'Supergirl' Has A New Take On Kara'a Mother, Alura

CBS' first foray into superhero television (at least, in the newest comic book trend) is the girl-powered Supergirl. The show has made a point so far in its first season not only to adapt characters from the DC Comics, but to establish Kara Zor-El as a flawed and worthy hero. To this end, we've seen her deal with some incredibly relatable issues in the show's first run of episodes — specifically, the grief she still endures over losing her mother, Alura Zor-El, in the event that destroyed her home planet of Krypton. But who is Alura in DC Comics? Kara's mother is a bit different in the source material (and that's putting it nicely).

So far in Supergirl, we've come to know Alura as a pinnacle of goodness and justice, someone who inspired Kara to be the heroic person that dons the Zor-El coat of arms and attempts to save complete strangers. Before Krypton was destroyed, Alura was a judge in charge of sending criminals to Fort Rozz, one of which was her evil twin sister, General Astra (can't say I blame Alura for that one). After sending Kara to Earth, Alura has lived on in her daughter's memories and a projection program — now set up in the DEO facility — that has the purpose of mentoring Supergirl.

In the comics, Alura's storyline is a bit different, though it could potentially still match up with Supergirl. First off, Alura In-Ze (her maiden name before marrying Kara's father, Zor-El) survived the event that destroyed Krypton after sending Kara to Earth to be with her cousin Kal-El — y'know, Superman. Alura and many other Kryptonians survived by means of Braniac's bottle city called Kandor, where they were trapped for many years. However, when Superman defeated Braniac and liberated Kandor, he relocated the city to Earth. But, Alura wasn't as accepting of Earth culture as her daughter and nephew. She eventually uprooted the Kryptonian city from the planet and sent it into orbit surrounding the sun, forbidding any Earthlings (including her family) from visiting. Yikes.

That doesn't sound anything like the Alura we've come to know on Supergirl. Kara's mother seems like a kind, compassionate, and fair (really, just generally all-around amazing) person who wouldn't hold any prejudice against Earth's inhabitants. So, it's difficult — or really, nearly impossible — to see Alura coming back from the death and holding a grudge against Earth, though that may give us some insight into where Astra gets her motivations...

Unfortunately, it looks like Alura won't be following along with her comic book counterpart in most ways. But, on the bright side, we still get to see Kara and Alura interact through the projection program, and subsequently rip our hearts out because it's honestly so tragic. At least it's something, though, right? That's what I'll keep telling myself as I cry over the fact that Kara won't really get to talk to her mother — just a hologram of Alura — ever again.

Images: CBS; supergirl-daily/Tumblr; Giphy