[The movie opens with a woman giving birth, LARA. Holding her hand is JOR-EL, her husband and father to the child. A beating heart is seen on a holographic-like monitor. The baby is born as Jor-El holds him in his hands. We see scenes of a far off planet, which quickly cuts to the throne room with Jor-El speaking with council and leading the debate.]
JOR-EL: You do not understand? Krypton's core is collapsing will soon be destroyed. We may only have a few weeks. I warned you: harvesting the core was suicide. It has accelerated the process of implosion
[The camera sweeps to several members of the council]
LOR-EM: Our energy reserves were exhausted. What would you have us do, El?
JOR-EL: Look to the stars, like our ancestors did! There are habitable worlds within reach. We can begin by using the old outposts.
RO-ZAR: Are you seriously suggesting that we evacuate the entire planet?
JOR-EL: No. Everybody here is already dead. Give me control of the Codex; I will ensure the survival of our race. There is still hope... I have held that hope in my hands.
[Suddenly, a blast in the distance. General ZOD and his men/women kill the guards and intrudes in the meeting]
ZOD: This council has been disbanded
RO-ZAR: On whose authority?
ZOD: Mine. [he aims and shoots Ro-Zar, disintegrating her] The rest of you will be tried and punished accordingly.
JOR-EL: What are you doing, Zod? This is madness.
ZOD: What I should have done years ago. These lawmakers with their endless debates have lead Krypton to ruin.
JOR-EL: And if your forces prevail? You'll be the leader of nothing.
ZOD: Then join me! Help me save our race. We'll start anew; we'll sever the degenerative bloodlines that led us to this state.
JOR-EL And who'll decide which bloodlines survive, Zod, You?
ZOD: Don't do this, El. The last thing I want is for us to be enemies.
JOR-EL: You have abandoned the principles that boundus together. You have taken up the sword and against your own people. I will honor the man you once were, Zod, not this monster you've become.
ZOD: Take him away.
[Zod's men take Jor-El home in cuffs. KELOR, the A.I. that serves the house of El, appears]
KELOR: Sir, is everything alright?
ZOD SOLDIER #1: Out of the way. [Jor-El nods to Keelor and closes his eyes] I said-
[Kelor lets loose a very bright blast of light, which blinds the Zod soldiers. Jor-El takes them out.]
JOR-EL: Get me Lara.
[Kelor's round center morphs into the face of Lara.]
LARA: Jor- Behind you!
[Jor shoots and kills intruders]
JOR-EL: Lara, you have to ready the launch. I'll be with you as soon as I can.
[Jor-El runs outside and it is chaos and war. He is follow by Kelex, another house A.I. that serves him]
JOR-EL: H'raka!
[A big, dragon-like creature with four dragonfy-like wings descends from the skies towards Jor-El. They fly towards the central hub]
JOR-EL: Can you see the Codex?
KELEX: It's just beneath the central hub... but I'm compelled to warn you. Breaching the genesis chamberis a Class-B crime, punishable-
JOR-EL: Nobody cares anymore, Kelex; the world is about to come to an end.
[Jor-El drops into the water, diving and swimming underneath a tunnel. The scene shows babies in an embryo being grown out of large underwater algae. He resurfaces from the water elsewhere and looks up to see a black skull with glowing red inscriptions and grains on it. The glow dies down. A moment later, an alarm goes off. Jor-El swims back to where he came from when a large drone appears.]
SECURITY DRONE: Jor-El, by the authority of General Zod, surrender the Codex.
[He thinks for a moment and then jumps off the cliff. In mid-air, he lands onHH'raka. They leave, but H'raka is wounded in the escape]
JOR-EL: Easy, H'raka.
[H'raka lands and dies on the platform. Jor-El runs inside]
JOR-EL: Did you find a world?
LARA: We have.
KELOR: Orbiting a main sequence yellow star just as you said it would.
JOR-EL: A young star... His cells will drink its radiation. It's a seemingly intelligent population.
LARA: He will be an outcast, a freak. They'll kill him.
JOR-EL: How? He'll be a god to them.
LARA: What if the ship doesn't make it? He'll die out there, alone. I can't do it, I thought I could do it, but ...
JOR-EL: Lara...
LARA: But now that he's here...
JOR-EL: Krypton is doomed, it's his only chance now. It's our people's only hope.
[A small yet discernable sound is heard]
JOR-EL: What, is it Kelex?
KELEX: Five attack ships converging from the east. Citadel's defenses are being scanned and evaluated.
JOR-EL: I'll upload the codex.
LARA: No, wait.
JOR-EL: Lara ...
LARA: Just... let me look at him.... We'll never get to see him walk... never hear him say our names.
[Jor-El takes the baby in his hands]
JOR-EL: But out there, amongst the stars, he will live. Out there, among the stars, he will live.
[Lara and Jor-El kiss their son on his head. Jor-El places him on the ship and uploads the codex inside of him. He then sets the ship's course to Earth and puts the key with the 'S' shield of the House El into its designated place. The parents look at their child.]
JOR-EL: Good-bye, my son, our hopes and dreams travel with you.
[Jor-El pushes the key in. The baby's ship's crib floats up and the rest of the machine closes around him, revealing once again the 'S' shield. The scene cuts to the five attack ships flying. Jor-El prepares for battle by donning his armor with his family's crest on the chest plate. The attack ships arrive at the El residence]
ZOD: Concentrate fire on the main doors!
[The ships blast the door open. Inside, Lara is making the final adjustements. The ship is now ready for launch.]
KELOR: Lady Lara. The phantom drives are coming online.
LARA: Proceed to ignition.
FAORA: General. We have identified an engine ignition within the citadel.
ZOD: A launch... Hold this platform, commander.
[Zod walks inside with a couple of his men. He sees Jor-El in battle armor and Lara fiddling with the machine. Smoke is raining down on Jor-El's location]
ZOD: I know you stole the Codex, Jor-El. Surrender it and I'll let you live.
JOR-EL: This is a second chance for all of Krypton, not just the bloodlines you deem worthy.
ZOD: What have you done?
JOR-EL: We've had a child, Zod. A boy child. Krypton's first natural birth in centuries... and he will be free. Free to forge his own destiny.
ZOD: Heresy! [looks at his men] Destroy it!
[Jor-El shoots the two soldiers and starts fighting with Zod. The battle is pretty equal for a bit, until Jor-El puts Zod down. Kal's ship starts to ignite, ready to go.]
ZOD: Lara, listen to me. The Codex is Krypton's future. Abort the launch.
[Lara looks at Zod, then looks to her husband. She presses a button, which sends the ship away]
ZOD: NOOOOOOO! [Zod proceeds to stab and kill Jor-El] Your son, Lara... where have you sent him?
[Lara is kneeling next to Jor-El's body and looks up to Zod]
LARA: His name is Kal, son of El and he's beyond your reach.
[Zod goes outside where Faora and the rest of his followers are as they look up to Kal's ship]
ZOD: Bring that ship down.
[A ship goes up to shoot Kal's ride]
SHIP PILOT: Target locked.
[He aims to shoot, but instead is shot down. A second after, Kal's ride goes into phantom drive and disappears. A larger ship appears from the smoke]
COUNCIL PILOT: Lay down your weapons. Your forces are surrounded.
[Scene switches to the throne room once more, where Zod and his soldiers are all in cuffs and chains]
LOR-EM: General Zod, for the crimes of murder and high treason, the Council has sentenced you and your fellow insurgents to three hundred cycles of somatic reconditioning. Do you have any last words?
You won't kill us yourself! You wouldn't sully your hands!
But you'll damn us to a black hole for eternity! [spits on Lor-Em] Jor-El was right. You're a pack of fools, every last one of you. [he turns to face Lara] And you. You believe your son is safe? I will find him. I will reclaim what you have taken from us. I will find him. I will find him, Lara. I WILL FIND HIM!!
[All of the soldiers and Zod are placed in encasings that are sent in a ship that is sent within the Phantom Zone. Lara goes back home and puts Jor-El's armor back in its place while she walks to her window to see the destruction of her planet with Kelor and Kelex]
KELOR: Lady Lara, shouldn't you find refuge?
LARA: There is no refuge, Kelor. Jor-El was right; this is the end. Make a better world than ours, Kal.
[Eruptions are all around Lara until it finally consumes her. The planet explodes. Baby Kal's ship appears near Saturn and travels all the way to Earth, crashing near a farm]