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Lionel Theory Seasons 4-7 Arc

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  • Lionel Theory Seasons 4-7 Arc

    So rewatching Lionel's scene with Chloe from "Veritas" confirms my theory about how his character developed from evil to good: in "Veritas", Lionel says "When I became Jor-El's vessel, it changed me. I became a different man..."
    So here is my theory regarding Lionel's actions in seasons 4-7:

    I think in "Onyx" when Lionel told Lex, "A man can't deny his true nature, can he? No, we're Luthors",that he was really being sincere in basically just saying "no more Mr. Nice Guy. I'm back to being evil" basically. Some fans think Lionel was just pretending to go back to his old ways to fool Lex (a perfectly valid theory and very fascinating in its own right) but I believe he was being sincere about going back to his life of ruthless. His words to Lex--"We're Luthors"--just seem TOO indicative of a man who is encouraging his son to continue being evil, don't they?

    We see him proceed to go back to his old Luthor ways in following episodes, as he tries to gain the stones posioning Genevieve, blackmailing Lex, and he also seems a bit proud of Lex's ruthless ways (even finally uttering the words, "You can accept me as your father who LOVES you"). Lionel has a little smile on his face when Lex is showing signs of becoming a true Luthor.

    Lionel manages to pull Lex's strings with the stones and lie to him about having one. But then the stone's energy blasts Lionel's body, and Jor-El takes over Lionel's body in "Hidden".

    Following that moment, I think Lionel is at a cross-roads between good and evil in season five:
    He realizes what Clark's destiny is, and even though his true Luthor nature is still there--trying to kinda manipulate Jonathan in "Recknoning" and his other dark deeds in season 5 with the Apex takeover--there's still a part of him that realizes that Clark's destiny is more important to the world and he wants to help.

    I think Lionel still had a lot of darkness within him and could have gone completely back to the dark side if not for the fact that he became close with the Kents (we saw in "Lexmas" that Lionel could've gone completely evil again in the future).

    I believe that in "Reckoning", Lionel WAS trying to offer a partnership with Jonathan, but by the same token he was going about it in a very Lionel Luthor way and trying go control the situation.

    After Jonathan dies, I believe Lionel feels kinda guilty about it, and as he gets closer to Martha
    his feelings develop, and he also sees more and more how Clark only uses his powers for good rather than evil, something Lionel never thought was possible before. In the past Lionel thought power was synonymous with corruption and ruthlessness. But now he sees that's not always the case.

    While a part of him is proud that he's accomplished his goals with turning Lex into a ruthless businessman, another part of him is scared that he's created a monster and wants Lex to step back from becoming worse, thus his quote in "Mercy" about the Apex takeover: "I thought that by removing the temptations that power offered to Lex that perhaps he would step back and reconnect with his own humanity".

    But Lionel's "true nature" is still there in season five and that is why he still resorts to using very dark tactics. In "Vengeance" it is strongly implied that Lionel had Andrea's mother murdered in order for his Apex plan to succeed (although it's unclear when he actually did this, could have been around "Commencement" time when he was still evil?* EDIT: Yes it was around "Commencement" era, because Andrea mentions she got her heart transplant "about six months ago during the meteor shower", so Lionel started planning the Apex takeover around that time*) and he ruined so many other lives. So while Lionel's intentions may be to stop Lex from becoming a monster, he's fine with being a monster himself because he believes it's too late for him. Until of course he begins to get closer with Martha and Clark.

    The closer he gets with Martha and the more he sees Clark as a paradigm of power being used for GOOD, the more he wants to embrace the Kent family as his second shot at redemption. He knows that he failed in season four to redeem but now he has a new chance to be "reborn".

    So by the end of season five in particular with the episode "Mercy", we see him trying to repent for his sins
    but not really being sure how. But like I said, his Luthor nature is still there and he's still kinda corrupt and ruthless.
    So in season six, Lex calls him on it, saying "You've spent so much time fooling the Kents that you're a good man, that you're starting to believe it yourself" basically meaning the more he pretended to be "good" the more he began to really genuinely WANT to be good.

    Season six's "Promise" reminded us that Lionel's ruthlessness was still there and intact, but his reasons were for protecting Clark.

    This continued in season seven's "Traveler" when he had Clark in a cage and was trying to "protect him".
    However there was still quite a bit of self-interest involved because he wanted desperately to cover up his own crimes.

    So in short...
    I think season four=Lionel wanted to be good, then reverted to evil again;
    Season five=on the cross-road between good and evil and ultimately decides on good due to Jor-El and the Kents' influence, but doesn't quite know how to be a "good man" in a traditional sense;
    Seasons six-seven=good intentions but sometimes misguided, ruthless actions, culminating in his final redemption to prove that he really was on Clark's side.

    I think that really sums up all the confusion regarding his character arc on the show. Thoughts?

    *EDIT: In regard to the Apex takeover...if Lionel started planning this post-"Onyx" (when he reverted back to the dark side) that would make sense, but the one thing I'm curious about: why would he want Lex to "rediscover his own humanity" during that era? It seemed like he was proud of Lex's dark side emerging, thus the "We're Luthors" speech & the other examples I mentioned of him being proud. So perhaps Apex started as just a typical Lionel greedy takeover plot but then as Lionel became more of a good man it became more about saving Lex's humanity?
    Last edited by MozartRequiem; 03-15-2012, 11:01 PM.

  • #2
    *PS: Or could it be that Lionel meant what he said in "Onyx" but--like some fans have speculated--he was also a bit frightened by the monster Lex was becoming, so then a few weeks later he hatched the Apex plan to stop Lex from becoming like him? Basically this theory says that Lionel DID mean what he said in "Onyx" and was convinced that he and Lex could not deny their true nature but then shortly after began plotting the Apex takeover in a last resort to prevent Lex from becoming him. Sort of a "it's too late for me, but not for my son" kind of mentality. Thoughts?

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    • #3
      Thank you for your very detailed theory. I totally agree with you. I think that Lionel`s personality has started to split since season 4. And with time his intentions got more moral but not his ways of acting to achieve it.

      I think he was serious in "Onyx" and really encouraged Lex to be evil and ruthless. But then when he realized that Lex was going to highly surpass him in malignity he was afraid of it and tried to lead him back on an other path.

      To "Mercy": I always liked the idea that Lionel was aware of the fact that the gun was unloaded like Clark mentioned to him at the end of the episode. Of course he really likes Martha but being that selfishless to die so that Martha can help Clark to fulfill his destiny??? That`s simply too much for me. He wouldn`t do that. Maybe Lionel really feels sorry for the takeover but he surely wouldn`t sacrifice himself. He has enough experiences with guns and pistols to know how a loaded gun feels like or how it would sound to unlock it when there are bullets filled in.
      IMO he fooled Martha to ultimately gain her faith.

      He tries to be a good guy or maybe sometimes just tries to pretend to be a good guy but his "true nature" is evil and manipulative even when he tries to escape it.

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      • #4
        LuthorLady: I didn't check back on this thread until now; it's so cool to hear your thoughts!

        Re: "Onyx": I agree that Lionel was serious in turning back to evil and encouraging Lex to be evil and ruthless, and I love your theory that he began to be worried about Lex surpassing him in malignity and leading him back to the "good" path. That's a great idea and I think you're onto something, although I think perhaps Lionel's soul was a bit more conflicted than that, morally speaking.

        In addition to your great thoughts on the matter, I also think Lionel may still have had some lingering goodness and morality inside him after "Onyx", a sort of conscience if you will. He tried to go back to being the evil Lionel we all knew and loved to hate, but there was still some goodness deep down, like when he admitted to Lex that he loved him ("You can either go on mistrusting me or you can accept me as your father, who loves you") and in "Mercy" it's hinted that Lionel decided to 'save Lex' from becoming like him sometime near the events of "Commencement" (Lionel's motive for taking over LuthorCorp again was supposedly to "teach Lex lessons, hard lessons, so that he'd have to step back and reexamine his own humanity").

        So in a nutshell, I think that Lionel really did turn back to the bad side after "Onyx" but there was still a part of him that had a conscience now and therefore feared what Lex was becoming. So his attitude was probably, "I may never change but maybe I can help Lex a little", when he took over Luthorcorp again. But, as you pointed out, even if he had some more morality to him he still used terrible ways of achieving his ends. Like killing Andrea's mom (the vigilante in "Vengeance") and ruining several other lives during the Apex takeover of Luthorcorp.

        Re: "Mercy": Great thoughts! I personally think maybe he DID care enough about Martha to sacrifice himself, but one can't help but notice how he smirked cockily when Clark said, "Or you knew the gun wasn't loaded".

        In the end I think he died a "good guy" or at least on the side of the good guys. I believe he redeemed due to Clark and Martha's influence in his life, but it was a very difficult and dark path until then for Lionel to redeem. Which is why his arc is one of my favorites on the show: it's hopeful but doesn't ignore his dark past!

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