Jordan Mahkent might’ve killed Starman, but there’s so much more to his backstory than what we thought. In this week’s episode about Icicle, it explains how this cold villain became who we’ve come to know.
[Please note that this article contains spoilers for Stargirl Season 1 Episode 3 ‘Icicle’]
Icicle might’ve been the leader of the Injustice Society, but there is so much more to him than we’ve come to see since the first episode of Stargirl. Jordan Mahkent is a widowed father who is seeking vengeance for the death of his wife who died when his son, Cameron was only a child.
However, this is not the end of the Mahkent story as it is only just beginning. This week’s episode which is entitled ‘Icicle’, we learn how a grief-stricken Jordan became the villain who killed Starman.
Grief-Stricken
The story of Jordan and Cameron Mahkent begins two years after the deaths of the JSA where the father-son duo say their goodbyes to Christine, their wife and mother who is dying. After she dies, her distraught husband runs outside and freezes everything in sight which is seen by their child.
Eight years later, a now teenage Cameron attends Blue Valley High alongside the other children of the Injustice Society. He is raised primarily by his grandparents, though his father is around. However, the memories of his mother’s death have never quite gone away as Jordan is still secretly active as Icicle in Blue Valley and wants revenge for what happened to his wife.
Courtney Notices Cameron’s Art
At school, Cameron keeps to himself but that doesn’t stop him from being kind to Courtney. She notices the kind gesture he did for Yolanda by painting a floral motif over the ‘slut’ that been etched on her locker. This is the only time they speak to each other in the episode.
In an earlier scene, Mahkent is seen watching Courtney as she forces herself to lie to Joey Zarick when he gets his card trick wrong. How this pans out in later episodes is anyone’s guess but we’d love to see a departure from the comics where he becomes the villain, Icicle Junior. He could be an important member of the new JSA or at least, an ally.
Jordan Befriends Barbara
Jordan Mahkent doesn’t appear to be all out evil like Brainwave. He takes it upon himself to listen to Barbara, Courtney’s mother’s ideas at work and tells Steve Sharpe aka The Gambler that she is allowed to voice her opinions. Later, we see him pay Barbara a visit and helps her pick up the stuff she knocked off her desk. He even complemented her family which was a nice touch.
When Barbara thanks him formally, he insists she call him by his name. Now, this might seem a little unusual for a villain of Jordan’s calibre. He was the leader of the Injustice Society and he’s the defacto leader of Project New America. However, we look at his tragic past with how his wife died, you can see that he’s not actually evil. He is simply misguided like Lena was in Supergirl.
How Jordan’s relationship with Barbara will play out for the rest of the season is yet to be determined. However, we need to be cautious as he is capable of killing. He killed Starman, William Zarick/The Wizard, and Joey. What’s to stop him from threatening the mother-of-one if it’s revealed to him who Stargirl is?
