Forget Superman! 'Krypton' Feels Like a General Zod Origin Story

The story of Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El is ostensibly what the series Krypton is all about. But the latest episode — “The House of Zod” — really makes the series feel like it’s more specifically about why House El and House Zod hate each other so much. In other words, Krypton is starting to feel a lot like a General Zod origin story.

Spoilers ahead for Krypton, episode 5, “The House of Zod.”

On Wednesday, Krypton aired its fifth episode, “The House of Zod,” which, among other things is focused on what will happen to Lyta Zod. Nyssa Vex is defying her powerful father in an attempt to clear Lyta’s name, while Seg encounters the ice queen/goddess Cythonna. Back before the show aired, Krypton showrunner Cameron Welsh told Inverse that the storylines from the show would come from a variety of different sources, including many of the DC comics. The appearance of Cythonna proves this point hugely. She’s derived from the 1999 comic series The Last God of Krypton, in which she was depicted with crazy superpowers rivaling those of Kal-El himself. These days, Cythonna has an underground network of spies and is rocking a cornucopia hat. But that’s not the big news.

Instead, the episode focuses a lot on the family history of House Zod, including Lyta’s mom, Jayna-Zod. If you thought Jayna was an unfeeling jerk before, that’s certainly less true now. Because Seg’s parents and grandparents are all dead, and they were like cookie-cutter good guys, the Zod family is way more interesting at this point. In this way, Krypton is becoming a cool drama about a family dynasty. It just doesn’t seem like it’s Superman’s family that we’re supposed to care about.

Instead, the most important and exciting twist comes at the very end of the episode. And it solidifies the idea that the Zod family is just as important to all of this as the Els, if not more so.

Lyta has been sprung from jail and is fighting to save Seg from the Black Zero terrorists. But, it turns out the mysterious terrorist character played by Colin Salmon, tells Lyta that he is her son. Because of the age difference, this can only mean one thing: time travel.

Now, everyone already knew that time travel was central to everything happening on Krytpon, but so far the only people time traveling were Adam Strange and Brainiac. Now, everyone already knew that time travel was central to everything happening on Krypton, but so far the only people time traveling were Adam Strange and Brainiac.

Now, here’s the rub. If Colin Salmon is playing Lyta Zod’s time-traveling son, then who the hell is he? Actually, there’s an answer to this and it’s pretty crazy. Because General Zod was a contemporary of Jor-El, and Jor-El is Seg’s son. Then….this guy is somehow…General Zod!

Which, if true, means this show has just dropped a grenade in Superman canon. Will Colin Salmon be asking people to kneel before him by the end of the season? We can only hope. -Krypton airs at 10pm on Wednesdays on SyFy.