Zod Quotes

Father Leone: What's on your mind?
Clark Kent: I don't know where to start.
Father Leone: Wherever you want.
Clark Kent: That ship that appeared last night, I'm the one they're looking for.
Father Leone: [swallows nervously] Do you know... why they want you?
Clark

Kent: No, but this General Zod... even if I surrender, there's no guarantee he'll keep his word. But if there's a chance I can save Earth by turning myself in, shouldn't I take it?
Father Leone: What does your gut tell you?
Clark Kent: Zod can't be trusted. The problem is, I'm not sure the people of Earth can be either.
[walks away]

Father Leone: Sometimes, you have to take a leap of faith first. The trust part comes later.

Jor-El: To see you standing there having grown into an adult... if only Lara could have witnessed this.
Clark Kent: Who are you?
Jor-El: I am your father, Kal, or at least a shadow of him. His consciousness. My name is Jor-El
Clark Kent: Kal? That's my name?
Jor-El: Kal-El, it is.

Clark Kent: I have so many questions. Where do I come from? Why did you send me here?
Jor-El: You came from Krypton, a world with a much harsher environment than Earth's. Long ago, in an era of expansion, our race spread out through the stars, seeking new worlds to settle upon. This scout ship was one of thousands launched into the void. We built

outposts on other planets, using great machines to reshape environments to our needs. For 100 thousand years our civilization flourished, accomplishing wonders.
Clark Kent: What happened?
Jor-El: Artificial population control was established. The outposts and space exploration were abandoned. We exhausted our natural resources. As a result, our

planet's core became unstable. Eventually, our military leader, General Zod, attempted a coup, but by then it was too late. Your mother and I foresaw the coming calamity and we took certain steps to ensure your survival. This is a genesis chamber. All Kryptonians were conceived in chambers such as this. Every child was designed to perform a predetermined role in our society as a worker, a warrior,

a leader, and so on. Your mother and I believed Krypton lost something precious, the element of choice, of chance. What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater? You were the embodiment of that belief Kal. Krypton's first natural birth in centuries. That's why we risked so much to save you.
Clark

Kent: Why didn't you come with me?
Jor-El: We couldn't, Kal. No matter how much we wanted to. No matter how we loved you. Your mother, Lara, and I were a product of the failures of our world as much as Zod was. It's hard to explain.
Clark Kent: So I'm alone?
Jor-El: No, you are as much a child of Earth now as you are

of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds. The dream your mother and I dedicated our lives to preserve.
[He reveals to him the Superman suit]
Jor-El: The people of Earth are different from us, it's true, but ultimately I believe that is a good thing. They won't necessarily make the same mistakes we did, but if you guide them, Kal, if you give them hope,

that's what this symbol means. The symbol of the House of El means hope. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief the potential of every person to be a force for good. That's what you can bring them.

Faora: Are you the ranking officer here?
General Swanwick: I am.
Faora: [pointing at Lois] General Zod would like this woman to accompany me.
Colonel Nathan Hardy: You asked for the alien. You didn't say anything about one of our own.
Faora: Shall I tell the general you're unwilling to

comply?
Colonel Nathan Hardy: I don't care what you tell him.
Lois Lane: It's all right. I'll go.

[first scene: General Zod and his minions are on trial. Jor-El states the accusations]
Jor-El: This is no fantasy, no careless product of wild imagination. No, my good friends. These indictments I have brought you today, specific charges listed herein against the individuals - their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition... These are matters of undeniable fact. I

ask you now to pronounce judgement on those accused...
[Jor-El approaches the accused and indicates Non]
Jor-El: On this... this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction.
[Jor-El indicates Ursa]
Jor-El: On the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have

threatened even the children of the planet Krypton.
[Jor-El indicates Zod]
Jor-El: Finally, General Zod - once trusted by this council, charged with maintaining the defense of the planet Krypton itself. Chief architect of this intended revolution, and author of this insidious plot to establish a new order amongst us - with himself as absolute ruler.
[pause]

Jor-El: You have heard the evidence. The decision of the council will now be made.
[all members of the Council announce "Guilty!"]
General Zod: The vote must be unanimous, Jor-El. It has therefore now become your decision. You alone will condemn us, if you wish, and you alone will be held responsible by me.
[pause]

General Zod: Join us.
[wordlessly, Jor-El turns and walks off]
General Zod: You have been known to disagree with the council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it! Join us!
[Jor-El doesn't even look back]
Jor-El:

[DELETED LINE, mostly to himself] I've seen the likes of your new order, too many times before. And I know only too much about what you call "greatness".
General Zod: You *will* bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter if it takes an eternity,
[voice rising to a shout]
General Zod: you *will* bow down before me! Both you and, one day,

*your heirs!*
Ursa: [All three criminals are imprisoned within the Phantom Zone] Forgive me...!
General Zod: I shall return...!

First Elder: [following the trial and sentencing of General Zod and Company] An unpleasant duty has been masterly performed, Jor-El. They have received the fate they deserve: isolation in the Phantom Zone, an eternal living death.
Jor-El: A chance for survival, nonetheless... as opposed to us, if we continue to ignore these facts. It's suicide! No, it's

worse. It's GENOCIDE!
First Elder: Be warned, Jor-El. The Council has already evaluated this outlandish theory of yours.
Jor-El: My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you that we must evacuate this planet immediately!
First Elder: Jor-El, you are one

of Krypton's greatest scientists.
2nd Elder: Ah, yes, but so is Vond-Ah.
Vond-Ah: It isn't that we question your data. The facts are undeniable. It's your conclusions we find unsupportable.
Jor-El: This planet, and its red sun with it, will destabilize and burst within thirty days... likely within seven.

Vond-Ah: I tell you Krypton is simply shifting its orbit.
2nd Elder: Jor-El, be REASONABLE.
Jor-El: My friend, I've never been otherwise. This madness is yours.