Kryptonian Symbols and Writing

The symbol for "air" was revealed long ago and is perhaps most famously remembered as the symbol with which Jor-El branded Clark at the end of Season Two. This symbol is the El family crest and also represents the letter "S" in the Kryptonian alphabet. The Air Element was revealed in "Sacred," aka "Mulana" (thank you, TWoP!). As explained in the page on the map, Lionel gave Jason a copy of the map to aid him in his quest to recover the Air Element. Lex and Jason traveled to China (see Prophecy 2 and Prophecy 4) because they knew the third Crystal was located in a temple there.

Lana, informed of Jason's whereabouts and given her own copy of the map by Lionel , got cranky that Jason was keeping "thecreths" from her yet again and took the LuthorCorp jet to China... But not without Clark, who insisted on coming with her. Once in Shanghai, a guide helped them begin their quest by pointing out the way to the temple.

Professor Sen:	Miss Lang. Mr. Kent. I'm glad you guys made it here safely. Do you have the map?
Clark:	Why did you send me to find [the Fire Element]?
Sen:	i never really believed this existed... You have no idea how many fortune hunters have searched for this map.
Clark:	The temple seems to be located at the fork of a river.
Sen:	That's odd... There's no river there. But these symbols-- they match those on the temple walls.
Lana:	So you know where it is.
Sen:	I know that place well. There's no mistaking that symbol.
Clark:	Are you sure this is the only temple with these kind of markings?
Sen:	On this continent, anyway. That's all part of the temple's mystique. There's a myth that claims an all-powerful god came from another world and hid a treasure there. The god left us some kind of map to it, but the map was stolen centuries ago by European bandits. As far as we know, they never found the treasure.
Lana:	Can you take us to it?
Sen:	Of course. But don't show this to anyone. As long as the Stone is still out there, there are fortune seekers who are willing to kill for it. We need to be careful. Other people may know you're here.

Clark and Lana's tour guide was quickly killed shortly after they made it to the temple, and the two were kidnapped by evil Chinese government officials. Jason and Lex were also captured, and Jason, Lex, and Lana were tortured with electricity-- which somehow brought out Isobel.

These are all shots of the same vertical mural inside the jail cell as the camera panned downwards. The increasing fuzziness is due to a change in camera focus. The mural shows the Kryptonian symbol for water, then a Chinese symbol, then the Kryptonian H, then another Chinese symbol, then the Kryptonian J. An SESPS visitor, Faye, wrote in to say:

Thanks for that great insight, Faye! As for the HJ spelled out... Um, Hal Jordan (the Green Lantern)? That's the only significant HJ I can think of! The border around the letters IS green... But I digress.

Meanwhile, Clark, separated from the others, stumbled upon a secret chamber in the temple in which he believed the Element was hidden. The chamber contained... A mannequin with kryptonite eyes and a magical t-shirt! Ahhhhhhhh! Don't ask me what that was all about-- I have NO idea.

What annoys me is that kryptonite was created by the radiation that emitted from the planet Krypton after it exploded roughly (by Smallville time) in 1986, and the kryptonite came to Earth in 1989 with the meteors and Clark. So how in the world did ancient statues have kryptonite in them? And for that matter, if the Element were meant for Kryptonians to find, why the heck was the last Element guarded by statues containing the one thing that can kill them? Some things just aren't meant to make sense, I guess. Of course, our smarty pants Eh,Man?You-El? has his own theory about Kryptonite before the explosion of Krypton... See it here in the SESPS Forums.

At any rate, Clark rescued Jason and Lex, and they all ran to the temple. Turns out, the "map" wasn't really a map! But wait-- it actually WAS! Sort of! If you're lost, don't worry-- you're not the only one. It turns out the "river" on the "map" wasn't really a "river"-- it was a tree outside the temple. So I'm not sure why the map has Kryptonian symbols spelling out "river" on it (the body of water nearby looks like a pond/swamp to me).

Apparently, the Air Element was hidden at the base of the tree if you stand there looking at the tree so you can see the temple between the branches. A big WHUH!?! from me, seeing as the original "map" didn't even HAVE a Chinese temple on it. Ahhhh, my brain hurts.

Anyway, Mulana dug up the Air Element, which was hidden in a horse statue akin to the one from The Brady Bunch. Or possibly an ancient Chinese ancestor of The O.C.'s Captain Oats. Where is Princess Sparkle?

She smashed the horse (take that, Meteor!) and took the Element, wrapping it in a red silk handkerchief (see Part III of the Hidden Prophecy) and shoving it into her kimono pocket. The kimono, by the way, was pretty cool. This was more evidence for my theory that the Elements could not be handled by humans without alerting Clark (see more evidence for and against this theory).

Clark and Mulana ended up fighting, and Mulana did some extremely fake-looking moves that were a ripoff of The Matrix (see Prophecy 22 and Parts V and VI of the Hidden Prophecy), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Elektra, all rolled into one big gigglefest. I love Smallville and consider myself a huge fan, but I'm sorry-- that was THE most ridiculous thing ever. How exactly does a 17th-century witch from France speak unaccented English (well, Kristin Kreuk still has her Canadian accent going on...!) and Latin and have perfect mastery of Asian martial arts? Hmm. The fight ended somehow or another when Isobel left Lana's body. Lex and Jason showed up by this time and helped Lana to her feet. The four realized that... The Air Element was gone! Well, actually, that sneaky little Teague snatched the Element during the confusion of the battle and mailed it back to himself in Kansas. He gave it to Lana when they got back to Smallville so there would be no "thecreths" between them (this was before he turned evil).

Genevieve later attacked Lana to try to take the Air element from her. Isobel possessed Lana's body during the attack and stabbed Genevieve with the Air Element. Justice apparently served (even though Isobel never killed all of her killer's descendants or managed to obtain all three Elements), Isobel relinquished control of Lana's body, and the tattoo disappeared from Lana's back. Horrified by what she had done while possessed by Isobel, Lana gave the still-bloody Element to Clark, saying that she somehow knew it was meant for him.