Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series)
Absolute Power (1999)
Tim Daly: Superman, Clark Kent
Quotes
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Jax-Ur : Look for yourself, Mala. There's no anomaly here. Your soldier boy has been playing tricks.
[an alarm sounds]
Jax-Ur : What's that?
Mala : An escape pod. It's ejected with two passengers.
Jax-Ur : Two?
Superman : [on a platform that rises through the floor] I decided to stick around. I thought we might find a new planet. A nice cozy one just for the two of you.
[fighting off Mala]
Superman : I mean it, you're not going back.
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Superman : [narrating] A black hole. A collapsed star so dense that not even light can escape from its gravitational pull. S.T.A.R. Labs had discovered one less than six light-years from Earth. And with my ship, we had the perfect opportunity to study it, up close and personal.
[deploying a probe]
Superman : After watching the probe being pulled into the gravity well, this was about as up close and personal as I wanted to get. But I wasn't the only one observing it.
[another ship passes over him and enters the black hole]
Superman : [using his x-ray vision to see the crew's trouble inside] I had no idea how their ship got so far off course, but I didn't have much time.
[ejecting from his rocket, he rips an engine off from the other ship and, seeing it didn't work, pushes the ship to safety]
Superman : They were going to be all right. Still, I had to find a place to take them. Fortunately, their ship had left a vapor trail. It led to a nearby star system and one planet in particular.
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Cetea : This is what they didn't show you on your little tour. Interstellar ships, manned by robots.
Superman : They're building an armada.
Cetea : [he accesses a computer terminal] What are you doing?
Superman : Activating the guidance system. I wanna know where these ships are headed. Here. Earth. Why am I not surprised?
Cetea : [an alarm sounds] They know we're here.
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Superman : [narrating, after Jax-Ur and Mala are defeated] Although Cetea's people were grateful for my help, I wondered if it wasn't I who should be grateful. They reminded me of the saying "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." I won't forget it again.
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Jax-Ur : Those "citizens" you so recklessly saved were criminals. Anarchists, condemned by due process.
Mala : Even on your world, you don't interfere with that, do you?
Jax-Ur : Before we arrived, this was a planet in chaos, divided by petty conflicts and factions, not unlike Earth. We have brought to it the order it needed.
Superman : Is that a fact?
Jax-Ur : Don't take my word for it. See for yourself, Kal-El.
[leading him out onto a balcony]
Jax-Ur : Production instead of destruction. Factories, where there were once useless forests and wetlands. Workers who now cooperate with each other instead of compete. A job for everyone according to his abilities and our needs. To ensure a future as orderly as the present, we have built new schools to teach morality, loyalty, and purpose. Needless to say, disciplinary problems are now nonexistent. All over this planet, we are tearing down the irrational past in order to make room for an efficient future. In one year, we have put a new face on this world, creating the paradise Krypton would have been under our rule.
Superman : Now if only someone down there would smile.
Mala : I hope you're not thinking of opposing us, Kal-El. We've had a year to develop our powers.
Jax-Ur : I don't think we have to worry about that, Mala. Kal-El knows his place, and this planet is simply out of his jurisdiction.
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Superman : You're taking quite a risk. How do you know I won't turn you in?
Cetea : It's a chance I'll have to take. My name is Cetea. I used to work for the National Council. The people you saved in the execution ship were leaders, not criminals. We may have our wars and factions, but we are not the barbarians Jax-Ur portrays.
Superman : Even so, I can't fight him, Cetea.
Cetea : You must. You're the only one powerful enough.
Superman : If I do, your planet will be the loser. A battle between us would cause more destruction and bloodshed than all the wars that came before.
Cetea : We're willing to risk it.
Superman : I'm not. Not that way.
Cetea : I understand. This is not your world. But I don't believe our royal benefactors have given you the whole picture. There's something else you should see.
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Mala : I see you still have a weakness for the inferior, Kal-El. Some things never change.
Superman : The last time I saw you, you were trapped in the Phantom Zone. How did...
Mala : Did we escape? A stroke of luck. About a year ago, scientists here detected two meteors of lunar proportions heading towards the black hole. They sent out a research ship to study the phenomenon. When the meteors collided, the released energy tore open a rift into the Phantom Zone.
Jax-Ur : We were freed, but helpless. Had the aliens not been there, we would have asphyxiated or been pulled into the hole.
Superman : And to express your gratitude, you seized control of their planet.
Jax-Ur : You see things so crudely, Kal-El.
