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My Adventures with Superman (TV Series) Episode: The Machine Who Would Be Empire

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Superman awakens inside Kara's ship and breaks free from his container. He is shocked that Kara would kidnap him and tries to get back home. His suit manifests a helmet around his head, and he flies into outer space, only to realize that he is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't know where Earth isThe Machine Who Would Be Empire is an episode of season 2 of My Adventures with Superman. It premiered on June 23, 2024.

Synopsis for "The Machine Who Would Be Empire"

Superman awakens inside Kara's ship and breaks free from his container. He is shocked that Kara would kidnap him and tries to get back home. His suit manifests a helmet around his head, and he flies into outer space, only to realize that he is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't know where Earth is. Kara believes Superman's time on Earth has made him weak and wants Superman to join her in conquering the galaxy on behalf of the Kryptonian Empire, but Superman insists he will not conquer the Earth because it's his home. He says that wanting peace is not weakness, but Kara replies that her father knew that Superman would oppose their plans of conquest and insists they should see his father. Superman is surprised that other Kryptonians survived the destruction of Krypton.

Superman admits being interested in seeing Krypton and Kara gives him a thought projector, a device that turns thoughts into images. Kara shows him an image of the last days of Krypton and describes the Empire has a benevolent force that helped primitive species join the wider galaxy and become model Kryptonian citizens. Superman acknowledges that the Krypton he is seeing is beautiful but it's not real, just a holographic projection. He still considers Earth his home and even shows Kara a picture of Earth and his parents, who loved him and raised him as one of their own.

Kara is uncomfortable at watching Superman grow by hiding his powers and without becoming a warrior. She even asks Superman if anyone has ever loved the real him and Superman briefly manifests an image of Lois before shutting down the projector. When he tries to put away the projector, he comes across the objects Kara has collected across her journey including a photo of her and Jimmy. Superman teases her for her crush with Jimmy and Kara admits that she has been collecting objects from the planets she has brought into the Empire because she is interested in them. However, her father believes her interest in non-Kryptonian things is a weakness and that she should strive to be nothing but a warrior.

Superman asks Kara to show her the planets she has visited, and she enthusiastically agrees. Along the way, they come across an asteroid field and Kara says they will have to clear it manually. Superman takes this as an opportunity to bond with her cousin and they start throwing asteroids at each other, similar to a snowball fight. Kara explains to Superman that they don't actually need helmets to fly in outer space, while Superman demonstrates his biolectric powers to her.

Kara brings Superman to planet Thanagar, hoping to impress with him with her ability to bring planets into the Empire. However, what they find is a broken, smoking ruin with no people in sight. Superman asks what happened to the people and Kara realizes she doesn't even remember the last time she visited Thanagar. Suddenly, a group of robots surrounds them and Kara recognizes them as soldiers for her father.

The robots escort the Kryptonians to the citadel of Kandor, the last remnant of the Empire. There, Kara introduces her to her father, the machine known as "Primus Brainiac". Superman is confused, as Kara's father is Zor-El, his uncle, but Brainiac is a machine. Brainiac explains that he used to be the artificial intelligence that operated most of Krypton's technological infrastructure, but now, he is confined to this station. He is displeased by Kara's choice to travel to Earth alone, but at least she found Superman so they can rebuild the Empire.

Brainiac explains that he knew members of the House of El, such as Jor-El and even Superman's mother, Lara. He invites Superman to see the kind of Empire he wants to build and brings him to a room that projects holographic images of enemies defeated by the Empire: a Thanagarian, a Green Lantern and a Parademon. This is a test that will evaluate Superman's powers and skills in simulated combat. Superman is shocked that Brainiac would use images of conquered enemies, but Brainiac dismisses Superman's compassion as a weakness.

As the fight progresses, Superman uses his cold breath and biolectric aura to defeat his opponents but is left severely exhausted and Brainiac illuminates the room with red sunlight to weaken him even further. He expresses his intentions to rebuild the Empire, starting with the conquest of Earth, and Superman will be his weapon, but Superman refuses his weapon and declares that he will take Kara away from him. Unfortunately, Superman is too weak to fight and falls unconscious. Kara enters the room, asking what happened to her cousin, but Brainiac is angry that she disobeyed his orders and erases her memory of what happened. When she awakens, Kara finds Superman in suspended animation and Brainiac is pleased that she brought his cousin home.

Sometime later, Kara remembers her experiences with Superman and decides to travel to the planets she brought into the Empire, but she only finds burned planets with no people in sight. The only thing she finds in Thanagar is a wall with pictures of a flying woman destroying the Thanagarians. Kara realizes the horrible truth: she destroyed Thanagar, alongside all the planets she supposedly saved. Reviling that her warrior persona was resalt of brainwashing and it was the help of her cousin and memorabilia that made her overcome it. She flies into space, trying to process what she has done, only to find a ship flying towards her. It's a ship occupied by Lois, Jimmy, the Brain and Mallah.

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