Warning: SPOILERS for Superman & Lois season 1, episode 14, "Fail Safe."
To finally fulfill his father’s dream for the return of Krypton on Superman & Lois, Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner) just made the ultimate sacrifice and became the Arrowverse’s Eradicator. Shortly after beating Edge and saving the world from a General Zod-possessed Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), the main characters may now have an even bigger challenge ahead of them. Here's what the Eradicator plan was, and why Edge had to die.
For most of the season, Superman, Lois (Bitsie Tulloch), and John Henry Irons (Wolé Parks) have been focused on thwarting the schemes of Morgan Edge, who was using X-Kryptonite mined from Smallville to transfer the spirits of dead Kryptonians into the minds of humans. What was perhaps the biggest twist of the season came when Edge revealed himself to be Tal-Rho, the secret half-brother of Superman and a Kryptonian refugee who has been hiding on Earth since the planet’s destruction. Apparently, Edge has been doing the bidding of his father, Zeta-Rho (A.C. Peterson).
The final stroke of the two villains’ plan to take over Earth with a Kryptonian army appeared to be overwriting Superman’s identity with General Zod, but the end of their final battle and Edge’s defeat confirmed that this actually wasn’t what Edge was supposed to do originally. Edge mysteriously destroying the Eradicator with his heat-ray vision was a hint that he had one more trick up his sleeve. The penultimate episode of Superman & Lois season 1, titled “Fail Safe”, laid out Zeta-Rho’s master plan at last and provided an explanation for why Edge waited until the very last minute to set it into motion. Now, Edge has become the Eradicator. Here’s what that means and how it connects to the comics.
In DC Comics, the Eradicator was initially an advanced, alien AI created for the purpose of preserving Kryptonian culture and society. After Superman found the Eradicator and brought it to the Fortress of Solitude, it began to infect him without his knowledge. Gradually, Superman underwent a process intended to transform him into a true Kryptonian who follows the ways of their people to the letter. The Eradicator’s influence proved tough to fight off, but in the end Superman’s willpower prevailed over the AI.
Sometime after that, DC evolved the Eradicator into a flesh-and-blood Superman villain. It generated a humanoid form for itself to control thanks to the energy of the sun. It was defeated again, but has returned a few times since, usually as a Superman-esque killing machine bent on defeating the Man of Steel. As an android facsimile of Superman, Eradicator is armed with all of his powers, making him a force to be reckoned with in the DC Universe. He also boasts a few that Kryptonians don’t have, such as the ability to discharge blasts of energy from his hands.
It was mentioned in Superman & Lois episode 13 that there was a phase in their plan that Morgan Edge has had serious trepidations about from the very beginning, but it wasn’t clear why. Flashbacks of Edge’s Kryptonian training at his Fortress of Solitude in the desert shed light on why he was so hesitant to follow through on one of his father’s commands. What Zeta-Rho ultimately wanted from Edge was for him to use the Eradicator on himself, with the idea being that this was the best way to revive Krypton. Exactly what it would do to him wasn’t discussed, but it was made apparent that Edge would have to “die” to become the Eradicator. In other words, Zeta-Rho envisioned Edge allowing the Eradicator to take him over completely. The Edge personality, as a result, would be gone forever, having been replaced by this new identity.
It looks like Zeta-Rho wanted this to happen because he understood that the Eradicator would have capabilities that are beyond any Kryptonian’s. Edge took a step toward becoming the Eradicator in episode 13, but was still showing signs of resistance in the latest episode when he was in ARGUS' Kryptonite-powered cell. As revealed by the episode’s ending, Edge could have broken out at any time with the Eradicator’s power, but put off his escape. As for why he waited, Edge was still hoping for another way forward. The only chance he had left of avoiding his transformation into the Eradicator was lost for good when Superman captured his last remaining ally, Leslie Larr (Stacey Farber). After accepting that there was only one option left, Edge embraced the Eradicator’s power and gave in to his father’s wishes. In doing so, he surrendered his own freewill and identity.
Morgan Edge has become the Eradicator, but what does that actually mean in the Arrowverse? One possibility is that Superman & Lois is following the comics. If that’s the case, then the device must have had an AI hidden within in it that’s now controlling Edge’s body. However, the Arrowverse’s use of the Eradicator thus far hasn’t provided any setup for such a reveal. Instead of being depicted as an AI, Superman & Lois’ Eradicator has been shown to be a device made for replacing human consciousnesses with Kryptonian spirits somehow housed inside it. When taking that into consideration, a more likely scenario is that the Morgan Edge version of the Eradicator will be consistent with what the show has already established about the machine and its purpose.
The multitude of Kryptonian voices (including Zeta Rho’s) that can be heard in recent scenes with Morgan Edge suggests that he absorbed all of the Eradicator’s Kryptonian consciousnesses. It could be that somehow – with Edge’s permission -- they all converged into a singular, collective entity who will find new ways to rebuild their fallen world. That’s an idea with some scary implications for the Arrowverse, because it would pit Superman against not one Kryptonian villain, but a fusion of hundreds. An opponent like that would have access to all sorts of secrets that they could use to their advantage. Plus, the combined intelligences of all these Kryptonians could make this character one of the most dangerous enemies Superman has faced in his entire superhero career. Making matters worse is the fact that the Eradicator has additional powers. Edge unleashing a wave of blue energy to break out of his cell proves that Kryptonite can’t stop him anymore, and even Superman himself may be outmatched now. It could take another team-up between Superman and Steel to bring him down in the Superman & Lois season 1 finale.
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