Warning: SPOILERS below for Krypton episode "House of Zod"

In a massive, series changing twist, Krypton has revealed that the mysterious Black Zero operative introduced in "The Word of Rao" is none other than General Dru-Zod, who has traveled back in time to save his home planet from destruction. After a scuffle with Lyta-Zod, General Zod revealed himself to be her adult son, adding a decidedly different layer of time travel shenanigans to the already surprisingly twisty DC prequel series.

General Zod is, of course, one of Superman's oldest and most iconic villains, having been memorably portrayed by Terrance Stamp in the Christopher Reeve Superman films and, more recently, by Michael Shannon in Man of Steel. Krypton promised to delve into the history of Zod's lineage with Lyta, a young Kryptonian soldier indulging in a forbidden romance with Seg-El, Superman's grandfather. The arrival of Zod himself - played by Arrow alum Colin Salmon - certainly takes things up a notch.

Seg has been attempting to thwart the oncoming threat of Brainiac with Adam Strange, but it turns out they've had the mission to save the future a little wrong. In an interview with ComicBook, Krypton showrunner Cameron Welsh clarifies that Zod's arrival signifies a genuine shift in objective for the show's heroes.

Part of why we kept Zod under wraps, and why it wasn't mentioned at Comic-Con, amongst the other things, because it is such a big season-changing twist for us. It's that midseason point where the whole first season gets turned on its head 180 degrees. Adam [Strange] comes to Krypton with a very specific message to Seg: Superman's birth, his very existence, is under threat and we have to stop Braniac. Brainiac is coming back in time to change history. But we all know that Brainiac was always coming to take Kandor City. And that's what Adam got wrong; Zod was coming back to change history. So that's the big turn in the season.

Brainiac Krypton

Indeed, in the comics, Brainiac is a collector who abducts and shrinks the city of Kandor well before Krypton's destruction. Rather than rewriting Brainiac's objectives, the show has simply been playing something of a long con (as long of a con as you can play five episodes in anyway).

Welsh goes on to clarify that Zod hasn't come back in time just to stop Brainiac from abducting Kandor, but to save the planet as a whole, which would of course massively alter history, including preventing baby Kal-El's trip to Earth to become Superman. This potentially makes the worldview of the series much more complicated, as Zod's goals would likely make a certain amount of sense to Seg, who so far is unaware his planet is doomed. And yet Superman has saved countless lives both on Earth and in other corners of the universe. Is Seg willing to save his own people if it means the future loses Superman? And what does this mean for Adam Strange, who obviously has noble intentions, but seems to be operating off somewhat sketchy information? Whatever the answers to questions like that may be, it sure seems like Krypton just got a lot more interesting.

More: Krypton Has Gone Full Game of Thrones

Krypton continues Wednesday, April 25th on Syfy.

Source: ComicBook