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?
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?
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