Looking at SMALLVILLE 909 "Pandora" again...the K's powers...

[gastrof]

I think someone at the show lost their way or never thought out clearly how the whole "they have no powers but later will" thing would work out.

First, we see Ninja girl in 901 demonstrate no powers when fighting Lois on the train. Later, in the same episode, she shows at least heat vision and invulnerability, since she both came close to toasting Lois, but then got pulled away by Clark, and hurled thru a support beam in the Kent barn.

She then throws down a piece of blue Kryptonite to deaden both her powers and Clark's, dying during the fight as a result. (Don't suppose Clark even considered moving her away from the blue K and getting her out in the sun? No. Let her die so you can bury her. Okay....)

During another episode (906 "Crossfire"?) we learn the Kandorians have no power because their DNA was contaminanted with blue kryptonite by Jor-El. When the clones emerged from the orb, no powers.

During 909 ("Pandora"), tho', it's not a cure for the blue K that restores their powers. We learn (as hinted earlier) that the solar tower is somehow charging them.

I tried to listen as someone (Chloe?) tried to explain it, but it didn't quite make sense. The tower facility was said to collect all the sun's radiation, turn it red, and then beam it up to Luthor satellites. The satellites then send it back to Earth, giving the Kandorians their powers.

Oh...

The RED solar radiation is giving them their powers?

I could almost accept the idea that the blue K somehow allows the Kandorians to charge off red, rather than yellow, solar radiation, but there's just one little problem.

The ninja girl.

She was apparently still fully powered AFTER the tower was shut down and Zod (and the others?) lost their powers. She sure ran fast towards Lois, getting to her in time to time travel with her. At least, it seemed they were trying to make you think she was running at super-speed.

So why no powers a moment later when she and Lois arrive on the train?

Okay, maybe she DID lose her powers when Zod did, and the special effects while she ran towards Lois weren't meant to suggest super-speed. This would explain her arriving on the train with only human level speed and strength.

But why did she have powers when she showed up at Ollie's cage fight, and when Clark brought her to the Kent barn?

Does this make NO sense to anyone else?

Anyone have an idea on how to explain it? (Aside from carelessness on the part of the writers and show-runners?)

 

[Jetfire]

^
The game has changed. Zod knows Clark's blood can give them their powers... I see that as the new plan for the Kandorians.

Wrong forum.

 

[Hermiod]

This is a huge continuity problem.

Alia must have had some powers even after arriving on the train since she uses her heat vision, super strength, invulnerability and super speed in "Savior" under a yellow sun. She appears to use this to escape the train crash, but if she still had powers Lois would be no match for her.

Her powers, as you point out, do not seem to just stop when the tower is destroyed. I had put this down to her having a residual charge - the same way Clark still has powers when he's inside. Kryptonians are basically solar batteries, they store energy from a yellow sun to use later. Their powers do not just switch off when they are out of the sunlight.

As a result, when the yellow sun returned, Clark would get his powers back, but Zod and the rest of the Kandorians would still be able to put up a fight until that charge ran out.

Her use of Blue Kryptonite on Clark makes a certain amount of sense. It reduces them both to a "level" playing field (although this still leaves Clark a 6'4" muscular man, though Smallville is notorious for ignoring basic differences between men and women).

My guess is that somehow. when the tower was destroyed, Alia retained some sort of temporary residual charge that the others didn't, which she then sacrificed by using the blue Kryptonite. Taking her in to the sunlight wouldn't have saved her.

The main flaw is in Zod's sudden loss of powers. He shouldn't have just switched off like that.

 

[gastrof]

^
The game has changed. Zod knows Clark's blood can give them their powers... I see that as the new plan for the Kandorians.

Wrong forum.

Doesn't change the fact the previous timeline had things the way it did.

Wrong reply. Doesn't address the question.

Right forum, however.

"TV & Media"
"Non-Trek television, movies, books, music, etc."

SMALLVILLE is non-Trek TV.

What did you think this forum was for?

 

[gastrof]

This is a huge continuity problem.

Alia must have had some powers even after arriving on the train since she uses her heat vision, super strength, invulnerability and super speed in "Savior" under a yellow sun. She appears to use this to escape the train crash, but if she still had powers Lois would be no match for her.

Her powers, as you point out, do not seem to just stop when the tower is destroyed. I had put this down to her having a residual charge - the same way Clark still has powers when he's inside. Kryptonians are basically solar batteries, they store energy from a yellow sun to use later. Their powers do not just switch off when they are out of the sunlight.

As a result, when the yellow sun returned, Clark would get his powers back, but Zod and the rest of the Kandorians would still be able to put up a fight until that charge ran out.

Her use of Blue Kryptonite on Clark makes a certain amount of sense. It reduces them both to a "level" playing field (although this still leaves Clark a 6'4" muscular man, though Smallville is notorious for ignoring basic differences between men and women).

My guess is that somehow. when the tower was destroyed, Alia retained some sort of temporary residual charge that the others didn't, which she then sacrificed by using the blue Kryptonite. Taking her in to the sunlight wouldn't have saved her.

The main flaw is in Zod's sudden loss of powers. He shouldn't have just switched off like that.

My thoughts exactly, except for the matter of Clark. I didn't notice him having any powers "inside". Surviving getting tossed by Zod's goon? Yeah, he should have been hurt, but it'd been a year. I think even the remnants of his yellow solar charge would have been gone by then.

Appreciate the reply.

If you come up with any ideas on how it COULD make sense, please share again. I got nothin'.

 

[Hermiod]

^By "inside" I meant when he goes in to his house on a normal day under a yellow sun, not any specific incident. As far as him surviving being tossed around, he's a big strong guy regardless of his powers. Kryptonians are also quite capable of measuring their strength, the goon may have just intended to hurt Clark rather than kill him.

In theory, a simple thing like a roof should cut out the sunlight. If Kryptonians just suddenly lost their powers when they weren't in direct sunlight, they'd be pretty useless, but that's actually what happens here.

Zod was effectively in direct (red) sunlight (yes, I know it's not really red), then the tower is destroyed and the sunlight goes back to normal. He loses his powers instantly. That shouldn't have happened for the same reason Clark doesn't lose his powers at nighttime or when he's inside.

Alia actually makes more sense than Zod. She had powers under the red sunlight, the tower was destroyed but she had stored up a "charge" just like Clark does normally, so her powers didn't instantly disappear. She then used the blue Kryptonite which drained both her and Clark's "charge". The only difference was that Clark could just step in to the yellow sunlight and recharge, Alia couldn't.

There's an episode of Lois and Clark that explains this quite well. The villains of the week realise the nature of Superman's powers and then engineer a situation where he has to use his powers heavily while underground, and thus cut off from the sun. He uses up his charge quickly, leaving him powerless until, fortunately, he is exposed to sunlight again.

My only guess about Zod is that he was near some green Kryptonite - the shard he eventually used to kill Clark. This is a complete guess, but maybe green Kryptonite has a different effect on the altered Kandorians - perhaps it drains their powers painlessly like blue Kryptonite does with ordinary Kryptonians.

 

[nx1701g]

Right forum, however.

"TV & Media"
"Non-Trek television, movies, books, music, etc."

SMALLVILLE is non-Trek TV.

What did you think this forum was for?

Actually wrong forum. Smallville threads go in Science Fiction & Fantasy, or so the mods have always told me since around 2005.

As for the description of why she kept her powers - I dunno.