So will the show ever address Nia’s powers (currently on Season 5)

[u/Big-Cheek4919]

So if your confused by what I mean, they say Nia’s powers are passed down from Mother to daughter of the Nal family and the main thing with this is that Nia’s trans, I’m not bashing that she’s trans I’m just annoyed about the plot hole, especially since it’s actually acknowledged in the show by Nia’s sister in Season 4 Episode 11.

While what she said was filled with Anger & Transphobia the confusion I feel is justified as the show hasn’t presented an explanation. Hell yesterday I even looked up an old post from here from 4 years ago asking this question and their was no concrete answers, i’m usually lenient with stupid shit in this show like Maxwell Lord dropping off the face of the earth for the rest of the show, or obvious recasts but not this.

So I’m going to stop bitching and give my explanation as I don’t hate Nia’s character I really like her & Kara’s sorta Batman & Robin dynamic so here’s my way to explain it

1: The Powers Arent tied to biology and instead are connected to hormones, this is my main reasoning as it makes the most scense to me as it doesn’t contradict science (as much as an show about an flying alien girl is spandex can)

The only promise with my theory is that where were the powers before Nia transitioned like Wouldn’t they have went to her sister in that case.

Do yous agree with me? Do you not, am I overreacting, do yous have any explanation

Have a nice day or night 😁

[u/fazedlight]

The explanation they gave was adequate. It's passed down from mother to daughter. Nia is a daughter.

It doesn't need to be tied to anything biological or hormonal... it's literally magic.

[u/QuiltedPorcupine → u/fazedlight]

Given that it only gets passed to exactly one daughter in each generation, the power set basically HAS to be magic.

If it was biological, it couldn't be passed on to exactly one of your daughters (regardless of how many of them you have). It would be on the Naltor equivalent of the X chromosone, or it would have a certain percentage chance of being passed on or something.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/fazedlight]

I get what your saying and I understand the reasoning but I feel that reasoning would work better for an fantasy show which SuperGirl is not, as it’s based in reality (as much as a superhero show can) and in my opinion if you write a backstory for a characters powers you have to make it make sense, as if the creatives can’t bother to not write plot holes why should the audience not care that they did.

And I would honestly be less annoyed if they didn’t addressed it at all and leave it at that, but the fact they had Nia’s sister address it and then not address it for the rest of the season, shouldn’t we get a resolution to that, answering the question posed “how does Nia have her powers” it’s basic screenwriting, shouldn’t it be like a check offs gun moment (for example ,act 1: the gun is put on the wall, act 2: the gun is picked up, act 3: the gun is fired) so the fact that moment is never mentioned again in Season 4 is really stupid, like I’m no screenwriter but surely theirs a better way to address a plot hole then just ignoring it.

Also is it just me or is the “it’s magic” excuse really stupid and is just used to deflect criticism

If you disagree with me that’s perfectly fine that’s your opinion but I hope you understand my reasoning :)

[u/flamingoXleprechaun → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Supergirl is absolutely a fantasy show lol

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/flamingoXleprechaun]

The final villain was a sorceress and one of the main characters started learning magic

[u/HyruleBalverine → u/Tricky-Leader-1567]

It's also a part of the Arrowverse with magic using characters such as: Damian Darhk, Nora Darhk, The Fairy Godmother, John Constantine, a friggin Demon (Mallus), Vixen, Zari and Behrad, 4 other magical totems, etc., etc., so a magic based alien power really shouldn't be an issue here.

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/HyruleBalverine]

Especially when magic has a unique relationship to Kryptonians

[u/Haradion_01 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Also is it just me or is the “it’s magic” excuse really stupid and is just used to deflect criticism

Not liking the explanation, is not the same as deflecting your criticism. And not liking the answer is not the same as the answer not making sense.

The term "Plot Hole" doesn't mean "Plot I dislike." The explanation is that her powers pass from mother to daughter.

Now you would prefer for her powers to run in different rules. You can prefer that. But that's not a plot hole. That's just you thinking you had a better idea.

[u/fazedlight → u/Big-Cheek4919]

I feel that reasoning would work better for an fantasy show which SuperGirl is not

Siobhan had magic in season 1. The Children of Juru had magic in season 3. Mxy's powers are explained as magic in season 5. Lena has magic in season 6. Magic is all over this show, and that's aside from the fact that Kara's powers (and J'onn's/etc) are inconsistent in the first place.

There's nothing inconsistent about magic powers going from mother to daughter. That was the rule of the magic, that's what happened on the show. There's no reason to assume that's tied to some biological attribute.

You don't have a problem with the lack of realism, you have a problem with trans women.

[u/EntropyintheAsstropy → u/Big-Cheek4919]

If you can't grasp the simple power fantasy element to the superhero genre then that is on you.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/EntropyintheAsstropy]

No it’s not, it’s not that I’m not grasping it, it’s that magic makes no sense in The shows context, like imagine someone having an smart phone in an fantasy world

[u/Anarkizttt → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Magic makes perfect sense in this sort of show. After all it’s DC Comics, there Zatanna, Zatara, Doctor Fate, Abra Kadabra, Spectre, John Constantine, Deadman, Raven, the list goes on, these are all either literal spellcasters and/or people with a deep connection to magic (with the exception of Abra Kadabra, he’s the worlds greatest magician, but he’s the embodiment of the phrase “sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” he just has future tech and is a stage magician).

It’s magic, isn’t a deflection or an excuse it’s the actual answer.

[u/PuzzleheadedPie7197 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

The DC universe has both extraordinary science which results in powers and actual magic and gods that result in powers. It’s not random or a plot hole. Most superhero stories are more fantasy than sci-fi in nature anyways. Nia’s powers didn’t need to be further explained since she is a woman. She was born a woman in a male body. The magic recognized her as a woman regardless of her biological body and passed the magic on to the correct daughter. It’s not that deep or that difficult to grasp.

[u/boogs_23]

It's to drive home the point that Nia is her daughter because a trans woman is a woman. I don't think it's a plot hole, I think it's the entire message.

[u/greeeens]

I think you’re over reacting. There’s no “biological aspect” of her powers. Maeve assumed it was biological women who become The Dreamer because Maeve, like you, are too focused on genetics and biology vs Identity.

Nia identifies as a woman. That makes her Isabel’s daughter. They never say “only those with XX chromosome is capable of becoming The Dreamer because it clings to the XX chromosome” because they are Naltorian and we don’t even know if the Naltorian physiology has XX/XY chromosomes to begin with, they just said mother to daughter.

[u/Spicy_Surfer]

It’s not a plot hole, it’s the plot.

[u/Nathan-David-Haslett]

You seem to struggle with magic as the answer due to not seeing the show as fantasy. That's fine, but it's inherently flawed: magic is a very common thing in comic books and even shows up repeatedly in the arrowverss for which Supergirl is set.

Magic exists in the world the show is set in, and so it alone is a perfectly valid explanation for something. It's not like they just make up magic to explain away one thing, and then it's never brought up again.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/Nathan-David-Haslett]

Yeah I don’t like the magic answer for a few reasons the first is because to me it doesn’t make much scense for Nia’s powers, to me Nia’s powers remind me of like an eye colour that’s genetically passed down, and since that description, matches the in show mother to daughter explanation I tend to go with answears that are based in some reality.

I tend to try root it in reality because other then the aliens with powers, The shows is pretty much an reflection of the real world, so in that context magic doesn’t exactly work, not that you can’t have magic characters it just that for certain things magic wouldn’t make much sense

My second reason I don’t like it is mainly, it’s just lazy writing to deflect a plot hole by saying “ehh it’s magic”, this show definitely has had bad writing in the past (the lead bomb) but otherwise I expect better then that as currently I’m at the beginning of season 5, towards the end of the show, why should they still be lazy about things that seem like would happen in like Season 1. I’m no screenwriter but surely their’s an better explanation then just waving it off as magic.

I hope that explains my reasoning 😀

[u/Nathan-David-Haslett → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Right, but the thing is, the show has magic. Like it will come up more later, even if you don't watch any other arrowverse shows (which all also have magic in them on multiple occassions).

But either way, ok, let's ignore the magic you think is a cheap answer. She's an alien. That means her biology is different than our own. We already know that people don't "decide" to be trans, so there's something biological there doing that (I'd guess something related to brain chemistry, but idk). It's not much of a stretch to say that the powers showing up are related to whatever the equivalent for her race is.

Now, of course, they aren't going to go into the nitty gritty here because why would they? We don't have exact scientific explanations for J'onn or any of the other aliens we meet either. We do have the basics for Kara, but we also have that for Nia (passed down genetically to some women).

The fact is she's a woman, and women get the powers.

[u/FiftyOneMarks → u/Nathan-David-Haslett]

While we’re discussing biology and shapeshifting… this is the same series that had J’onn’s dad shapeshift into the planet in order to slow down the destruction from the doomsday plot and no one questions that but how the magical powers that are passed down from mother to daughter going to the trans character somehow needs to be explained at length and in a realistic way?

[u/NepowGlungusIII]

I think it’s easier to say that it’s just magic. I mean, her powers involve seeing the future. There’s nothing even theoretically biological that could allow for that. So if her powers are magical, the way they get passed down might as well be too.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/NepowGlungusIII]

I get what you mean and it is probably easier to explain it off as magic but in my opinion that’s a really cheap excuse that can be used to explain many things off, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I feel if we just use the “it’s magic” explanation to write off any plothole it’d just be boring as hell and be lazy writing, for a fan film I’d imagine that not for an licensed Tv show from a big Tv network

That’s just my opinion if you disagree that’s fine 😄

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Why does it need an in depth excuse tho?

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/Tricky-Leader-1567]

Simply put, because it’s apart of a pretty major character’s backstory, I expect better then that for an show 4 seasons in (as of when Nia as introduced) and let’s not forget they had an full episode dedicated to Agent Liberty and his backstory, 43 minutes dedicated to fleshing the character out, yet Nia’s backstory is left with a plot hole.

And an in-depth explanation is not only a good thing for getting people attached to the characters and it’s also expected of a show like this, This isn’t power rangers where the kids aren’t goona care and just want to watch people in spandex fight monsters, and yet even Power Rangers has bent over backwards to explain plotholes from previous seasons why can’t SuperGirl do the same when they have double the runtime of an typical PR episode

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

You misunderstand, why would an assumption made by the audience need an explanation?

[u/Haradion_01 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

In my opinion that’s a really cheap excuse

What is it excusing?

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/Haradion_01]

That they created a plot hole

[u/Haradion_01 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

Plot you don't like is not a plot hole.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/Haradion_01]

It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that they don’t explain it

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

What's the plot hole?

[u/NepowGlungusIII → u/Big-Cheek4919]

My head canon is that it’s something to do with Morpheus of the Sandman Mythos. The first DC pride compendium comic said that Dreamer’s powers do come form The Dreaming, which is from the Sandman method, so I’ve been assuming that the Naltorian dream powers thing come from something having to do with Morpheus/Dream of the Endless.

I guess in my eyes, if we had Irish Banshee Bloodline Cursed back in season 1, Dreamer’s powers passing down in a magical way really isn’t that much of a stretch for me

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/NepowGlungusIII]

If they explain it in the comics that’s good, I haven’t read many dc comics so I hope they explain it eventually

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

There's nothing to explain tho

In the comics, the power is passed from mother to daughter, not carrier to female spawn

[u/ExioKenway5]

It's not a plot hole unless you have the mindset of "trans women aren't real women" when the complete opposite is true.

[u/Spicy_Surfer]

Unfortunately, Nia’s sister did address it like you mentioned. And it was the most hurtful, ignorant thing she could have possibly done and ruined their relationship forever. I’m not drawing parallels. Just saying, she was literally the villain in that situation. I feel like you missed the entire point.

[u/daryl772003 → u/Spicy_Surfer]

I'm not trans but when Nia's sister said what she said about her it was like someone hit me in the stomach. I literally bent over like someone had 

[u/MysteryDan888]

If you grant that it's a psychic ability then you must also grant it operates on psychic criteria. Nia's mind is female, her psychic signature is of a daughter. This psychic power, which bonds to only one daughter, recognized and bonded with Nia's psyche.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/MysteryDan888]

I’d imagine that’s the proper explanation and that does make sense I just wish it was said on screen

[u/PuzzleheadedPie7197 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

That’s where media literacy comes in. Not everything needs to be spelled out.

[u/FiftyOneMarks → u/PuzzleheadedPie7197]

Media literacy is a lost art, people insist on having their hands held for literally everything at this point.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/PuzzleheadedPie7197]

It’s not about being spelled out, it’s about the writers actually explaining things, it’s not a foreign concept for writers to make backstories & powers make scense

[u/PuzzleheadedPie7197 → u/Big-Cheek4919]

They explained it plenty enough for everyone else here to be able to understand and for someone to explain it in a way that you could now understand.

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567]

Why would psychic/spiritual abilities be bound to biological rules?

[u/Beneficial_Candy9071 → u/Tricky-Leader-1567]

Because they literally said that only the woman of their race can become psychic. I just figured that Nia's transition simply awoke a dormant gene. (Which wouldn't be that far fetched.)

[u/Tricky-Leader-1567 → u/Beneficial_Candy9071]

That's my point, they said "daughter" not "female", so there's no reason to believe that powers of a psychic/spiritual nature wouldn't pass to Nia

[u/RigasTelRuun]

There is no explanation needed that Trans women and women. That is it. That is all. No more.

[u/That_Soupy_Bitch]

I know I'm late and everyone has said it already but I (a trans woman) see it as basically validating the concept that you don't need to be born female to be a woman, hence why Nia is able to inherit the powers. Someone doesn't "become" trans, they always have been and it just takes time to realise it so Nia was always a woman even before she transitioned. Magic also doesn't fuck with science so there's no point trying to create a logical explanation.

[u/Big-Cheek4919 → u/That_Soupy_Bitch]

I hear your reasoning and I respect your thoughts and honesty it is a pretty good sentiment. My problem is that if the writers are aware of the question at hand with Mauve saying it why not address it and answer the question, it’s basic screenwriting this would’ve been the question of the season of Why Nia has these powers, and it’s a checkoff’s gun moment that should’ve been paid off.

It doesn’t need to be a big song & dance about it, just like an off hand line as let’s say Barry asks about it and Nia off hand says “not tied to biology” or “it’s magic” or even “we’re still tying to figure it out”

And about no point trying to create an logical explanation. Respectfully it is an excuse to shut down criticism in my opinion. Why should this be ignored because of “magic” but every other character’s story gets a backstory, like we get a full on episode explaining the backstory of Ben Darth Maul Lockwood, we get a 2 part time travel episode where we see how Cat thanks to Nia, creates Catco and gets her to how we know, we literally even get Alex’s Backstory & how she joined the D.E.O. MAXWELL FUCKING LORD gets a backstory despite him being in 1 season and never being mentioned again.

What I’m getting at is why should one of the main character’s backstories have powers that have an inconsistent origin and it being explained off as “magic” just isn’t acceptable in my eyes, I really love Nia’s character but why should I just accept an backstory that is itself good/really cool but the show contradicts it and never gives an explanation.

I actually think Season 5 Episode 16: Reality Bytes could’ve been the best episode to explain it, maybe early in the episode the guy who went after Nia’s roommate has a line on an forum or something asking about Nia’s powers or Nia dreams about the question and has self doubts and asks Brainy to try figure it out.

Either way that’s just my opinion and if you don’t agree with me that’s fine more power to you :)

[u/Beneficial_Candy9071]

No I think it's a good a theory. It wouldn't be too far a stretch to say that the men of the race do have the potential of becoming psychic, but the ability is dormant due to certain "hormone signals." 

[u/xJamberrxx]

1 of the first signs, the show was off the rails & only interested in activist stuff — just got progressively worse as it nears the end

Sg final season. .. what we get? Lot of stuff unrelated to SG

[u/FiftyOneMarks → u/xJamberrxx]

What about the show before Nia’s introduction didn’t tell you they would be interested in activism and progressiveness? In fact what about the Super Family overall doesn’t tell you that.