This is a season finale. So there will likely be spoilers in this review. Bear that in mind before reading.

Supergirl comes to the end of what I’m going to call a disappointing season with “Battles Lost and Won.” Things are looking dire as Reign begins terraforming Earth and the Kryptonian witches are causing more problems. Even with all the power and allies the DEO has at the moment, this is going to be a rough fight.

As quakes rock National City, Supergirl, Mon-El, and the newly powered Alura save people all over the city. Guardian is saving people at CatCo (subtle, James) and there’s finally word of Superman. We don’t get to see him, but he’s supposedly handling disasters in Madagascar. J’Onn has something bordering on a religious experience as his father, M’Yrnn, shares a memory from long ago in their history.

James unmasks to get a woman over her hysteria at her son being in danger, which seems odd to me, but what do I know? Even the Legion is back to get in on the fight, but once again it’s just Saturn Girl and Brainaic 5. With all the power in the Legion of Super Heroes, why would they only bring back two, and far from their most powerful ones? Saturn Girl is once again using telekinesis, a power she doesn’t have in the comics, but at least the show is being internally consistent. J’Onn and M’Yrnn say their goodbyes, with J’Onn regretting they didn’t get to share all the memories M’Yrnn had to share. Of course, if J’Onn hadn’t put this off, maybe they would have. At any rate, M’Yrnn uses his power to meld with the Earth and manages to stop the quakes, but it’s a one way trip for the ailing elder Martian. This buys them some time to regroup back at the DEO, and ticks off Reign, which is an added bonus.

Everyone offers their sympathies to J’Onn as he comes back alone. He, in turn, thanks Saturn Girl for coming back and helping. Winn tries to trace the source of the disasters while Lena worries over Sam. Sam is off in the mystic Dark Valley, and gets a jolt when she meets up with her mother. The witches can’t manage to find Reign, and Coville turns out to not be as dead as they thought.

Mon-El and Saturn Girl talk about their relationship and the turns it’s taken. They agree they both made mistakes, and she apologizes for lying to him about the Pestilence mission. They at least are on good terms and they both talk about the Legion in their future. Sam has a weird conversation with her dead mother about which fountain to drink from. One will kill Sam, the other make her strong enough to fight Reign.

Brainy comes to find Mon at the DEO and brings all sorts of bad news. Winn offers to leave, but Brainy says the Legion needs both of them. Brainy can’t go back to the future now, due to a new danger to all AI’s there (Brainy is NOT an AI in the comics, just an amazing genius). Brainy has surprises for Winn about his role in the future. So, essentially, it sounds like Brainy and Winn need to switch places, and Mon needs to go home.

The witches chant, summoning Reign back to them. Reign says the Earth’s core tried to hold her captive, no doubt M’Yrnn’s work. As they talk to each other, Coville crawls off. Lena and Alex watch over Sam on her vision quest. Lena also encourages Alex about one of her recent decisions. Winn talks to James about Brainy’s tale, and wonders if the Legionnaire is malfunctioning. James gives him a great pep talk, and tells about unmasking today, which makes as much sense to Winn as it did to me. Everyone gets called back to the main room when alarms go off— the homing beacon on J’Onn’s stolen ship has been activated.

The team tries to figure out what to do next, and James suggests using green Kryptonite on Reign, but Supergirl refuses to kill. Everyone else tells her it might be necessary. They send the Legion to their ship. Sam keeps drinking at her mother’s urging, and then finally wakes up in the real world, with her own set of powers.

Fitting for a season finale, there’s a huge fight as the evil Kryptonians face off against Supergirl, Mon-El, and J’Onn. It’s an ugly battle with Reign raging at them. The Legion cruiser gets damaged, which looks like it’s going to be an issue, but then never gets mentioned again. Finally Super-Sam shows up and literally stabs Reign in the back, which I think is more than fair enough. Then things get stupid. Remember the spoiler warning? Here we go for real. A dying Reign somehow manages to Heat Vision Mon-El and Alura to death, and then Sam gets smacked around to the point of mortal wounding. How the vision power is able to kill two people with invulnerability is never explained, but it’s ok, because hey, we’ve already introduced time travel in the story. Supergirl time jumps backward in a way that makes little sense and undoes the deaths, and the heroes win. This time, Supergirl gets Sam to drag Reign back to the Dark Valley again, and destroys her in the fountain.

In the aftermath, Supergirl and Mon-El talk about their victory and old myths. Supergirl has realized that Argo City isn’t home anymore, here is. Mon, for his part, has realized he needs to go back to the Legion’s time. They’re both saddened by all this but realize it has to happen, and Mon gives Kara a ring. Not as in engagement, as in Legion. Ruby runs over and hugs Alex and Lena, both of who are surprised by this, Lena particularly. Sam is back to normal and reading as 100% human. Winn is going with Mon to the future while Brainy stays behind. J’Onn decides he’s going to spend some time adapting to the new memories, steps down as director of the DEO to wander the Earth, and appoints Alex to take his place… because that’s how it works with government agencies, you just pick someone on your way out. Lena has saved the day for Argo by synthesizing Harenal for them so they can keep their shields running. Winn and the Legion depart, we see a secret of Lena’s, and James comes out as Guardian. They end the season with a reveal about something happening in another country that seems to be a take on a classic Superman Elseworlds story.

What I liked: It’s over. No more Reign. They sure as hell shook up their status quo in this finale, and I’m interested to see how it spins out next season. I’m glad Lena was able to help Argo City, and I don’t blame her for keeping secrets after the way she was treated so much of this season.

What I didn’t: So much of this made no sense. I don’t get why they made Brainy an AI suddenly. James going public, while still agreeing Supergirl needs to keep her secret, is contradictory at best. I’m sorry to see both Mon-El and Winn go. I don’t like J’Onn leaving this way. I’m not sure how I feel about all the Kryptonian mysticism. Why is Sam, supposedly from Krypton, reading human?

This was an odd wrap up to a very erratic season. I’ll give the finale a low 3 out of 5, and the season overall a 2.5 out of 5. I really hope they get better next season, but I’m saying about most of the CW shows.