Just pretending to be an adult here...

For one, on Jon's part, it feels incredibly rushed. Like, in comic timeline Jay dumped him, at best, a few weeks ago. And suddenly he's just going to get with Nia? I understand that situations like the one she's in right now might prompt an evaluation of his emotions, but with the context of having only just lost Jay in his life it would feel out of character if Jon just jumped right into a new, serious relationship.

Which actually leads to my biggest problem when trying to think of Jon and Nia as a couple: It just feels messed up that the two white characters who basically betrayed and broke Jay's heart end up together. That is a toxic foundation if there ever was one, and I honestly couldn't imagine them seriously dating, looking at each other, and not remembering what they did to Jay every time.

Because what if he is the real thing?

The kid's having trauma dreams right now. An imposter wouldn't be having those.

And yet what older Jon has to say on the topic is telling:

This younger Jon is more broken than he ever was. It's not impossible that Jon is simply misremembering or actively suppressing how bad things were, but with the way this story is being set up, coupled with the various previews and cover art from future issues, something is clearly off here.

I trust Lois' instincts as a mother that this Jon is real, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is our Jon.

And this is where the dark parts of my mind wander: What if our Jon wasn't the only Jon who ended up in Ultraman's clutches?

Think about it. It's still really weird that Jon just randomly ended up going through a portal to Earth-3 in the first place. What if he wasn't the only version of himself to do so? I don't know about you but that's a terrifying implication to me.

It would mean this Jon is real but was returned to the wrong universe. And it would give the writers an easy and fair way to remove him from the timeline while also giving our Jon closure on certain subjects. Not all of his issues, but certainly whether things would have been better had he returned shortly after being captured.

Now, comic fans know to take cover art with a grain of salt when it comes to predicting what might happen in the actual story, but I find that Damian's equipment is worth examining.

Obviously he's wearing some sort of power armor to give him an edge against "Jon" (I'm not ready to believe this kid Jon is real until it's spelled out for me in idiot proof text 🤣). But I'm having fun imagining that this might be a little nod towards the Dark Knight Returns.

I'm getting off topic though: Look at the sword Damian is holding as well as the ring on his finger. They're glowing with this light and if you look closely at "Jon" you see that same glow coming from his veins.

It just... has that feeling between brightness, but also defined by early childhood trauma, you know?

And then... actually helped Jon better understand the difference in intentions and outcomes between what Lois was trying to do when compared to LNN. After being God's favorite idiot for all those issues til now I was legitimately beginning to think they didn't have it in them. I'm really proud of them! 😁

It's been mentioned that he's aware of it before the age up, but that would have been such a good character development moment for both of them.

Jon realizing just how far Damian has gone to protect the people he loves and Damian in turn trusting Jon with a very personal bit of information. Maybe even offering more insight into what happened in the afterlife than what he normally told his family.

And then there's how Jon would react to those who were involved with it. If he has issues with Batman, he'd utterly despise Talia. Which leads me to suspect that Damian didn't tell Jon what happened to him until after he first met Talia.

Which... she already tried to kill Lois. Learning that the woman who almost killed his mom for money had actually killed his best friend, who was her own son? Yeah, Jon would have been in attack on sight mode when it comes to her.

Only it's Woo-Sung from Jon Kent: This Internship Is My Kryptonite! 🤣

I said a normal friend DC! Not the embodiment of entitlement! Even if I do love them for it! 🤣

This is not the sanity check he needed. But it's defintiely more entertaining for the rest of us. 🤣

I just pictured Jon, Jay, and Nia as Ernest, Madeline, and Helen from Death Becomes Her! 🤣

It somehow feels like that's their dynamic yet at the same time Madeline and Helen were way more toxic than Jay and Nia could ever be lol

I can see it now. Nia floating in the pool, blood pouring out of her.

Jon: OH MY GOD!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Jay: What have I done?! Defended myself, that's what! You plotter! Co-conspirator!

Jon: SHE'S DEAD!!!

Jay: She is? These are the moments that make life worth living!

I'm not the only one who has noticed that every long term friendship Jon has had since his introduction has either been another superhero or an outright deception (looking at you Kathy!). Jon has truly never had a normal friend without powers who has no ulterior motive for getting to know him.

Nia claimed that Jon dreamed of her so often that he essentially resurrected her. Something that no doubt contributes to her feelings for him, but I do have to wonder how coming back to life through dreams can change a person.

After all, if Jon is the one doing the dreaming would he bring her back exactly as she was or how he pictured her in his mind? How much of the Nia who came back is actually herself and what Jon might have idealized or misunderstood about her?

(Looks right. Looks left.)