SV: The Chlois Theory and the Case of the Dueling Anvils (Part 9)

Here’s the next installment of Dueling Anvils for "Apocalypse". Recall that the Chlois Theory is the theory that Chloe Sullivan is actually iconic Lois Lane in disguise (no morphing necessary). Credit for much of the analysis goes to the folks at TWoP.

In the previous installments I looked at the pro and anti ILL anvils for both Chloe and Lois in the following episodes: "Kara", "Action", "Wrath", "Blue", "Gemini", "Siren", "Veritas", and "Descent".

"Apocalypse" considers what would happen had Clark never come to Earth as a baby. At first glance, it appears that the episode is chock-full of pro-Lois-as-ILL anvils. And to be sure there are quite a few. The underlying meta however is all pro-Chloe-as-ILL. There are a few parallels to the real world (RW) as well.

Pro-Chloe is ILL Anvils

• RW: when Clark has something to discuss, he calls Chloe.


• RW: Chloe puts the key in Clark’s hand to persuade him to save himself. In doing that, the disk in Clark’s hand reveals his misguided intentions to Jor-El who creates the alternate universe (AU). Chloe saves Clark again (albeit not the way she expected).


• Chloe says that the world needs Clark, she needs Clark. Compare this scene with the scene in "Cure" where Chloe is ready to have her memory of the last 6 years wiped as a side effect of a meteor infection cure. Clark’s reaction is that Chloe will forget everyone. She’ll forget him... she’ll forget him


• AU: Chloe is engaged to be married to a Metropolis PD cop who wears the Superman insignia on his t-shirt. The guy looks like RW!Clark and is a hero in this universe.


• AU: Chloe is an ace reporter (spoiler from K-Site although not mentioned in the episode).


• AU: Lois gave her name tag to Clark, making it seem that she was okay with someone else being 'Lois'. It could be taken as an anvil that RW:Lois may give someone else the all clear to use the name Lois Lane if said person needed it for whatever reason. In addition, Lois tells Clark to admit that it is not his name but to wear the badge anyway.


• RW: From "Sleeper", Chloe is arrested for getting her hands on classified government information just like AU:Lois was.


• RW: Jor-el showed Clark what the world would be like if he wasn't there and in the end Clark rejects that world and fights to save his world.

Anti-Chloe is ILL Anvils

• AU: Chloe is not chasing after a story. She is getting ready for her wedding.

Pro-Lois is ILL Anvils

• AU: Lois is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the DP.


• AU: Lois tries to stop President Lex from annihilating the world by printing the truth in the DP.


• AU: She’s smitten by a Clark Kent who sweeps her off her feet twice (although Clark was really only in hero/Superman mode the second time).


• AU: Lois works with Clark to stop Lex.

Anti-Lois is ILL Anvils

• AU: Clark Kent is a blond teenager working on the farm. Is this the guy AU Lois is destined to be with?


• RW Lois is nothing like AU Lois. RW Lois doesn’t care about truth or justice. She’s only interested in the fame, the paycheck, and the Pulitzer.

Here is an interesting parallel between the RW and the AU. The AU had two Clark Kents. AU Clark is blonde with the right background (son of Martha and Jonathan Kent, farmer) but he’s not a Kryptonian/superhero. But, RW Clark (that doesn't exist in the AU) is a brunette, Kryptonian who was not raised by Martha and Jonathan Kent. But the Clark that doesn’t exist in the AU is the one that’s paired with AU Lois.

In RW, there are two Lois Lanes. Chloe is a blonde who has always wanted to be a reporter at the DP; went head-to-head with a Luthor and won; and fights for truth alongside the hero. She loves all sides of Clark, the heroic and the not so heroic. She was fired from the DP by the villain and doesn’t want to work at a tabloid-y DP. Lois is a brunette with the right background (General’s daughter, sister Lucy) but she failed to graduate high school, got kicked out of Met U, was uninterested in journalism until the Barn Door of Inspiration, wrote lies at a tabloid to earn a paycheck/sell papers, stumbled into the DP because the editor had the hots for her, had an affair with said editor and chose affair over career, is incompetent and has yet to have anything published at the DP. She is unimpressed by the hero although he was a high school star quarterback and saved her life on more than one occasion. So to parallel the RW with the AU, the character that doesn’t exist in the mythos (i.e. Chloe) is paired with RW Clark. So who’s the real Lois Lane in the RW?

Here’s another interesting parallel. In the AU, the Clark that doesn’t exist (our RW Clark) is shot and killed by the villain while wearing Lois Lane’s DP badge. In "Action", Penelope is shot and killed by the villain because she’s in over her head. Those could be death anvils for RW Lois Lane (i.e. the fake Lois).

One final point: The AU had a recognizable Lois and Jimmy (i.e. similar to their comics character counterparts) if and only if Clark Kent had never existed. But Clark Kent exists in the RW...