Fight Like El: KRYPTON 103 "The Rankless Initiative"

As the Sagittari crack down on Seg's home district, Seg and Adam race against time to locate the probe that Brainiac sent to Krypton; it may already be too late.

Seg brings the probe that Adam and Kem found in the outlands to have Val-El run analysis on it. Adam meets Val's hologram for the first time and is rather impressed by it. They learn that the probe is just a shell that contains a parasitic sentry that will seek out a host. This host will be used to transmit all available data about the planet back to Brainiac.

When they open the probe to extract the sentry, they discover that it has already been released.

This takes us to a flashback from 3 days prior where Kem, Ohna, and Rom sit together. Rom has gotten a job as a scavenger where they salvage and report their findings to the Guild. However, a co-worker explains that sometimes it's better not to report certain things because they're worth more on the black market than they are if turned over to the Guilds.

Rom discovers the probe that we've already seen and it opens up, revealing the sentry.

Back to the current timeline, Seg and Adam discuss trying to locate the scavenger that may have found the probe. Adam is tasked with talking to Kem about the salvage crews. Seg heads to the Guilds to see what he can learn there.

Nyssa was happy to see Seg arrive on his own. Their conversation was brief but Nyssa systematically dissected Seg's purpose for being in the Guilds without hardly trying. She reminds Seg that he can keep his secrets because she has some of her own.

Seg then talks with Lyta and expresses his frustrations that she would risk her life to assume command of the Sagittari. Lyta explains that it was the only way she could stop them from violently carrying out their orders in the Rankless district. Her hope is to restore some order and create a level of trust between the Rankless and the Sagittari.

Rom brings the sentry she discovered to the Black Market and sells it for far less than she hoped. But she took what was offered knowing that she needed to find a way to support her daughter, Ohna.

Daron Vex and Nyssa meet with the many faces of Rao, who expresses concern that he has been a constant target of Black Zero. He wants assurance from Daron that the Rankless Initiative will end the attempts on his life. Daron is informed that if the initiative fails, and the Rankless are not forced to suffer the consequences of Black Zero's actions, Daron may have to be punished instead.

Jana goes over strategies and intelligence with Lyta to prepare for the initiative, focusing on Sector 19. Seg's home district. Lyta protests that there are thousands of innocents in the sector. She wishes to be patient and learn about the people who live there. Lyta is quickly shouted down and told that there is no time for that.

Jana approaches Lyta, angered that she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Lyta reminds her mother that she killed a man for the right to open it. Jana reminds her that there is a certain way of doing things and if she's not careful someone will be eager to watch her fall. Dev-Em provides words of encouragement to Lyta. He is loyal to the Sagittari, but he wants to remain loyal to Lyta as well. He is conflicted but warns Lyta that they must follow orders.

Adam finds the sentry and tries to buy it off of a seller in the Black Market. Using his quick wit, instead of paying a large sum, he distracts the seller and runs off with the sentry.

Lyta speaks to her soldiers and demands that they carry out this initiative with honor and respect. She does not approve of excessive violence and warns them that nobody should fire a single shot of their weapon without her command to do so.

Seg and Kem find Adam hiding behind Kem's bar. Adam asks them to check if anyone was following him. When they look away he sneaks a drink and then shows them the sentry. Seg asks if it's what he thinks it is and Adam sarcastically says, "Well it ain't a hot dog." As both Kem and Seg look confused, Adam explains that it IS the sentry they've been looking for. He holds out his fist and asks Kem for a fist bump, only to be met with a confused look on Kem's face. "Get out from behind my bar," Kem says, "And you're paying for that drink!"

As Adam walks away he flips Kem off, to which Kem replies, "I don't understand you!" Seg leans in for a fist bump and Kem gladly obliges.

Seg and Adam walk right into the landing zone for the Sagittari, who commands the Rankless to stand down and prepare to be scanned and collected. The Sagittari immediately break into senseless violence towards anyone who resists them. This is where Seg typically starts throwing punches, but here he exercises restraint as he sees Lyta standing on the other side of the line.

Adam tries to convince Seg to leave it alone but Seg refuses and tells him to get the sentry back to the fortress.

Seg directs his anger about the violence towards Lyta. She says she's trying but the chaos is making it difficult. Lyta reminds Seg that things would be much worse if she wasn't there.

Meanwhile, Adam watches as Val analyzes the sentry and asks if he could look at his Zeta Beam next. It's not working properly and he'd like to get home. Then they realize that the sentry has already been deployed and infected someone. Ohna and Rom are being rounded up but it turns out Rom has been infected by the sentry and the parasite takes over. She begins tossing Sagittari left and right; Kem runs Ohna to safety.

They run back to his bar. Seg arrives and tries to reassure Ohna that whatever happened to her mom isn't her fault. He instills hope into Ohna that he's going to do everything he can to help Rom. It was the first glimmer of a 'Superman' moment for Seg. As Kem questions the outcome, Seg assures him that they will do their best to save Rom.

Now comes a scene that is a commentary on recent events regarding police brutality. As one of the Sagittari threatens a lineup of Rankless, one man's sarcasm draws her attention. Out of anger, she pins the man against the wall by his neck. As he gags, he says "I can't breathe!" With a straight face, the Sagittari's response is, "If you can speak, you can breathe." Then as one of the Rankless protests the violence and approaches her from behind, she immediately turns and fires a shot that kills the citizen.

Jana informs Daron that 3 of the quadrants have been swept and cleared without any sign of Black Zero. But the fourth quadrant has encountered a situation that has stalled the initiative.

Lyta enters the fray to calm the situation down and demands to know what happened. She is appalled that a Sagittari, armed and trained in combat, felt threatened by an unarmed citizen. She arrests the soldier on the spot and informs her that she'll be tried in front of the council to determine if her actions were warranted. Lyta then uses the opportunity to warn the other citizens to peacefully cooperate and move to the checkpoint.

Adam tells Seg that he needs to track down Rom and kill her before it's too late. Seg refuses to accept that is the only way to stop her. But Rom, under the influence of Brainiacs sentry, has already begun to transmit data back to the skull-ship. Seg turns to Lyta for help, hoping that she'll be willing to trust him with an electro-static discharge grenade. Demonstrating why Seg belongs in the Science Guild, he posits that if the sentry is a techno-organic parasite, he can disable it with a device that will shut down power to all electronic devices.

Lyta wants to know the truth about what's happening before she turns over an ESD to Seg. He doesn't want to reveal Brainiac's existence to her quite yet, so he begs her to just trust him. He has no other options and she's the only one who can help him save his friend.

Jana demands to know why Lyta refuses to move her troops into the communications hub (that Rom entered to transmit data to Brainiac) and stop the potential Black Zero threat. Lyta refuses by stating she's assessing the threat and won't move until she can ensure the safety of her troops. Jana is taken aback by her insubordinate behavior. Lyta cuts off communication.

Seg enters the communication hub to see Rom standing there, tendrils of power cables exiting her body, connected to the hub. He tries to reason with her, but Brainiac speaks to him through her. With a single backhand, Rom sends Seg into a wall and then hangs him with a power cable. Seg tries to get through to Rom by reminding her that Ohna loves her. Rom is able to break through long enough for Seg to activate the ESD, shutting down power throughout the quadrant.

Let's Talk Superman | Apr 5, 2018 | Krypton: The Rankless Initiative by Critical Blast

Steve recaps episode 103 of SyFy's hot new series KRYPTON! Listen as he offers commentary and a suggestion on how you can interact with the cast!

Dev-Em informs Primus (Jana Zod) that they are breaching the communications hub. He reports his findings and informs her there is no sign of any Black Zero operatives. Outside, Seg lays Rom down and Lyta finds them. This is where Seg tells Lyta that his grandfather was right, there's something else out there in the universe. Lyta says that if they bring Rom to the council they'll believe him, but he refuses knowing that it would mean her death. He proceeds to take her back to the fortress.

Nyssa delivers the bad news to Daron that the only arrest made was a Saggitari. Daron declares he will tell his eminence whatever it takes to convince him that the initiative was a success.

Val informs Seg and Adam that Brainiac's mission was a success. Rom not only collected the data but acted as a transmitter.

Brainiac declares that Krypton's world, "is at an end."