You know, I'm still not convinced that Jor-El and Lara are conquerors or colonizers in Superman 2025 and Supergirl 2026. Based on how Rutheye and Krem react to Kara being Kryptonian, I don't get the sense that Kryptonians were invaders. Rutheye's response almost seems... heartbroken for Kara. I don't believe Kryptonians were this evil force in the universe. Maybe elitist and reclusive, but for Rutheye, who is a true working class citizen and fully aware of them, to not have ANY negative reactions when learning Kara is Kryptonian and shows more sadness than fear....... yea, I don't think Kryptonians are the colonizers audiences believe them to be.
We see Zor-El and Alura resent the idea of Kal-El becoming a conqueror of worlds, and Zor-El is uneasy by the idea of send Kara off to become a god on a planet with a yellow sun. Considering how well respected Zor-El seemed to be on Argo, I could honestly believe many Kryptonians align with his ideals. I think majority of Kryptonians were in the same mindset, and that Jor-El and Lara didn't become outliers until the end.
As I'm writing this, I have Superman 2025 paused right after the Engineer downloads the rest of Jor-El and Lara's message. I watched their expressions closely, and they look horrified by what they're saying. You can see Lara literally bracing herself, even gripping her stomach like she's sick listening to Jor-El, and she has this almost horrified expression. She can't even look at him. She literally turns her head down when he starts telling Kal-El to lord over the planet. It's almost as though she hates hearing what Jor-El is saying, but she's also nodding along despite how haunted she id, like she agrees their decision is the right one. A means to an end, so to be speak. Jor-El's demeanor changes, too. He genuinely looks hopeful in the first half of the message, and then in the second half, he looks haunted and hollow. We even see him glance at Lara right as she looks down, like he's not completely confident. He goes from looking like he believes in what he's saying, to repeating a script he's prepared. His voice goes monotone and flat. I don't think they have pride in the mission they gave Kal-El, but they see it as necessary. I vehemently believe what we saw were desperate parents in their very last moments terrified for their infant son they're launching far off all alone into space.
I believe Jor-El and Lara were normal Kryptonians who were simply living their lives. I don't think Jor-El had his sights set on the rest of the universe. He couldn't have, because he had to be focused solely on Krypton to recognize the signs of its impending doom. Jor-El and Zor-El worked together, and Zor-El never says anything to make the audience think he resents his brother. It seems more like he simply resents their two vastly different ideas on how to preserve Krypton. But he never says anything to indicate he didn't get along with Jor-El. Even when talking about Jor's plans, he looks sad, not horrified. I would not be surprised if they were brothers who loved each other dearly, and in their final moments had ideological departures from each other.
I made a post about this a while ago, but I truly think the people we see in the recording are simply terrified parents. They're people who didn't think there was any possible way to save Krypton, which they ended up ultimately being right about, outside of genetic preservation. Maybe they feared what kind of world they were sending Kal-El to. We don't know how much of Earth Kryptonians know about. We know they knew there's a yellow sun, but that doesn't necessarily mean they knew much about humans other than everyone on Earth looks Kryptonian. Maybe Clark's parents saw some really dark parts of humanity. Maybe they just simply didn't think highly of humans because technologically speaking we're behind. Maybe they thought humans are inferior and were a perfect way for Krypton to survive through descendants. Maybe humans were the closest genetic link they could find to Kryptonians, and it wasn't the ideal planet they would have chosen otherwise. We don't know. But I do think they were afraid for Kal-El's safety. I think they decided to leave a harsh message because they feared for Kal-El's future and ability to protect himself.
This makes me question the Fortress' origins and purpose, because I almost wonder if Jor-El intended for the Superman robots to raise Kal-El. Jor-El and Zor-El knew well in advance what would happen to Krypton, and that gave them time to develop technology to enact their own plans in saving their people. Zor-El made the force field to save what already existed, and Jor-El built the ship to carry on its genetic legacy through a new generation (in a very horrifying way). Maybe Jor also designed crystals with programming to build the Fortress from whatever material it came into contact with, hence why it's made of ice in the movie. Clark's ship was damaged in transit. Maybe his ship was knocked off course from its intended coordinates on Earth, or the Fortress programming was delayed. I don't know. But if they wanted him to be a conqueror... it makes so much more sense that Jor and Lara would want Kal-El to be raised by Kryptonian robots instead of humans.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong about all of it!
I actually hope we don't get answers. I like having the space to come up with head canons and theories. It also doesn't make much sense to get answers anyway, because the people who knew those intents are gone. Not even Zor-El is around to answer those questions Clark has. I think these are questions Clark and Kara should have to live with, instead of getting some convenient answer to make them and the audience feel better about their family's history.
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