Can't help thinking that the mother could be Lara, Kal's mother. All right, I know, others have said that before!
Okay, but here's what I'm thinking. Kal has been "sent" to this horrible world to save it. I don't want to be too controversial here, but there is some sort of similarity between Kal and Jesus. God sent his "only begotten Son" to the world to save it, and Lara and Jor-El may have sent Kal to New Krypton to save it, though not by helping the NKers to gain eternal life in Heaven. But they may have sent him there to help the NKers find water and to generally straighten up their society and make it more humane (or Kryptonian?).
If Kal is some sort of "Jesus", that might partly explain why he is so untouched by the "evilness" of his society, which allows a man like Lord Nor to gain and kill concubines as he pleases.
Keep it coming, Corinna!
Ann
