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Both Sides Now saw each of our characters confronting all sides of themselves. Purity struggled with her identity. Sam reached a breaking point when she abandoned Ruby. Alex had to confront both sides of her life. Even Kara and Mon-EL were dealing with identity.

Both Sides of Purity:

Julia Freeman is jamming out to Lisa Loeb when her house is crashed by the DEO, Supergirl, and Mon-EL. Alex’s threats bring out Purity. She blasts them with sonic vibrations that knock them back. Kara traps her and J’onn cuffs her with the power dampening cuffs. At the DEO, Supergirl and Agent Danvers play good cop/bad cop, but it is no act. Kara wants to draw out Julia and appeal to her. Alex comes with threats to Purity. Purity sees both sides of Alex and calls her out for attacking out of hurt. Kara and Alex talk, but come to no agreement. Purity taps into her power and breaks free. She knocks out Supergirl, grabs her crystal, and escapes.

Winn whips up sonic dampening devices to protect the group and locates Purity on the subway. No more Miss Nice Girl for Kara. Supergirl takes out Purity on the train. Mon, J’onn, Alex, and Supergirl surround her and Purity’s attacks are no good. So she aims her sonic blasts at the ground and they fall through to the station below. J’onn has to support a damaged column as Alex and Mon help get the people out. Purity has Supergirl on the ropes after a WWE-esk body slam. Alex and Kara both appeal to Julia inside of Purity. It works and Julia is able to break the hold. Things are going OK now, but Reign shows up and threatens to kill Alex. Julia offers herself instead and they leave.

Later, Kara and Alex talk about their issues. Alex says she, at the same time, wants to call Maggie and delete her out of her phone. She says she is weak and Purity was right about how she was acting. Kara says she needed help getting over Mon-EL and Alex was there for her. They have to support each other.

Both Sides of Mon-EL’s Relationships:

Mon-EL is struggling with his relationship with Imra because Kara is around. He and Imra fight about silly things and Mon is snappy. It takes some advice from J’onn, over Martian Moonshine, to help Mon. Mon reveals to J’onn that he and Imra had a friendship. In order to guarantee peace in the solar system, he and Imra entered into marriage. But over they years they grew to love each other. Being back in this time is akward and hard on him. J’onn says he needs to let Imra see both sides of his thoughts. We see the episode close with the two having an honest conversation. Mon doesn’t know if he still loves Kara, but he is committed to the marriage. She is willing to work with him.

Both Sides of Reign:

Sam is given the day off by Lena and decides to take Ruby for a fun day.. She picks up Ruby from school and they go ice skating. It is a fun time for both until Purity’s SOS puts Sam in Reign mode. She abandons Ruby at the rink and Ruby has to call Lena for help. Lena says she will help Sam and Ruby no matter what. She listens to Ruby share about Sam’s memory loss and disappearances. Later, Sam is back and gets filled in by Lena. When Lena shares about talking to Ruby, it causes Reign to come out briefly. Lena says she knows what the problem is and can cure it.

Reign was awoken by Purity grabbing the crystal and the Dark Kryptonian says she must find Purity. Purity is newborn and malleable. They must bring Purity to the fortress. Reign finds Purity and brings her back to the fortress. Things don’t look good for Julia.

Closing Thoughts:

Both Sides Now saw some major character development as well as action. I liked most of the the story this week. We got to see most of our characters dealing with their duality. While some of the Alex drama seemed a little forced and CW-esk, I thought most of the story was good. We actually got people confronting real issues in somewhat mature ways. Plus is pushes the idea that these Wordkillers can be redeemed. Overall a good episode to hold us over until we return in April.

Music:

Music featured at the end of the podcast is “I’m So Proud of You” by Blake Neely from season 2 of Supergirl.

Cougar’s Comic Corner:

This week:

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

From Neil Gaiman, the best-selling novelist and creator of the world-renowned comics title The Sandman, comes a mesmerizing tale of the dangers and opportunities of youth, and its endless possibilities. Illustrated by four of comics’ most accomplished artists, John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson, THE BOOKS OF MAGIC collects all four issues of the original miniseries that introduced the character of Timothy Hunter and set the stage for his continuing adventures.Timothy Hunter could be the most powerful magician in the world, but does he really want to be? Guided through the magical world starting at the beginning of time by a group of DC Universe magicians, often referred to as the Trenchcoat Brigade (John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult), they attempt to aid Timothy in his decision whether or not to embrace his gift. However, by the time Timothy makes a choice, it may have already been made for him.

Despite Constantine’s reservations, Mister E transports himself and Timothy forward through multiple generations of time, so Timothy may understand what the future of the Earth – and the wider Universe – holds for magic. This technique of “walking forward” is one which E’s fellow mystics can neither understand nor use, leaving Timothy’s safety entirely in E’s hands; at E’s demand, even Yo-Yo is left behind.

While easily the most abrasive and judgmental of Timothy’s educators, E imparts his lessons well, emphasizing that the future holds periods of both flux and stability. To illustrate both, he presents a magical Armageddon that takes place some fifteen years in the future, an all-out war between good- and evil-aligned creatures of magic. Though this battle is near-certain, its participants are not; in the instance E has chosen, Timothy has embraced evil, but other timelines feature him as neutral, or a champion of light.

Regardless, the sight of his future self killing his newly-made friends (including Constantine) horrifies Timothy. At his request, E takes them further into the future, through the thirtieth century, where magic’s re-flourishing inadvertently unleashes a creature called the Archmage; past the 64th century, where human civilization has become a barely-comprehensible synthesis of magic and technology; and toward the exhaustion of the sun, millions of years later, where mankind has devolved to hunting sea-spiders for sustenance.

In present-day, E’s companions grow suspicious, and bid Yo-Yo to protect Timothy by magically strengthening the bird’s spiritual bond with his master. Following the bond, Yo-Yo eventually finds E and Timothy witnessing the expiration of the Universe itself, with E – satisfied this time contains nothing that could stop him – pursuing his initial desire to kill his “student”. Without hesitation, Yo-Yo intercepts E’s attack, giving his own life but buying Timothy enough time to be rescued by the Universe’s last two inhabitants: Death and Destiny.

After claiming Destiny, Death assures E that Timothy will die at another’s hands, and sends Timothy back to his proper time (E is made to return “the long way”, under his own power). On returning, Timothy thanks the remaining mystics for their efforts, but decides magic is too dangerous and declines further studies. When the mystics disappear, Timothy instantly recants, but soon realizes he has given up nothing; the moment he accepted the Stranger’s initial offer, he had chosen magic – magic enough to resurrect Yo-Yo, and magic that may yet leave him the world’s greatest mage.

Get it from Comixology or Amazon.

News:

“Schott Through The Heart” Season 3 Episode 14 Promo – Supergirl will return with all-new episodes Monday April 16th on The CW!

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