The final battle against the House of Zod begins.
Tropes:
- Altar the Speed: Conner and M'gann decide to get the wedding over quickly, inviting everyone the instant Conner is healed and cutting the ceremony down to the rings and vows, just in case something else happens to stall things. Snapper even mentions that he got his officiant's certificate the night before.
- Arc Number: The number 16, as usual. Brainiac-5 indicates there's a 0.16% difference between their original and currently altered timelines, and during the credits, Snapper Carr specifically mentions that M'gann and Conner rose 16 feet to dance together.
- Batman Gambit: Metron pulls one as an "experiment": presented with an apparent opportunity to kill Superboy, will Lor-Zod leave the time sphere, which has been pre-programmed to then abandon him to his fate? The answer is yes.
- Beat Still, My Heart: M'gann distracts Ursa with an illusion of herself, and Ursa rips out the illusion's heart. As Ursa gloats over her "kill", M'gann emerges from behind her and brain-blasts her unconscious.
- Best Served Cold: Metron displays his grudge against Lor-Zod by going out of his way to provide Rocket with a fixed Time-Sphere, just so he can manipulate Lor-Zod into a situation that will end in his death. The arrogant New God does not appreciate being attacked in his own home or having his property stolen.
- Big "NO!": Dru-Zod and Ma'alefa'ak's responses when they are pushed into the boom tube leading back into the Phantom Zone. This ends up becoming Lor-Zod's final exclamation of death when he realizes too late that he inadvertently flew right in front of the bomb he planted, too eager in his revenge to think clearly.
- Bookends:
- The Kryptonite-laced Martian bomb began the drama revolving around Conner's alleged death in "Involuntary", and comes full circle here with Lor-Zod falling victim to it himself.
- Likewise, said drama started because Ma'alefa'ak went through extremist means to help his fellow White Martians, leading to him planting said bomb.
- The season began with M’gann and Conner planning their wedding, the season ends with said wedding finally occurring.
- Bouquet Toss: Offscreen, during the end credits. Icicle Jr catches it.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Conner lost his mind after a few months in the Zone alone. After over forty years, Kara Zor-El is far enough gone to become a Fury of Apokolips.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: Backup from the Justice League only arrives after the House of Zod members have either been thrown back into the Phantom Zone or escaped elsewhere.
- The Cameo: Conner and M'gann's wedding guest list is quite extensive, consisting of pretty much all of their family, friends and colleagues from throughout the show.
- Superboy as the groom and Miss Martian as the bride, obviously, given away by the elder Kents and the M'orzzes, respectively. Snapper Carr is the officiator, Jonny Kent is the ring bearer, and Conner and M'gann's limos are Bio-Ship and Baby, respectively.
- The groomsmen are Superman, Nightwing, Aquaman II, Red Arrow and Beast Boy.
- The bridesmaids are M'ree M'orzz, Tigress, Zatanna, Rocket and Bumblebee.
- Left Side (From the Altar): Icicle Jr, Guardian III, Marvin White, Wendy Harris, Red Tornado, Black Lightning, Zatara, Captain Atom, Oracle, Orphan, Cyborg, Arrowette, Blue Beetle, Thirteen (and Leroy), Static, Wonder Girl, Adam Strange, Alanna, both Foragers, Troia, Tempest, Aquaman III, Wyynde, Stargirl, Prince J'emm, Queen Perdita, Terra, Bethany Lee Carr, Martian Manhunter, M'aatt M'orzz, and J'ann M'orzz.
- Right Side (From the Altar): Danny Chase, Wingman, Brucely, Wolf, Sphere, Shazam, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Batman, Mist, Livewire, Looker, Windfall, Kid Flash II, El Dorado, Spoiler, Robin III, Kraig, Dubbilex, Orion, Dreamer, Bear, Arsenal, Amistad Ervin, Lian Nguyen-Harper, Guardian II, Traya Sutton, Cullen Row, Harper Row, Halo, Martha Kent, Jonny Kent, Jonathan Kent, and Lois Lane.
- Finally, though initially invited, Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl leave with Brainiac-5 to return to their own time just before the ceremony starts.
- Call-Back: Nightwing mentions how the Team has become too good at making everyone think they're dead, intentional or not. Just ask Artemis/Tigress.
- Close-Enough Timeline: Brainiac-5 informs the others that they've pushed the timeline back to about 99.84% of what it was. Chameleon Boy tries asking about the 0.16% difference, but Bart quickly cuts him off and gets him to take the win.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Gar apologizes to Perdita, but it's been a while and she's since moved on. She had previously warned him that she wouldn't wait around while he self-destructs, only for him to push her away. While she keeps her word, she is relieved Gar is finally recovering.
- Didn't Think This Through: Lor-Zod's eagerness to kill Superboy and Phantom Girl after going back in time again made him temporarily forget about the Kryptonite bomb that the former was trying to neutralize. The distraction of the time sphere suddenly vanishing, along with Phantom Girl phasing herself and Superboy out of harm's way, left Lor-Zod alone and vulnerable to the bomb's full blast radius, ending in his death.
- The Dog Bites Back: With Saturn Girl's help, Danny quite literally kicks Ma'alefa'ak out of his mind.
- Dramatic Irony: Kaldur still advocates for freeing the imprisoned Kryptonians, and it's suggested they could be dropped on Trombus since it's both under a red sun and uninhabited. Cut to the Warworld, where Vandal has already collected the Kryptonians with Klarion's help and put them in stasis.
- Earn Your Happy Ending:
- After months of being separated, Conner becoming a brainwashed cultist and M'gann mourning him for months, they finally reunite, Conner has his memories restored, and the wedding goes off without a hitch. Needless to say, they have more than earned this happy ending.
- Similarly, after being stranded in the past for months, separated, thinking Phantom Girl was dead, getting captured by Lor, and generally going through hell, the Legionnaires finally succeed in restoring their timeline and returning home.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Dru-Zod wonders why Jor-El would send his son to Earth rather than New Genesis (where he'd had allies); only able to see things through his own conquest-oriented mindset, he concludes that Jor-El must have thought that on New Genesis Kal-El's powers would have been the norm and unremarkable, whereas on Earth he would be superior to its inhabitants and could conquer the world as a New Krypton. He reasons that Kal-El was too "weak" to follow through, and hence intends to do so himself.
- Exact Words:
- Klarion retrieved all Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone. Including one who was on her own and the Zodites didn't know about: Kara Zor-El.
- Ma'alefa'ak is rewarded because the stipulation of his last assignment was to obey Lor-Zod, with no expectation that Lor would be successful. Even though Lor fails, Darkseid honors his agreement and gives Ma'alefa'ak a homeworld for the White Martians.
- Faking the Dead: Nightwing cut his own head and slowed his heartbeat to fake his death last episode. Similarly, Saturn Girl and M'gann used their powers to make Ursa think she killed them, when they managed to anticipate the attack and absorb most of the damage. Nightwing lampshades that they've gotten too good at doing this, given how effortlessly they pulled off the gambit on the fly.
- A God Am I: As far as the Zods are concerned, their vast power on Earth means they are gods compared to the humans, and they proclaim their divinity multiple times through the fight. It makes it all the more satisfying when the heroes bring them down a peg or two.
- Godzilla Threshold: The threat of an army of Kryptonians wreaking havoc is enough that Nightwing tells M'gann to go all out, even though she's shown great hesitance to use her telepathic powers to their full extent. He's right, and M'gann is the one to defeat Ursa-Zod by using her powers to render her unconscious.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Icicle Jr shows up for the wedding, despite clearly being currently incarcerated, wearing his prison uniform, cuffs, and power-nullifying collar. He shushes Marv, who was talking during the ceremony, and even manages to catch the bouquet.
- Grand Finale: To season 4 and the overall series.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Lor-Zod ends up being killed by the very same Kryptonite-laced explosion that he had arranged for Conner. Doubly so, as Lor-Zod is sent back to the explosion by his own Time-Sphere which then immediately returns to Metron, leaving Lor-Zod trapped in the past to die.
- How Do I Shot Web?: The defining factor of the fight between the Zods and the Els. General Zod has only had his powers for an hour at most, and Lor-Zod has never fought alongside his father. Clark and Conner win because despite being weaker, they have far more experience with their powers and working together.
- Karma Houdini: Ma'alefa'ak ultimately gets everything he ever wanted by the end. He's rescued from the Phantom Zone, rewarded by Darkseid for his service, the heroes have no reason to hunt him for the foreseeable future, and there's even the implication that he is the progenitor (directly or indirectly) of Chameleon Boy's species. The only real consequence he suffers is the loss of any good will he had left with M'gann.note
- Laser-Guided Karma: Lor-Zod's actions finally bite him in the ass here. He escapes with the newly repaired time sphere that Metron lent to Rocket. Seeking payback after their encounter, Metron sends Lor-Zod back in time to the moment Conner attempted to neutralize the gene bomb, counting on him taking the bait and exiting the sphere, which then returns pilotless to Metron. Lor soon learns too late that this isn't another chance to kill Superboy, but a one-way ticket to his own death, as explained above. A very literal example, since Metron is guiding the karma laser.
- Last Episode, New Character: After being indirectly mentioned by other Kryptonians, Kara Zor-El, Superman and Superboy's cousin, is introduced as the newest Fury of Apokolips.
- Last-Second Chance: Superboy gives Zod a final chance to surrender peacefully, his reason being that while Zod did manipulate him he also saved him. Zod of course rejects it.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Played for Laughs, with Marvin apparently being the only one of their Happy Harbor High friend group who had been unaware that Conner, M'gann, Karen and Mal were superheroes because everyone had mistakenly assumed he already knew.
- Meaningful Rename:
- After greeting her parents when they arrive on Earth for the wedding, Em'ree informs them that she's decided to go back to using her original name of M'ree M'orzz, openly showing her White Martian heritage by using her father's family name instead of using her mother's Green name to hide it as she had previously.
- After joining Darkseid's Furies, Mary Bromfield is now going by "Black Mary", à la Black Adam.
- Mythology Gag:
- Black Canary suggests the heroes, young and old, need a larger special place to help their stressful lives - a Sanctuary. That it is her specifically suggesting it is ironic in particular, as Black Canary infamously walked out of her confessional session at Sanctuary.
- Kara becoming a Fury of Darkseid is a plot point from The Supergirl from Krypton (2004). It was also adapted into the animated film Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
- No Body Left Behind: Following the explosion, all that is left of Lor-Zod is a black soot smear against the wall. Viewers are treated to a lovely image of Lor-Zod's body disintegrating face first when the Kryptonite bomb blows.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In part due to Zatanna's actions in past episodes, Mary has now gone to work for Darkseid. What consequences this will have in the future remains to be seen.
- No-Sell: Zatanna tries her magic on the Eye of Ekron, but it simply absorbs the attack and proves too strong for her to resist.
- Oh, Crap!: Several made by the villains:
- Faora's face screams this when she's caught in Rocket's bubble and then dropped into the boom tube, connected to the Phantom Zone.
- Similarly, Faora's fate occurs for both Dru-Zod and Ma'alefa'ak as well, the latter being more passionate in the midst of his temper tantrum and realizing that his sister is going to let him fall in.
- Lor-Zod realizing he stupidly flew in front of the bomb on Mars, with his own canister of Kryptonite.
- Once More, with Clarity:
- Nightwing and Miss Martian discuss how they survived their respective attack last episode.
- Nightwing was able to trick Lor-Zod into thinking that he killed him. Batman's training allowed him to slow his heart to be barely noticeable. Watching professional wrestling inspired him to make a cut bleed convincing enough for a head injury.
- Ursa-Zod, the Emerald Empress, shoots down Bio-Ship and everyone in it, but they survived, though hurt. M'gann used her psychic power to trick her into thinking she killed all but Superman, while Superman no-selling the blast after it penetrated the hull added to the illusion.
- That smoldering black mark that everyone thought was Superboy on Mars? That was actually Lor-Zod, courtesy of Metron.
- Nightwing and Miss Martian discuss how they survived their respective attack last episode.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Orion is surprised that Metron would actually help Rocket without any expectation of compensation, even if it was a token of thanks. Rocket then says he was doing this as part of an unrevealed "experiment". Orion responds that that sounds more like Metron.
- Pet the Dog:
- Even though Lor-Zod fails, Darkseid honors his deal with Ma'alefa'ak and grants him a world for the White Martians.
- Conner invited Icicle Jr. to the wedding as he said he would back in Season 3. He even manages to catch the bouquet.
- The Power of Family: When Zod orders Conner to kill Clark, Conner is able to remember just enough of his past life (Superman taking him on as a brother, being adopted by the Kents, and meeting his nephew for the first time) to resist it, saying that he can't hurt his family.
- Redemption Rejection: Superboy gives Zod one opportunity to do the right thing and stand down as payment for the later saving him. Zod refuses and ultimately winds up back in the phantom zone for his trouble.
- The Reveal: The blast shadow left behind when Conner was seemingly killed is actually Lor-Zod, tricked into revisiting that moment by Metron reprogramming his time sphere, only to be stranded there and killed by the bomb.
- Schmuck Bait: Metron lent the Time-Sphere to Rocket knowing that Lor-Zod would be too excited by a chance to change the timeline to question where it came from. Only after he enters it does he realize it's been tampered with, and even then he takes at face value the idea that he's getting a second chance to kill Superboy.
- Sequel Hook: With the newly rechristened Black Mary and Supergirl added to the ranks of his Furies, Darkseid is now turning his attention to Earth.
- Smug Smiler: Metron coldly sports this, happy that his "experiment" resulted in Lor-Zod's demise.
- Stable Time Loop: Many loose ends from time traveling are closed here. Brainiac-5 reports a 99.84% likelihood of the time stream returning to how it was before the Legionnaires arrived, and Lor-Zod travels to the moment of Conner's supposed death, instead becoming the scorch mark found as the bomb blew up.
- Stripped to the Bone: The kryptonite bomb strips off Lor-Zod's flesh before vaporizing his skeleton.
- Tempting Fate: Lampshaded when Conner and M'gann insist on holding the wedding as soon as possible before another villain manages to screw it up, but thankfully calling that out several times avoids things going wrong.
- Time-Limit Boss: The Kryptonians still aren't fully powered up, so the heroes have to defeat them before the sun rises. It's still a hard struggle, as even at night time, Zod and his army are a force to be reckoned with. Had they fought during the day, they would have been unstoppable.
- Tears of Joy:
- Icicle Jr. sheds tears of joy as the wedding begins.
- Lucas Carr is moved to tears by M'gann and Conner's love for each other after they exchange their vows.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When Dru-Zod is sent back to the Phantom Zone, leaving only Lor and Ursa, the Eye of Ekron senses that they're outgunned and evacuates Ursa offworld despite her protests. Lor, meanwhile, rushes into the rebuilt time machine. Unfortunately for the latter, that's exactly what Metron anticipated he would do.
- Wham Shot:
- Rocket returns to help the heroes, after being seemingly trapped in the Boom Tube collapse. She later reveals that her powers protected her long enough to thrown into Metron's Infinity Vault, where he helped her get back to Earth with the newly repaired Time Sphere.
- Chameleon Boy mentioned that the Zods invaded his homeworld of Durla in the 31st century after they escaped the Phantom Zone. Later, Ma'alefa'ak is rewarded for his services by Darkseid: a new world as a haven for the White Martians called Durla.
- The Eye of Ekron rescues Ursa-Zod and takes her into deep space, where she vows to avenge her family. She is taken to the planet Daxam, where Lor-Zod claimed to have been born in the future. She also places her hand on her stomach, a sign that she is now aware she is pregnant with Lor.
- The Stinger shows Darkseid introduced to two new Furies: Black Mary, formerly known as Sergeant Marvel, and Kara Zor-El of the House of El, aka Supergirl. The latter is revealed to have been sent into the Phantom Zone by her father, probably in a desperate attempt to save her from Krypton's destruction.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Conner wonders what role he will play in the future. The Legionnaires simply tell him to wait and see. Superman has some knowledge of the future, but isn't talking either.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: After nearly a whole season thinking her fiancé is dead, M'gann furiously intervenes when Lor-Zod attempts to kill Conner and delivers a painful psychic attack upon him.M'gann: Stop trying to kill my man!
- Wedding Finale: The episode's last scene (including the credits, and discounting The Stinger) has several characters from across the show arrive at Happy Harbor for the wedding of Conner and M'gann.
- You Monster!: As Ma'alefa'ak panics at being thrown into the Phantom Zone, M'gann telepathically contacts him in the brief time before he falls in and bitterly calls him out on being glad Conner was dead, not bothering to save him from his predicament, despite being siblings AND despite the numerous chances M'gann gave Ma'alefa'ak to make up for his misdeeds.
