- "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." - Lex Luthor, Requiem
Lex watching his cameras.
After the Fortress's collapse, Lex went missing and was presumed dead. Lex knew that in case he didn't return from the Arctic, he had to pick someone to run LuthorCorp so he appointed Tess Mercer as his successor. Under the guise of "X" and while in hiding to recover from his injuries, Lex had his people steal the Crystal of Knowledge from Tess and he sent the device to Clark. He mailed it to the Kent Farm as part of a trap which sent Clark and Lois into the Phantom Zone. Through his cameras, Lex was viewing Chloe and Jimmy's wedding.
Lex is declared dead.
After the cameras that Lex had implanted within Tess behind both of her eyes when he rescued her from an accident a couple of years ago and was using her as his eyes and ears was discovered, Tess used a device to block Lex's transmissions. When Project Prometheus was stolen by Lana, Lex sent Regan Matthews to locate it and return the research back to him so that he could control the project but Regan was killed by Tess.
Lex getting revenge.
Still using view screens and cameras, Lex relied on life support through tubes and breathing machines and his face was partially scarred and wore a kryptonite ring with an L insignia. He used Winslow Schott to assist him in his revenge. Wanting revenge, Lex killed all of his previous staff when he attempted to murder Oliver. Watching a view screen connected from Schott's puppet eye, he monitored Schott's setup of a meteor-rock bomb on the roof of the Daily Planet. Knowing Lana had stolen his Prometheus suit, he set Clark and Lana up so that she would have to absorb the meteor rock to diffuse the bomb, and as a result, never be able to go near Clark again. Just when Clark was about to confront Lex, a toy bomb of Schott's that Oliver put there caused a nasty truck explosion with Lex inside, possibly killing him. Lex's apparent remains from the charred truck were later scattered by Clark.