Jor-El Quotes in Man of Steel (2013)

Jor-El: You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.

Jor-El: Goodbye, my son. Our hopes and dreams travel with you.

Lara Lor-Van: He will be an outcast. They'll kill him.

Jor-El: How? He'll be a god to them.

Superman: [about Earth's people] Why am I so different from them?

Jor-El: Earth's sun is younger and brighter than Krypton's was. Your cells have drunk in its radiation, strengthening your muscles, your skin, your senses. Earth's gravity is weaker, yet its atmosphere is more nourishing. You've grown stronger here than I ever could have imagined. The only way to know how strong, is to keep testing your limits.

[first lines]

Jor-El: Will you not understand? Krypton's core is collapsing! We may only have a matter of weeks! I warned you, harvesting the core was suicide! It has accelerated the process of implosion!

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...

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.

Jor-El: Our people can co-exist.

General Zod: So we can suffer through years of pain, trying to adapt like your son has?

Jor-El: You're talking about genocide.

General Zod: Yes! And I'm arguing its merits with a ghost.

Jor-El: My son is twice the man you were, and he will finish what we started. I can promise you that.

General Zod: Tell me, you have Jor-El's memories; his conscience. Can you experience his pain? I will harvest the codex from your son's corpse, and I will rebuild Krypton atop his bones.

Jor-El: Born on Krypton and raised on Earth, you had the best of both and were meant to be the bridge between two worlds.

[from TV spot]

Jor-El: You can save them... You can save all of them.

General Zod: This council has been disbanded!

Ro-Zar: On whose authority?

General Zod: Mine.

[Zod shoots and kills Ro-Zar]

General Zod: The rest of you will be tried and punished accordingly.

Jor-El: What are you doing, Zod? This is madness!

General Zod: What I should have done years ago! These lawmakers with their endless debates have led Krypton to ruin!

Jor-El: And if your forces prevail? You'll be the leader of nothing!

General 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 will decide which bloodlines survive, Zod?... You?

[pause]

General 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 bound us together. You've taken up the sword against your own people. I will honor the man you once were, Zod, not this monster you have become.

Lara Lor-Van: I can't do it... I thought I could, but...

Jor-El: Lara, Krypton is doomed. This is the only chance of safety he has.

Lois Lane: Where did you come from?

Jor-El: The command key, Miss Lane. Thanks to you, I'm uploading to this ship's mainframe.

Lois Lane: Who are you?

Jor-El: I am Kal's father.

Lois Lane: Can you help us?

Jor-El: I designed this ship. I can modify its atmospheric composition to human compatibility. We can stop them. We can send them back to the Phantom Zone.

Lois Lane: How?

Jor-El: I can teach you. And in turn, you can teach Kal. Will you help me?

Lois Lane: [Jor-El's image appears behind Lois] Where did you come from?

Jor-El: The command key Miss Lane; thanks to you, I'm uploading into the ship's mainframe.

Lois Lane: Who are you?

Jor-El: I am Kal's father.

Lois Lane: Can you help us?

Lois Lane: I designed this ship, I can modify its atmospheric composition to human compatibility. We can stop them, we can send them back to the phantom zone.

Lois Lane: How?

Jor-El: I can teach you; and in turn you can teach Kal. Will you help me?

[Scene cuts to ships flying through clouds, and then approaching Earth's surface]

Jor-El: The Ship's crew are alerted. We need to move quickly. Retrieve the command key.

[Lois retrieves the key, and Jor uses power to open door, they are ambushed a moment later by a female guard, Jor uses power to slam the door on her arm]

Lois Lane: Did you do that?

Jor-El: Yes, pick up her sidearm.

Jor-El: [Lois retrieves the weapon then begins to follow Jor down the corridor, scene cuts to Kal escaping from Zod's chambers, then to Earth where spaceships can be seen flying overhead, then returns to the corridors aboard the command ship] To your right, fire. Behind you.

[uses power to slam door. Then guides Lois to escape pod chamber, using power to open the door]

Jor-El: Secure yourself inside the open pod. Safe travels Miss Lane, it's highly unlikely we'll be seeing each other again. Remember, the phantom drives are essential in stopping them... Move your head to the left.

Jor-El: Look.

Superman: Lois.

Jor-El: You can save her, Kal. You can save all of them.

Jor-El: [to Lara] Out there, amongst the stars, he will be free.

General 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.

General Zod: Heresy! Destroy it!

Jor-El: Can you see the Codex?

Kelex: It's just beneath the central hub, sir. But I'm compelled to warn you, breaching the genesis chamber is a Class B crime punishable...

Jor-El: Nobody cares anymore, Kelex. The world is about to come to an end.

Jor-El: Goodbye, Miss Lane. I do not think we shall ever meet again.

Jor-El: [bidding his son farewell, as Lara looks on] You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more, I... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I... all I can send you, Kal-El.

[as Clark discovers his heritage, this is his father's final message to him]

Jor-El: Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. But always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son.

[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, 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...!

[as Jor-El is preparing to send his son to Earth before the destruction of Krypton, Lara enters the room with the infant, Kal-El]

Lara: Have you finished?

Jor-El: Nearly. It's the only answer, Lara. If he remains here with us... he will die as surely as we will.

Lara: But why Earth, Jor-El? They're primitives, thousands of years behind us.

Jor-El: He will need that advantage to survive. Their atmosphere will... sustain him.

[He looks at his son and walks over to the area where the ship that will carry Kal-El lies. There are information crystals placed in slots on the edges]

Lara: He will defy their gravity.

Jor-El: He will look like one of them.

Lara: He won't *be* one of them.

Jor-El: No. His dense molecular structure will make him strong.

Lara: He'll be odd. Different.

Jor-El: He'll be fast. Virtually invulnerable.

Lara: Isolated. Alone.

Jor-El: He will not be alone.

[He holds up a clear crystal and takes a long look at it]

Jor-El: He will never be alone.

[He places it in one of the slots along with the other crystals in the ship]

Jor-El: [at the Fortress of Solitude] So, my son. Speak.

Young Clark Kent: Who am I?

Jor-El: Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you've been raised as a human, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered.

Jor-El: [in the Fortress of Solitude] You... enjoyed it.

Superman: I don't know what to say, Father. I'm afraid I just got carried away.

Jor-El: I anticipated this, my son. I...

Superman: [surprised] You couldn't have! You couldn't have imagined...

Jor-El: ...How good it felt.

[Clark nods]

Jor-El: You are revealed to the world. Very well, so be it. But you must still keep your secret identity.

Superman: But why?

Jor-El: The reasons are two. First, you cannot serve humanity twenty-eight hours a day.

Superman: Twenty-four.

Jor-El: Or twenty-four, as it is in Earth time. Your help would be called for endlessly, even for those problems which human beings could solve themselves. It is their habit to abuse their resources in such a way.

Superman: And, secondly?

Jor-El: Secondly, your enemies will discover their only way to hurt you: by hurting the people you care for.

Superman: Thank you, Father.

Jor-El: Lastly... Do not punish yourself for your feelings of vanity. Simply learn to control them. It is an affliction common to all, even on Krypton. Our destruction could have been avoided had it not been for the vanity of some who considered us indestructible. Were it not for vanity, why... at this very moment...

[sadly]

Jor-El: I could embrace you in my arms. My son.

[Kal-El reaches yearningly toward his father's image; Jor-El fades, leaving Kal-El alone]

Jor-El: [echo of the past] It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history.

Jor-El: [to Kal-El] The early history of our universe was a bloody mosaic of interplanetary war.

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 ourselves, 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: Yes, but so is Vond-Ah.

Vond-Ah: It isn't that we question your data. The facts you speak of are undeniable. It's only your conclusions which we find unsupportable.

Jor-El: This planet, and its red sun with it, will destabilize and burst within 30 days... very likely, within seven.

Vond-Ah: I tell you, Krypton is merely shifting its orbit.

2nd Elder: Jor-El, be REASONABLE.

Jor-El: My dear friend, I've never been otherwise. This madness is yours.

First Elder: [after the Council of Elders has voted unanimously against Jor-El's desperate proposal] Any attempt by you to create a climate of fear and panic among the populace must be deemed by us an act of insurrection.

Jor-El: You would accuse me of insurrection? Has it now become a crime to cherish life?

First Elder: You would be banished to endless imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, the eternal void which you yourself discovered.

Jor-El: Krypton!

Jor-El: [Superman is remembering Jor-El's last message to him from the first film] Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son.

[first lines]

Jor-El: You will travel far my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you. Even in the face of our deaths. You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the - The son.

Jor-El: [Superman is flashing back to things his father told him] The human heart is still subject to monstrous deceits.

Jor-El: You will travel far, my little Kal-El, but we will never leave you-even in the face of our deaths. You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father. And the father, the son.

Jor-El: They could be great people Kal-El if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way, this reason above all is why I send them you, my only son.