Kara goes "home"...
...courtesy of "one messed-up daffodil".
Kara is captured by a Black Mercy plant, trapping her in her greatest wish as it kills her.
Tropes in this episode:
- Adapted Out: Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman naturally don't appear here. Neither does Mongul.
- Bad Liar: Winn's attempt to cover for Kara is so bad it's painful.
- Big Damn Heroes: J'onn saves Alex from Astra in his true Martian form.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Alura's eyes go black once Kara rejects the illusion. A pointless gesture, since the damage is done and the Black Mercy has no more hold over her.
- Can't Live Without You: The Black Mercy scuttles off of Kara and quickly withers once she rejects its illusion.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Getting Kara back means making her reject her perfect life with her family on Krypton.
- Death by Adaptation: The Black Mercy dies after Kara rejects it, unlike the original story and its Justice League adaptation.
- Declaration of Protection: Kara and J'onn both give these regarding Earth during their respective fights with Non and Astra.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Astra, set up as the Big Bad since the pilot, has a Character Death, letting the role fall to Non.
- Enemy Mine: Maxwell Lord helps bring Kara out of the Black Mercy's thrall only because the aliens responsible are also the ones who broke into his company. Astra does this on a minor note by telling Alex what the Black Mercy is and how to overcome it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Non is clearly heartbroken when Astra dies.
- Exact Words: J'onn-as-Kara claims to be a DEO agent sent to fill in for the real Kara. He doesn't specify his identity, or who sent "her".
- Fantastic Racism: Non thinks of humanity as a disease to be cured.
- Heel Realization: Astra seems to have one in her last moments.
- Hypocrite: Cat claims that she isn't angry with Kara for driving Adam away, but she spends the episode in a state of obvious fury at her.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Alex attempts this with Astra, but it gets interrupted by J'onn.
- Identity Impersonator: J'onn once more impersonates Kara to keep her in good standing with Cat. It doesn't go so well this time around.
- In the Back: Alex runs Astra through from behind with a Kryptonite sword.
- Invisibility Cloak: The Project Myriad devices cloak themselves when plugged into the satellite arrays.
- Leave Him to Me!: Kara demands that the DEO let her deal with Non during the climactic fight.
- Loophole Abuse: Non uses the Black Mercy on Kara because he was ordered not to hurt her. This way, she's out of the picture while being otherwise fine.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: The Black Mercy puts its victim in a reality with the things its victim wishes..
- Mythology Gag:
- An adaptation of the Alan Moore Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything".
- The disease that Kara is told she has in the Krypton illusion is called "Argo Fever." Argo City is Supergirl's birthplace in the comics.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Kal-El's appearance in Kara's Black Mercy-induced dream could have been accompanied with John Williams-esque music.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: J'onn saving Alex could be interpreted as this, as Astra begins to hesitate before he starts the fight.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Kara gives Non quite the beating for inflicting the Black Mercy on her. It's not enough to keep him down, though, so he's able to escape by using his Eye Beams on a nearby satellite dish as a distraction.
- Not Me This Time: Alex immediately blames Lord for the Black Mercy, but he's out of the loop on this one. Non is responsible.
- Shoot the Rope: Astra uses her Eye Beams on the rope Alex is rappelling down, causing Alex to take a painful but not seriously damaging fall.
- Taking the Heat: J'onn tells Kara that he killed Astra, because he knows that Alex is Kara's hero.
- The Unreveal: Whatever Project Myriad is goes unrevealed, as Astra refuses to disclose it before dying.
- Tranquil Fury:
- Non's reaction to his wife's death is pretty quiet, but you can clearly see the anger in his eyes.
- Kara's initial state after being released from the Black Mercy, though it quickly transitions to Unstoppable Rage when she finally catches Non.
- Unstoppable Rage: Like Superman in the source material, Kara goes completely berserk against her abuser after she is freed from the Black Mercy's grip.
- Your Heart's Desire: What the Black Mercy grants its host.
