Conflict
MAXWELL LORD. What he failed to understand, my friend, is that it is human
nature. To find things that are better than us – godly, wondrous divine things
– and drag them down and pull them apart. Until there isn’t very much godly or
divine about them at all.
THE CHRONICLER. Having foreseen his imminent capture and inevitable end,
Parzurem had already fractured his mind into two arguments, given shape and
structure by each other’s existence… moder and paeter. The moder pyxis found
itself drawn by the gravitational fallout of the sundering of Urgrund,
eventually falling into the orbit of Galactica, which would later come to be
known as New Genesis. But the paeter pyxis drifted through an eternity, driven
by Parzurem’s search for peace and ponderance, before finding its way to an
infant planet in a far corner of the cosmos where it would be undisturbed for a
brief age.
HIGHFATHER. For long ages I’ve kept my little dream alive. But I have grown
older, and so has New Genesis. Perhaps it was naive of me to believe such a
fragile dream would need no protecting. Or perhaps, I was only a fool holding on
to the dream of being a peaceful god.
IZAYA. I am the god who burned all of existence for love. I am the god who
burned all of existence for vengeance.
DESAAD. Torturer, schemer, rat, sadist… I have been called many things, but
never fancied myself a savior. The truth neither you nor your brother could ever
understand is that we, the gods, are beyond the willful choices of mortals. It
means nothing for the gods… good or bad. Right or wrong. Loyal or disloyal. We
each have our part to play in these grand destinies, Scott Free. You seek to
escape yours. Your brother battles his own, eternally. Me? I put on whatever
face is asked of me. And in this moment, whether you see it or not, I am a
savior. Darkseid is.
On Creation and Life
HIMON. The Source, I theorize, is a product of a self-referential void. The
great darkness could only refer to itself through the presence of another. For
total darkness can only be defined as the absence of light… of life. The
Source is thus pure information. The very first knowledge. Untainted ideas.
Incomprehensible because it is all the many meanings of everything at once. It
is the privilege of gods to touch it, mold it, speak with it – perhaps
understand it – even briefly.
HIMON. Much as the Source manifests in life and death – as creation,
imagination – the darkness that it shattered, though undetected by my studies,
must manifest through similar means. A theoretical antithesis – uncreation, the
absence of an idea. Not in opposition to life, but in opposition to existence.
METRON. From where I am sitting, Lightray, we are all information expressed and
perceived. So in death, we are information transformed. Life may be ephemeral,
but information is immortal.
Freedom
THE CHRONICLER. But [Parzurem] would not be swayed. He was a god, after all. So
they imprisoned him. Cased his hands in his own metal. Bound him to the heart of
Zurem-Uon with his own chains. But he had seen this outcome, among many others.
For he knew, more than all else, of the inner workings of things. Even a god may
be chained. But a mind? A mind is forever free.
METRON. How do you shake the gods out of their complacency? You make a prophecy
that tells them they’re doomed.
It’s a common trope to have beings/gods of extreme power still lie beneath predestination. In stories where characters can control destiny, what serves as the supreme concept?
METRON. Sometimes he dreams of flight – much like a carrion bird, over the
planet Neiros-O, whose denizens live and die in the dreams of vast oceans. The
dead dreams he reaps so new ones may be born in the night.
SCOTT. For each trap you build, Kanto… I can simply choose to be free of it.
KANTO. And how do you know you are not merely escaping one trap to fall
into another?
SCOTT. Truly, Kanto? I don’t know if I am stepping into
another trap… Another doom… But I have no fear. No fear at all. Don’t you
see? That’s what it means to be free.
Characterization
HIMON. Desolation flowered and her unfulfilled dreams drifted out past nebulas
and newborn galaxies full of ancient worlds, where life-forms and civilizations
blinked in and out of existence. In one such dream, she had dreamt that when she
died, her being, her memory, would all eventually return to that from which all
this had begun… to the Source.
He has always thought himself a little more than a scavenger. The moment this
task was set to him… they were, each and every one of them – gods, devils,
heroes, and villains – as good as dead, after all.
METRON. Tell me, Chronicler, have you ever come across earthly mortals and their
attempts at explaining existence with numbers. Rudimentary casualty with a
limited grasp of the truth, but on occassion they come up with interesting
things. I told Himon once about the butterfly effect. It fascinated him to no
end.
HIMON. Izaya believes the Source showed him his path. Set him upon the course to
his destiny. I would like to think whatever strength he found to return us as
Highfather. Whatever dreams saved him in the desert – they were his own.
Always.
METRON. In the moments before the singularity winks out of existence, Darkseid
knows this familiar voice. And his grand cosmic slumber, he allows himself a
smile. He is proud, even if grudgingly, of what that boy has become.
References
- New Gods: The Falling Sky. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Jorge Fornes; Jesse Lonergan; Bernard Chang. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2024. Accessed May 25, 2026.
- New Gods: The Falling Sky: #01. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Jorge Fornes; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Dec 18, 2024.
- New Gods: The Falling Sky: #02. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Jorge Fornes; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Jan 15, 2025.
- New Gods: The Falling Sky: #03. This is War! Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Riccardo Federici; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Feb 19, 2025.
- New Gods: The Falling Sky: #04. The Fall of New Genesis? Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Bernard Chang; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Mar 19, 2025.
- New Gods: The Falling Sky: #05. Enter the Justice League Unlimited. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Jorge Fornes; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Apr 16, 2025.
- New Gods: Edge of Darkness: #07. United They Stand. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Travis G. Moore. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Jun 18, 2025.
- New Gods: Edge of Darkness: #08. Traitor in Their Midst. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Pablo M. Collar; Stipan Morian; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Jul 16, 2025.
- New Gods: Edge of Darkness: #11. Battle at Heaven's Gate. Part 1. Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Denys Cowan; Anthony Fowler Jr.; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Oct 15, 2025.
- New Gods: Edge of Darkness: #12. The Prophecy Fulfilled! Ram V.; Evan Cagle; Phil Hester; Nimit Malavia. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . Nov 19, 2025.
- What Does “Darkseid Is” Actually Mean? | DC. Alex Jaffe. www.dc.com . Jan 13, 2026. Accessed Jul 4, 2026.
A similar story plays out in the Marvel universe with Odin transitioning from a conquering king to a peaceful one, much to the dismay of Hela. In both cases, the peace in New Genesis and Asgard underlies a brutal history that made it so.