| ShortSummary | - The new Daily Planet editor pits Lois and Clark against each other for the right to keep their job, but the pair decide to write the ultimate story on ex-District Attorney Raymond Sacks, whose conviction was overturned. Their story ultimately collapses when the two of them become front page news for fighting at Sacks's "Welcome Back" party. As a result, the new editor fires both of them. Clark discovers that Lois has been talking to someone posing as the Blur, and when he tries to figure out who is really talking to Lois, the pressure of unmasking the Blur puts a strain on their relationship. Checkmate Agent Maxwell Lord kidnaps Lois and attempts to discover the identity of the Blur by combining the memories of people who have seen glimpses of the Blur into a single, cohesive identity. Clark prevents Lord from completing the image, and Lord's actions bring him face to face with the unidentified "Red Queen". As the Blur, Clark calls Lois and tells her they can never talk again, because of the danger their relationship poses to Lois.
- Clark and Lois head to a bed and breakfast for the weekend, but when they arrive they find Chloe and Oliver having their own romantic getaway. While settling in, Lois unwittingly releases the spirit of Siobhan McDougal, who was cursed and sent to live in the underworld, from a painting at the bed and breakfast. Known as the Silver Banshee by the villagers, the spirit transfers from one woman to the next, looking to murder any men who come into her path. Eventually, Chloe discovers that destroying the portrait of Siobhan with fire will send the spirit back to the underworld, so she throws the picture into a lit fireplace. Meanwhile, Tess reveals to Zod that she knows he has his powers and also proves to him that she knows his weakness when she opens a box of kryptonite around him. Zod reveals that he is jealous of Clark, as the latter has won the love of the city. Zod, pretending to be "The Blur", contacts Lois and requests that she find information on Tess.
- Zod appears to Lois claiming to be The Blur and accusing Clark of trying to reveal Zod's secret. Tess confronts Zod at the Fortress, in an effort to save Clark, but Zod gets the upper hand and uses his heat vision to burn her and leave her for dead before destroying the main console of the Fortress. Clark takes Tess to the hospital, where she tells him there is a second console that will activate the book. Later, Tess is pronounced dead at the hospital. Zod attacks Lois when she discovers he is not the Blur, but Clark saves her and reveals his true identity to her through a kiss. Zod's troops learn of his deceptive actions and agree to follow Clark to their new home through the Book of Rao. Zod uses a blue kryptonite dagger to make him and Clark human, and keep them from ascending. Clark intentionally stabs himself with it and falls off the roof of a building, leaving Zod without its protection and forcing him to ascend with the others off Earth.
- After Tess is admitted to the hospital showing zombie-like symptoms, Clark has Dr. Hamilton investigate the cause with a Disease Control specialist. Clark overhears that Tess was at the Daily Planet when she began to show symptoms, so he speeds to the Planet to rescue Lois. In a battle with multiple zombie attackers, Lois is bitten. Clark then volunteers his blood to Dr. Hamilton, who discovers that the virus was created from Kryptonian enzymes, so the doctor can create a cure. With Chloe's help, Dr. Hamilton manufactures a rainstorm and seeds the clouds with the cure to create maximum coverage. It is revealed that the virus was used as a ploy to draw out the Blur, as one of Zod's men realizes that he was also Kryptonian. Based on the House of El symbol the Blur brands around town, Zod believes that Jor-El is on Earth, and has harnessed the power from the yellow Sun for himself. Oliver decides to burn his Green Arrow outfit, and give up trying to be a superhero.
- Daily Planet reporter John Corben is hit by a truck while trying to ascertain the Blur's identity. When he wakes up, John discovers that his body has been outfitted with robotic parts, and his heart replaced with a piece of kryptonite that acts as a power source for his body. Tess later discovers that Zod and his men were the ones who "helped" John, but only as a means to test a new way for them to get their powers. While helping the Blur, Lois is kidnapped by John as a means of drawing the Blur out. Clark arrives and fuses a lead plate to John's chest with his heat vision to protect himself from the kryptonite. When John pulls the plate off it removes the kryptonite and shuts down John's vitals. Clark and Chloe realize that Tess is after Lois's memories, so it is decided that Clark must return to society so that he can keep Tess from learning that he will be the cause of Earth's destruction.
- After a date with Clark, Lois is shot with an arrow by a man dressed as the Green Arrow. Later, Chloe is attacked by the same individual. Oliver begins investigating and discovers that an old mentor, named Vordigan , is the one behind the attacks. Meanwhile, Zod tells Clark that the Kryptonians are waiting on Clark to help them all get their powers, and that they will resort to anything to get them. Oliver's old mentor kidnaps Mia, Oliver's new apprentice, and uses her as bait to lure Oliver in and force him to kill Vordigen, who believes that he must die at the hands of his own disciple. Instead, Oliver only injures Vordigen and leaves him for the police. After Clark discovers that Zod visited Lois in the hospital, Clark tells him that he will not help the Kryptonians gain their powers and threatens to destroy all of them if they go near Lois again.
- Checkmate breaches the Watchtower computer firewalls and begins stealing information. Clark, needing to find Zod, sends Oliver to the Luthor mansion to look through Tess's things to see if he can find any information. At the same time, Clark talks to Faora and reveals to her that Zod has had powers for weeks and that he was the reason Krypton was destroyed. Armed with this new information, Faora attempts to organize the remaining Kandorians to seek out peace with humans, and stand against Zod. Meanwhile, Oliver finds Zod at the mansion and they get in a fight that leaves Oliver with a House of Zod symbol branded on his chest. Checkmate locates the Kandorians and attempts to execute them, but Clark arrives and saves them. Meanwhile, Zod confronts Faora about her betrayal and subsequently kills her; afterward he learns she was pregnant with his child. Zod, now honored with the rank of "General", uses Faora's death—he blames it on humans—to bring the rest of the Kandorians to his cause.
- Tess kidnaps Lois and uses a memory reading machine from Sommerholt Institute to try to discover Lois's lost memories. In order to see how Zod "saves humanity", Tess synchronizes her brain with Lois's so that she can live through the memories. In the future, the solar powered energy plant LuthorCorp builds is used to harness the solar radiation from the Sun—turning it red and stripping Clark of his powers—and provide Zod and his troops with all of their natural powers. Clark discovers that Tess has Lois, but when he attempts to remove Lois from the machine he inadvertently syncs his own brain to hers. Through Lois's memories, Clark realizes that when he decided to fight Zod he pushed Zod down the road that led to Zod's tyranny over Earth. As a result, Clark decides to follow his father's dying wish and save Zod from himself by befriending him. In addition, he and Lois decide to start dating.
- Bernard Chisholm , a doctor who was experimented on by Kandorian scientists, begins kidnapping those same Kandorians in order to expose them to the world. Chisholm tries to persuade Lois to write the story, but when she refuses he kidnaps her and forces her to write it. Clark attempts to locate the missing Kandorians and is confronted by Zod, who knows that Clark destroyed the solar towers. Meanwhile, Oliver discovers that Chloe has been stealing money from his company in order to build kryptonite weapons to use against the Kandorians should they get their powers back. Oliver decides that Clark needs to know, but not until the time is right. Zod locates Chisholm, but he is shot in the stomach during his rescue attempt. Clark arrives and saves Lois and the surviving Kandorian, but watches as Zod dies from massive blood loss. Using his own blood, Clark resurrects Zod. The next day, Zod pretends to make a pact with Clark to help the Kandorians adapt to Earth, but once Clark leaves he reveals that he has gained the powers he was missing thanks to Clark's blood.
- Jor-El gives Clark the ability to hear others' thoughts in an effort to teach Clark to hone his Kryptonian intuition and learn to not allow humanistic assumptions inhibit his destiny. While using this new ability to determine who blew up a Queen Industries textile factory, Clark also learns more about Lois's feelings for him and asks her out on a date. Clark has to stand Lois up when he learns that the Toyman has returned to get revenge on Oliver. Jor-El takes back the new ability, forcing Clark to use the instincts he has gained. At a company gala, Toyman informs Oliver that there is a bomb directly under the podium, and that he will kill everyone if Oliver does not confess to killing Lex. Clark locates the real bomb before Oliver can take his own life with it to pay for the sins he feels he committed. Toyman is caught, and Tess gives him John Corben's kryptonite-powered heart so he can tell her how it works.
- In an attempt to fuel the legend of the Blur, twins Jayna and Zan — who have the ability to morph into animals and water-based forms, respectively—begin performing saves around Metropolis and painting Clark's shield at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, mistakes made by the twins push the Blur under scrutiny from the District Attorney, who challenges the Blur to reveal himself. Meanwhile, Lois accidentally hears Clark's voice while talking to the Blur, and goes out of her way to convince the citizens that it is best if the Blur does not reveal himself. With help from the twins and Chloe, Lois is convinced that Clark and the Blur are not the same person. Clark encourages the twins to continue using their powers to help others, but to be more careful. Clark confesses to Lois that his "big secret" is that he is near-sighted, pulling out a pair of glasses. Lois responds by kissing Clark, but visions of the future send her into a seizure.
- Clark is unknowingly exposed to a new form of kryptonite that gives him the power of hypnosis. As a result, Lois quits her job at the Daily Planet and moves in with Clark after he tells her he wants a more traditional relationship. Once Clark finds out about his new power, he goes to Zod to see if he can force Zod to reveal who killed Jor-El. Zod tells Clark that Tess murdered his father, and tries to convince Clark to seek vengeance. After refusing to kill anyone, Clark accidentally hypnotizes himself into seeking revenge and he goes after Tess. Before Clark can kill her, Chloe uses green kryptonite to weaken Clark, which also removes the hypnosis from everyone, including Clark. Zod discovers that one of his soldiers, Alia, killed Jor-El for fear that he would destroy all of the Kandorian clones. As is Kryptonian law, Zod kills Alia for her actions. Clark learns the truth, but still does not trust Zod. As such, Clark destroys the LuthorCorp solar towers, which Zod hoped would bring him powers of his own.
- Based on a tip from Zod, who is still posing as the Blur, Lois infiltrates one of Tess's secret labs and discovers she is experimenting with kryptonite. An explosion in the lab sends Lois down an elevator shaft, where she is saved by John Corben. Clark tracks down the lab Lois was investigating, where he is exposed to red kryptonite. Now without any inhibitions, Clark discovers that Chloe and Oliver have been stock piling kryptonite weapons, so he joins forces with Zod, who reveals that he has powers, to seek out and destroy all of them. Afterward, Clark takes Zod to the Fortress of Solitude. Chloe sends John to the Fortress to flush the red kryptonite out of Clark's system by stabbing him with a piece of green kryptonite. John is successful, and using Clark's octagonal key, he teleports himself back to Smallville. When Clark returns to normal he finds Zod has vanished. Later, Zod returns to the Fortress with his troops, using a kryptonite dagger to cut his hand and use his blood to give his troops all of his powers.
- At a casino, Oliver meets a woman named Victoria, who goes by the name Roulette and gives him a red pill to swallow. Afterward, Oliver passes out and wakes up trapped inside a coffin. After breaking out, Oliver finds himself in the middle of someone else's deadly game designed to make him pay for destroying someone. Oliver finds Roulette in the casino, but the two go on the run when the people behind the game show up. While escaping, Victoria is shot and killed and Oliver is arrested. Eventually, with Chloe and Clark's help, Oliver comes to the conclusion that Roulette created the game to distract Oliver long enough to empty the $3 billion he had in his bank account. In reality, Chloe orchestrated the entire event to get Oliver to realize that he is still the hero he once was. In addition, Clark discovers that there are other Kryptonians on Earth.
- Maxwell Lord kidnaps Tess in an effort to find the Book of Rao. Tess escapes only to be caught by the Red Queen, and is forced to give the book to her. Martha returns to Smallville with Perry White, whom she is dating, to the surprise of Clark. Lois informs Clark that they should break up, as she needs to find her true calling in life. Subsequently, Lois and Perry team up on a story about the Book of Rao and the Red Queen that could help Lois regain her job at the Daily Planet. The pair fail to land the story, but a good word to the Editor-in-Chief from Perry allows Lois and Clark to return to the Daily Planet. Meanwhile, Clark discovers that Martha is the Red Queen and asks for the Book of Rao. Martha reluctantly gives him the book, and explains that the book will exile all Kryptonians to another plane of existence, including Clark, and that is why she did not have the original intention of giving Clark the book or revealing her secret identity.
- Zod recalls to his troops how twenty years before the destruction of Krypton the Ruling Council took their blood shortly before the destruction of Kandor, which is what was used to clone each of them on Earth. Just as Clark realizes that his father is on Earth while investigating a Kandorian landing in the desert, Jor-El arrives at the Kent Farm. Chloe finds Jor-El at the farm and fills him in on the man his son has become, as well as the revelation that Zod—who was once Jor-El's best friend—was responsible for Krypton's destruction. After kidnapping Jor-El, Zod discovers that Jor-El's son is on Earth, and that he is the Blur. Zod releases Jor-El, mortally wounded, who unknowingly leads Zod to Clark. As his dying wish, Jor-El requests that Clark save Zod from whom he will one day become.
- Tess and other agents from Checkmate successfully kidnap Green Arrow and transport him to the Checkmate organization. While in transport, Amanda Waller attempts to recruit Green Arrow, unaware that he is billionaire Oliver Queen, to a government cause designed around preparing for a potential alien invasion. Green Arrow declines and escapes. With Oliver still missing, Clark and Chloe begin searching surveillance feeds. John Jones is also investigating and he discovers the location of Checkmate's home base. There, he learns Waller has a sample of Kryptonian blood. Meanwhile, Oliver returns to Metropolis, only to have Tess realize that Oliver is Green Arrow. Tess informs Oliver and Clark that Checkmate has kidnapped Chloe, who was the real target. Clark heads to the Checkmate base and saves Chloe. John Jones destroys the sample of blood, and uses his abilities to erase Waller's memory of Clark, Chloe, and Oliver's faces, preserving their identities. Afterward, Clark tells John that Waller may have been correct about an alien invasion, recalling his vision of the future.
- After stealing an enchanted Warrior Angel comic book, adolescent Alec is transformed into a super-powered adult. With his new abilities, Alec saves Chloe's life. Thinking that Alec, who calls himself "Steven Swift", is another superhero, Chloe tries to get to know him and recruit him to Clark and Oliver's super-powered team. At the same time, Zatanna returns and informs Clark that her father was the one who cursed the comic book that turns Alec into Warrior Angel, and enlists his help to track down Alec so that she can reverse the spell. After finding the comic, Zatanna and Clark realize that the story is not about a young boy that becomes a hero, but about becoming a villain. When Chloe attempts to convince Alec to have the curse reversed, Alec turns on her and attempts to throw her off a building. Before he can, Clark saves Chloe and Zatanna reverses the spell, returning Alec back to normal.
- While Lois and Clark prepare to host a new morning talk show, Oliver attempts to train a prostitute/cage fighter, Mia Dearden, to be mentally stronger after witnessing her battle with her own personal demons just as he did. In addition, Tess unknowingly builds a solar powered energy plant that will allow Zod the chance to harness the powers of the Sun for his own machinations. Later, Zod tells Tess to locate the Blur for him. Oliver confesses to Lois that he still loves her—while Clark witnesses from a video camera—but she acknowledges that she wants Clark and not him. Mia betrays Oliver to her pimp, who kidnaps and tries to rob him; Clark overhears the fight and manages to save everyone. In the end, Oliver gives Mia a second chance and Clark shows Lois his true feelings when he kisses her.
- After former superhero Sylvester Pemberton—also known as Star-Spangled Kid—is killed by supervillain Icicle, Chloe and Clark begin investigating the murder. The pair discover that Sylvester was part of a group known as the Justice Society of America, which was led by a man named Carter Hall , who went by the name Hawkman. They also learn that Carter Hall and the rest of the Justice Society of America have been monitoring Clark and his super hero friends. Another member of the JSA, Dr. Fate , arrives and informs Clark that he will lead the new generation of superheroes, just as Hawkman led the JSA. After Icicle kills Wesley Dodds, whose code name was Sandman, Hawkman and Sylvester's apprentice, Stargirl, decide to set a trap for Icicle. In the process, Green Arrow interrupts the trap, which causes Hawkman to threaten his life. Oliver calls in John Jones for support, who helps convince Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate to work with Green Arrow, Clark, and himself to bring down Icicle. At the same time, Lois receives a package from an organization known as Checkmate, led by Amanda Waller, which leads her to discover the existence of the JSA. Split up into pairs, Dr. Fate saves John from Icicle's attack, sacrificing himself and giving John his powers back at the same time. Banding together, instead of splitting up, Clark, Hawkman, Jones, Stargirl, and Green Arrow defeat Icicle. In the end, Hawkman and Stargirl decide to locate the other members of the JSA, their children, and their protégés to help organize a new generation of superheroes. Icicle is transported back to Agent Waller, who tells him he is part of the Suicide Squad and then shoots him. Afterward, Waller meets with Tess, who is revealed to be another agent of Checkmate.
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