DC's Stargirl: Unpacking the Twist in "The Last Will and Testament of Sylvester Pemberton"
DC's Stargirl returned from the Thanksgiving break Wednesday night with its penultimate episode, "Frenemies Chapter Twelve: The Last Will and Testament of Sylvester Pemberton" and going into the episode, fans of The CW series knew this one would be high stakes. Not only did Jordan Mahkent/Icicle (Neil Jackson) recently and mysteriously return from the dead, but there has also been the matter of the Ultra-Humanite to deal with as well as previews that have shown Sylvester Pemberton/Starman (Joel McHale) essentially going rogue, determined to deal with both of these threats on his own. However, this week's episode threw fans a major curveball as Sylvester's plan turned out to have a major twist with huge ramifications as we head into the finale.
Warning: major spoilers for DC's Stargirl, "Frenemies Chapter Twelve: The Last Will and Testament of Sylvester Pemberton" beyond this point.
Most of the episode saw Sylvester preparing to go on a solo mission to take down Icicle. He Said hurtful things to Pat (Luke Wilson), he seemingly said his goodbyes to the JSA, and he ended up taking the Cosmic Staff away from Courtney (Brec Bassinger) before heading off. At the same time, Cindy (Meg DeLacy), Jakeem (Alkoya Brunson), and Mike (Trae Romano) wished themselves to one of Dragon King's labs in search of a solution to Cindy's transformation problem.
These two things may not seem like they'd be connected, but it turns out they are. By the end of the episode there are two big revelations. The first is that the albino gorilla that everyone thinks is the Ultra-Humanite is actually Dragon King (voiced by Nelson Lee). The episode opener showed in flashback how he had created that gorilla body for the Ultra-Humanite, who had previously been inhabiting the body of actress Delores Winters and the episode also shows Cindy finding her father's body with the skull opened and the brain removed. Cindy, Jakeem, and Mike are able to escape from Dragon King.
But while that reveal is horrifying — doubly so since we already know that Icicle is working with "Ultra-Humanite" who we know now is Dragon King — it's the next reveal that is truly stunning. It turns out that Sylvester isn't actually Sylvester. The Ultra-Humanite has taken over Sylvester Pemberton's body, all as part of some larger scheme by Icicle. We find out, as the Faux Sylvester is burying Pat alive, that this has been a very long play for Faux Sylvester. All those moments in Season 2 where we saw Sylvester making his way to Blue Valley was indeed this imposter in Sylvester's body learning all he could in order to assimilate into Sylvester's life, get into the inner circle, and ultimately take control of the Cosmic Staff. We find out, thanks to his villain monologue, that everything he's done this season has all been in furtherance of weakening the JSA so that he can rise — and Icicle can be victorious, of course.
The episode ends with Pat seemingly buried alive, the imposter Sylvester in control of the staff and no one really knowing any of this truth. However, back at the Duggan home, Courtney and the others have started putting the pieces together that something isn't quite right about Sylvester. It certainly sets the stage for what seems to be a final showdown between Stargirl and Starman — or at least the man pretending to be him.
DC's Stargirl airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
What did you think of that massive twist in this week's Stargirl? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
