Smallville (TV Series)

Homecoming (2010)

James Marsters: Brainiac 5

Photos 

Quotes 

• Clark Kent : I guess you're right. I've been so buried by the mistakes of my past and so worried about the responsibilities of the future, I lost sight of the present.

  Brainiac 5 : A hero is made in the moment, not from questioning the past or fearing what's to come. Just remember that, Kal-El.

• Clark Kent : I don't know if you're a ghost from my past or the darkness Jor-El that warned me about, but this will come to an end, just like I did the last time.

  Brainiac 5 : I hope so for your sake.

  Clark Kent : *My* sake? You sent the person I love away. You tried to destroy Chloe, you tried to destroy the world.

  Brainiac 5 : And you saved me from all of that, Kal-El. I have come back to do the same for you.

  [shows wearing a Legion ring] 

  Clark Kent : The Legion. You're from the future. What'd you do to them?

  Brainiac 5 : I joined them. In the 31st century, I'm known as Brainiac 5. The ring, time travel - all my creations. I brought the league into a new realm of heroism.

  Clark Kent : I helped them destroy you.

  Brainiac 5 : No. They helped you cure me. The problem is Kal-El, you and I aren't very different. We were both created in one way or another by Jor-El, both intended to save civilizations, to bring peace to a brutal world. But neither was immune to corruption to darkness.

  Clark Kent : What does that mean? All of sudden everyone's telling me that I have darkness within me. I don't understand what it is or how I'm suppose to change it. You destroyed cities. I may not make the right decisions, but at least I'm trying to save people.

  Brainiac 5 : Then let me show you, Kal-El. We can't always see it in ourselves, my corruption started with a nanobyte - smaller than the eye can see. But that's all it took.

• Brainiac 5 : Not every man is destined to find a woman like Lois.

  Clark Kent : She's definitely one of a kind. I know why you sent me here now.

  Brainiac 5 : I had intended to be here *with* you, but you interfered with the ring.

  Clark Kent : You wanted me to see how things would be with Lois and the... flying.

  Brainiac 5 : I wanted you to see that your darkness lies not only dwelling in your past, but in fearing the future.

  Clark Kent : I've always hoped my life would be like this. With Lois and with all of it. I guess lately I've stopped believing that it could actually happen.

  Brainiac 5 : Well, that's up to you, isn't it? You don't need to worry about the future, Kal-El. You can see that it's just fine as long as you shed the weight of the past. Just next time you decide to defy me, don't strand me back in the dark ages.

• Brainiac 5 : I'm only here for you. I wanted to slow things down. Make sure you can soak in this special moment.

  Clark Kent : And what's so special about this moment?

  Brainiac 5 : This is the moment that your life changes forever.

• Brainiac 5 : It's time to move on from the past. Leave Clark Kent to me.

• Brainiac 5 : Correct me if I'm mistaken, but you care about Lois, don't you?

  Clark Kent : All I've ever done was protect her after what happened with Lana.

  Brainiac 5 : Interesting outcome. Lois doesn't seem... especially protected. You spend so much time dwelling on the darkness of what happened in the past, you're missing the present that's right in front of your eyes.

  Clark Kent : [seeing Greg Arkin enter]  It's one of the people I put away in high school. You don't know what he's capable of. I need to get back.

  Brainiac 5 : To do what? Weren't you about to hang up your shield?

  Greg Arkin : [approaching Lois]  I have a message for Clark Kent.

  Clark Kent : Give me the ring.

  Brainiac 5 : Wait for the moment.

  [Clark grabs his wrist] 

  Brainiac 5 : No, Kal-El! You haven't learned the full lesson yet.

• Brainiac 5 : [showing Clark the memory of Jonathan's fight with Lionel in the barn]  You can't change his fate, Kal-El.

  Clark Kent : He was just protecting me.

  Brainiac 5 : And that was his choice. Whether it happens this day or any other day, Jonathan set his own destiny into motion. You know that. You just won't let yourself believe it. Why won't you forgive yourself?

  Clark Kent : He didn't have a choice. He's my father; of course he'd sacrifice anything to protect me.

  Brainiac 5 : We always have a choice, Kal-El. Your father didn't have to care for you the way he did. Yet still he made that choice every day he was with you. He chose to be your protector. Just as you've chosen to be the Earth's protector. Nobody forced that on you, yet you embraced it. Nobody made that choice for you. We all choose our own fate.

• Clark Kent : [seeing a memory of Oliver]  He's always so Oliver. I didn't know that he needed me.

  Brainiac 5 : But he does.

  Clark Kent : Well, I don't know how not returning his calls amounts to some darkness within me.

  Brainiac 5 : You don't see it. The darkness is the past. And you hold onto it. You dwell. You punish yourself and everyone around you for past mistakes.

  Clark Kent : We don't have the privilege of mistakes. Even if we don't expect perfection from ourselves, the rest of the world does. You heard what they said.

  Brainiac 5 : Then help Oliver be who he can be. Today, tomorrow. Be there for him now and stop punishing him for his past with your silence and your distance. Let it go.

• Brainiac 5 : My sincere apologies for interrupting this festive trip down memory lane.

  Clark Kent : Brainiac. I thought we destroyed you.