J 🌘

And truth is, it doesn't, but one aspect does. What if Lex still came from Smallville? He was this bright kid with an intelligence that could change the world, who wants to be extraordinary, but people around him don't get him, his parents don't care for him, so he feels isolated and becomes bitter, seeing the people of Smallville as nothing, but dumb hicks who don't value him, so he'll show it to them by being the one outstanding person to come out if Smallville.

And maybe Clark saw this kid who every said was a weirdo. He would see him being picked on, being angry, but also spending all his time with books, or messing with chemicals, or whatever piece of tech he could get his hands on. And Clark really wanted to talk with him, because he seems to understand what it's like to not fit it. But because of his powers, he is afraid to get close, to hurt someone who already is going through so much. So he lets his anxieties win, and he doesn't talk to the kid, and one day he is just gone without Clark even learning his name.

I think there's a very interesting parallel to build with this idea between Lex and Jimmy, with one being the first person Clark let in and who became his best friend, with Lex being someone Clark was afraid to get close to and becomes his worst enemy.

Jor and Lara wanted one thing when they sent their son into space: For him to be safe. In this moment of desperation Krypton's history and it's might, Jor-El's genius, the idiocy of the Kryptonian council, none of that matters. Just that their baby boy who they love would be safe. They didn't send him to a planet with a yellow sun to make him a God, a conqueror, or a weapon. It was a desperate gambit to make sure their son would be safe, because they love him.

They accept Krypton's fate without fear if it means their beloved son will be okay light-years away from them.