For a recap of last weeks premiere episode, click here

This post contains major spoilers for episode 1×02 of Krypton, “House of El.”

We start off this week where we left at the end of last week, with Adam Strange and Seg talking in the Fortress. Strange tries to explain to Seg his mission and how he got here, he tells him that he teleported via zeta-beam ( yeah, cool name right!) . Strange tells him about the looming threat of Braniac, but Seg isn’t ready to believe him quite yet. The scene plays out nicely as you really get the feel that something is coming beyond the horizon. Strange tells Seg to get close to the Chief Magistrate but not for revenge. Eventually, Seg tells Strange to go back to Earth.

As Seg comes back to Kandor City he is immediately ambushed by the Kandorian Police. Seg is brought to Nyssa and then to Daron-Vex. Daron talks of Rao, and how he’s the true-god for Kryptonian’s. Daron also informs him that he will be inducted into the House of Vex tomorrow not before asking him if he’s for Order or Chaos. Seg lies and tells him he’s for order.

Lyta-Zod and the rest of her crew are preparing to take on the rank-less areas in order to find members of Black Zero. Lyta is conflicted over this because she knows some will die and because she has feelings for the rank-less because of Seg. Lyta-Zod asks Dev-Em to stop the mission but he’s like nah.

Lyta-Zod finds Seg and tries to comfort him after the passing of his parent’s in the last episode. Shortly after, Seg goes to Daron-Vex to talk about continuing his Grandfather’s work in the science guild. Seg see’s a strange tablet in the room and eventually grabs it.

Seg heads to Kem’s bar to show him the tablet he recovered. Adam Strange is there but Kem isn’t quick to trust Strange. Eventually Seg convinces Kem enough for him to believe that Strange could actually be on to something about Braniac. To know for sure if Strange is telling the truth Seg gives him two hours to come up with proof that Braniac is coming. Strange leaves.

From fear of many innocent people dying, Lyta-Zod challenges Quez-UI to the death Black Panther style in order to become leader of the squad. Dev and her mother Jayna-Zod attempt to dissuade Lyta from the challenge but she decides to do it anyways. Her mother doesn’t believe she’s strong enough (yet) to challenge for that position but admires her toughness.

Seg heads back to the Fortress and uncovers a hidden panel underneath some snow. A message plays asking for the blood of the house of el. Seg cuts his hand on to the panel and his Grandfather Val-El appears rather as a projection however. Val-El tells Seg about the Phantom Zone and that Braniac is coming. Val tells Seg what to do about his Vex-ing situation (See what I did there?).

Kem and Strange find a junker to take them on their quest to find information about Braniac. However, Strange loses his watch and his beloved Detroit Tigers hat.

Lyta-Zod and Quez-UI finally duke it out, battle royale style. Quez gets the first 5-6 really big hits on Lyta making her bloody from the mouth. Eventually Lyta turns the tide against Quez putting him into a very questionable spot, as she goes to break his neck, he asks for mercy, before Lyta brutally snaps his neck leaving him dead on the ground. The fact that Quez asked for mercy goes to show how weak he was and that Lyta was right because as we learned last week, they never show mercy. Lyta’s mother is proud of her daughter and eventually makes her the leader of the fourth squadron of the Saggitari.

Seg goes to talk to Daron-Vex. Taking his Grandfather’s advice, Seg informs Daron that he will never join the house of Vex and that he would rather die. The voice of Rao overhears the conversation and allows Seg to join Science Guild.

On the snowy hoth inspired planet, Strange and Kem find a probe on the ground, which shows to Strange that Braniac has already been scouting this planet. Strange tells Kem that Braniac isn’t coming, but that he’s already here. End.

Thoughts:

The second episode “House of El,” really improved in quality over the pilot episode last week. There was much more purpose to the episode and to the characters and the looming threat of Braniac. The first scene gave a shill tremor that something really bad is about to happen to Krypton. This episode may have worked better as a second part of the pilot as it did not really move the plot along that much, but I do think there is a lot to like in the show and it will take some time for Krypton to really get a handle of what type of show it wants to be.

Order and Chaos plays a subtle role in the development of this episode. At the beginning Seg chose the Vex way of Order, he eventually realizes from his Grandfather that El’s are special because of chaos. Look for the tug and pool of order/chaos as a theme between the Vex’s and El’s throughout the rest of the season.

Lyta-Zod’s fight with Quez-UI was brutal and I loved every second of it, including the end where Lyta breaks his arm, then puts the dagger in him by breaking his neck. It’s a very good thing that Syfy’s Krypton isn’t afraid to go brutal like that.

Seg and Val-El’s meeting in the Fortress is a call back to many Superman/Jor-El stories in the past and the beginning of how the history of Krypton will play a big part of the development of House of El characters in the future from Seg-El to Jor-El to eventually Kal-El.

Promo for next week’s episode: “The Rank-Less Initiative”