I’m really not sure how to feel about this ending. The transition to the future was slightly jarring, but I can see why you did it that way. I had been wondering how you were going to sufficiently wrap everything up in one last chapter, but you managed it.
It seems fitting that Clark dies at the end. He could have pushed on and tried to have his happy future with Lois, but he would always be plagued by his past. Not that someone in his position couldn’t have a happy life, but there are a lot of obstacles that he would need to work through to get there. Storytelling-wise, his death brings the story more closure.
All told, I liked the story. It didn’t go the way I was expecting at pretty much any point, which is refreshing. It’s a really interesting thought experiment into what Lex would do if he had control over a Superman that no one else knew existed.
