Chapter Summaries

Jino brought Chloe to the hospital after learning Clark had fainted, then questioned Earl Skinner about his transformation and his connection to Lionel's Kryptonite research. The chapter ended with Earl reacting in shock when Jino introduced himself as Jino Luthor.

• Bizarro called Lex “Father” until Lex ordered him to stand in the corner, while Jino teased Lex about having a grown son.
• Chloe visited Jino at the Luthor Factory with books to help him prepare for final exams, but Pete called to say Clark had fainted.
• Jino took Chloe to the hospital, where Pete explained that an infected factory employee was involved in Clark's collapse.
• Jino suspected Lionel had secretly researched Kryptonite years earlier and went to question Earl, who was handcuffed in a nearby hospital ward.
• Jino asked Earl what had changed him, then introduced himself as Jino Luthor, leaving Earl wide-eyed with shock.

Jino confronted Earl at the hospital about what Lionel had done at the chemical plant, but Earl refused to trust him and escaped while Clark intervened. Jino left to search for Earl, and Clark remained trapped in ice, wondering how Jino had become so much stronger.

• Jino demanded that Earl explain what Lionel had done at the chemical plant ten years earlier, but Earl accused the Luthor Family of being liars.
• Clark arrived and tried to reassure Earl that Jino was trustworthy, but Earl's powers activated and he broke his handcuffs.
• Jino fired freezing rays at Earl, but Clark stepped between them and was encased in ice as Earl escaped through a second-floor window.
• Chloe stopped Jino from freezing Clark further, and Jino left to find Earl, accusing Clark of letting a murderer escape.
• Pete asked whether Clark could shoot beams from his eyes, and Clark admitted he could not while wondering about Jino's growing strength.

After Jino's powers grew, Clark promised the escaped Earl he would investigate the secret at Luthor Chemical Plant that might restore him. Meanwhile, Jino received a report about Booth and Bruce Wayne, while Talia revealed she had already extracted Tina's mission from her.

• Jonathan and Martha returned to Kent Farm after Clark collapsed, and Clark recounted the events that led to his release from the police station.
• Clark secretly visited Earl in the barn, where Earl described his exposure to green stones and persuaded Clark to help him find a cure at Luthor Chemical Plant.
• Clark promised Earl he would help, recalling that the school was visiting LuthorCorp the next day.
• Jino realized he had not searched Kent Farm for Earl but hesitated to intrude on Clark's property.
• Tina reported that Booth had passed Ra's al Ghul's trial but refused to join the League of Assassins, and Jino suspected Booth might be Bruce Wayne using an alias.
• Talia told Tina she had revealed the truth about her mission to Jino, while Tina worried about her life as a double agent.

Clark joined a student tour of the Luthor Chemical Plant while Earl sneaked inside searching for a nonexistent third floor. Earl took Gabe and the students hostage, and Clark's attempt to stop him failed when Kryptonite weakened him.

• Chloe complained about visiting the plant, and Pete teased her about her father, while Clark worried about Earl hiding beneath the bus.
• Gabe welcomed the students, and Lex took over the tour after spotting Clark.
• Earl broke into the third-floor storage room, found nothing, and armed himself with a pistol.
• Lex showed the students the command center, but Earl burst in, seized Gabe, and demanded directions to the third floor.
• Clark rushed Earl at super speed, but Kryptonite in Earl's body weakened Clark and sent him to the floor.
• Lex told Chloe how to escape, then drew Earl's attention by identifying himself as the factory's owner.

Earl attacked Lex and forced him to reveal the elevator leading to the factory’s third floor, while Jino trained Bizarro in the underground lab. After Chloe told Jino that Earl had taken Lex, Clark, and visiting students hostage, Jino intercepted the elevator and confronted Earl.

• Earl struck Lex and demanded that he lead him to the third floor, so Lex claimed it was inside the elevator in Basement Level One.
• Jino knocked Bizarro down during training, then left the lab after Chloe appeared and begged him to save her father.
• Chloe told Jino that Earl had taken the visiting students hostage and was holding Lex at gunpoint, and that Clark had been knocked down while trying to stop him.
• Jino followed the descending elevator, tore through its roof, and froze Earl’s gun arm while showing him the flattened bullets he had caught.
• Jino crushed Earl’s jaw, forced him to swallow the bullets, and prepared to strike him for hurting Lex.

Jino confronted Clark after killing Earl, arguing that Earl had endangered his family and the town. Clark remained furious and challenged Jino to fight.

• Lex and Jino escaped the damaged elevator, leaving Earl’s headless corpse inside.
• Clark saw Earl’s body, recognized how Jino had killed him, and retched.
• Jino accused Clark of helping Earl enter the chemical plant and argued that Clark’s trust in Earl had put Jino’s brother at risk.
• Jino defended killing Earl, pointing out that he had threatened Jino’s family and carried a gun into a fertilizer factory containing ammonium nitrate.
• Clark angrily called Earl his friend, while Jino challenged him to use force to impose his worldview.

Jino confronted Clark over his reckless choices and defeated him in a hand-to-hand fight, leaving Clark battered but alive. Jino spared Clark because he had saved Lex and declared that they were even.

• Lex moved toward the emergency exit to prepare for the danger and search for Bizarro.
• Jino challenged Clark's judgment and warned him that he would lose, citing his training under Lady Shiva.
• Clark charged Jino and threw thousands of punches, but Jino dodged them all with ease.
• Jino countered with a series of strikes and threw Clark to the floor before repeatedly punching him.
• Jino stopped his final punch short of killing Clark, saying Clark had saved Lex and that they were even.

Clark woke in the hospital and learned that Lana sided with Jino’s decision to use force, leaving him convinced he had lost Jino as a friend. Back at Luthor Manor, Jino rejected Victoria’s attempt to approach him, while Amanda arrived in Smallville and began investigating the suspicious cases.

• Clark woke in the hospital, and Lana explained that the police believed the criminal had fallen after the elevator malfunctioned.
• Clark told Lana what had happened between him and Jino, but she said Jino’s forceful actions had been the best choice, and Clark feared their friendship was over.
• Jino returned to Luthor Manor, where Victoria tried to seduce him, but he rebuffed her and identified her as a member of the rival Harvey Family.
• Amanda examined the Smallville case files, noticed inconsistencies in the Luthor Factory report and links among several missing-person cases, and decided to start her investigation with the factory case.

Amanda Waller arrived at the Luthor manor to investigate the Luthor Factory, putting Lex and Jino’s hidden plans at risk. Lex decided to wait and see, while Amanda entered the manor determined to uncover the town’s secrets.

• The Old Butler told Lex that Amanda Waller had come to discuss the Luthor Factory.
• Lex sent Victoria to fetch Jino, then warned him that Amanda was investigating their plans.
• Jino assured Lex that no one would take what belonged to them, and Lex threatened to send Amanda a deadly gift if she kept digging.
• Amanda watched the Luthor manor from her car and resolved to investigate the secrets beneath the town.
• The Old Butler welcomed Amanda into the manor, where Lex greeted her and Jino sat apart without acknowledging her.

Amanda tried to seize the Luthor laboratory after discovering its strange creatures, but Lex and Jino had lured her there. Jino revealed his strength by stopping a bullet and turned Amanda’s claim back on her.

• Amanda told Lex that her government team was investigating Smallville’s mysterious deaths and asked to see the Luthor research facility.
• Lex pretended to accept Amanda’s offer of government funding and led her and her bodyguards to the laboratory, while Jino vanished from the hall.
• Amanda saw the creatures in the laboratory and ordered Lex’s corporation sealed, revealing that she had planned to take control of its research.
• Jino appeared beside Bizarro and explained that the Luthor Family had been watching Amanda since she arrived in Smallville.
• Amanda’s bodyguards fired at Jino, but he caught the bullet in his palm and asked who was the prey.

Jino killed Amanda’s bodyguards, forced her to accept a nano-bomb, and let her leave after she promised to conceal what happened. After final exams, he learned he would spend summer in Gotham with his mother and said goodbye to Chloe until fall.

• Jino deflected the bodyguards’ bullets, killed them, and frightened Amanda into begging for her life.
• Jino injected Amanda with a nano-bomb and released her after she agreed to serve the Luthor Family.
• Amanda left the Luthor Chemical Plant and told her driver that she had found nothing unusual in town.
• After final exams, Lionel told Jino that his mother wanted him to visit his grandfather in Gotham for the summer.
• Jino told Chloe he would go to Gotham, and they said goodbye until fall.

Jino visited his mother, Laetitia Elliot, at Swymore Asylum and brought her back to Gotham by pretending to be her driver. After reuniting with his uncle Thomas, Jino agreed to attend a banquet with him the next night.

• Jino arrived at Swymore Asylum and found Laetitia singing beside a locked window with two teddy bears.
• Laetitia mistook the teddy bears for her children and did not recognize Jino, so he pretended to be Mr. Loren Elliot's driver and said he had come to take her home.
• Jino gave Laetitia a blue flower, and she happily agreed to leave the asylum for Gotham.
• At Gotham Airport, Thomas greeted Laetitia and Jino, then drove them away while Jino carried their luggage.
• Thomas invited Jino to a banquet the next night to meet one of his friends, and Jino agreed.

Jino visited his dying grandfather Loren at Elliot Manor and learned that the Elliot Family helped found Gotham and created the Court of Owls. Loren gave Jino a mysterious life-prolonging substance called Amber Gold, while the manor’s paintings revealed the family’s role in the city’s origins.

• Thomas brought Jino and Laetitia to Elliot Manor, where the Old Butler led Jino to Loren while Thomas and Laetitia waited outside.
• Loren greeted Jino, gave him a silver box containing glowing liquid called Amber Gold, and claimed it had prolonged his life to ninety-five.
• Loren showed Jino paintings depicting the Wayne, Elliot, Kane, and Cobblepot families arriving together and founding Gotham City.
• Loren explained that an Elliot ancestor founded the Court of Owls to let aristocratic families control Gotham, opposing the Wayne Family’s vision for the city.

Loren offered Jino a place in the Court of Owls, along with its Talon Assassins and Amber Gold, but Jino rejected the offer and destroyed the White Owl Mask. Jino declared he would take the Court and its secrets for himself, then began planning how to draw its members out.

• Loren recounted how the Elliot Family had led the Court of Owls and revealed that he wanted Jino to inherit his chance to join it.
• Loren gave Jino a White Owl Mask and promised that the Court would support him, its Talon Assassins would serve him, and Amber Gold would prolong his life.
• Jino called the offer a dog bone and shattered the mask, then declared that Amber Gold, the Talon Assassins, and the Court of Owls would all be his.
• Jino demanded the location of the Court's nest, but Loren explained that it used hundreds of changing hideouts throughout Gotham City's underground passages.
• Jino decided to draw the Court out and asked Loren what the Talon Assassins wore.

Jino visited a tailor shop in Gotham’s red-light district and watched Bruce Wayne fight a gang of thugs, discovering that Bruce was still inexperienced and badly wounded. When corrupt police arrived and shot at Bruce, he tried to dodge the bullet.

• Jino bought a Bat Mask, read that Bruce Wayne had returned to Gotham, and entered a tailor shop to order an outfit.
• Jino noticed a young man confronting a pimp and several thugs, then went into the shop while the fight continued outside.
• After leaving the tailor shop, Jino saw a streetwalker stab Bruce Wayne in the thigh and watched Bruce fight the thugs despite his wound.
• Jino recognized Bruce, used his X-ray vision to see that blood was pouring from the wound, and recorded the fight while collecting negative-emotion points.
• Corrupt police arrived after the thugs scattered, drew their guns, and shot at Bruce, who crouched to evade the bullet.

Jino used his speed to stop two bullets from killing Bruce, allowing one to wound Bruce’s leg, then vanished. Bruce was arrested by crooked cops and interpreted Jino’s strange gestures as a threat connected to his parents’ murder.

• After gunfire erupted, Jino moved so quickly that time seemed to stop around him.
• Jino crushed the bullet aimed at Bruce’s chest and let another bullet hit Bruce’s leg.
• Jino returned to his place and resumed time, while Bruce saw him drop the crushed bullet and disappear.
• Two crooked cops arrested the wounded Bruce and drove him away in a police car.
• Jino appeared briefly at the alley entrance and made a gesture that reminded Bruce of his parents’ deaths.
• Bruce vowed to remember Jino, and his anger caused a sharp rise in his negative emotions.

After escaping a police car wreck with help from the mysterious masked figure, Bruce returned to Wayne Manor and decided to make criminals fear him. He told Alfred to gather materials so he could begin building something.

• Bruce crashed the crooked cops' car, pulled them from the wreck, and escaped before it exploded.
• A mysterious figure left Bruce a new phone, which he used to call Alfred before losing consciousness.
• Bruce woke at Wayne Manor and learned from Alfred that he had survived severe injuries to his legs.
• Bruce reflected on Gotham's rising crime and resolved to become fear itself by drawing on his fear of bats.
• Bruce asked Alfred to contact the technology department and send him materials so he could make something.

Jino prepared to attend a Gotham banquet with Thomas, while Dr. Harleen Quinzel explained Laetitia’s condition. At the Iceberg Lounge, Jino met Bruce Wayne and asked what he thought of Gotham.

• Jino got ready for the banquet, and Thomas asked whether he had a dance partner.
• Dr. Harleen Quinzel told Thomas that Laetitia had suffered irreversible cerebral nerve damage and had developed an avoidant personality.
• Thomas invited Harleen to attend the dinner with Jino, but she declined.
• Bruce arrived at the Iceberg Lounge with two companions and reunited with Thomas.
• Thomas introduced Jino Luthor to Bruce, who sensed that Jino was dangerous.
• Jino asked Bruce what he thought of Gotham.

At a charity banquet, Jino questions Bruce Wayne about Gotham before a power outage turns the gathering into a crime scene. A masked assassin kills Marconi and two of his men, warns the guests that the Court of Owls is coming, and vanishes, leaving Bruce to wonder how he escaped.

• Jino asks Bruce Wayne what he thinks of Gotham, and Bruce calls it paradise while privately grieving for the city.
• Thomas identifies Mayor Carlos and Marconi to Jino, and Bruce asks Thomas about Jino’s schooling and family.
• The banquet hall loses power, and Marconi’s corpse falls from the shattered dome into the hall.
• A masked figure evades Marconi’s armed men, kills them with throwing knives, and warns the guests about the Court of Owls and the Talons.
• The masked assassin throws smoke packets and disappears, while Bruce searches the hall and considers how he escaped.

After Marconi and two of his men were murdered at a banquet, Bruce questioned Jino while James Gordon investigated the crime. Batman visited Gordon at the morgue, and the Court of Owls decided to hunt down the person who had impersonated them.

• Jino acted unconcerned about the deaths and asked Bruce whether criminals could be eliminated to restore Gotham to normal.
• James Gordon arrived at the banquet, investigated the murders, and later found an owl emblem engraved on the murder weapon.
• Batman appeared at the morgue and examined the knife before escaping through a fifth-floor window and gliding away.
• The Court of Owls discussed the impersonation and ordered its members to investigate the culprit and send out the Talons.