Val-El quotes from Krypton

Val-El

As long as there is an El on Krypton, there will be hope. And hope can be a powerful thing.

Val-El

Remember, Seg. Keep believing in a better tomorrow.

Young Seg-El

Grandpa! I love you!

Daron-Vex

Val of House El. I offer you a final chance to pledge your loyalty to His Eminence, the Voice of Rao.

Val-El

Don't hold your breath.

Daron-Vex

Listen to me. The old counsel is no more. They've already sworn their allegiance. All but you. You're our greatest scientific mind, Val. Think of all you've accomplished. Are you willing to throw it all away?

Val-El

I've taken measures to safeguard my work. I had to. You can deny it all you like. But the truth is, we are not alone in the universe. Krypton is vulnerable. And praying to him won't be enough to save it.

Daron-Vex

Val of House El. For rebelling against the lawful state authority of the state, you leave me no choice but to find you guilty of sedition. You are hereby sentenced to death. The name El will be struck from the Registry of Citizens. Your family will be stripped of all rights and privileges. You are now to be considered Rankless. Without guild. Without name. Without honor. You chose the wrong side.

Seg-El

Is she going to live?

Val-El

It's difficult to say. Whatever Brainiac did, it appears to be keeping her alive. My concern is that, in trying to reverse it, we risk losing her.

Adam Strange

Well, at least you stopped her before she got to a transmitter and uploaded whatever info she accessed.

Val-El

I don't believe that was her intention.

Seg-El

What do you mean?

Val-El

I believe she is the transmitter.

Adam Strange

We gotta stop her before she sends a signal to Brainiac.

Val-El

It's too late. It's already been sent.

Val-El

[At display panel] Mr. Strange, you should see this

Adam Strange

Please, Mr. Strange was my Dad. And also what we called the kid in gym class who licked feet. Call me Doctor. No, better make it Adam.

Val-El

Well, I believe I found the problem.

Adam Strange

You're shitting me.

Val-El

That's repulsive, and I most certainly am not.

Adam Strange

Oh, I'd - I'd offer you a drink, but what'd be the point? You're not a real boy.

Val-El

I appreciate the tactful reminder. You seem what distressed. Is there anything I can assist you with?

Adam Strange

Oh, can you shoot lasers from your eyes and bench press the Sun?

Val-El

I'm afraid that's beyond my capabilities.

Val-El

No, the device's photonic discharge cells were damaged.

Adam Strange

Well, can you fix it?

Val-El

I already have.

Adam Strange

So... I can leave?

Val-El

If that's your choice. But tell me something first. If you're not a real hero, as you claim to be, why'd you come here in the first place?

Adam Strange

Because I thought I could become one. I thought that if I could just save Superman, then the Justice League would have to notice me and maybe even people would look up to me. And maybe, just maybe, when I look in that mirror, I wouldn't see a loser staring back at me. That's all gone now.

Val-El

Whatever happened between you and Seg can be fixed. He may be stubborn, but he knows a true friend when he finds one.

Adam Strange

Ah, there's no fixing this.

Val-El

Adam, Adam. No matter what you think about yourself, being a hero is not about... It's not about strength or having extraordinary capabilities. It's about making the decision to help others. Now, regardless of the reason, you chose to come here. You can still set things right. Hmm?

Adam Strange

You're right. I can. There's something here I still need to do.

Val-El

And what's that?

Adam Strange

Kill General Zod and prevent Seg from saving Kandor.

Adam Strange

I was an idiot to think I could save him.

Val-El

Who?

Adam Strange

Big Blue, the Boy Scout, the Man of Steel. God, he's got a lot of nicknames. You know why? He's a hero. Heroes get nicknames.

Val-El

What was your nickname?

Adam Strange

I don't have one.

Val-El

You said you're a great hero of your planet.

Adam Strange

I lied. Apparently, that's my superpower - lying. No, I'm a wannabe. D-lister. Can't fly, have no super strength, no power ring. No, the only thing I had going for me was that Zeta-Beam device, and now that's broken. God, I suck.

Lyta-Zod

Hurry, Val, we're all counting on you.

Val-El

Thank you, I am very well aware of that.

Lyta-Zod

Good, because whatever it takes, you need to find a way! Understood?

Val-El

I'm an El. We always find a way.

Seg-El

Grandfather, it's me. It's Seg.

Val-El

You think I wouldn't recognize my own grandson.

General Zod

For all the futures you witnessed, did you ever see one in which you would escape the Phantom Zone?

Val-El

No.

General Zod

So we can change things.

Val-El

No, you can't. From inside the Phantom Zone, I have seen a multitude of possible futures. And they all end the same way: with Brainiac's victory. I assure you, Kandor will be taken. And anyone still there...

Seg-El

...will be trapped in there with Doomsday.

General Zod

We find the Cynthonnites who took him, and we force them to tell us where they hid it.

Val-El

Of the many futures I have seen, the one in which Doomsday is used against Brainiac is, by far, the worst.

Seg-El

Then you lied to me. You promised me there would always be a better tomorrow. And as hard as it was, I believed you. Mom and Dad, they believed you. They gave their lives for your better tomorrow.

Val-El

Those were the empty words of an naive old man. The only tomorrow I have seen are unimaginably worse, as your friends will soon discover.

Adam Strange

So, besides being the one who got away, why does Zod have such a chub for this moon?

Val-El

Wegthor's a mining colony, home to a compound known as Stellarium. Zod is processing it into a warp field to fuel the interstellar fleet he has under construction.

Adam Strange

No, he-he can... he can't be building his fleet yet. While I was gone, I saw other planets Zod had conquered. He's not ruling over their people, he's eradicating them. He's turning every planet he conquers into Krypton, terraforming to make them compatible with the physiology of Kryptonians. If Zod has his fleet, it may already be too late.

Adam Strange

What's going on?

Val-El

Well, if Brainiac escaped...

Nyssa-Vex

Then maybe Seg did, too.

Adam Strange

Hold on a second. Are you saying that... Seg is alive?