Original subtitles

Previously on Supergirl:

My brother was a traitor. He poisoned us.

Perhaps if I can access more of my memories,

I might be able to uncover what his next move will be.

Kelly, could we go deeper with Obsidian's tech?

That kind of power could reset your brain for good.

The power to incept was stolen from me in the Phantom Zone.

That woman gave you the answer.

Eve, meet Hope.

You two will working closely together.

I see you. You're a saboteur. That's a rotten way of making it to the top.

♪ I could lift you up ♪♪

Hey, Jarrod.

Blowing me off was not a smart move.

Was I unclear the first 12 times?

I'm not interested.

If you don't work with us, this will end very badly.

You're going with threats?

You should see what my board threatens me with every other Tuesday.

You're making a mistake.

♪ I could fill your cup ♪

♪ You know my river won't evaporate This world we still appreciate ♪

♪ You could be my luck ♪♪

Thanks, Jenny. The next time your sister asks you to babysit, just say no.

Remember, boundaries.

Speaking of boundaries, do you even know that woman?

I just met her, why?

She just told you her life story?

- It's kind of my job to listen, guys. - Kelly, you were attacked by a shape-shifter.

He's still out there.

And you have every DEO agent working to find him.

I don't think it could hurt to reel it in, just until they catch him.

And as Alex's sister, I can tell you she's almost always annoyingly right.

And as Kelly's brother, I can tell you she can handle herself.

Listen, I hate to break up this Danvers-Olsen scrimmage,

- but we have to get to our meeting. - Yeah.

Try not to worry so much.

- Okay. - Okay.

- Bye. - Bye.

Any sign of Malefic?

No. He doesn't seem to have any psychic signature either.

But we'll find him. We have to.

Oh, you... You all right?

Maybe I'm a little nervous about having lunch with Lena.

It's the first time we're hanging out since I told her I was Supergirl.

I was just lying to her for so long.

Kara, Lena forgave you.

Okay? So you're gonna just have to let go of the past.

I just want things to be great between us.

- And I want this lunch to be... - Perfect.

- Yes. - And it will.

Look, Lena wants your relationship back on track too.

Look, I have to get back to the DEO. You go be perfect somewhere else.

- I'll try. - Okay.

Damn it.

The transmitter you duplicated from the Obsidian contacts

uses an ocular interface.

Since you've modeled it directly into the brain,

may I suggest you lower the frequency another 7.32 percent?

It's not that, Hope. In theory, Q-Waves should allow me

to re-write portions of the human brain.

To rid the world of lying, manipulation and violence.

Yes, but, no matter how I manipulate the frequency,

the transmitter only allows me to read information from the brain.

If I try to augment it, I get a zombie effect.

And you don't want a world of robots.

- You just want better people. - Right.

I am sorry, Ms. Luthor. It must be uncomfortable,

with me in this form, for you to trust me.

I don't trust people, Hope. I believed I could, once.

I had friends who made me believe I could. But they betrayed me, like everyone else.

Your brother, Lex, was the worst of them.

But I believe he could help you now.

I have access to Eve Teschmacher's memories.

Lex was working with Q-Waves.

It was part of a plan to get past Superman's invulnerable skin.

He left detailed records in his private journals.

- His journals? - There are three of them.

They are currently in a Level-5 secure facility at Fort Summit.

However, upon further analysis, retrieving them would be impossible.

For me, maybe, but...

not for everyone.

Graceful arcs across her brow I'm left forever to wonder how

A being as perfect as my Nia Nal

- Could ever love someone as small... - Put up with this all?

- What was that? - Um...

Just, thank you, for poem one hundred and...

- One hundred and twenty-seven. - One hundred and twenty-seven.

I've almost mastered the sonnet.

Oh, I think you've got it.

But you don't want to overdo it.

You're right.

"Brevity is the soul of wit," as Polonius said to Hamlet.

Now I shall move on to the villanelle. A more complicated form,

but capable of much deeper emotional resonance.

As exemplified by Dylan Thomas's "Don't Go Gentle into that Good Night..."

Nia...

All right, what's next on the docket? Any celebrity divorces?

Disgraced influencers?

Show me the clicks.

I've got this week's medical examiner's report,

and I thought we could run a story on recent deaths.

People love to read about death. It reminds them that they're alive,

and it gives them the pleasure of schadenfreude. I like it.

Twenty-year-old Uber driver hit by a car.

If the person is boring, then the cause of death is boring.

Wow me.

Show me some sparkly death.

No, no, no... Um, oh!

Dr. Niles Jarrod, health tech billionaire.

Recently discovered deceased in a nightclub bathroom.

Oh, my God, Dr. Jarrod died?

I... I interviewed him last year.

For your piece on the moral implications of gene manipulation.

Knowing the dead person does not make their death interesting. Next.

Wait, wait. A 33-year-old genius doing significant work

in the field of extending life dies young,

unexpectedly? It's tragic and certainly worth a story.

There's hard news, legitimate feature or brain candy.

The sentimental tripe you just pitched is a category of its own: trash.

- How dare you... - William's right.

A dead scientist is not sparkly.

And there's no substantive story.

So stop wasting our time.

How do you know there's no substantive story?

When we haven't looked into it yet.

I have looked into it. Thoroughly.

Nothing there.

Franklin, next corpse please.

I like it. Perfect.

I think you know more about the Jarrod story

and for some reason, you don't want me on it.

- You're paranoid. - You lied up there. Why?

Stop humiliating yourself, Danvers.

It's painful to watch.

I know that braid. Ha, ha.

You okay?

Yeah, I thought I had William Dey pegged as an ambitious ass.

But I think he might be much worse.

Do you remember that piece I did on genetic engineering?

Yeah.

Well, my main subject, Dr. Jarrod, was found dead in a club.

- Overdose? - Unclear.

William Dey spiked the story. He said he'd already looked into it

and there's nothing more to find.

- So? - He was lying.

Heart rate was through the roof.

He knows something more about Dr. Jarrod's death

and he doesn't want me to find out about it.

Sounds like we should be calling my contact at the M.E.'s office.

- I'm sorry, "we"? - Yeah, I mean, I wanna get out of my head

about the job offers and we may have a murder to solve.

- Unless you don't want a super-friend? - No, of course I do.

Okay, then. I'll keep you updated.

Okay.

- Nia, come on in. - J'onn, what is it? Is it Mal?

No, no, no, nothing like that.

Another poem.

Every hour of every day, Brainy sends a new ode to a new body part.

Sorry, uh, not appropriate or important right now.

How can I help?

I wanna restore my missing memories.

I was hoping that you and your dream power might go deeper than Kelly's technology could.

Isn't messing with memories dangerous?

No, I believe that restoring lost memories through dreams should be safe

because I will be finding them myself in an organic way.

With your help, of course.

J'onn, are you sure you want to remember?

Malefic said I was still in the dark.

I believe he's right. And one of those missing memories has the key

to unlock why he betrayed our people.

Why he's coming after everybody I care about.

If I can truly understand what happened...

I might be able to stop him.

Pete Andrews?

What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in what, like, two years?

One of the guys posted something online about you working here so...

- That's funny, I just started. - Well, I was in town.

I thought I might drop by and see your new digs.

Kind of fancy, Olsen.

Thanks.

God, it's so cool of you to stop by.

- Dr. Olsen? Your 1:30 appointment is here. - Yeah.

I'm sorry, I'd love to catch up, I just can't right now.

Kelly, I came to National City to see you.

I think...

I think I need help.

Of course.

My last appointment wraps up around 6:30.

Come back then, we'll talk.

Thank you.

You always had the biggest heart in the world.

You brought me coffee eclairs from Cafe Rue Serret

- on the Champs-Élysées? - I know they're your favorite.

And the cappuccinos, did you really go to Pavé in Milan?

It didn't take me that long.

I've really been missing out on the perks of having Supergirl as a best friend.

Well, we have a lot of lost time to make up for.

You know you don't have to go to Paris to pick up lunch, Kara.

That's not what's important to me.

But these scones from Dublin? Oh, my God, you can fly these in every day.

Mm! So tell me.

How is CatCo?

Is everything okay? Is Andrea behaving civilized?

Oh...

Not exactly the word I would use to describe her.

Her mandate has been making CatCo the most viewed news website in the world,

using tactics like pop quizzes and click bait.

- Kara, I'm so sorry to hear that. - Yeah, and then she hired this snake

- named William Dey. - Wait, William Dey? Really?

He's supposed to be a really talented journalist.

I know, but sadly, talent doesn't always mean integrity.

I have no idea what his MO is, but James is helping me figure it out.

Enough about me. How are you?

Um...

To tell you the truth, I haven't had the easiest time of it since Lex...

I've been having nightmares.

- I try not to sleep. - Oh, Lena...

Nights are filled with apocalyptic visions of torture and anguish

at the hands of my brother.

Kelly is working with PTSD patients at Obsidian North. Maybe she can help you?

Thank you, but you know how private a person I am.

- Yeah. - The really frustrating part

is I've figured out a way to heal myself.

Do you remember the journals we found at Strykers?

- Of course. - Reading them is the only thing that calms me.

Somehow, hearing Lex's voice takes the mystery away and the terror.

I just know if I could read them all, I'd be able to cure myself of the trauma.

- Then, that's what you have to do. - Unfortunately, that's not an option.

The government's confiscated all of Lex's possessions.

His technology, his weapons, even his childhood journals.

That's ridiculous. You're the only person that could have an interest in that.

- Can't you ask for them? - Believe me, I've tried, but it's all tied up

in bureaucracy and red tape. My lawyers said I'd never get them.

I could get them for you.

Kara, don't be ridiculous.

The journals will help you heal

and they're only locked up due to a technicality.

I could go and get them and no one would ever know.

- I couldn't ask you to do that. - You not asking. I'm...

I'm offering.

Oh! Oh, it's James. He's at the ME's Office.

That's okay, we can talk later.

Thank you.

Hey, we have five minutes.

You okay? You look like you robbed a bank.

Robbed a bank? No, never. I would never rob anything.

It's... It's just an expression, Kara.

Right.

Okay, healthy 33-year-old male, cause of death: heart attack.

EMTs found him unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a night club downtown.

There's something there.

Is that a... tattoo?

Inside his heart?

How do you get a tattoo inside your heart?

This is t'fek'lya. It may taste a little weird.

It's a Martian herb which aids in the connection of minds.

Ugh.

No, it's great.

You ready?

Let's do this.

- Get him. - Get him.

I don't understand. What is this?

Why are they in human form?

Your memories are being filtered through my subconscious,

in a way that makes sense to me.

J'onn, wait up.

J'onn, I think that's you.

Let's play hide and seek. J'onn, you're it.

I remember playing this game.

There.

Good job.

Malefic, you go now.

He cannot connect to the hive mind.

He can't do it.

- What's wrong with you? - He can't do anything.

Stop it, Mal.

Sleep.

I thought the White Martians used some kind of technology

to turn Malefic into a terrible weapon,

but he was born that way.

Born able to project his thoughts and his will on others...

but cut off from my people in the cruelest way.

Where are we going, Papa?

Where no one can hurt you, my son.

My beautiful son, know that you are loved

and that we will pray for you every day, as you must pray yourself.

Look to H'ronmeer's teachings for guidance and healing.

Let his counsel lighten your pain, so that he might deliver us to a better place.

Father. J'onn. Don't leave me here.

I'll be good. I promise.

Our god will never forsake you, Malefic.

I love you.

Please.

Don't leave me here, I'll do anything!

Malefic, it's J'onn.

Father prays for your healing every day.

He has faith that...

one day you will return home to us.

H'ronmeer is not my salvation, brother.

They are.

H'ronmeer...

I've failed you as I failed my own son.

Allowed Malefic to be conscripted by the White Martians,

allowed the council to send him to that purgatory.

The agony in my heart...

it's...

unbearable.

In my father's anguish, he must have wiped both of our memories.

Wiped my brother from existence.

J'onn...

Of course Malefic turned against his own people.

The isolation...

the betrayal he must have felt.

He wasn't evil, he was a child. He needed our help.

And then my father goes and compounds the tragedy...

by wiping his memory from the collective.

For Martians, death isn't final, but erasing a memory is.

It's as if my father...

murdered his own son.

And the hypocrisy...

His whole life was about being a holy man...

and then he goes and commits our culture's greatest sin.

Where are the dumplings?

Oh, shoot. I totally forgot to put the order in.

Sorry, I just got caught up in investigating the weird death

- of this guy with a tattoo on his heart. - Ooh.

Okay, I can see why you forgot the dumplings.

- All's forgiven. - Yeah, but there's more.

William Dey, he knows something about it and he actively tried blocking me

- from getting involved. - Well, it sounds like a really good story, right?

And this guy's been very competitive with you.

- Do you think he trying to steal the scoop? - Maybe.

But something doesn't feel right.

As fascinated as I am by a dead guy with a tattooed heart,

I'm far more interested in hearing about your lunch with Lena.

- How did it go? - Uh...

It was great.

- Great. - Oh, no. What happened?

Nothing.

I flew to Paris, Milan, Dublin. I got all her favorite things.

It was... great.

So why do you look like you ran over a puppy?

It was nothing, really.

I just... I kind of spontaneously agreed to...

do a favor for Lena.

Okay, so what's wrong with that?

Nothing, it just entails breaking into a secure Army facility

and stealing Lex Luthor's journals.

What?

- Kara, are you out of your mind? - I just blurted it out.

I wasn't thinking. But you should have seen how much pain she was in.

And she's so traumatized by Lex's death and the journals are the only way

- she can find closure. - No.

You're gonna call her right now and tell her you made a mistake.

- You're not doing it. - I can't.

No, what you can't do is break the law and steal federal property.

Technically, I break the law all the time.

I just broke into a supermax prison two months ago.

That is totally different. That... That's to serve justice, right? Okay?

What you're talking about here is crossing that line for a friend.

How is it different?

She deserves to heal, and who would it be hurting?

You know what? Brainy just illegally hacked into security cameras at a nightclub to help me

solve this Dr. Jarrod's murder. I don't see you scolding him.

Totally different.

But, yes, Brainy shouldn't be using DEO tech to help you write articles.

I will crack down on that.

Just wanna point out: Who do you think we learned all this rule-breaking from?

That cuts deep.

That's Dr. Jarrod.

- With William Dey. - What would he be doing there?

Hang on, let me zoom in.

That's the spider. That's the tattoo on his heart.

- What do you see? Do you know that woman? - No.

But...

I know those tattoos.

Tell me what you're going through.

Migraines... panic attacks.

Getting pinned by snipers in Kandahar is hard on the psyche.

I'm not the same person I was before. Afghanistan took something from me.

Something in my brain is broken.

And I want it back.

Can you help me?

I have an opening this Friday and we'll start the intake process.

- It can take a few months to qualify for... - No!

I'm sorry. Kelly, I can't wait.

I'm in crisis now.

If I don't get a handle on this, I'm scared I'm gonna hurt myself.

I'm not going to let you hurt yourself, Pete.

But you have to understand. It's not that simple.

My job is new and there's protocol.

Kelly, please help me.

The office will thin out in an hour and I'll sneak you in later.

I'll start with the diagnostic and get you some answers.

But, Pete, we have to keep this on the down-low.

- Is that okay? - Of course.

You're a lifesaver.

Something is bothering you.

No, it's nothing.

Your pupil dilation says otherwise.

You can tell me anything.

Brainy, if you had something really important to tell someone,

but...

if you tell them, it would hurt them very much, would you still do it?

In my experience, if you care about someone, you should tell them the truth,

however painful. Both of you will be better for it.

If you're still feeling blue, I could cheer you up with a poem.

"An Ode to Nia Nal's Left Earlobe, A Villanelle."

No!

Please, no.

Is there something you wanted to tell me?

No.

But there is something that I have to tell J'onn.

They aren't tattoos. This is an Aurafacian, an alien organism that attaches to a host body.

This is the original host.

This Aurafacian was one of the aliens Lex had transferred out of our desert facility

and obviously is still at large.

It can transform between a tattoo and a three-dimensional creature,

making her uniquely dangerous and very hard to stop.

Now meet our new host.

- Can we get an ID? - Yeah.

And... bingo.

Caroline O'Connor. She's former Special Ops command,

she's highly rated in hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and she's a sniper.

She went off the radar two years ago and somehow hooked up with our alien.

- So somebody hired her to kill Jarrod. - Yeah, but who? And why?

Well, someone went a long way to cover her tracks.

Not far enough. We just got an address.

I'm not gonna let her hurt anyone else.

A flash drive hidden behind a dresser?

I don't think I invited you here.

I invited myself.

Yeah, I came prepared.

James!

This device uses magnetic resonance to attract the heavy metals in their ink.

- Are you ready? - Yeah.

We are examining the evidence from O'Connor's apartment.

Including the external drive you located, Supergirl.

I am simultaneously attempting to break the encryption on it,

but it is far more complicated than anything I've seen for the next 1000 years.

All right, let's get these down into holding.

- Ew. - Ew.

- You okay? - Yeah.

- I've been hit harder than that. - You didn't have to do that.

With everything you have on your plate, your potential run for Senate...

- What if she really hurt you? - When your friend's in trouble, you jump in.

Period.

Doesn't matter the consequences.

You keep resting.

Tell Alex and Brainy that I'll be right back. I'll be on comms

- if they get a lead on O'Connor. - Okay.

Where are you going?

To help a friend.

It's late, you all right?

I need to show you something.

It's the rest of your dream about what happened on Mars.

The part you didn't see.

Do you want to see it?

Because it's going to be painful.

Absolutely.

H'ronmeer...

I've failed you as I failed my own son.

The agony in my heart...

it's...

unbearable.

Father, you did the best you could for Mal.

- It's not your fault. - He was my boy.

My child.

He could not control his illness. The test was mine and I failed.

I do not deserve to live.

And how can I continue to counsel our people...

when I myself am nothing?

Father, our people need you.

I need you.

Then I have failed everyone.

H'ronmeer, forgive me.

It was me.

I'm sorry.

I erased him from our minds.

I as good as murdered my own brother.

To save your father.

Save us both.

I had...

I had gone to my father to seek counsel...

to ease my own pain.

And seeing him like that...

Rather than finding the strength to lift him up, I...

I crossed a line that's unforgivable in my culture.

I've spent the last 300 years...

trying to repent for having fled Mars...

only to find out...

that's the least of my sins.

I am so ashamed.

You did it out of compassion.

Out of goodness. Your father was heartbroken.

You saved him.

My father...

would rather die than have his holy mind wiped.

What I did, I did for myself.

You must swear to me...

you will never speak of what you saw to anyone.

I swear.

These will scan your brain and read your memories.

And your memories will appear on this screen.

You... You can see my memories?

Just so I can help you process them.

Everything's confidential.

Okay, but...

they're just appear there, in real-time?

No, there's a bit of a lag.

It takes a few minutes for the mapping to finish

and the image generators to do their thing.

Don't worry, you'll do great.

Let's do it.

Supergirl? Brainy cracked the encryption on O'Connor's drive.

Her next target is Dr. Andrew Stern at National City Hospital.

- We're en route. - I'm on my way.

Supergirl, I got him. We're in the atrium.

Dr. Stern, we have reason to believe you're the target of an assassination attempt...

Dr. Stern?

Nice shot.

You're really starting to bug me.

You're him.

My inception power, it worked.

It's Kelly.

Who do you work for? Who do you work for?

Alex!

She's dead.

What just killed her?

Thank you, human. You have returned my power.

- What? What are you doing to me? - This is the power

that the Phantom Zone took from me.

The power to control your mind.

You can thank your weakness for this.

In gratitude, I'll grant you a quick death.

No...

please.

Malefic, no!

Oh, no, H'ronmeer's curse!

Freeze!

Help, they're trying to kill me!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

There he is, the coffee guy.

No, no, no, wait! There he is, the janitor.

You can see me?

Kelly, look out!

He's gone.

- What happened? - Malefic came after her.

My psychic scan shows no serious signs of trauma.

But it would seem the release of Q-Waves somehow interacted with Obsidian's tech

and forged a link between Kelly's mind and Malefic's.

She can see him, even when he's shape-shifted.

If she can see him...

- Then she's a threat to him. - I'm afraid it's even worse than that.

My brother now has the Martian power to incept:

make you do the things he wants you to do against your will.

He'll come after her again.

He'll come after all of you.

Have you been able to figure out why he's doing this?

I put him in the Phantom Zone for betraying my people.

I guess he just wants revenge.

Look, I'm sorry that your association with me has put you all in danger.

But Malefic is my responsibility.

Right now...

we need to get Kelly to safety.

Taking her off the board is our best bet.

That way, I can focus all my attention and our DEO resources on finding him.

You want me to go away?

Yes, but just until we catch him.

I think Alex is right.

Don't worry, I'll stay with you. Okay?

No, you've got decisions to make. I don't want you missing out.

But you are my priority.

You should leave tonight.

How did it go with J'onn?

Good.

Turned out to be not that big of a deal.

I can sense that something is weighing on you.

- Well, nothing lifts the spirit like a villanelle. - Stop!

You said I have to be honest, even if it hurts your feelings,

so here's the truth. It's just too much.

Okay? From now on, no more food, no more poems. No more anything.

I know that you mean well.

I know where you're coming from, and it's sweet.

It's all so sweet, I just...

It's too much.

You...

You asked me to be myself,

to be completely myself with you.

But now you tell me you don't want that.

I can only operate at 100 percent. That's just how I'm built.

Which is entirely my problem...

not yours.

Brainy...

I heard about Jarrod.

Yeah.

I don't know how much longer I can keep this all going.

Keep at it.

And good luck.

♪ The time I thought that we would have ♪

You were right.

I was too open and too trusting.

It's all my fault.

- I hope they help. - They already have.

♪ I said things I can't take back ♪

- I hope we haven't crossed any boundaries. - No.

For a friend like you, there are no boundaries.

♪ There's a darkness that I've known ♪

Don't tell me where you're going.

- All right? It's gonna be better that way. - Okay.

- Thank you, James. - Thank you.

Hey.

Here. Take this. It's one of Lex's trans-matter portal watches.

Don't ask me how I got it.

If there's trouble, just use it.

- Thank you. - Everything is gonna be okay.

I'm gonna find Malefic and we're gonna bring you home.

- Bye. - Drive safe.

♪ And I know that I can be pretty mean ♪♪

You say everything's gonna be fine, but I know that face.

You don't believe it.

Look, I love the fact that she's so open. It just scares the life out of me.

Well, maybe it's not so bad and it'll all work out.

It worked out with me and Lena.

I hope so...

for the both of us.

Did you find what you need?

Take a look. Tell me what you see.

Lex's childhood journals.

Not seeing schematics or anything technical.

It's Lex's version of a Vigenère cypher.

It's a deceptively complex polyalphabetic substitution.

Ah.

I see it now.

Deciphering now.

And now I know what I have to do.