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This article is about the city of Kandor. For the Season 9 episode, see Kandor (episode).
KandorCity

City of Kandor

Kandor was a large city on the planet Krypton. It was razed in a battle between the realm of Kandor and Black Zero, twenty years before the destruction of Krypton.

Around the time of the battle, many residents of Kandor were scanned and cloned by Jor-El; these clones were stored in the Orb until they were released on Earth by Tess Mercer.

Kandor was also the home of the exiled House of El members, Zor-El and his daughter Kara.

The Destruction of Kandor[]

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Zod and Jor-El watch the destruction of Kandor from the distance.

It is revealed that Kandor itself was destroyed twenty years prior to the destruction of Krypton. During a civil war of unknown origin, Major Zod commanded a group of soldiers during the battle. However, a catastrophic explosion took the city.

Zod, Jor-El, and numerous other soldiers had their blood samples taken during this time, where they were later resurrected by the orb on Earth. It seems that the city was rebuilt after this, as Kara had mentioned living in Kandor and she was not alive during the time of its destruction.

Kara and Kandor[]

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Kara on Kandor.

Kandor was home to many important buildings for Krypton and the Science Council. It was home to the Science Council's military headquarters, the government building where the Science Council commute and also had a large mine which was run by Zor-El.

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Kara tries to escape from Kandor.

Zor-El started to ignite Krypton's core from Kandor's mine before Jor-El stopped him, and locked-down the control room. Jor-El informed him that General Zod had been captured, and that he was under arrest for his association with Zod. Zor-El then contacted Brainiac, who overrode the lockdown and enabled Zor-El to re-ignite Krypton's core, which subsequently started Krypton's destruction.

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Kara escapes from Kandor.

When Kara found out about her father's association with Zod, she contacted her aunt Lara and told her that Zor-El was planning to destroy Krypton. Zor-El found her and tried to stop her but she pushed him onto hologram crystals and injured him. He then erased her memories of that day and sent her away in the ship he planned to use to escape Krypton, along with a blue crystal, so she could resurrect him on Earth, as he couldn't make the journey to Earth injured.

Kandor was presumably destroyed along with Krypton when the planet exploded, although there was no onscreen confirmation of this.

Rumor of Kandor[]

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The Orb "talking" with Tess about Kandor.

Kara Kent heard a rumor in the Phantom Zone that Kandor was not destroyed and somehow survived the destruction of Krypton. She went looking for Kandor in late 2008 leaving Smallville and Clark.

Tess seemed to be taking instructions from a voice within the Orb, asking if Kal-El was ready to fulfill the prophecy and she was to save Kandor.

After Doomsday was imprisoned beneath Earth's surface, the Orb transported at least one being to Earth. It later emerged that the being was Major Zod, a group of his soldiers and the rest of Kandor. Their last memory was being in Kandor and giving blood. They had no awareness that Krypton had been destroyed, and were confused as to why they lacked powers under a yellow sun.

In the Comics[]

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Kandor as it apperars in the comics.

In the DC Comics universe, Kandor was once the capital of Krypton until it was shrunken and stolen by the supervillain Brainiac, several years before the planet was destroyed. Superman discovered the city in Brainiac's possession when the android came to Earth decades later to harvest more cities (Action Comics #242, Jul 1958) and rescued it, keeping it in his Fortress of Solitude while looking for a way to restore it to full size. In return, the Kandorians provided the superhero with a place where he was an honored guest, various professionals to assist him when asked and even occasionally assisted him in the outside with the Superman Emergency Squad.

Shrinking Kandor

Kandor, being encased in a containment field and subsequently shrunken by Brainiac.

Eventually, Superman was able to restore the population to normal size and they settled on another planet that revolved around a red sun. Originally calling the planet New Krypton, the Kandorians decided to name their new homeworld Rokyn, which is the Kryptonian word for "gift from God". Later it was revealed the planet was on a dimensional fault, which meant it would at times be sent to another dimension. Superman constructed a replica of the bottle-sized city to keep as a memento but was surprised when thousands of tiny aliens, fleeing the destruction of their home planet, moved into it. When told the city's original name was Kandor, the aliens decided to call it that as well. On a trial basis, Superman restored two inhabitants to normal size to introduce them to life on Earth, but discovered that the population had a dangerous reaction to the planet's environment which transformed them into mindless, powerful and rampaging beasts who were difficult for Superman to control. As such, Superman decided that for the time being, the New Kandorians would have to remain in the bottled city with a carefully filtered atmosphere until that medical problem was solved.

In The Last Days of Krypton, Kandor is depicted as the capital city of the planet of Krypton, home of the Council and the Temple of Rao. The city was besieged by the Brain Interactive Construct, later renamed Brainiac by Commissioner Zod. Brainiac had admired the beauty and architecture of Kandor and wanted to preserve the city from destruction, should disaster strike Krypton as it did on his home planet of Colu. Commissioner Zod permitted Brainiac's taking of Kandor, stating that Brainiac could have the city, as the rest of Krypton belonged to him. Brainiac's ship fired three lasers that pummeled the surrounding crust around Kandor and literally upheaved the city from Krypton's surface. A force field was then erected around the city which contracted, shrinking the city and its inhabitants. Brainiac departed without causing further destruction or seizing other Kryptonian cities.

The Post-Crisis version of the bottle city has a somewhat different history, having been created by an alien wizard named Tolos, who trapped representatives of various races (including Valor's uncle) within, in order to possess their bodies. This city is not literally shrunken, but exists in an extra-dimensional space, occasionally connected to the Phantom Zone . Superman has not, as yet, managed to restore it.

In Week Thirty-Seven of the 52 series, Rip Hunter and Supernova use Kandor as a hiding place. They are using the technology of Kandor, along with several other pieces of super-technology, to find a way to fix the timeline before the villainous Skeets finds them. It is revealed Kandor is currently inhabiting the undamaged sub-basements of the then-demolished Fortress of Solitude. Skeets does show up, banging against the glass of the bottle, terrifying the residents and damaging many of the buildings. In an effort to get to his two adversaries, he actually pushes the bottle off its platform, but Supernova/Booster Gold emerges to full size just in time to save the city. Booster is shown carefully placing the city back. Further shots show nothing more than the initial cracks to the buildings. Rip, still inside the city, is unhurt.

Kandor returned after the 2005-2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis with Power Girl and Supergirl temporarily taking the positions of Kryptonian vigilantes Nightwing and Flamebird. The city of Kandor is now apparently ruled by Ultraman, brainwashed by Saturn Queen into a speciesist despot, claiming the Kal-El identity for himself, and center of a religion built around himself. The aliens of the city are a repressed minority, subject to arrest or execution on a whim. Ultraman does not treat his 'own' people any better, he murders several for inadvertently seeing politically sensitive information.

In Action Comics #846, it is revealed that in New Earth continuity, Jax-Ur was banished into the Phantom Zone after he destroyed Krypton's moon, including the lunar colony of Kandor. It notes that the true fate of Kandor was never known to Kryptonians, however.

In Superman #670, it was revealed that the bottled city residing in the Fortress, and containing various alien races, was not the true Kryptonian City of Kandor after all. This bottled city was said to exist in another dimension, with the bottle simply being the link between dimensions. The bottle was destroyed, eliminating the link between Earth and the false Kandor.

The true Kandor is revealed to be possessed by Brainiac.

Lex Luthor said that the true Kryptonian city of Kandor was so well-respected throughout the universe, that it inspired other planets to name cities Kandor as well, explaining why Superman has encountered several different cities going by that name.

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The people of Kandor on their new home planet New Krypton.

After Superman battles and defeats the true Brainiac, Superman takes the stolen Kandor off of Brainiac's ship. However, without Brainiac's control, the field surrounding the city that keeps it miniaturized becomes unstable. Superman takes Kandor to the North Pole, where it expands to its rightful size, freeing all of Kandor's denizens, fifteen years later, his uncle Zor-El and Alura, who had been placed in the city by Brainiac after he destroyed the floating Argo City. Upon release from the bottle, the Kryptonian residents of Kandor come under Earth's yellow sun, and gain powers just like Superman. After this development becomes public, some members of the Justice League and Justice Society express their concern to Superman about the potential dangers of 100,000 Kryptonians making Earth their home. General Sam Lane recruits Lex Luthor to help address this problem, as part of the covert Project 7734.

After Zor-El is assassinated by Luthor's agents, Alura takes over leadership of Kandor. Spurred by her newfound hatred for humanity and growing anti-Kryptonian sentiment on Earth after the deaths of several police officers, Kandor uses Brainiac's technology to grow an entirely new planet in Earth's solar system, on the opposite side of the sun on Earth's orbit, while the Kryptonians lift the city up and deposit it onto the new world, which they name New Krypton .

Quotes[]

Kara: (sighs) It's different for you, Kal-El. You don't have any memory of Krypton. This has always been your home.
Clark: Well, then, be my memory. Tell me about my family.
Kara: It's hazy from all those years of sleep in the ship. I do remember some. (chuckles) I used to, uh, sneak away from Kandor and come and see Lara. She always made me smile.
Clark: You knew my mom?
Kara: The day she found out she was pregnant, I'd never seen her so happy. (sighs) You were so cute. You were her miracle baby. And now she's gone. My parents are gone, the entire House of El. I'll never see any of my family ever again.
Clark: Well, you're with family now.
Season Seven, Kara

Kara: Everything and everyone that I love is here on Krypton.
Zor-El: This crystal is your way back to us. So long as you have it, the world you know and love will be safe.
Kara: Why can't you come with me?
Zor-El: I'm needed here to protect Kandor.
Season Seven, Lara

Kara: When I was in that hell-hole, I heard rumors that Kandor still exists. Kal-El, I think that a part of our civilization may have survived before the explosion. If I can find that city, I can save our bloodline.
Season Eight, Bloodline

Orb: Is Kal-El ready to fulfill the prophecy?
Tess: I did as you asked. The crystal has been destroyed.
Orb: Then you shall be the savior of Kandor.
Season Eight, Injustice

Appearances[]

External links[]

See also[]

Places in Smallville
Smallville Crater LakeHigh SchoolKawatche CavesKent Farm (barn, house, storm cellar) • Luthor MansionLuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant Number ThreeMain Street (Beanery) • Medical CenterMiller's FieldTalon (apartment, basement)
Metropolis Ace of ClubsBelle ReveCadmus LabsC&L's apartmentDaily PlanetIsis FoundationGeneral HospitalLuthorCorp Plaza (Level 33.1) • Queen TowerSuicide SlumsSummerholt InstituteUniversityWatchtower
Other Black CreekCheckmate CastleD.E.O. headquartersEgyptFortress of SolitudeGotham City (Arkham Asylum, Batcave, Wayne Manor) • GranvilleS.T.A.R. LabsStar CityThemyscira
Planets AlmeracApokolipsEarth-1Earth-2Earth-MajesticKrypton (Kandor, New Krypton, Phantom Zone) • MarsOa
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