OK, let me see if I have this straight: Zod and the Kandorians are actually clones? And so is the “Jor-El” we meet in this episode? That was an interesting twist. “Kandor,” turned out to be a serious lesson in Kryptonian history, complete with shout-outs to Superman: The Movie—the Kryptonian ruling council and their silver hula-hoop holding cells, and a reference to the “28 galaxies” that Marlon Brando once described to Christopher Reeve.

On to Kryptonian History 101: Twenty years before the planet was destroyed, Jor-El conducted a medical experiment that the ruling council commandeered as a way to make clones who could re-establish Kryptonian culture on Earth, in the event of their demise. The DNA of a band of soldiers from the city of Kandor was embedded in an orb, the one that Tess eventually got her hands on and opened in last season's finale. But since Jor-El feared these clones would have super powers and overrun Earth (“We cannot doom another planet's future to preserve our past”), he threw a gremlin into the mix, taking away the powers they’d gain from our yellow sun. This does not make Zod happy.

Tess, maintaining a delicate alliance with Zod, is secretly pursuing her own agenda, one that is finally explained in detail. It seems she has lost faith in humanity and thinks the Kryptonians are an advanced race who can help us be the best we can be. “I see what mankind is doing to this planet,” she tells Jor-El. “The Earth is doomed, and your race is the only answer to saving it. That's why I released you all from that orb.” He counsels her not to idolize Kryptonians: “You are mistaken to think that we are so different than humans. Our sacred Book of Rao teaches that where there is light, there is darkness.” Namely Zod, who captures Jor-El from Tess—part of her plan to keep Zod thinking that Jor-El is the Blur, which will keep Clark safe.

In flashback, we learn the origins of Jor-El and Zod’s animosity. Onetime BFFs, Zod turned on Jor-El when he wouldn’t make a clone of Zod’s young son, who had died. In the present Zod surmises that Jor-El has a son of his own on Earth, and lets Jor-El go in the hopes he will lead them to him—and a way to get their super powers.

Later, a bloodied Jor-El stumbles back to the Kent farm, where he dies in Clark’s arms (very similar to Jonathan Kent’s death, way back in Season 5’s “Reckoning”). Even though Jor-El was “just” a clone, it’s hard not to feel bad for Clark, having now lost another dad. It’s not clear who killed Jor-El—It wasn’t Zod, right? Right?! Clark is on a mission to figure it out, and, in a nice change of pace, is happy to accept Ollie’s help. Zod spies Clark as he buries Jor-El (not-so-discreetly burning the House of El shield onto a makeshift grave), so he finally knows his identity.

This episode probably requires a second viewing to digest it all. And to appreciate the performance of Julian Sands (no relation to your friendly neighborhood recapper) as Jor-El. (Since he was a clone, that makes up for the Terence Stamp no-show.) What about you, what did you think of the episode? Was this a complicated history lesson, or did it clarify the secrets of Season 9?