Astra (Supergirl)

General Astra (Laura Benanti) was a Kryptonian criminal, warlord, former military general and inmate of Fort Rozz. She was the twin sister of Alura Zor-El and the maternal aunt of Kara Danvers, as well as the wife of Non and the commander of their army.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Astra was born on the planet Krypton several decades before its destruction. She and her sister, Alura, were one of the rare cases of twin birth recorded on the planet. When they were children, they took pleasure in confusing their parents, due to their almost identical appearance.
As an adult, Astra become a military general and fell in love with one of her subordinates, Non, whom later she married, although he was not always faithful to her, secretly having an affair with Indigo.

Rebellion and imprisonment[]

Astra was very close to her niece Kara, who she taught the names of the stars to on various nights.[1] However, after she learned that Krypton was dying because of it's resources being too heavily exploited, Astra tried to prevent it for both Krypton's sake and Kara's. However, when she couldn't gain support from the government, she and Non took matters into their own hands along with several followers. They committed several extreme crimes, eventually culminating in Non killing a guard while under Astra's orders.
Alura, knowing Kara was the only person Astra would trust enough to meet, suggested to her daughter that she use the spy beacon that Astra had previously given to her to contact her then missing aunt.[2] Kara did so, and Astra came out of hiding to say goodbye to her niece. She briefly tried to explain to Kara why she was leaving as well as her motivations, but they were interrupted by Alura. Alura sent Kara away before confronting her sister. They briefly argued, Alura pleading for Astra to turn herself in and promising to speak to the council on her behalf for a reduced sentence, while Astra snapped that Krypton was dying and prison and the law would not stop her from doing everything she could to save them. Astra was then arrested by men Alura had put in place earlier.
Despite the fact that they were family , Alura sentenced both Astra and Non to prison in Fort Rozz.[1] Before sending Astra to Fort Rozz, Alura told her sister that she believed about Krypton's impending destruction. However, she was "bound by more then blood in [the] courtroom," and Astra's crimes could not be overlooked simply because of her noble goals, which left Alura with no choice but the sentence her to prison. However, she promised Astra that she would do everything she could to carry on her work, but the right way, with compassion and understanding rather than violence and fear. Astra did not return her sister's goodbye before she was sent to Fort Rozz.

Escape to Earth[]

After Fort Rozz crashed in a field on Earth, releasing Astra and all of the prisoners, she led various of them through her subordinate, The Commander, in the hopes of seeking revenge on her sister, Alura.
A week after her niece Kara decided to take up the mantle of Supergirl, Astra confronted the Hellgrammite prisoner from Fort Rozz at a warehouse about his acting independently and stealing from chemical manufacturers; telling the Hellgrammite that they were all stronger together, she commanded him to act as bait to help her capture Kara. After the Hellgrammite abducted Alex Danvers, he take her to Astra. She was first mistaken by Alex to be Alura, though Astra soon corrected her on this, revealing her true identity, and after being pleaded to by Alex that she didn't have to kill anyone, Astra told the D.E.O. agent that she was there to save everyone. When Kara arrived at the warehouse, Astra attacked her, eventually telling her niece that her alliance with the humans was misplaced, and not to stand against her. A fight between the two soon ensued, with Astra eventually being thrown out of window by Kara; she then returned, knocking both Kara and Alex down with her super breath. Astra was then asked to halt by "Hank Henshaw" who had arrived, prompting Astra to grab him by his neck, taunting that he had no weapon that could hurt her, however she was then stabbed with a Kryptonite dagger by "Henshaw", causing her to fly off. Astra later had the dagger removed by one of her associate, while Non tells her that they'd have to re-think their timetable for taking National City and Astra commenting on how Kara was stronger than she thought.[1] A few weeks later, Astra ambushes Kara while in flight, together with Mur and Gor.[5] Astra reveals to Kara that she has created a special vest made with a material that makes her immune to Kryptonite. After failing to convince Kara to join her, her niece jumps off the edge of the building and goes into the ground to escape. Later, Astra is spotted hovering above CatCo Plaza, and Kara goes to confront her. Astra explains that she is alone, but Kara refuses to listen to her, and attacks eventually managing to defeat but, instead of giving her the finishing blow, Kara makes her unconscious and drag her into the D.E.O. headquarters, where she is detained in a cell that has Kryptonite Emitters. Later, Alex contacts Kara when Astra comes to, saying that she will only speak to her; as Kara accept to meet with her aunt, Astra shows Kara that she still has her spy beacon and then goes on to explain how she was captured by Alura, who used Astra's trust of Kara to lure her into being arrested. She then again asks Kara to join her, saying that the humans will listen to her, and together, they can save them; this leads Kara to confronting her mother's Hologram, who confirms that Kara was used, but refuses to explain if Astra was right about Krypton's destruction. Alex and J'onn J'onzz later are reviewing footage of Kara and Astra's fight, suddenly realize that Astra was trying to lose to Kara, so they confront her, and after she compliments Alex's defeat of the Hellgrammite, she tells them it's too late to stop what's happening, then they found out that Non and some fellow Kryptonian soldiers are attacking Lord Technologies.
When "Hank Henshaw" was captured by Astra and Non's army, General Lane came to National City to temporarily perform his duties as director of the D.E.O.; he tortured Astra by injecting her with liquid Kryptonite to know the location of their base, but she told them a false position, which turned out to be a trap. Later, Non agreed to an exchange of prisoners with the D.E.O. between "Hank" and Astra under Kara's request. When the trade is made, Non sprung an ambush; however, Astra called off the attack, demanding that a reluctant Non honor the agreement, though it is not a truce, then she leaves with her soldiers.

Death[]

As the Kryptonians prepared for the next phase of their mission - "Myriad", Non revealed to Astra that he had incapacitated Kara with "Black Mercy", thus technically did not disobey Astra's order for her to be unharmed, but she was displeased regardless so she came to Alex and told her how to help Kara. Non and Astra briefed their soldiers, armed with anti-kryptonite suits, about their campaign they fought for on Krypton, now to be completed on Earth. After they left, Non questions Astra's whereabouts prior and her dedication to their war, Astra tensely affirmed it, so he apologized and left. The Kryptonians attacked the D.E.O. satellites and connect them to their device, Alex shots Astra from an helicopter and distracts her from the activation of the device. A fight between them ensued despite Alex claiming she did not want to fight Astra, that she know she loves Kara and that she had plenty of opportunities to kill her and Kara, but she didn't, so she offers Astra to surrender. They were interrupted by J'onn who threw Astra away from Alex, Astra claimed to be surprised because she thought that all the Martians were killed, to which J'onn replied that he was the last and then started a fight with her.
Astra managed to overcome the Martian claiming she's going to give him an "honorable death", however Alex stabs her in the back with a Kryptonite blade, killing her.

Her fellow Kryptonians took Astra's body back to their base, and a soldier informed Non that the Myriad is operational and General Astra did not die in vain.

Astra's funeral[]

The following day Non came to Kara's apartment to ask her to come with him on behalf of Astra, which she agreed despite Alex's protests. Up in the sky, the funeral for Astra was held; then Non told Kara he would hold a period for mourning, and vowed to kill her after it was over.

Personality[]

Astra was at heart very kind, moral and honorable, however, she was also willing to do whatever she believed was necessary to achieve her goals, after learning that Krypton was dying because of it's resources being too heavily exploited, she tried to prevent the planet's destruction and the extinction of her people. When she couldn't gain support from the government she took matters into her own hands and committed several extreme crimes, although her intentions were always for the right reasons and she felt immense guilt for what she'd done, such as the death of the guard.
After being captured by her sister Alura and imprisoned on Fort Rozz, Astra became cold, cruel and ruthless, despite this, she still had a sense of justice and honor as well as a personal code of morals, she was very loyal to her subordinates, as noted when Kara claimed Astra would never betray her huband and their men after it was believed she'd caved to general Sam Lane's torture. She was also a good enough commander to maintain the respect of her people. Despite Non being more ruthless and willing to shed innocent blood he still respected Astra's authority enough not to.
Astra had a soft spot when it came to her niece, Kara Danvers, who loved like her own daughter, while she was willing to act brutal towards her niece in front of her subordinates, she was never able to bring herself to kill Kara, despite fact that she thwarted most of their plans. While she had planned to use the Myriad program to convert the people of Earth to her way of thinking, she tried to warn Kara about Non, although it is unknown if she regretted her plan; but it was very likely that she did.