The Caves

[serafina20]

I'm beginning to think that what Jor-El wanted for Clark was not what was originally intended by the kryptoninans who put the caves in Smallville. Whoever did the caves put in safe guards to stop Naman from ruling the world, right?

First there is the prophecy: Zigith and Naman will be the balance between light and dark (good and evil?). Balannce is important, and it seems that Zigith's role is more important because, without him, Naman could take over the world and abuse his power. It doesn't say anything about Zigith, so, presumably, he exists only when Naman is there and active.

Second, there's the fact that Walden got all those powers, presumably to control Clark. Now, if rosenho is right, and those were Lex's power, the powers and intention wasn't to kill Clark/Naman, but to keep him in check and stop him from taking over the world.

Then there's the knife. Now, I'm a little confused as to the knifes purpose. It was supposed to identify Zigith, but wasn't also supposed to give him the power to kill Naman? (I need to rewatch the episode to remember). It would be logical to assume that the knife was given into Zigith's care to use in the event Naman tried to conqure the world. But it disinigrated when the Luthor's touched it, so I'm not quite sure how useful it was.

Jor-El, however, seems to want to disregard this prophecy. He thinks his son is the force of good and power, and therefore should use his power to straighten up the foolish mortals (his reasons are wonderfully illustrated in a fic by happyminion, btw). However, that was not Naman's original purpose, so ...

I'm just wondering where it's all going.

Comments

[happyminion.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that the weapon was intended for Naman, so that he could identify, then kill Seget. It was supposed to disintegrate if Seget touched it (which it did), but it was called a magical blade (but if I remember correctly, wasn't it made of some unknown material?) and in comics, Clark is vulnerable to magic, which is how people like Mr. Mxyzptlk can work a whammy on him. I think that's how the blade could hurt him.

Remember, that's why Jeremiah wanted the blade, so he could identify Seget and kill him, because he thought he was the one true Naman. It also infused *him* with power, so possibly the knife was meant to destroy Seget if something happened to Naman? The whole point of the caves has not been to stress that Naman is good and Seget is evil, but that they're the balance of good and evil, which is something I tried to bring out in my story. In fact, I think AlMiles (or Biller, I should say) gave us that on a silver platter when they had Lex give his little maybe Seget is the hero speech at the end of the episode. Because when you look at the possibility of Clark being Kal someday because of outside influences over him, or a bad day or whatever reasoning you put behind it--then yes, Lex (or Seget) would be the only thing standing between the world and a potential tyrant, just as Superman (or Naman) is often the only thing standing between the world and a potential tyrant, in Lex.

It's really one of the more beautiful things that they've done with the mytharc. It makes *perfect* sense when you sit down and think about it, and it's an amazing way to finally illustrate Lex's POV about why he hates the alien so very much. I love how they make them mythic and real at once. It's a wonderful balance in itself.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

So, the cave then gives both Naman and Seget the power to deal with the other, should they get out of control, or something happens to one. Of course, it needs to stop handing out powers at some point (didn't Jeremiah get powers from the cave? I'm really blanking here), unless it's still searching for Seget, and the purpose behind the powers is being continually misinterpreted by those who get them.

I'm still wondering, though, if maybe Jor-El is trying to find a way to bypass the prophecy of balance. Maybe that's why the message the faux-Seget's are getting is set to "Kill"; because Jor-El (who somehow has gained access to the cave's programing or whatnot) thinks that Clark will do anything to defend himself until he submits to his destiny.

He's kind of like Lionel like that.

[happyminion.livejournal.com]

Jeremiah didn't get powers from the cave. I'm pretty sure he got powers once he reached out and touched the knife. I'd have to go back and re-watch to be sure, but my tapes are packed in California, still.

And as far as Jor-El, my faith has waned that he's anything other than the asshole he's been depicted as, even though I'd like to believe otherwise. As for the caves, I'm going to point Hope this way in the morning, since she has a better grasp of them than I do, frankly.

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

The way I interpret the double-headed image in the cave is that Naman and Seget are the same person -- i.e. a Kryptonian under a yellow sun and a Kryptonian under a yellow sun under the influence of red K, respectively.

That way, combined with a gold K dagger (gold K removing the powers of Kryptonian under a yellow sun), Naman's destruction of Seget would also be destruction of Naman, and lead to the confusion of who's supposed to destroy whom how.