Originally posted by VirginiaR:
Originally posted by John Lambert:
[b] I think the death of Zod was unavoidable. The reasons and situations were compelling. I do not think he had any choice there.
Well, yes, they could have. But they didn't. As it was written, Clark didn't have a choice. And to me it wasn't choosing a human family over a Kryptonian. He was choosing the entire population of a planet over a murderer who intended to destroy it. Zod specifically said he would not stop. Even if Clark had flown away with him there or turned his head, as soon as he couldn't hold Zod, even for a second, Zod was going to try to kill more people. And they have no Kryptonite and no way to hold him. Clark was intentionally written into a corner, I agree with that. But you can only blame the writers, not the character, for the choice, IMO. And, I admit, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not a fan of Superman particularly (I like superheroes, but don't follow Supes specifically) and I know he's killed in the past (albeit rarely) and I think it was necessary in the case, and thus it doesn't bother me.
I also can't agree the angst/guilt is the
same over an accidental death. There he can always say "I didn't mean to" (or someone else can say it to try to make him feel better) and now he can't, because he
did mean to, and he can be all "what kind of person does that make me." I just can't agree the end result would have been the same. An accidental would have been a cop out to me. Choosing to have Superman find some other way that didn't involve death would have been a writing choice that would have gone in a completely different direction. More traditional (and fine with me), but it wouldn't have the same effect within the story or on the characters. I really think the writers did a good a job of writing Clark into a corner, because two weeks later, I haven't seen a course of action proposed that Clark could have taken to end things differently at that point.
