'Supergirl': Is Imra the Real Big Bad?

This season on Supergirl there's been no question who the primary antagonist Supergirl and her allies are facing is. From early on it's been established that the Worldkiller Reign is the conventional "big bad", leaving the heroes scrambling for how to stop her.

But what if the true "villain" of the season isn't Reign? While she comes in hero's clothes, Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl (Amy Jackson) recently revealed to Mon-El (Chris Wood) that the Legion of Super-Heroes has been on a secret mission. While the nature of that secret mission hasn't yet been fully revealed, could Imra secretly be the real villain of Supergirl this season? Some fans seem to think that yes, she could be, and there's some reasonable evidence behind the theory.

For starters, Imra has been a little questionable in comics before. It's something we've actually written about previously when discussing whether Mon-El's marriage to Imra on the show is real. In comics, Imra has immense psychic and telepathic powers, and she has used them on her own team before. Following the Blight invasion, Saturn Girl and several other Legionnaires were lost in a galaxy not their own. In an attempt to keep the team calm and focused, Saturn Girl created a telepathic illusion of Ultra Boy's wife, Apparition, making it appear that she was there with the team. When Saturn Girl was put under for medical attention, the team realized that she had been manipulating them. While we know that on Supergirl, Imra's marriage to Mon-El isn't so much fake as it was an arranged marriage, there's still the possibility that there could be manipulation involved.

Another hint that could point to Imra being the villain is her obsession/fangirling of Supergirl. Imra is very open about how much she looks up to Supergirl thanks to the stories Mon-El told, but just because she's a fan of the Girl of Steel at this point in the season doesn't mean that can't change. If Imra did go from fan to foe it wouldn't be the first time, it's happened in DC Comics -- and in the Arrowverse. Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash was an obsessed fan of The Flash in both comics and The CW series, but when he found out that he was destined to become the speedster's enemy (thanks to time travel, no less) he grew to loathe the hero, ultimately becoming one of the most formidable villains in the Arrowverse. If Imra were to discover something that would turn her against Supergirl, it could have villainous result.

However, while manipulation and a sudden turn from fan to foe are both possible, it's also possible that Imra becoming the villain could be accidental, especially if it's tied to the real mission the Legion is on. Some have theorized that the real mission the Legion is on is to save Supergirl from Reign. If that's the case and they are successful there could also be unintended consequences, such as preventing the near-destruction of civilization in the future. Even a small change could ripple into the future and possibly cause catastrophic changes to Imra, including changes involving her marriage to Mon-El.

Supergirl airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. New episodes resume on April 16th.