After the strange experiences she has been having Sam returns to her estranged adopted mother Patricia, who reveals some unbelievable information. Meanwhile, Kara's greatest dream may finally have been realized, when Mon-El mysteriously returns. But is all truly what it seems, or is there a hidden secret that accompanies the homecoming of her long lost love...?
Tropes in this episode:
- Alien Arts Are Appreciated: M'yrnn finds coffee enjoyable and is fascinated by chess.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Kara breaks down in front of Mon-El when he isn't acting like himself, begging him to be the man she loved.Kara: Is it not you?
Mon-El: It's me.
Kara: (crying) Then make me believe it! Please! - Beard of Sorrow: Mon-El has one after his return.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Kara wished for all her heart for Mon-El to return... now he is back and married to another woman.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Martians can go almost four weeks without needing to expel bodily waste.
- Brainwashed: Sam literally has no choice but to become Reign when she activates her Sanctuary.
- The Bus Came Back: Mon-El returns, to Kara's joy, and later heartbreak.
- Call-Back: The ship that Kara accidentally activated in "The Faithful" evidently contained Mon-El.
- Casting Gag: Betty Buckley essentially plays a combination of the two characters she's played in adaptations of Carrie: Ms. Collins in the 1976 film (supportive to someone who's just discovered they have superpowers) and Margaret White in the 1988 musical (a parent strict enough to kick her daughter out for a teenage pregnancy).
- Continuity Nod: Mon-El has hung on to the pendant Kara gave him.
- A Day in the Limelight: While Kara and the DEO get reacquainted with Mon-El, Sam goes on a journey to discover herself.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The Occultist views Ruby as an obstacle to Reign's ascension, and is unable to understand why Sam takes offense at this statement towards her daughter.
- Evil Counterpart: Reign's Fortress of Sanctuary seems like a twisted version of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Both are products of Kryptonian Bizarrchitecture engineering, but Superman's is located in the Arctic and is made of ice, while Reign's is located in a desert and is made of rock. Furthermore, the Fortress of Solitude was designed to be a repository of knowledge for Superman to draw on. The Fortress of Sanctuary is essentially a giant brainwashing machine, forcing a purpose upon Samantha whether she wants it or not.
- Fanservice: Rather strange that the only thing the DEO could find for Imra and Mon-El are tight fitting t-shirts that display her lovely curves and nicely shaped body, and highlights his pecs and toned arms.
- Fantastic Racism: Kara slips back into her superiority against both humanity and Daxamites after being broken by Mon-El's guardedness.Kara: (coldly to Mon-El) Shame on me for having a human heart!
- Fish out of Water: M'yrnn has problems adjusting to life on Earth, even asking Winn for permission to go to the bathroom. After more than 3 weeks!
- Foil: Sam in so many ways to Clark and Kara. They were raised with love and affection, Sam was "designed". Clark and Kara had loving foster families on Earth; Sam was kicked out by her adoptive mother for getting pregnant. Clark and Kara became heroes of their own freewill (though the values of their adoptive families helped); Sam was destined to be a villain, but she wants to be a hero.
- Foreshadowing: Mon-El mentions "Querl" (Brainiac 5's real name) while explaining to Kara what happened to him since he left.
- Gone Horribly Right: Sam discovers her destiny and finds her Fortress of Sanctuary, then immediately regrets it when her personality is subverted and Reign's becomes dominant.
- Happily Adopted: Despite how it ended on a sour note, Patricia and Sam did love each other growing up.
- His Heart Will Go On: Understandably, after 7 years away from her Mon-El moved on and found new love.
- I Have No Daughter!: Patricia threw Samantha out of her home after Samantha got pregnant as a teenager.
- Intangibility: J'onn uses his Martian power to phase both Supergirl and Winn together instead of having Supergirl wrecking public property by drilling underground.
- Internal Reveal: Sam learns she is Kryptonian.
- Interspecies Romance: Mon-El, a Daxamite, is married to Imra, a woman from Saturn's moon Titan.
- Lethal Chef: Sam realizes how horrible her babysitter's cooking is, leaving Ruby money for take out.
- Mama Bear: Sam gets very angry when the hologram calls Ruby an "error".
- Married to the Job: M'yrnn points this out about J'onn. Though he's defensive at first, he ultimately admits that M'yrnn is right and decides to fix that by getting them an apartment so they don't have to live at the DEO.
- Meaningful Echo: The episode's title refers to the plea Spirit Advisor Mon-El gave to a drowning Kara in "Girl of Steel".
- My God, What Have I Done?: After learning her destiny as a world killer, Sam has this reaction for seeking out her origins and history.
- Mythology Gag:
- Reign gets a Fortress of Solitude in the desert much like Supergirl did in Action Comics issue #271. And in Supergirl (2011) #13 she gained a base which she called "Sanctuary of Solitude".
- Mon-El exclaims "Grife!" at one point, a swearword commonly used among members of the Legion.
- Supergirl tries to drill herself through the ground the way Superman did in his first movie.
- J'onn is once again Married to the Job to the point he's become distant from the planet he's supposed to be defending, and gets called out on it.
- Nobody Poops: Averted here, but just barely. Apparently Green Martians are capable of going for over three weeks without needing to relieve themselves!
- Out of Focus: James appears in one scene, and Lena doesn't appear at all.
- Poor Communication Kills: Mon-El could have just told Kara and the DEO that lives are at stake instead of going rogue and injuring agents. However, he is willing to tell Winn, which would indicate it's more that he wasn't looking forward to introducing Kara to his wife.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Reign's eyes glow red after awakening.
- The Reveal:
- Sam is basically a genetic experiment. Getting pregnant with and giving birth to Ruby delayed her powers developing, hence why she is only gaining them as an adult instead of when she was younger like normal Kryptonians.
- The vortex Mon-El's space pod was sucked into sent him to the 31st century.
- Second Love: After learning how to love from Kara, Mon-El was able to find happiness again with Imra.
- Starcrossed Lovers: Kara and Mon-El. What has been 7 months for Kara has been 7 years for Mon-El, who traveled one thousand years into the future, and despite loving Kara, felt he had to move on, with the very real possibility he might never see her again.
- Teen Pregnancy: Sam had Ruby before she was 18.
- True Companions: Winn despite being slightly angry with him, still trusts Mon-El when he mentions lives are in danger, especially when Mon-El says Kara's life is in danger.
- The Un-Reveal: Mon-El claims to be acting in Kara's best interest, but never explains why. One can infer it's due to causality reasons, since he's from the future and must have an idea of how things played out. Among the unanswered questions are why he came back in time 12,000 years before the present-day.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Mon-El steals supplies and attacks two agents at the DEO, all to rescue his wife.
- Wham Episode: Mon-El returns, after jumping back and forth in time, with a new wife in tow; Sam learns of her Kryptonian origins and awakens as the world killer, Reign.
- Wham Line:
- Kara and Mon-El arguing in the ship.Kara: How could you have changed so much? It's only been seven months.
Mon-El: No, it's been seven years. - When Mon-El is introducing Kara to his female companion from the ship, he mentions the words that she never wanted to hear.Mon-El: Kara this is Imra Ardeen, my wife.
- The occultist to Sam.They will not call you a hero, they will call you a world killer. They will try to contain your power, but they will fail. You will burn the world of Man [...] It is time for you to emerge. It is time for you to become, Reign!
- And finally...Reign: (in alien language): I have awakened.
- Kara and Mon-El arguing in the ship.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Sam eagerly thinks her alien origins means she's on the path to becoming a hero like Supergirl and Superman. She's devastated when she finds out she's destined to be a villain instead.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: While it was only 7 months for Kara, it was 7 years for Mon-El.
