Kal-El's ship
From Smallville Wiki
Kal-El's ship was the Kryptonian spacecraft that brought young Kal-El from Krypton to Earth. The ship also carried the brainwaves of Kal-El's father Jor-El, as well as genetic matter which eventually became Davis Bloome.
The ship was built by Jor-El and his assistant, Raya.
Contents |
[edit] Physical Appearance
Clark's spaceship was an egg-shaped metal pod encased within a structure shaped like a Kryptonian pentagon. When first seen, it was covered with a charred, scale-like shell, but by the time of its next appearance, this shell was gone.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
Powered by the Key and made from high-density materials, Clark's ship was capable of interstellar travel and designed to withstand a journey of many light-years [citation needed]. It was perfected with a protection program which prevented kryptonite radiation from harming it or others, and possessed the ability to emit a healing light on humans or Kryptonians. The ship's interstellar drive and propulsion system, however, has never been determined. While on Earth, the ship showed itself capable of hovering in place and flying.
Clark was placed inside the ship as a baby; when he emerged from the craft after arriving on Earth, he was roughly 3 years old. This suggests that the ship must have somehow placed Clark in a state of suspended animation that provided him with nutrients while still allowing him to age. (Alternately, his young age could be explained by the sort of time dilation that Einstein's theory of specific relativity predicts would happen at speeds approaching the speed of light.)
Clark's ship was capable of containing the brainwaves of a single Kryptonian. Before sending the ship off on its journey to Earth, Clark's Kryptonian father Jor-El copied his brain patterns into the craft; this supports the suggestion that the ship had some degree of a pre-programmed intelligence approaching some level of sentience. The ship guided itself from Krypton to Earth, and not only found Smallville, Kansas, but also made sure to land near Jonathan and Martha Kent at Miller's Field, not at the Kent Farm where they lived. The ship also appeared to have the ability to detect Clark. When the ship powered up after Roger Nixon inserted its Key, it immediately took off and flew towards the tornadoes, possibly to search for and protect Clark.
[edit] The Heart
The Heart is one component of Clark's ship. This device appears to activate the craft's memory banks where pre-recorded messages are stored. It does not appear to be necessary for the ship to fly or for any other functions of the craft. The Kryptonian inscription on the Heart translates as "Jor-El" and "Kal-El."
Jonathan Kent showed Clark the Heart when he revealed to Clark his true extraterrestrial origins, and explained that he removed the Heart from Clark's ship before it closed.
About two years later, Clark opened his ship with the Key and inserted the Heart to receive this message from his Kryptonian birth father: "On this third planet from this star Sol, you will be a god among men. They are a flawed race. Rule them with strength, my son. That is where your greatness lies."
[edit] Vulnerabilities
Clark's ship required the Key in order to be active and fly. Without it, the ship would power down and lay dormant. Due to a design flaw in the ship, the Key seemed to regularly fall out while the ship was flying on Earth. The Key fell out twice: first when the ship crash-landed in Miller's Field, and years later when the ship flew into the tornadoes that hit Smallville and was struck by lightning; the high-powered winds then blew the Key away from the ship.
When a kryptonite version of the Key was placed in the ship, the ship began to grow a green moss over itself before it lifted off the ground and exploded.
[edit] Early History
When Krypton began to suffer massive tremors caused by Zor-El after he ignited the planet's core using the Brain InterActive Construct, Jor-El and his wife Lara placed their son Kal-El inside the ship, and Jor-El copied his brainwaves into the ship. Before Kal-El's ship left Krypton, General Zod and Faora attached the hybrid genetic matter of their "son" to the ship.
Kal-El's ship traveled trillions of miles through space before arriving to Earth amidst the first of two meteor showers that rained down on Smallville, Kansas, crash-landing in Miller's Field. It, along with its young passenger, was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent shortly after. After adopting Kal-El, the Kents hid the spaceship in the storm cellar on their farm. Meanwhile, Zod and Faora's son left the ship before it crash-landed, landing somewhere near Metropolis where he was found and put into an orphanage, eventually growing up to become Davis Bloome.
[edit] Season One
Clark's ship remained hidden in the Kents' storm cellar for 12 years until Jonathan Kent showed the ship to Kal-El, now called "Clark," revealing his true origins.
While Ryan James was staying with the Kents, he found out that Clark was indeed an alien and went into the storm cellar to see Clark's ship for himself until he was found by Clark where Ryan confessed his telepathic abilities to Clark.
When Roger Nixon was listening in on a conversation between the Kents, he overheard that Clark was an alien and hid the ship in the storm cellar. Nixon went to the Luthor Mansion to get the Key from Lex Luthor's desk and put it in the ship, activating it.
[edit] Season Two
When the Key was reunited with the ship, it unleashed a healing ray upon Martha Kent and cured her infertility. The spaceship then set out to find Clark whilst he was saving Lana Lang from a tornado, but was struck by lightning, causing the Key to fall out and the ship to power down and fall into a cornfield, where it remained for three months.
Pete Ross found the ship, and tried to have Clark bring it to his house to open it, but it was later stolen by Dr. Steven Hamilton. Clark and Pete found the ship and returned it to the Kent Farm, where it was hidden in the storm cellar once again.
The ship saved Clark's life several times, once by neutralizing Lana's meteor rock necklace, and again by releasing a burst of energy which cured both Clark and Martha of an illness brought on by kryptonite spores.
After learning about his heritage, Clark opened the ship and read a message from his Kryptonian birth father, which indicated that Clark was sent to conquer Earth. When it was time for Clark to fulfill his destiny, Jor-El spoke through the ship and tried to force Clark to do his bidding. To stop Jor-El, Clark stole a kryptonite copy of the Key from Lionel Luthor and placed it in the ship. Once Clark did this, the ship imploded and then exploded; the resulting energy wave caused a car accident in which Martha miscarried her unborn child.
[edit] Season Three
When Clark went to stop Lex from undergoing a kryptonite-based treatment to revive lost memories that could uncover his secret, he was lured into a trap set by Lionel Luthor and Dr. Lawrence Garner so Lionel could uncover Clark's secret. Weakened by the kryptonite water in the tank, Clark was paralyzed and was placed into the tank. Under the influence of the kryptonite and the machinery, he dreamt about his earliest memory and barely remembered being placed into the ship by Jor-El and Lara.
[edit] Season Five
While under the influence of silver kryptonite, Clark hallucinated seeing his spaceship in a strange room.
[edit] Season Seven
When Clark went back in time to save Kara and his younger self from Brainiac, he placed baby Kal-El in his spaceship, which closed with its young passenger inside and set off on its journey to Earth. It is presumed that Brainiac killed Jor-El and Lara.
[edit] Season Eight
Faora revealed that she and her husband General Zod, unable to have children, combined the DNA of the most powerful Kryptonian creatures with their own to create the ultimate being, which they then attached to Clark's ship as genetic matter before it left Krypton.
When Kal-El's ship landed in Miller's Field and the Kents found Clark, a burnt cocoon also landed near the ship. The cocoon hatched and liquid leaked to out form the body of a young, fragile 3-year-old Davis Bloome.
[edit] Appearances
- Season 1: Pilot, Stray, Tempest
- Season 2: Vortex, Duplicity, Lineage, Skinwalker, Fever, Rosetta, Visitor, Exodus
- Season 3: Memoria
- Season 5: Splinter
- Season 7: Apocalypse
- Season 8: Eternal
- Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton
