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 75 times in the series, never ironically - see the list below.

Season 1

Count:  15 times

Pilot

1. Lionel: 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:

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

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

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

6. 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.

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

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

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

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

11. 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:

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

Tempest:

13. Lex: I'm offering you the chance to take control of your own destiny. Stand with me, and we will win.

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Kyla: It's the woman he's destined to be with.

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

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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. Clark: Time for what?
    Jor-El: Time to accept your destiny

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

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

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

28. 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:

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

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

31.  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:

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

Relic:

33. Joe: This wasn't supposed to happen. I have to return home alone.
    Louise: Why?
    Joe: Because it's my destiny. I can't change it.

Hereafter:

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

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

36. 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:

37. Jor-El: Lara, his destiny is set. As is ours.

Talisman:

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

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

Covenant:

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

41. 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:

42. Clark: I am Kal-El of Krypton. It is time to fulfill my destiny.

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

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

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

46. 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:

47. 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.

48. 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:

49. Lana, Chloe, and Lois 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:

50. 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:

51. 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.

52. 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:

53. Clark: "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."

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

Onyx:

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

56. 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.

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

Spirit:

58. Lois: 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:

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

Season 5

Count:  11 times

Arrival:

60. Jor-el to Clark: Your destiny is far greater than saving one human life.

Mortal:

61. 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.

62. 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:

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

Thirst:

64. 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:

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

Reckoning:

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

Void:

67. 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. You're a symbol of peace. You're a symbol of justice. And now it's time for you to go.

Fragile:

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

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

Mercy:

70. 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:  4 times (so far)

Zod:

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

Fallout:

72. Raya: You must accept your destiny.

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

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

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

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