'Stargirl' Episode 13: Who is Eclipso? Blue Valley's newest, Justice League-level threat explained
Spoilers for 'Stargirl' Season 1 Episode 13 'Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. Part 2'
Stargirl (Brec Bassinger) and the Justice Society may have dealt the final blow to the Injustice Society, but in one of the last teases for the next season, a certain diamond found by Cindy Burman (Meg DeLacy) promises the arrival of a villain who dwarfs the power of all of the ISA's members combined. Eclipso is a world-ending threat and Stargirl's Justice Society might be way in over their heads if Cindy Burman manages to unlock the diamond's powers. We take a look at who Eclipso is, his history and just what we might be able to expect when he appears in Season 2 of 'Stargirl.'
Created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias, Eclipso first appeared in 'House of Secrets' #61 in 1963. When Eclipso first appeared, he was a run-of-the-mill Jekyll & Hide kind of villain. Bruce Gordon, a scientist who specialized in solar energy, was attacked by a sorcerer who cut Gordon with a black diamond, which allowed Eclipso to take control over Gordon's body whenever there was an eclipse. It later changed so that Eclipso would emerge whenever light was blocked and would be banished when bright light was shone on him. Possessing strength, toughness and the ability to shoot laser blasts out of his eyes, he was enough of a threat for a single hero to be able to handle at a time.
In 1992, DC Comics retconned Eclipso's origins, revealing him to be something much more ancient powerful than Gordon's darker half. Eclipso was actually the first Spirit of Vengeance. He was the representation of God's Wrath, only he grew so violent that God himself trapped Eclipso within a large black diamond known as the Heart of Darkness, and replaced him with the Spectre. When a treasure hunter discovered the Heart of Darkness in the 19th Century and had a jeweler cut the diamond into a thousand shards. This weakened the spell that bound Eclipso to the diamond, allowing him to possess anyone who was in contact with one of those shards.
Eclipso is capable of possessing multiple people, marking them by putting the shadow of a partial eclipse over their faces. He sought out the DC Universe's most powerful heroes and several villains sought Eclipso themselves out in the hopes of gaining his power. Eclipso has been shown to have enough power on his own to be able to take out the Justice League single-handedly and the mere presence of one of the shards from the Heart of Darkness is enough to imply the threat of his return.
He has had a great many hosts over the years, from Bruce Gordon to the Atom's ex-wife, Jean Loring. If Cindy has her way, he will have an all-new host in Shiv, who is already a formidable threat on her own. One of the more relevant hosts that Eclipso has taken over, however, is Alex Montez - whose surname you may find familiar. He is the cousin of Yolanda Montez (Yvette Monreal), the Wildcat of the JSA's second generation. While Alex has not appeared on the show, it's very likely that he will be making a Season 2 appearance if Eclipso is involved.
In the scene where Cindy finds him, we only see a small diamond in her possession which might not be enough to see him restored to full power. Season 2 might feature Cindy and whoever else she recruits to her side, gathering as many shards of the Heart of Darkness as possible in order to unleash Eclipso once and for all upon the world. Eclipso is the perfect foil for Stargirl - where she brings the light, Eclipso deals in shadows. He seeks out the darkness in people's hearts and works to make that darkness grow so that he can gain complete control over them. This is not good news for Yolanda, as the finale saw her killing Brainwave (Christopher James Baker) - the darkness in her heart makes her particularly vulnerable to possession by Eclipso.
Stargirl might soon long for the days when the Injustice Society was her biggest threat because with Eclipso looming on the horizon, she might be well in over her head. The brightest star in Blue Valley may soon be eclipsed by a much darker threat, but we're going to have to wait until Season 2 to find out.
All episodes of 'Stargirl' Season 1 are now available to stream on DC Universe.
