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"Descent"
Original Air Date on April 17, 2008
Lionel: [ Sighs ]
Lex: I'm sure there were moments when King Arthur regretted pulling the sword from the stone. But he never gave up his quest. So why did you? Or have you already found the Traveler that you and the less fortunate members of Veritas were looking for?
Lionel: The Traveler. Why doesn't it surprise me that you've fallen for Patricia Swann's vivid imaginings?
Lex: I didn't imagine the deaths of Virgil Swann or Oliver Queen's parents.
Lionel: You think I can control the fate of individuals? Oh, God. You give me too much credit.
Lex: You certainly controlled mine. It wasn't an accident we were in Smallville the day of the meteor shower, was it? The factory was just a cover. You were really there to meet this Traveler that Veritas wanted to protect. I remember everything, Dad.
Lionel: Those are the memories of a small boy in shock, trying to cope with the trauma of a meteor shower.
Lex: A trauma brought on by my own father. My life changed forever that day. You sacrificed me for the Traveler. Why? Who is it, Dad? Who is it? Who is it?
Lionel: What if I told you now ... that you are the Traveler? You're right. Your life truly changed that day. I told you in the helicopter that you were destined for a great future. That's why I've been so hard on you, trained you so relentlessly. Think, Lex. Think. You have survived mortal injuries so many times. How else can you explain it?
Lex: Because I was trained never to accept defeat. When I get my hands on that box in Zurich ... I have a feeling all my questions will be answered.
Lionel: Lex? I know how strong it is, the attraction of the dark power. But it will destroy you. I can't let you go down that terrible path. You must not open that box.
Lex: I can't open it because I need a second key. Give it to me.
[ Gun cocks ]
Lex: I've swept every possible place you could have hidden it, and I finally realized, there's only one person you would trust it with. Yourself.
[ Fabric rips ]
Lionel: Lex? Lex, if you open that box, if you get hold of that secret ... there will be no redemption for you. No redemption. Ever.
Lex: I was raised in your shadow. Now you're gonna die in mine. No one will even remember you name.
[ Lionel grunts ]
[ Keyboard clicking ]
Chloe: I'm sorry, Clark. I've traveled halfway around the world via satellite. There's no trace of Kara and Brainiac.
Clark: I can't let Lana sit in that asylum in pain. The only way to help her is to find Brainiac.
Chloe: I've tapped every radar screen known to mankind. I mean, there's no bogey or blip unaccounted for. It's like they just flew off the map.
Clark: What about Brainiac's power sources? Check the electrical grid for any power surges again.
[ Siren wailing ]
Clark: Stay focused, Chloe.
Chloe: Busy night out there.
Man: I got ...
Man #2: Go and grab the kit.
Woman: It's all right.
Man #3: I got it.
Chloe: What's going on?
Lois: Someone at LuthorCorp just jumped out of their office window. Rumor has it, it was Lionel Luthor.
Chloe: Clark? Let's go.
[ Sirens wailing ]
Lex: I just ... I just talked to him.
Police Detective: You said you were working down the hall from your father tonight?
Lex: I heard him yell. Then he was gone.
Police Detective: I know how difficult this must be for you, Mr. Luthor, but I need a positive identification. Whenever you're ready.
Lex: Yeah.
Man: Mr. Luthor.
[Lex panting ]
Young Lex: You killed him? You killed Dad.
Man: Sir, do you want to make any statement?
Woman: Sir? Can you give a statement?
Chloe: Not that I wanna speak ill of the dead, but Lionel left a lot of damage in his wake. Remember, he locked you in a Kryptonite box?
Clark: Lionel did a lot of things, Chloe, but he'd never commit suicide.
Chloe: I don't know about that, Clark. He was beyond disturbed when he came to the Daily Planet today.
Clark: It doesn't mean he'd take his own life. He was pretty rattled the last time I saw him, too. He was desperate to give me something, a locket.
Chloe: What does a locket have to do with Lionel Luthor falling 40 stories from his office window?
[ Knock on door ]
Gina: Mr. Luthor. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your father.
Lex: When I was a boy ... we took a trip together to Washington, DC. It was just the two of us. I thought I was just tagging along on another business trip, but he wanted to show me the Air and Space Museum. He knew I loved things that could fly. We were looking up at the Apollo 11 Command Module. I couldn't believe it went to the moon. My father held my hand ... and he told me, "The right man can make anything possible."
Gina: [ Exhales ] You have his locket. How did you get him to ... Lex ... Lionel was a cruel, sadistic man.
Lex: What are you suggesting?
Gina: No one will ever know, Lex. I promise. Where's the key?
Lex: It was empty. My father must have given it to someone. I asked you to keep an eye on him, Gina.
[ Sets locket down ]
Gina: Lionel stopped by the Daily Planet before going to LuthorCorp. He was spotted in the basement.
Lex: Get the helicopter ready.
Gina: Of course.
Young Lex: You killed Dad for a necklace?
Lex: You're not real.
Young Lex: He was mean sometimes, but he loved us, Lex.
Lex: Get out of my head. Get out of my head!
Young Lex: You shouldn't have done it!
Lex: I had no choice!]
[Siren wailing in distance]
[ Helicopter whirring ]
[ Door unlocks ]
Clark: "For Kal-El, in the event of my death."
[ Device humming ]
Lionel: In my lifetime, I've known many famous and powerful men: Presidents, sultans, kings ... and I believed that I was superior to them all. But I've come to know the truth, Kal-El. My greatest accomplishment is that I have dedicated myself to protecting your life and serving you. For that I am grateful. But if you are reading this, it means that I cannot protect you any longer from a terrible truth. Two lockets exist. Two. Each one has its own key. These keys, used together, unlock the secret of controlling you. You must find the keys, Kal-el, or your destiny will fall into the hands of another man. You must save yourself.
[ Keys clicking ]
Lois: What is it with the Luthors? I swear, death follows that family around like a stray puppy.
Jimmy: Lois, you are not gonna believe this ...
Lois: You know, I wanted to search LuthorCorp tonight for evidence that Lex had Patricia Swann killed. But you, no, genius that you are, you wanted to stay here and search for meaningless memos in Lex's office.
Jimmy: Lois?
Lois: While we were over here at the Daily Planet photographing everything but the bottled water, the story of a lifetime was happening right across the street.
Jimmy: Lois! Just take a look at the view. One of tonight's shots from Lex's office.
Lois: What? The schoolboy crush is sweet, Jimmy, but you need to adjust your focus in more ways than one here. This is serious. Bodies are literally falling out of the sky.
Jimmy: And we have the picture to prove it. Lex's office looks out over LuthorCorp.
Lois: And?
Jimmy: [ Sighs ] It's Lionel Luthor right before he died.
Lois: What? No way! Creepy. I can't believe you got this, Jimmy.
Jimmy: Well, it's gonna get creepier.
[ Keyboard clicking ]
Jimmy: There's someone else in the room. Lionel Luthor might have been pushed.
Lois: You think this blurry blob of pixels is the killer? Come on.
Jimmy: Trust me. This has Pulitzer written all over it.
Lois: Yeah? What are you waiting for? Sharpen the shot.
Jimmy: Well, it's not that easy. My computer's not powerful enough.
Lois: Hey, what about that heavy-duty hardware that Lana has stashed at the Isis Foundation?
Jimmy: Nice. I can upload this bad boy to the Foundation's server right now. And, you know, if we're on Lana's system, we could probably use Chloe's mad skills with a CPU. Oh, that is, if we can pry her away from Clark.
Lois: Chloe and I share the same DNA. Trust me, Jimmy. She's gonna wanna be in on this.
[ Door closes ]
[ Key clinks ]
[ Footsteps ]
[ Shredder whirring ]
Lex. I'm so sorry about your father.
Thank you, Chloe. He visited you here tonight.
Yeah, he really wasn't himself.
I fear in his deluded state of mind, my father disposed of some valuable family heirlooms. Did he give you anything?
Other than the feeling that something was definitely off? No. I mean, he was only here for a few minutes, and to be honest, I got scared, so, I ...
Have you checked your desk?
He didn't give me anything, Lex. I swear he just came to talk.
This was my father's.
I've never seen it before.
Why were you hiding it from me?
Lex, if I knew it was yours, I wouldn't keep it from you.
Why would he even give it to you? Do you know what this key is for?
Lex, Lionel wasn't in his right mind when he was there. I don't know why he left that.
You're fired.
[ Door opens ]
Escort Miss Sullivan from the building.
Aren't you going to give me a second to clear out my private things?
Your personal items will be boxed up and sent to your home.
Lex, your name may be on the building, but that's my personal stuff. I have rights. If anything is missing, Lex, I swear to God you won't hear the end of it.
Gina: I'll pack up Miss Sullivan's belongings. You go back to the mansion. Get some sleep. We did it, Lex.
[ Door opens, Gina sighs ]
[ Door closes ]
[ Cell phone vibrating ]
[ Cell phone beeping ]
On phone: Lionel not suicide. Have pic. Come to archive room - Jimmy.
Lois: Okay, that's it. I'm leaving.
Jimmy: Lois, I wanna start working on this picture as much as you do, but we haven't heard from Chloe yet. I really think that we should wait.
Lois: News waits for no one, not even Chloe. You texted her, you left her like three voice mail messages at the apartment. She's not Helen Keller. She'll get the message and meet us there.
Jimmy: Well, it wouldn't kill us to wait a few ... more minutes.
Gina: I agree with Mr. Olsen.
[ Door opens ]
Jimmy: Why are outside of a kitchen? It's a little late for a snack, isn't it?
Lois: I've seen you around here before, haven't I? You work for Lex.
Gina: Mr. Luthor has nothing to do with this. I'm here about that photograph you took.
Jimmy: Which photograph would that be? [ Chuckles ] Because I take a whole lot of pictures.
Gina: Lionel Luthor in his office before he killed himself. I want that photo destroyed. His death was tragic enough without it being sensationalized by the media.
Lois: Well, you could have said that before you broke out the heavy artillery.
Jimmy: Yeah, as soon as we saw it, I immediately jumped on the delete button. This is all a big, big misunderstanding.
Gina: You're lying. I deleted it. After I saw your text message, I went into the main frame and pulled it from your hard drive. The transfer log shows you uploaded the file to a second server with a cloaked IP address. I wanna know where you sent it.
[Lois grunting ]
Lois: You shot me?
Gina: You weren't cooperating.
Jimmy: How about a warning?
Gina: Tell me or she dies. Where's the server?
Jimmy: It's the Isis Foundation. It's 3rd and Broadway. It's a 10 minute drive.
Gina: I'll come back for you when I'm done.
[ Door locks ]
[ Lois groans ]
Jimmy: You're really bleeding, Lois.
Lois: Oh. Uh. [ Groaning ] I guess trying to take on one of Lex Luthor's fembots doesn't make me the smartest icicle in the freezer.
Jimmy: Don't worry. I'm gonna get us out of here. Hey, is anyone out there? Hey! Is anyone in there? Help! Can anyone here me?
Chloe: Hey.
Clark: Hey. Jimmy and Lois here?
Chloe: Not yet, but Jimmy's message said he already sent the file, so I was about to get started.
Clark: I got a message that Lionel left for me in his vault. Chloe, I think I know why he was killed. He was trying to protect me.
Chloe: Lionel did say something terrible was coming.
Clark: There's something on Earth that can be used to control me.
Chloe: Control you? As in, "Do my bidding," like some sort of puppet? I mean, what could possibly pull your strings?
Clark: I don't know, but whatever it is, it takes two keys to unlock.
Chloe: Clark, when I went back to the Daily Planet tonight ... there was a key in my desk. Lionel left it there for you.
Clark: Where is it?
Chloe: Lex took it. I was trying to hide it from him, but then he fired me. Which is fine because I wanted to get out of that black hole anyway, but ... besides, we don't have time to talk about my 9-to-5 right now. So you think that that mystery man was after the locket?
Clark: I don't think our mystery man is much of a mystery at all. Considering that Lex went to the Daily Planet tonight, the same night that his father died ... and fired you over that key. How long till we get an ID on this picture?
Chloe: Jimmy wasn't kidding when he said there isn't a lot of photo in this photograph. I mean, it's gonna take me at least a couple of hours.
Clark: Keep workin' on it.
[ Whoosh ]
Chloe: [ Sighs ]
Lex: My father just died and you're already breaking and entering?
Clark: Lionel would never take his own life.
Lex: I thought you'd at least try to offer some words of comfort. Get out.
Clark: I'm not goin' anywhere Young Lex: You can still be good, Lex. Tell Clark what you did. He's our friend.
Lex: I'm not gonna debate my father's mental state with you. I'm grieving, Clark. I think you know what it's like to lose a father.
Clark: Don't bring my father into this.
Lex: Why not? Our fathers were a lot alike. Smart, strong-willed and both died prematurely.
Clark: You know, you're right, Lex. Lionel did die too soon. I wanna know the truth about how he died.
Lex: The truth is ... our dads were alike in another way. See, they both felt that you were the kind of son a father could be proud of.
Clark: He would have felt the same way about you, Lex, if you would have tried. What happened to you?
Lex: I did try, Clark. In fact, when we first met ... you inspired me. All I wanted was to be your friend, but you turned your back on me.
Clark: So you're the person you are today because of me. I tried to be your friend, Lex, but all you care about is power and control.
Lex: This is Smallville! Meteor freaks, alien ships, cryptic symbols. These threats are real. Someone had to take control. Someone has to protect the world.
Clark: Listen to yourself, Lex. You're so caught up in your own delusions, you've lost track of reality.
Lex: Have I? Then let's talk about something you can't deny. After years of pleading with my father to show me some compassion, he turned to you with open arms. Now, what would a worldly billionaire have in common with a simple farm boy?
Clark: Maybe he just knew he could trust me.
Lex: [ Scoffs ] Of course. Everyone can trust Clark Kent. You're the perfect son. So ... so why did Jonathan Kent always seem so stressed? I mean, was raising the perfect son really that much work? I wonder how much of a strain it put on his heart?
Clark: Are you blaming me for my father's death? Are you? You're the guilt one, Lex, not me. And this time, you're gonna own up to what you've done. I know you killed Lionel.
Lex: [ Scoffs ] Who's delusional now?
Clark: I have proof.
Lex: [ Sniffs ]
[ Keyboard clicking ]
[ Static hissing ]
Chloe: You really did it, Lex.
[ Monitors beeping ]
Clark: Chloe? Chloe? Chloe, you in here? Chloe, what happened? You okay?
Chloe: Somebody hit me. [ Sighing ] They destroyed the picture. But you were right, Clark. I saw the picture. It was Lex.
Clark: When I went to see Lex, I found Lionel's locket. But without that photograph, we can't prove anything.
Chloe: What about the key?
Clark: I X-rayed the entire mansion. It's nowhere to be found. What happened to Jimmy and Lois? Where are they?
Chloe: I don't know, and I'm worried. The last I heard, they were leaving the Daily Planet. If whoever attacked me followed the photo from there to here ...
Clark: He may have stopped Jimmy and Lois from leaving the building. I gotta go.
Chloe: Clark, if Lex has both of those keys, not only will he discover your secret, but he'll have total and complete power over you. Now that's not just your worst nightmare, it's everyone else's, too. Be careful.
[ Whooshing ]
Jimmy: [ Sighs ] I've got an exclusive for ya. When we get out of here ... Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are gonna be world famous. We really do make a good team, you know? I think there's gonna be plenty of headlines ahead of us, I can see it now. It's gonna be great, Lois.
[ Whooshing ]
[ Whooshing ]
[ Cell phone beeping ]
Gina: Hi, Lex, it's Gina. Please call me back. I found who you've been searching for. I know who the Traveler is. [ Gasping ]
[Car chiming ]
Lex: After the funeral, I plan on taking some time off. Get the jet ready. Zurich. [ Sighs ]
Young Lex: You can't run away, Lex. No matter where you go, I'll always be there. You can't get rid of me. You need my help. There's still good inside you. I know it.
Lex: I don't want your help.
Young Lex: Don't go to Zurich.
Lex: I'm going. I have to.
Young Lex: Dad was right. If you open the box, it'll destroy you.
Lex: It's all I have left.
Young Lex: It's not true. You still have me.
Lex: No. I'm done listening to you.
Young Lex: [Grunting ]
Lex: You make me weak.
Chloe: Long night. It's good to see the sun again.
Clark: It's too bad Lionel's not here to see it.
Chloe: Lex closed the funeral to any and all guests. In other words, Lex is the only one invited.
Clark: Lionel deserves better.
Chloe: At least we know how Lionel truly felt about you. I mean, he thought of you as his second son.
Clark: Another person who treated me like a son and died because of it.
Chloe: Clark ...
Clark: Jor-El died getting me on that ship. My dad died from a heart attack from the powers he took on protecting me. And now Lionel's been murdered protecting my secret.
Chloe: They did die for you, Clark. But ultimately, they died for all of us. There was a reason those men were in your life. Each of them added something to the man that you are today.
Clark: How can Lex have done it? How does a son ... murder his own father?
Chloe: Total absence of love. Some say that's the definition of evil. You have to get those keys away from Lex, Clark, before he kills anyone else.
Clark: He's not gonna have a chance. I won't let him.
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