Reign is Born in New Supergirl Trailer

Samantha Arias (Odette Annable) completes her tranformation into the World Killer Reign in The CW's trailer for the Supergirl midseason finale, 'Reign'. While Kara (Melissa Benoist) was dealing with the revelation that Mon-El (Chris Wood) was not only back in the present-day, but had spent seven years living in the far future and gotten married since the last time she saw him, Samantha found out the truth about her heritage and where she comes from. Upon creating her personal Fortress of Sanctuary, Samantha learned that she was no ordinary Krypton; rather, she was destined "to execute justice" and become a being known as (you guessed it) World Killer.

Supergirl has been building up to Samantha becoming Reign over the course of the first half of its third season. This began with an incident in the season 3 premiere, wherein the character - who, by outward appearances, is a ordinary human and single mother who works for Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) - tapped into her super-strength for the first time, in order to save her daughter Ruby's (Emma Tremblay) life. Samantha has since then experienced flashes of what she would one day become in nearly every episode, culminating in her decision to seek out her adopted mother and learn the truth about where she comes from. Unfortunately, things didn't go as Samantha had planned from there.

After taking a break from its overarching narrative for the Arrowverse crossover 'Crisis on Earth-X' this week, Supergirl season 3 will pick back up where it left off with its midseason finale, the appropriately-titled 'Reign'. The CW's trailer for the episode, which you can watch in the space above, offers glimpses of Reign in her full costume (which has already been officially revealed) and further hints at the destruction that she now intends to... reign down on National City and its Girl of Steel.

'Reign' was written by Caitlin Parrish and Paula Yoo, with Glen Winter serving as director. You can read the official synopsis for the episode below:

Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) investigates a mysterious symbol popping up all over National City, tracing its origins back to an ancient prophecy and the mark of the World Killer, Reign (Odetee Annable). Meanwhile, the tension between Lena (Katie McGrath) and Morgan Edge (guest star Adrian Pasdar) continues to build, causing James to step in and offer up some protection, and possibly igniting a spark in the process.

The reference to "possibly igniting a spark" in the 'Reign' synopsis is all the more interesting, given certain recent developments on Supergirl. Jimmy Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) hasn't had much to do onscreen in season 3 so far, having been otherwise preoccupied with keeping CatCo running smoothly under the supervision of the company's new owner, Lena. Supergirl not so subtly hinted at the potential for a Jimmy Olsen and Lena Luthor romance earlier this season, and it sounds as though the midseason finale will follow through on that setup. Whether or not Jimmy and Lena will actually hook up, that's another matter.

As for Samantha's transformation into Reign: the slow-burn buildup to the character's evolution has been handled well on Supergirl thus far, so this payoff in the midseason finale feels earned. The Reign subplot has also been in keeping with season 3's ongoing exploration of identity and heritage through not only Kara's storyline, but also J'onn/Martian Manhunter's (David Harewood) and his re-connection with his Martian father. However, now that Samantha has given in to her darker impulses at long last, it will take more than Supergirl and Martian Manhunter to stop her. It's a good thing Mon-El brought some friends from the future back with him, then...