Chapter Summaries

He-El tested Kal-El’s newly awakened power in the underground plaza, effortlessly defeating him and then battling the Kryptonian soldiers. He left the battered soldiers filled with reverence and eager to follow him in conquering the stars.

• Kal-El challenged He-El, but He-El blocked his attacks and sent him staggering despite Kal-El holding back his strength.
• Kal-El increased his power and attacked at full speed, but He-El caught his fist, smashed him into the floor, and flung him into a wall.
• He-El ordered the soldiers to attack, and Kal-El rallied the seventy thousand Kryptonian soldiers to charge.
• After five minutes, He-El emerged from the plaza while the injured soldiers praised him and vowed to fight to the death for him.

He-El activated the genetic powers of all seven million Kryptonians, relying on the army to suppress the unrest that followed. After reviewing the population’s new abilities, he ordered the supply-gathering warships recalled and prepared to set off for Earth.

• Zero announced that Kryptonians should return home and prepare for genetic activation as families left school and work for safe areas.
• He-El ordered Zero to remove the residential district’s atmosphere so solar radiation could activate the Kryptonians’ genes.
• Kryptonians awakened powers including Heat Vision, heightened senses, and immense strength, while He-El’s online notices explained how to control them.
• Kal-El and the army captured roughly four hundred Kryptonians who attacked soldiers, while other residents helped maintain order.
• He-El reviewed data showing varied strength levels among civilians and then ordered Zero to recall the supply-gathering warships for the journey to Earth.

He-El prepared Zero Star and the Kryptonians for an intergalactic leap after collecting supplies from the Krypton Ruins. Zero transformed into a cosmic carrier and vanished into Andromeda on its way to the Solar System.

• Commander Zero ordered the thirty formations to return from gathering resources, and the cruiser generals assembled their warships and tallied their supplies.
• The seven marshals proposed that Marshal Sacrifice stay behind to collect resources and absorb energy from Krypton's red giant, but He-El refused and ordered them to prepare for the leap.
• Kal-El reported that the final 7.17 million Kryptonian scientists had entered hibernation, then went to sleep in a cryogenic pod himself.
• He-El ordered Zero to transform into cosmic carrier mode, activate its turbine and main engine, and leap toward the Solar System.
• Zero accelerated beyond the speed of light and vanished into Andromeda.

After an anonymous intruder sent Batman evidence of a faster-than-light spaceship approaching Earth, Bruce recognized the threat of an imminent alien invasion and decided to alert the Justice League and world governments. He left the Batcave to seek help, while vowing to track down the intruder later.

• Alfred told Bruce that someone had infiltrated the Batcave and sent a photograph.
• Bruce examined the image and identified a faster-than-light collapse trail through the Oort Cloud.
• Alfred confirmed that the trail had formed roughly more than half a year earlier, meaning the spaceship could reach Earth at any moment.
• Bruce ordered Alfred to anonymously warn every country on Earth about the approaching alien threat.
• Alfred urged Bruce to contact the Justice League, and Bruce left the Batcave to find his teammates.

After satellites detected an apparent faster-than-light collapse in the Oort Cloud, governments concluded that an unknown spacecraft might be approaching Earth and mobilized against another alien invasion. Batman alerted the Justice League, and Aquaman Arthur agreed to come to Justice League Hall.

• Chris told the defense minister that fifty astrophysicists had confirmed the Oort Cloud event was caused by faster-than-light movement, likely from a spacecraft.
• The defense minister ordered A.R.G.U.S. to notify the Justice League, called for a highest-level war conference, and asked the president to prepare Area Seven's ultimate weapon, Captain Atom.
• Countries around the world increased contact, convened a United Nations meeting, and formed a preliminary strategic alliance against an alien invasion.
• Batman contacted Aquaman Arthur at the Amnesty Bay lighthouse and warned him that Earth faced another alien threat.
• Aquaman Arthur agreed to go to Justice League Hall and rode the waves toward it.

The Justice League assembled at the Hall of Justice after Batman warned of an approaching alien threat, though Victor Stone found no sign of a spacecraft. Superman arrived first, only to be crushed into the ruins by a mysterious black-clad figure who called him his “brother.”

• Batman summoned Wonder Woman to the Hall of Justice, and she left her museum restoration work to prepare for battle.
• Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Victor Stone headed to the Hall of Justice, while Victor reported that his satellite search had found no trace of the threat.
• The Flash rescued a Little Boy from traffic, then sped from Central City toward the Hall of Justice.
• Superman arrived at the Hall of Justice and waited for the others.
• A black-clad figure smashed Superman through the Hall of Justice, pinned him down, and called him his “dear ‘brother.’”

He-El crushed the Hall of Justice and repeatedly stomped Superman while examining the Codex embedded in his genes. The Justice League arrived as Superman lay gravely injured and Steve Trevor was impaled by steel.

• He-El's attack devastated the Hall of Justice and injured people from many nations, while Steve Trevor crawled from his overturned jeep.
• Steve Trevor recognized the black figure as the one who had driven Superman into the ground and reached for his pistol.
• He-El used his vision to study Superman's blood and record the Codex's genetic information, realizing it could not be extracted intact without killing him.
• Superman regained consciousness and declared that he was the people's hope, but He-El stomped on his chest and left him unconscious and gravely wounded.
• The shock wave hurled Steve Trevor into a wall and impaled his abdomen with steel.
• Steel Bone, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Flash arrived and saw He-El standing over Superman.

The Justice League confronted He-El after finding him standing over Superman amid the ruins of the Hall of Justice. He-El repelled their opening attacks, sending Wonder Woman flying and freezing Aquaman’s waterspout, while Green Lantern’s hammer failed to move him.

• The Flash rescued the critically injured Steve Trevor and returned to join the Justice League, while Batman recognized Superman’s crest on He-El’s chest and ordered the Anti-Superman Armor activated.
• Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the other Justice League members prepared to attack He-El after seeing Superman pinned beneath his foot.
• Steel Bone’s cannon, Batman’s missiles, and Green Lantern’s projectile struck at He-El, but He-El destroyed or deflected them with his bio-magnetic field.
• Wonder Woman charged He-El, who struck her shield and hurled her beyond the horizon.
• Aquaman sent a magical waterspout at He-El, but He-El froze it with Freeze Breath, forcing Aquaman to retreat.
• Green Lantern attacked He-El from behind with a rocket-propelled energy hammer, but it shattered against He-El’s cape as He-El remained over Superman.

He-El overwhelmed the Justice League, defeating Hal, Barry Allen, Aquaman Arthur, and Steel Bone as they tried to protect Superman. Batman entered the battlefield in the Anti-Superman Armor after Steel Bone warned that the Mother Box would activate if he approached He-El.

• He-El's Heat Vision shattered Green Lantern Hal's shields and drove him into space, where Wonder Woman's Shield of Divine Power intercepted the beams but was melted.
• Barry Allen struck He-El with the Speed Force, briefly making He-El's body stiffen, but He-El kicked Barry unconscious and placed him over Superman.
• Aquaman Arthur and Steel Bone attacked He-El with the Trident of Neptune, a water dragon, and a particle cannon, but He-El blocked both attacks.
• He-El vaporized the water dragon, seized the Trident of Neptune, and hurled it into Aquaman Arthur, pinning him to the ground.
• He-El destroyed Steel Bone's cannon and blasted him apart with a Heat-Vision Nuclear Bomb; Steel Bone warned Batman that the Mother Box would activate if he got closer.
• Batman advanced toward He-El wearing the Anti-Superman Armor.

He-El defeated the Justice League and resisted Batman’s Kryptonite and red-sun countermeasures before the U.S. military surrounded him. As He-El carried Superman and The Flash toward the Fortress of Solitude, The Sacrifice and its fleet appeared, and he ordered them to clear out the humans.

• He-El’s electromagnetic field blasted Green Lantern Hal and Wonder Woman into the International Space Station, while Batman approached through the Kryptonite mist in his Anti-Superman Armor.
• Batman’s laser-edged sword could not cut He-El, who snapped it and inhaled the Kryptonite mist before flicking Batman into the Washington Monument.
• Chris, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Defense, deployed soldiers and weapons around He-El and demanded to know why he had come to Earth.
• He-El lifted The Flash and Superman by their throats and began flying toward the Fortress of Solitude.
• The Sacrifice appeared above the battlefield with a fleet of forty thousand ships, and He-El ordered them to clear out the humans.

A fleet led by the Sacrifice Marshal-class battleship annihilated the U.S. soldiers who had attacked Superman’s alien relative, then cloaked itself and disappeared. Convinced that the incident might be the start of an alien invasion, the president ordered preparations for a united Earth defense as Lex Luthor called.

• The Sacrifice Marshal-class battleship destroyed the F-22s and killed all 23,020 soldiers, including Deputy Secretary Chris and General Julius Kellogg, in a precise beam attack.
• The fleet returned to the battleship, which cloaked itself and vanished above Washington, D.C.
• The president and senior officials learned the death toll and debated whether the alien’s actions were a family matter connected to Superman or an invasion.
• The defense minister argued that the United States could not assume the alien would leave after taking Superman, and the president ordered Area Seven’s ultimate weapon prepared.
• The president called for nations to form an Earth Defense Force, and the communications officer reported that Lex Luthor was calling.

Zatanna left her magic performance in London after seeing news of the Justice League’s defeat and learning Bruce was unconscious. She went to Nimu Inwudu and agreed to join Justice League Dark, while Nimu wondered why events had diverged from her predictions.

• Zatanna finished a successful performance at Destiny Theater and reflected on her life away from Gotham and Bruce.
• A television report showed He-El defeating the Justice League, and Zatanna watched Batman get blasted into the Washington Monument.
• Zatanna called Alfred and learned that Bruce had fallen unconscious, then left the theater and hurried to Nimu Inwudu’s tarot house.
• Zatanna promised Nimu Inwudu she would join Justice League Dark, complaining that her feelings for Bruce had forced her to abandon her planned performance.
• Nimu Inwudu questioned why the crisis had happened before Justice League Dark’s foretold time and wondered where Destiny had gone wrong.

As news spread that the Justice League had been defeated, Kara Zor-Jor-El struggled with her isolation on Earth and her longing for her family. After seeing He-El on television, she recognized him and flew toward the Fortress of Solitude.

• People around the world reacted to the Justice League's defeat, while Gotham's criminals formed an anti-Batman alliance.
• At Stanford University, Kara Zor-Jor-El kept to herself and mourned her lost family and life on Krypton.
• Kara heard people discussing the Justice League's defeat but initially dismissed the news as another story about her cousin Superman.
• At a coffee shop, Kara saw He-El on television and demanded that the server switch back to the news channel.
• After confirming He-El was truly there, Kara blasted through the roof and flew toward the Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole.

He-El broke into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, overcame its defenses, and discovered the history of Jor-El’s escape ship and the fortress. After destroying the statue of Jor-El and Lara, he confronted Jor-El, who finally emerged from hiding.

• He-El brought Superman and The Flash to the Fortress of Solitude and forced his way past its entrance security.
• He-El endured the fortress’s defensive beams and machines, using Superman to destroy the units that tried to restrain him.
• He-El surveyed the fortress, including its damaged Life Creation Chamber and the escape ship Jor-El had used to send Superman to Earth.
• He-El destroyed the statue of Jor-El and Lara and accused Jor-El of failing Krypton.
• Jor-El emerged from a hidden room and ordered He-El to stop.

He-El confronted Jor-El at the Fortress of Solitude over Krypton’s destruction and the fate of Superman, who carried the Codex. He-El attacked Jor-El’s robotic body and challenged his claims that he had acted to save Krypton, leaving Jor-El unable to answer his final question.

• Jor-El asked He-El to release the badly injured Superman, calling him an innocent caught in their grievance.
• He-El accused Jor-El of treating Superman, his biological son and bearer of the Codex, as a means to rebuild Krypton.
• Jor-El said Krypton should remain in the past and argued that He-El and Zod had tried to impose reckless solutions on a doomed world.
• He-El teleported in front of Jor-El, punched through his proton defenses, and pinned him beneath his foot.
• He-El accused Jor-El of stealing the Codex and sending his naturally conceived son away while leaving Krypton behind.
• He-El asked why Jor-El had not used antimatter engines to save Krypton’s civilians, and Jor-El fell silent.

He-El forced Jor-El to confront how he had abandoned Krypton's civilians and favored his biological son, Kal-El, while claiming to act out of fatherly love. He revealed that seven million people from Kandor, including Jor-El's mother, Kayla-El, were watching as Jor-El rejected Krypton, and Jor-El's consciousness broke free from his mechanical body in shock.

• He-El exposed that Jor-El had never considered using the antimatter engine to save Krypton's civilians, and Jor-El admitted he had focused only on his son.
• He-El reminded Jor-El that he had treated his adopted son differently from Kal-El, his biological son, and challenged his claim that his choices were simply a father's love.
• Jor-El insisted Krypton deserved to be destroyed and said he would never let Kal return to its hopeless society.
• He-El said he had saved Kandor City and its seven million people, including Jor-El's mother, Kayla-El, and declared that the Kryptonians would judge Jor-El's actions.
• Jor-El cried out in shock as his consciousness broke free of his mechanical body.

Seven million Kryptonian survivors watched Joe-El’s interrogation and learned that he had sent the Codex away with his son rather than save Krypton’s civilians. Kayla-El defended her son until Joe-El admitted he had abandoned Krypton, leaving her stunned and the citizens furious.

• General Karu assembled the Kryptonians to judge Joe-El and kept Kayla-El apart from the crowd as his interrogation was projected overhead.
• Kayla-El proudly defended Joe-El, but the citizens condemned him after learning he had hidden the Codex in his son and sent the boy away from Krypton.
• The projection revealed that Joe-El had not used the antimatter engine to save the civilians, and his claim that he was only a father enraged survivors who had lost their children.
• General Karu told Kayla-El that Joe-El had no right to choose selfishness after benefiting from the ordinary people whose labor sustained Krypton.
• Joe-El declared that he would not let his son return to Krypton and said Krypton could disappear, leaving Kayla-El stunned as the citizens denounced him.

He-El exposed Jor-El to the hatred of seven million Kryptonians, while Jor-El refused his mother Kyla-El’s demand to rebuild Krypton. Kyla-El died when her heat vision backfired, and Jor-El blamed He-El for her death.

• He-El suppressed the mechanical body Jor-El had left behind as machines and weapons surrounded him.
• He-El projected seven million Kryptonians condemning Jor-El, driving the electronic consciousness into distress.
• Kyla-El recognized Jor-El and urged him to rebuild Krypton, but he refused to recreate the despairing world.
• Kyla-El denounced Jor-El and died when her heat vision surged back and destroyed her head.
• Jor-El saw his mother’s death and accused He-El of killing her.

Jor-El attacked He-El in the Fortress of Solitude and blamed him for letting Kayla die, but He-El revealed that Jor-El’s greatest evil was making life difficult for others. Jor-El admitted his flaws and vowed to make He-El regret rebuilding Krypton on Earth.

• Jor-El unleashed the Fortress of Solitude’s weapons and Kryptonian atmosphere against He-El, but He-El’s Black Suit and body absorbed or resisted the attacks.
• He-El crushed the Fortress’s cannons and pinned the structure in place while accusing Jor-El of driving Kayla-El to her death.
• Jor-El blamed He-El for failing to save Kayla and raged over losing his honors, reputation, and son.
• Jor-El admitted to arrogance, vanity, hypocrisy, conceit, and selfishness, but He-El said his true evil was using his power to make life difficult for others.
• Jor-El vowed to make He-El regret his actions and promised despair for trying to rebuild Krypton on Earth.

He-El rejected Jor-El’s offer to trade the Codex’s genetic information for The Flash and revealed that Kayla-El’s body had landed on Earth. Jor-El fled the Fortress of Solitude after thanking He-El in grief, while Kara arrived excitedly.

• Jor-El warned He-El that Earth’s powerful forces would unite against him if he tried to rebuild Krypton.
• He-El accused Jor-El of destroying the Life Creation Chamber because he feared rebuilding Krypton, and Jor-El offered the Codex’s genetic information in exchange for The Flash.
• He-El refused the deal, saying he could give up the Codex rather than let Jor-El gain a place in New Krypton’s history.
• Jor-El threatened to unite Earth’s enemies against He-El, who told him to gather them and try to save his son.
• He-El told Jor-El that Kayla-El’s body had landed on Earth, and Jor-El thanked him through his grief before fleeing the Fortress of Solitude.
• Kara crossed paths with Jor-El’s departing electronic consciousness as she arrived, surprised and excited.