding of New Krypton. He left them under new leadership and began preparations to restore their strength before claiming a temporary home on Earth and building a new planet.

• He-El withdrew the battleships’ weapons, while metal cages carried Tyler-Wicks and the military officials into an underground abyss.
• He-El appointed Kal-El-Zod to temporarily command Krypton’s military and law enforcers, then declared the end of Old Krypton and called for the people to build New Krypton.
• The Kryptonians cheered for He-El as the battleships began gathering supplies and carrying out assignments around Zero Star.
• Yi-Yi ordered Kal-El to maintain discipline, while He-El had Kandor City’s officials arrested and new managers selected for the survivors.
• Zero arranged for Proton Computing Terminals to be injected into the seven million Kryptonians, and He-El assigned Ciri and the biological science corps to research recombining genetic talents.
• He-El planned to restore the Kryptonians’ strength, take territory on Earth as a temporary home, and eventually build a New Krypton planet.

He-El began awakening the ancient Kryptonian genes of New Krypton’s military under yellow sun radiation. Kal-El was the first to master his newfound powers, and the chapter left the Kryptonians preparing to complete their awakening and travel to Earth.

• He-El met Kal-El at the control center, where Kal-El reported that the soldiers were ready.
• He-El told Kal-El that the military would be the first to awaken their genes, then led him to seventy thousand soldiers and fifty thousand enforcers.
• He-El ordered Zero to release yellow sun radiation, triggering the Kryptonians’ genetic awakening.
• He-El calmed the overwhelmed troops and guided them to control their newly heightened senses and power.
• Kal-El recovered first, discovered his enhanced senses and ability to fly, and hesitated to punch He-El for fear of injuring him.