Doomsday approaches as the war between Dru-Zod and the Kryptonian rebels grows more complicated, while back on Colu, Lobo gets ahold of Seg and Adam in search of Brainiac, the destroyer of his planet. Seg fights on the mental battlefield to keep Brainiac from slowly taking control of his body as a new host while old allies return and are also questioned. All of this causes doubt and distrust to settle in on just about every side of the battle, especially as Dru-Zod uses his power over Nyssa Vex to further his own desires.
Krypton uses this episode to set up the rest of the season by focusing on establishing character dynamics and furthering character arcs from the first season. This is evidenced heavily in Seg-El, Adam, Brainiac, Lyta-Zod and last but not least, Lobo. The character work continues to defy expectations.
Lobo was very much the star of this episode. He was quite highly anticipated when he was announced to appear in this season, and he lives up to the hype. Emmett J. Scanlan portrays the intergalactic bounty to his psychotic egotistical perfection. He’s a wild card, as he has no place in the main war plot on Krypton since he was introduced by having caught Seg and Adam while on the hunt for Brainiac (which explains why he was on Colu in the first place.) Lobo is a welcome entry into the show, and like Dru-Zod from the first season, is unpredictable in how he will affect the plot moving forward. However he’s so entertaining when on screen that I believe we can afford to wait to find out what his endgame is, also considering that he’s still not the biggest bad being dealt with.
We are also further shown how the aftermath of last year’s finale has been affecting Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell.) Lyta has become the second in command of Dru-Zod’s new Kryptonian empire, yet she is not holding up well within it. Having been disillusioned by Seg’s sacrifice, her and their future son set out to shape Krypton into their image. The Zod image. Dru mentioned last season that the death of Seg-El would harden her personality and turn her into the warrior builders that Zods are known to be, and this alternate timeline proves to be no different. Lyta is proving to truly be the mother of General Zod, and combined with a powerful performance by Campbell, it’s a wonder if she’ll be redeemed as she falls farther from grace.
Speaking of Zods, Jayna (Ann Ogbomo) returns from the outlands, having changed drastically from the cold-blooded military leader that she was in the previous season. After the emergence of her long-thought-dead brother helps her get back on her feet during the six month time gap. While she doesn’t do a whole lot in the episode, she does have a new, clear purpose: to end the cold-blooded killing machine mentality that has plagued her family for generations. This sets up a great dynamic between Jayna, Lyta and Dru.
Finally, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the newfound appreciation that Seg has for Adam. After six month apart, both characters seemed to have grown closer together. Unlike the distrustful dynamic in the first season, they now seem to understand each other and understand the motives behind their actions. And now, as they fight a Brainiac infestation while also running around Colu from Lobo, they feel like true friends for the first time. It’s easy to tell that Cuffe and Sipos are having a blast together.
While all the aforementioned characters are showcased incredibly well, characters such as Val-El, Nyssa Vex and Jax-Ur take a backseat in this episode. However that isn’t a bad thing, as the showcasing of the rebels on Wegthor, as little as there is here, leaves room for future episodes to showcase the war on Krypton and the leaders within it, very much similar to how Doomsday is being set up for future episodes.
The best I can say to sum up is to tell the producers and writers to continue where they are going with the direction, because ‘Ghost in the Fire’ is very much a great second chapter for this season’s story arc.
Krypton continues next Wednesday with a brand new episode on Syfy.
