The latest episode of Krypton took back the show’s biggest death by revealing that Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell) was replaced by a clone, and it’s one of the cheapest tricks Syfy has pulled yet. In the comic books, cloning has a long history as a common storytelling tactic used to bring back dead heroes and villains, but it’s not something that should be used on television.
Lyta’s arc in the beginning of Krypton season 2 showed the character expressing an uncharacteristic lack of empathy for others and an increase in devotion to her son, General Zod (Colin Salmon). Just when it appeared that Lyta had changed for the worse, it was discovered that Zod had brainwashed her. Later, Lyta was captured and publicly executed by Jax-Ur (Hannah Waddingham). Over the past few episodes, Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), Jayna-Zod (Ann Ogbomo), Dev-Em (Aaron Pierre), and even Zod have all been reeling from her death. But that mourning didn’t last long.
In Krypton season 2, episode 8, “Mercy”, it’s revealed that Lyta never actually died. Lyta was cloned and replaced sometime in the gap between Krypton seasons 1 and 2. Which means that everything the character went through in the first five episodes of the season didn’t happen to Lyta - it happened to her clone. All this time, the real Lyta was being kept in suspended animation by the alien plant Black Mercy. Lyta eventually frees herself from Black Mercy’s hold and reunites with Seg, Jayna, and the others.
In one episode, Krypton has reversed the show’s most consequential - and most tragic - death, but it should be noted that this technology didn’t just come out of nowhere. While cloning hasn’t had a major presence in Krypton so far, cloning was introduced in season 1 when it was discovered that Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) had been cloned, and that the original Nyssa died years ago in an accident. However, while Nyssa’s backstory set the stage for the big reveal, it doesn’t erase the problems that come with Lyta’s “death”. What happened to Lyta had a profound effect on most of Krypton’s characters. At the time, it was easy to see why cast members were teasing that this moment would change the show forever. Now, the reason for those statements isn’t so clear.
What’s more problematic about Lyta’s return, though, is that taking back a key death through cloning isn’t much of a compelling twist when it’s one of the genre’s cheapest story tricks. Both Marvel Comics and DC Comics have been known to use this plot device to revive dead characters or trick readers into thinking a character was killed off, only to have them miraculously return after a long absence. With some characters, like Marvel’s Thanos, this plot device has been used on multiple occasions, partly because the easiest way to explain a character’s return from the dead is to simply say that they never died at all.
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