Originally posted by Tzigone:
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.
Yeah. I never bought that argument. It didn't make any sense. That would be like killing each and every individual mosquito because everyone but you died of malaria. It seemed a bit like irrational overkill for Zod, who wasn't insane he just didn't believe what Jor-El did on how to keep Krypton alive. Pacifism, the not killing of others, seemed a strong part of Jor-El's beliefs. Zod, on the other hand, was willing to do anything for the survival of his species, even kill off the species of another planet, so that Kryptonians could survive. Killing off a species of a planet out of anger, but with no positive outcome for Krypton, just to spite Kal-El doesn't work for his character... It seems petty. Therefore, that motivation made no sense for Zod. Let me suggest this alternative motivation for Zod's actions instead:
Krypton was dead. All of Zod's soldiers had been sucked back into the phantom zone. All that was left of Krypton for Zod to "protect" (what he admitted was what he was created to do) was himself and Kal-El. Even if Zod killed off every human, it would never have saved Krypton. There was no reason left for Zod to live. So, in Zod's mind, he had lost. But he was a solider, a soldier who never admits defeat. The honorable thing for him to do was die in battle. Only the crux was, on Earth Zod was invulnerable. The only way for him to die would be at Kal-El's hands. Kal-El had been raised by humans and loved humans more than anything. Zod knew that Kal-El hated him for killing Jor-El (amongst other things), so Zod believed he could not accomplish turning Kal-El against Jor-El's core beliefs by threatening to kill the humans, but he could also then die in battle. Therefore, this current ending has Zod tricking Superman into going against his own beliefs, his father's belief's, by killing Zod, which is what Zod wanted (death by superhero).
The only way Clark would be able to have any honor in killing Zod, and not going against his family's beliefs (and, thus, not be duped by Zod), would be if Superman knew going in that Zod wanted him to kill him. Thus, killing Zod would be equivalent (although, not really) to an act of mercy, such as what Clark did with Vatman by flying him into the sun. Unfortunately, if this were the case, it was so subtle that even Clark missed it.
So, sorry, you haven't convinced me that killing Zod, in this manner, was a positive move for Superman.
