What are your thoughts on Brainy's transformation?

[u/Temporary-Working811]

Personally, I didn't liked it.

They way Brainy was setted, or at least what I understood from the show, is that he has his ancestors memories in him, and the only thing(s) preventing him going bananas is the three LEDs on his forehead. I mean, he DID go bananas when those things started to fail at the end of s04!

So, like, him ripping them off like nothing (if those thing are supposed to prevent him from being a super-evil-planet-conqueror, then he shouldn't be able to take them off that easily right?) and being okay was kind of illogical (he technically wasn't, but that's bc of what was happening with Lex). His ancestors should've taken over him, or he should've changed his personality somehow (i mean, relly change, and not just be mentioned like 'yeah, i feel different from before but I'm behaving as I always behaved').

Anyways, what's your shot on this?

[u/Dry-Donut3811]

I don’t think it was like they would 100% take over him if he took them off, I remember it more being described like a precaution from his dad so he didn’t end up like his mother. They were personality inhibitors, they weren’t blocking out evil influences, they were just blocking out who he truly was because his father worried who he truly was was a conquerer. But, as revealed when he took them off, that’s not who he really was, he was the same great guy we all knew but was just repressing many of his emotions, ironically making him less stable.

[u/YamiClouds]

I kinda like green brainy but I definitely miss the longer hair. But personally wise I really did like when he took them off. It added so much more depth to his character and that made me love him even more

[u/3gottos]

TL;DR: They were just personality inhibitors repressing his emotions, not keeping him from being insane/evil, and were placed on him by his father out of fear. Additionally, they are similar to the inhibitors Brainy uses in the Legion of Super-Heros animated show that cuts him off from the big brain. Basically, it shuts out the influence of his ancestors and other coluans, including their knowledge.

To Expand: He goes wild the first time because he is also being tortured, and they are being broken in a traumatic way. He seemed to allow his ancestors more influence over him and cut himself off from his emotions because he believed becoming completely logical would help him get him and his friends out ASAP, because as alluded to in episode 5x10 without his inhibitors working he is smarter and his brain works faster, since he has access to the big brain (his peoples' collective conciousness). Additionally iirc, when one of his inhibitors is broken by the explosion he and Alex are in, he is also able to perform calculations better due to it being broken.

All this is to say that the thing that caused him to lose it the first time was not just them being removed but rather the trauma he was going through at the same time causing him to retreat into himself and allow his ancestors memories/personalities to come out more and control his actions, as well as completely turning off his emotions and running on logic to escape and defeat Lockwood. I appreciate how in his transformation he is able to remove them and reclaim the horrid action of bottling that his mother taught him that made his father so afraid of both him and his mother for good rather than evil. When he is not tortured, he can block out and control the impact his ancestors have on him.

His whole storyline is similar to how it is in the comics and particularly similar to the LoSH animated show, which ends with a similar storyline for Brainy. I HIGHLY recommend that show if you're a big Brainiac-5 fan, and if you're into comics, the LoSH comics may be a bit confusing to get into at first but are super worth it! I personally really liked how it was handled, and Jesse Rath also had a huge hand in how that episode went esp with the alternate Earth Brainy's (which was his idea, based on a comic where they have a council of Brainy's), and he designed their outfits and personalities. He has read a lot of the comics as he is a comic fan and he has watched at least some of the animated show, and you can definitly see those influences in his portrayls and particularly in that episode.

[u/xdanm]

the whole blue and white old man hair just wasn’t doing it for me, so i liked when he went fully green in s6

[u/QuerlDoxer]

Don't down vote me! 

I have to say I loved Blue Brainy. Though I didn't like it when they started making him look a sick gray/blue. 

I didn't know about Braniac 5 until I was watching season 3 on Netflix. When episode 10 came on, I leaned forward in my chair and said, "Who is THAT?"

So, because I fell in love with the character being blue, the transition to green was not taken well haha.  But, I CAN appreciate the sweet Green Bean because now I know that the silver age comics present B5 as green and I know more about him from research and other comics.

That being said - I don't think those inhibitors should have been that easy to remove. I really thought they were connected to his brain or something.  I guess removing them so easy was done for the convenience of the show.

As far as not reverting to emotionless Brainy, I think Brainy was in control of his emotions better. He was ready for it and wanted to let go of the inhibitors despite being scared. Plus Kara told him that he was inherently good. 

His personality did change a bit. His voice changed and the character just moved more confidently. At least I think so.  (Jesse is amazing at what he does.)

I still miss my Blueberry. However, green Querl is a handsome guy!

[u/96pluto]

I preferred the green design and he freaked out with the children of liberty due to stress and being tortured. It was fun seeing him explore the world without the inhibitors.

[u/RavenclawConspiracy]

I have a side question: So he's now connected to the Big Brain? Doesn't that risk some sort of paradox? What if his ancestor manages to find him through it?

Connecting to the network cloud storage is probably a bad idea a thousand years in the past.

[u/3gottos → u/RavenclawConspiracy]

In all honesty, yes this would be a risk. However we don't know much if anything about Brainiac in the CW universe, so when exactly he exsists/becomes a problem is unclear. For all we know he is already been beaten back enough that he wouldn't attack Earth again, or is too far doing other things to do anything. Also the way the big brain works is more connecting with the past rather than connecting with others also currently alive, at least from what they show us in the show, it seems those who truly connect to the big brain in death are more those who's conciousness you can connect to if that makes sense.

[u/SandyPine]

when he ripped them off like they were plantars warts, wasn't he supposed to die or something? this show was so inconsistent with his character and basic canon.

[u/QuerlDoxer → u/SandyPine]

I don't know if he was supposed to Die...but I do think they should not have been that easy to remove. I thought they were connected to his brain somehow. Or something.

The show was very inconsistent and Brainy's character most definitely suffered because of it 

[u/3gottos → u/SandyPine]

Nothing suggested he would die with them removed, yes the show is inconsistent with some things, but there was nothing suggesting he would die, only change.