The Destiny Project

"You’re headed for Metropolis. You are destined to be a big shot reporter at the Daily Planet. Do you really picture Clark Kent being able to keep up with you?"

-- Lois to Chloe in Spirit.

Whenever the word 'destiny' is used on the show - especially by someone towards another person - the phrases are especially prophetic.  The word 'destiny' (or variations there of) has been used 117 times in the series, never ironically - see the list below.

Season 1

Count:  15 times

Pilot

1. Smallville, Episode 1.01: Lex and LionelLionel: You have a destiny, Lex. You're never gonna get anywhere with your eyes closed.

2. Jeremy: I'm not in pain. I have a gift. And a purpose. And a destiny.
   Clark: So do I

Hourglass:

1. Clark: What if it is my destiny? To out live everyone that I love? I don't wanna be alone!

2. Jonathan: The only person who controls your destiny is you

3. Lex: I believe we make our own destiny.

4. Lana: Maybe I should just accept my destiny. All I'm ever gonna be is a little girl in a fairy princess costume who lost her parents.Smallville, Episode 1.06: Clark

5. Cassandra: I think that's your destiny, Clark--to help people. To save them from fear and darkness.

6. Harry: Your grandmother--Eve Garfield. She died last year, right? I was meant for big cities and great concert halls...that was my destiny*

7. Clark: Mom, she's my friend. She told me my destiny was to help people

8. Jonathan: Your destiny may be to protect people, but ours is to protect you, and that's gotta come first, OK?

9. Cassandra: Hmm...I thought you controlled your own destiny.
   Lex: I do. But certain things have happened in my life. Signs I don't want to ignore

Drone:

1. Clark: I’m not destined to be a politician. You need two different personalities.

Tempest:

1. Smallville, Episode 1.21: LexLex: I'm offering you the chance to take control of your own destiny. Stand with me, and we will win.

2. Lex: Or forging a new destiny free from you!

3. Lex: We have a complicated relationship, Clark. My father wants me to believe it's built on trust, but it's not. It's built on lies and deceit. Any relationship with that foundation is destined to fail. Lucky we don't have that problem.

Season 2

Count:  13 times

Vortex

1. Nixon: You can kill me if you want for saying this, but you know I'm right. You're just a small man whose son's destiny is too big for you to comprehend. Clark doesn't belong to you. He belongs to the world.

Red

1. Clark: Look, you're the one always telling me I need to find my destiny. Well, one thing is for certain, it's not here in Kansas!

Skinwalker

1. Kyla: It's the woman he's destined to be with.Smallville, Episode 2.10: Kyla's Bracelet

2. Clark: Lex, have you ever wondered if you were destined to be with someone?

3. Lex: You're asking someone who's been fighting his destiny his entire life.

4. Clark: Yeah, I can be myself with her. For the first time in my life, I feel like everything fits. Like we're destined to be together

5. Joseph: You did what you could. Know this. Kyla had faith in you, and so do I. Whatever your destiny… for the true one in your life.

Rosetta

1. Swann: You won't find the answers by looking to the stars. It's a journey you'll have to take by looking inside yourself. You must write your own destiny... Kal-El.

Exodus

1. Clark: Time for what?Smallville, Episode 2.23: Clark
   Jor-El: Time to accept your destiny

2. Jor-El: By the setting of the sun Sol, you will return to me. Your destiny will be fulfilled.

3. Clark: To leave Smallville and fulfill my destiny.

4. Jonathan: Clark, you choose your own destiny. Nobody can decide that for you, son.

5. Lex: I've always been fighting my destiny, trying to avoid becoming my father. But we all have certain genes that, no matter how much we want to change, dominate us.

Season 3

Count:  13 times

Exile:

1. Jor-El: You have fulfilled your function in Kal-El's destiny.

2. Jonathan: His destiny is whatever he makes of it.

3. Jor-El: His destiny is too great for you to comprehend. This was Kal-El's first test to see if he was ready to begin his journey.

Slumber:

1. Traveler: I control your destiny, Sara. Close your eyes and return to your slumber.

Relic:

1. Joe: This wasn't supposed to happen. I have to return home alone.Smallville, Episode 3.12: Superman's Cape
   Louise: Why?
   Joe: Because it's my destiny. I can't change it.

Hereafter:

1. Jordan: Maybe I was destined to lose them when I met you.

2. Clark: Having someone tell you you can change destiny is a lot to handle.

3. Clark: I'm just wondering if that's why I was really sent here. To change destiny. What if I make a wrong choice and I'm not there to make it right?

Memoria:

1. Smallville, Episode 3.18: Baby Kal-ElJor-El: Lara, his destiny is set. As is ours.

Talisman:

1. Clark: What happened last night?
   Joseph: Your destiny was revealed.

2. Joseph: One who denies his destiny can bring about as much pain and suffering as his greatest enemy.

Covenant:

1. Kara to Clark: You may think you know your destiny. But you have no idea what greatness lies ahead of you.

2. Lex to Lana: It's pretty clear your destiny lies far beyond the Smallville city limits. I'm just trying to help you get there.

Season 4

Count:  18 times

Crusade:

1. Clark: I am Kal-El of Krypton. It is time to fulfill my destiny. Smallville, Episode 4.01: Kal-El

2. Martha: Destiny?! That's Jor-El talking! He did this to you! I want my son back! Give me my son back!

3. Bridgette: Your son's destiny was set in motion long before their paths crossed.
   Martha: I don't know. He flew. He flew away.

4. Bridgette: So he's-- He has completely embraced his Kryptonian destiny.

5. Martha: Do you know what that destiny is?
   Bridgette: No, but the symbol burned into your field three months ago? That's the Kryptonian symbol for "Crusade."

Gone:

1. Clark: The truth is, he's been lying to me from day one. The legend on the cave wall says I'm destined to have an enemy. All this time, I've been worried about Lionel. But I'm beginning to think that the real threat was right in front of me. I think it's Lex.

2. Lana: Do you believe in destiny?
   Clark: I don't want to.
   Lana: But you can't escape it, can you? Even if you don't know what it is yet?

Spell:

1. Smallville, Episode 4.08: Chloe/Madeline, Lana/Isobel, and Edlois/BriannaLana(Isobel), Chloe (Madeline), and Lois(Brianna) are in the Kawatche caves. Day. Lana touches her special symbol on the stone wall with one hand as she holds her spell book in the other.
   Lana: It begins to make sense. Why I was resurrected here in this time a thousand miles from my home. It was destiny.

Scare:

1. Chloe: The real kicker is it’s hereditary.
   Clark: Listen, hey. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned it’s that you’re not destined to follow in your parents footsteps, all right?

Recruit:

1. Clark: You’re proud of me? Why?
   Chloe: I just have a feeling that you’re destined to do a lot more in this world than just score touchdowns.

2. Clark: Chloe, you’ve been saying a lot of weird things to me lately. What makes you think I’m destined to do anything?
   Chloe: Just a hunch.

Sacred:

1. Smallville, Episode 4.17: Lex and his RingClark: "Kal-El, I wish I could continue this journey with you, but now you must seek out your father. If I sheltered you from him for too long, forgive me. Jor-El sent you on a mission. He’s the only one who can help you finish it. I am returning something that is rightfully yours. I know that it will lead you to your destiny."

2. Dr. Swann: Kal-El, you must write your own destiny.

Onyx:

1. Lex #2: Freed me from your weakness. At last, I can embrace my true destiny.

2. Lex#2: Every man has a weakness, Clark, no matter how superhuman he may be. I’ve embraced my destiny. Now embrace yours. We could forge a new future together.
   Clark: I’ll never join you.
   Lex #2 pounds Clark in the face, sending him back to the floor. Then he notices an old sword resting against the wall and picks it up.

3. Lex #2: Maybe this was always our destiny. How sad.

Spirit:

1. Smallville, Episode 4.18: ChloeLois: Hey. You know, a year from now, this is all gonna seem like a lifetime ago.
   Chloe: That’s funny because it feels like just yesterday when he deserted that nervous freshman on the dance floor.
   Lois: You’re headed for Metropolis. You are destined to be a big shot reporter at the Daily Planet. Do you really picture Clark Kent being able to keep up with you?

Forever:

1. Jonathan to Clark: Your destiny lies far beyond those corn fields.

Season 5

Count:  11 times

Arrival:

1. Smallville, Episode 5.01: Clark and ChloeJor-el to Clark: Your destiny is far greater than saving one human life.

Mortal:

1. Chloe: With all that you are able to do, I can't help thinking that your destiny is greater than milking cows and raising barns.

2. Clark: Destiny is just another word for not having a choice.
   * I will note that Chlex have a conversation about Happiness and Chloe says the journey is important and Lex says so is the "destination." Since destiny and destination are related words, I thought I'd mention it.

Hidden:

1. Jor-el to Clark: Your mortal journey is over, yes. But, your imminent destiny is too important to be sacrificed.

Thirst:

1. Lana: I'm sorry it had to be this way, Clark. But we don't always get to choose who we are. Sometimes, our destiny leads us to places that we don't want to go, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Solitude:Smallville, Episode 5.08: Clark

1. Jor-El: I am sorry, my son. The wheel of fate has already been set in motion. Even you cannot alter destiny.

Reckoning:

1. Clark to Jor-el about Lana‘s death:  It wasn’t her destiny and you know that.

Void:

1. Jonathan (Ghost Jonathan): This is your destiny, son. You are going to touch the lives of so many people. Not just as a man, but as A... as a symbol. YouSmallville, Episode 5.17: Clark and Jonathan're a symbol of peace. You're a symbol of justice. And now it's time for you to go.

Fragile:

1. Martha:  Besides, Lois, it's pretty clear that your destiny lies far beyond a cappuccino maker.

2. Clark:  Maddie, just because you're his child does not mean you're destined to follow in his footsteps.

Mercy:

1. Lionel: What? Expose you to the world? Some strange visitor from another planet? I've tried to tell you --I am not your enemy. To reveal your secret would change your destiny. And it would harm someone I care about very deeply.

Season 6

Count:  6 times

Zod:

1. Jor-El: Not within my power, his destiny is now his own.

Fallout:

1. Raya: You must accept your destiny.Smallville, Episode 6.06: Superman Crystal

2. Baern: Too bad that destiny just got a little shorter.

3. Raya: I'm sorry I couldn't share in your destiny.

4. Clark: For the first time, I'm ready to stop running from who I really am - from my destiny.

Labyrinth:

1. PhantomLana: Your destiny isn't to save the world, Clark. It's to be with me for the rest of our lives.

Crimson:

1. Star: Something tells me Lois and Clark's destinies are a little more entwined than they realize.

Season 7

Count:  23 times

Bizarro:

1. Clark: They won't always be here. Losing Lana has made me realize no matter how close I get, someday they'll all be gone. And all the time that I've spent ignoring my destiny, trying to be something I'll never be... human.

Action:

1. Lex: Sounds like Hollywood went for the happy ending. In the comic-book world, when you're destined to save mankind, you're destined to be alone.Smallville, Episode 7.05: Clark

2. Rachel; Oh, god. I can't escape work for three seconds? How did you find me?
   Ben: Destiny.

3. Chloe: What did you mean when you said that he was trying to make you accept your destiny?
   Clark: That I was supposed to stand for something greater. It was my job to save the world.

4. Chloe: So let's think. If I'm Devilicus, what is the worst possible thing I could do to Warrior Angel to make him accept his destiny?
   Clark: Lana.

5. Ben: I know it's not easy being a superhero's girlfriend, Lana, but Clark has to face his destiny alone. And you're standing in the way.

Lara:

1. Zor-El: Remember, Kara, a true Kryptonian embraces their destiny no matter what.

2. Lara: As much as this pains me, it may be my only choice. I can't let the destiny of my child be dictated by the fate of our planet.

3. Clark: We're not defined by our parents, Kara. One of the most important things that my adoptive parents taught me is that we shape our own destiny.

Blue:

1. Lionel: Kal-El is following his own destiny. I will do nothing to stop his course.Smallville, Episode 7.08: Clark and Chloe

2. Zor-El: Kal-El, the blood of the House of El runs through your veins just as it does mine. As much as you want to deny it, your destiny is to rule. And we can do that together as a family.

3. Lara: As long as this ring remains on your finger and you have no power, you cannot fulfill the destiny your father and I have envisioned for you.

Siren:

1. Lois (to Clark): We're not the perfect couple. We are not destined for each other.

2. Lois: Can you imagine what it would be like to look into somebody's eyes and know that their destiny is so much greater than yours that you will never compete? You will always be left behind.

Descent:

1. Lionel: What if I told you now...that you are the Traveler? You're right. Your life truly changed that day. I told you in the helicopter that you were destined for a great future. That's why I've been so hard on you, trained you so relentlessly. Think, Lex. Think. You have survived mortal injuries so many times. How else can you explain it?

2. Lionel: In my lifetime, I've known many famous and powerful men: Presidents, sultans, kings...and I believed that I was superior to them all. But I've come to know the truth, Kal-El. My greatest accomplishment is that I have dedicated myself to protecting your life and serving you. For that I am grateful. But if you are reading this, it means that I cannot protect you any longer from a terrible truth. Two lockets exist. Two. Each one has its own key. These keys, used together, unlock the secret of controlling you. You must find the keys, Kal-el, or your destiny will fall into the hands of another man. You must save yourself.

Apocalypse:

1. Jor-El: You disappoint me, my son. You cannot question your destiny on this planet.

Quest:

1. Clark: I know who Lex is. I know what he's done.
   Edward: Then...why? Why didn't you take care of him before? We have sacrificed everything -- years of our lives, our families -- for you. You don't want to fulfill your destiny. You don't even want to save yourself!

2. Chloe: It's not that. It's just I don't think Smallville is destined to be the next Stonehenge.

Arctic:

1. Lois: Seriously, Clark, don't you think you're destined for greater things in life than working on a farm?

2. Brainiac (posing as Kara): You didn't know it then, but I saved you for a reason, Lex. It is your destiny to defeat The Traveler. I know you have the device. Now all of the pieces are in place. Now it's up to you.

3. Lex: It's my birthright! After all my sacrifices, after all the pain, I finally understand. I was being prepared for a much greater destiny. Everything led me to this moment.

Season 8

Count:  17 times so far

Odyssey:

1. J'onn: Well, that was the last time. The burning sun may strengthen you, but it has the opposite effect on me. It stripped me of my powers. And we both know... that yours is a greater destiny.

Plastique:

1. Tess (to Clark): Seems we were destined to meet. I already had you on my to-do list today. Lex told me all about you.

Instinct:

1. Maxima: Are you sure? Because no one on this planet will be a better match. I know the loneliness of not finding your soul mate. You come back with me, and you will never be alone. It's our destiny to be together.

*

2. Clark: My destiny is here. And you're not a part of it.

Committed:

1. Lois (to Chloe at her engagement party): When Chloe and I were little girls, we made a promise -- neither of us would get married until we found our soul mates... ...the one person in the whole wide world that we were destined to be with... which is why you can't take a 10-year-old on their word.

Prey:

1. Clark: You know, I thought you'd be happy. I'm finally embracing my destiny -- out there making a difference.

Identity:

1. Lois: I don't do too well with fortune-tellers. The last one I went to see told me that I was destined to fall for a guy who flies a lot and likes to wear tights.

2. Clark: Maybe my destiny is more than just secretly saving people. Maybe it was also to give people hope, someone to believe in.

Bloodline:

1. Kara: It was my destiny to find you and protect you, not the other way around. Go.

2. Faora: The duty of a child is to continue the legacy his parents began. Our family is meant to take this planet as our own. And after seeing you with these humans, I realize that you are still too weak to fulfill your destiny.

Abyss:

1. Clark: Home? I wanted to see it that way, Jor-El. I wanted to learn more about my family, about my destiny. And then you tore it all away.

2. Brainiac: Your son is destined to fail. Soon, a new age will dawn on Earth -- an age of power and strength... and the fall of the House of El. Doomsday is coming.

Legion:

1. Brainiac: You have no free will. 12 days in the chrysalis, and you're destined to become what you really are. Doomsday.

2. Imra: But I will tell you this, Lana -- you're remembered for a lot more than just your relationship with Kal-El. You have a destiny all your own.

3. Lana: Our destiny is not written in some book in the future. We write it ourselves -- every day. And the question is --what do we write next?

Requiem:

1. Lex: Clark Kent and Lana Lang, welcome to your destiny. You've destroyed me in every way, so now I'm going to take away what matters most to you.

Infamous:

1. Davis: You were in the arctic with me. You told me it was my destiny to kill the other Kryptonian.

Eternal:

1. Tess: I finally realized that until you fulfill your destiny, he won't have his great challenge to overcome. He cannot become the world's savior without triumphing over the world's destroyer.
   Daivs: What savior? What are you talking about?

2. Tess: Clark. There's a reason thatyou two don't get along. You were destined to kill each other.

3. Tess: I have this feeling that you'll never fulfill your great destiny until you meet your greatest challenge.  
   Clark: You don't know anything about my life.