The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 20 - Negative, Part 2

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

With Barry having suffered a major loss, the team rally around him in the darkest hour yet.

Influences

The Flash comics of Joshua Williamson. 


Flash Facts

This is the last episode to feature Jesse L. Martin as a series regular.

With this episode, The Flash surpassed Arrow as having the most episodes of any Arrowverse series.

Reportedly, this was originally planned to be the series finale, but a new ending was written when the series was renewed for Season 9.

Impulse describes a situation as "all aster, no dis." This is a nod to Young Justice, where the young heroes routinely took apart words, such as when Robin wondered why people were overwhelmed or underwhelmed but never just whelmed.

The flash forward at the end of the episode takes place on June 29, 2049. This episode originally aired on June 29, 2022.

The blue crystal in the future shown in the final scene may be a nod to the villain Cobalt Blue - a Flash villain from the comics with connections to both the Allen and Thawne families.

Technobabble

Barry plans to enter the Negative Speed Force by using a concentrated blast of dark matter and negatively-charged lightning in conjunction with his tachyon harness.

Chester reports detecting a huge influx of negative kinetic tachyons right before the Reverse-Flash appears in downtown Central City. He later detects negative kinetic isotopes with temporal, geothermic, and electric chemical readings, corresponding to the effects of the other Forces.


Dialogue Disasters

Impulse: (on seeing Reverse-Flash's new costume) Who's his new tailor? Satan? 


Continuity

The reborn Reverse-Flash confirms that the Negative Forces brought him back to serve as the Negative Speed Force avatar, due to them being too weak to function without a fourth member of their circle.

Barry tries to kill the Reverse-Flash, but is stopped by XS and Impulse.

Barry finally relents on killing Reverse-Flash when XS and Impulse point out that if they're still alive, Iris couldn't have died yet. (Or that there's still a chance of fixing the timeline.)

Barry plans to go into the Negative Speed Force, theorizing it is the only place Thawne could hide from him after Chester can't find any sign of him on Earth-Prime.

Barry continues to insist that he felt Iris die and that he can't feel their connection anymore. He also fears she may have been erased from reality completely but the changes haven't caught up with them yet.

Iris wakes up in the same empty space dimension from 805 and is greeted by a remnant of Damien Darhk's memories.

Meena volunteers to use her powers to give Barry the Negative Speed Force charge he needs to enter the Negative Speed Force.

Cecile tells Barry she can feel him radiating anger.

Cecile suddenly feels an intense sensation of frustration, right before having a vision of Bashir (aka Psych) the Sage Force Avatar.

Cecile believes Bashir wants her to find him and the other Positive Force Avatars.

The Negative Force avatars take the Reverse-Flash into a space resembling the Reverse-Flashpoint from 804.

The Negative Forces reveal that Eobard Thawne did not tap into the Negative Speed Force with his machine.  The Negative Force tapped him, choosing him as an avatar because it fed off of his hatred for Barry Allen to empower itself.

Damien confirms that the Negative Forces used Iris as an incubator to create a new Negative Speed Force, in much the same way Barry and Iris' love allowed the Speed Force to be reborn.

Damien explains that the Time Stone he gave Joe acted to save Iris, because she wasn't meant to die at this point in time and that there's something important she's meant to do in the future.

Meena almost destroys her Artificial Negative Speed Force trying to give Barry a jump-start. Barry persuades her to charge herself up so that she can give her power to him.

Joe West is shown at his home, praying for Iris to return home safe, when the Jay and Joan Garrick of 2049 show up. They explain that they followed Iris' particle trail across time to Joe's house. This eventually leads them to the Time Stone, which Jay recognizes, having heard about it in his travels.

With the reluctant help of Queen and Top, Cecile attempts to make contact with Psych. He appears briefly and confirms that the time sickness that infected Iris and Deon Owens spread to the Sage Force and Strength Force.

Psych also explains that he saw potential in Cecile and opened the floodgates in her mind. This caused her to steal the powers of Queen and Top by accident.

Barry travels into the Negative Speed Force and confronts the other Negative Forces.

The Negative Forces explain that Barry disrupted the cosmic balance in 805 when he depowered the Reverse-Flash instead of allowing him to be erased from existence. Before that, they had no idea it was possible to upend the balance in such a fashion, This gave them the idea do the same thing, but to their benefit, turning the Reverse-Flash into an avatar of all the Negative Forces.

The Reverse-Flash dons a new black version of his original costume when he returns to Central City.

Damien Darhk gives Iris a pep-talk, telling her that she is a survivor who is too stubborn to die and that even if the spark between her and Barry is dead, it can still be reignited.

Reverse-Flash hits Impulse with lightning and sends him back in time a billion years.

Using the Psych mask, Cecile is able to transfer her power to Bashir. This somehow allows him to heal the rest of the Positive Forces.

The Positive Forces Show up and give their power to Barry, giving him the chance to fight Reverse-Flash evenly.

Iris reappears at Joe's house.

Barry is able to hold his own against Reverse-Flash, but the two of them wielding all the Forces is threatening to destroy Central City, if not all of reality.

Jay runs Iris to the battle so that Barry can see she is alive.

Instead of fighting Reverse-Flash, Barry meditates on maintaining everything. 

Reverse-Flash burns himself out trying to summon more power to destroy Barry.

Barry uses all the power he has to restore things so his children and Meena return.  

The universe rights itself after.

Chester confirms that Barry's extra Force powers are gone and that Iris' time sickness is cured.

Gideon confirms there are no more Eobard Thawne remnants anywhere in the timeline.

Jay, Joan, XS and Impulse return to 2049.

Meena confirms the BLOC is no longer working and that she's lost her powers.

Barry and Iris give Meena the yellow tie worn by the reformed Eobard Thawne she loved.

Barry and Meena both offer each other help with whatever they might need help with in the future.

The Top and Queen are both confirmed to have their powers back, with The Queen being locked up in Iron Heights again.

Cecile is revealed to have developed telekinetic powers.

Allegra, Chester and Cecile decide to collective call themselves Team Badass.

The Flash reunites Tinya Wazoo and her mother Renee. 

The cryonic chamber Chillblaine build malfunctions. He tries to take Caitlin Snow out of it, but is confronted by someone he doesn't recognize. She has the same voice as Caitlin and Frost, and introduces herself as "A friend, I think."

Barry and Iris enjoy a quiet night in, but Iris worries that the Negative Speed Force will find another avatar to replace Thawne.

Location

Central City - June 29, 2049


The Bottom Line

A messy end to a messy season. The best that can be said is that it does tie up all the loose ends except for what is happening to Caitlin and Frost. (This was likely due to the need to work around Danielle Panabaker's second pregnancy.) Hopefully Season 9 can give the series and the Arrowverse a proper ending.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 5 - Armageddon, Part 5

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Barry is given a chance to end his feud with Eobard Thawne once and for all, but the consequences could be dire for the entire Arrowverse. Meanwhile, the Green Arrow of the future journeys to 2021, seeking a lost loved one.

Influences

Green Arrow and the Canaries (story picks up from the failed pilot) and the many contradictory origin stories of the Reverse-Flash in various The Flash comics.


Goofs

Barry says that future Chester made the PED, when it was said in 804 that Ray Palmer made it. (Perhaps future Chester enhanced it in the six months after it was taken to STAR Labs?)

Iris' lecture on Oliver Queen ruining his life by killing to protect his loved ones neatly ignores that Iris killed Savitar to save Barry Allen in The Flash season 3 finale.

It's odd that Joe would threaten to disown Barry and Iris if they didn't save Thawne, given that you'd think a police officer would appreciate that sometimes you have to take lives to save lives... like Joe did when he shot Clyde Mardon to save Barry in The Flash pilot.

Despero says point-blank that he cannot kill the Reverse-Flash because the only way to be sure he won't survive somehow to menace the future is for him to have never existed in the first place. Yet he still goes on to try and kill Thawne after Barry and Team Flash refuse to let him fade out of existence. 

The idea that removing Thawne's connection to the Negative Speed-Force will save him doesn't make any sense since one of the powers the Negative Speed Force is supposed to grant is immunity from paradoxes. (Come to think of it, why isn't THAT protecting him anymore?)

Why would Despero bother pretending to be a hero from the future if he's really some petty tyrant exiled from his home planet? It wouldn't make it any easier for him to come back and time to kill The Flash.

For that matter, Barry's reasoning that Despero must be a bad guy because he's willing to kill for a greater good doesn't make much sense given how many of Barry's friends (Oliver Queen among them) have the same belief.

Barry's reasoning that the Flame of Py'Tar must follow the laws of physics like a real flame despite being an alien magic power source is probably the most wonky pseudoscience in the show's history.

For all Barry and Team Flash do to try and spare Thawne's life and save him from being erased, they do nothing to explore the possibility of saving Damien Darhk and finding a way for him and Nora to live. Granting that this is a magic problem they don't have the experience or ability to deal with and Damien would likely refuse, having made peace with his death, it's still odd the possibility isn't suggested.

Barry also never seems to consider the possibility that taking away the source of Despero's power might kill him.

Performances

Danielle Panabaker gets a truly powerful moment staring down the Reverse Flash and telling him she can happily watch him die after all he's done to her family and friends.

Neal McDonough gives a masterful performance during his brief scenes as Damien Darhk and he and Courtney Ford finally get the chance to give Damien and Nora the farewell they didn't get during his last appearance in Legends of Tomorrow.

Katherine McNamara is frankly wasted in this episode, but her brief appearance showcases why she deserved to headline an Arrow spin-off centered around Mia Queen.

Artistry

The fight between Despero and The Flash may be the best in the show's history in terms of CGI cinematics. 


Flash Facts

The backstory Thawne gives in this episode regarding why he came to hate Barry Allen most closely resembles his backstory in the Rebirth era Flash Comics. In that reality, Thawne sought to become a hero like The Flash in his time after figuring out how to give himself superspeed.

The key difference between the Arrowverse Thawne and Rebirth era Thawne is that, in the Arrowverse, Barry apparently showed-up Thawne as he was about to make his big debut as a hero. This made Thawne determined to prove that he was the superior speedster.

In the Rebirth era, Barry traveled forward in time and discovered Thawne had taken up his mantle, only to turn him in to the authorities after he learned that Thawne was staging some of the accidents from which he saved people.Thawne later sought redemption after serving his time and became a professor of history who worked at the Flash Museum of his time. He later became obsessed with destroying Barry after he traveled back in time to show his hero that he had changed and discovered Barry giving the same inspiring speech he had once given to Thawne to Wally West.

Technobabble

Damien Darhk theorizes that he was drawn back in time to 2021 thanks to his connection to the Time Stone that Barry was wearing when he traveled back in time. He is unsure, however, why he is still alive and why Nora hasn't returned to life yet.

Temporal fade is when a person begins to flicker in and out of existence due to changes in the timeline.

Mia Queen explains that she traveled to 2021 tracking a temporal signature but that she accidentally tracked Thawne's "scent" by mistake due to how much temporal energy he carried.

When Barry used the Time Stone to reset the timeline, it eliminated all possible time variables, restoring a single permanent timeline. This is why, if Thawne is erased this time, it will be permanent and he won't be able to survive as a time remnant like he did following the death of Eddie Thawne in 123.

A speedster can have their connection to the Speed Force or Negative Speed Force destroyed by being exposed to continuous voltage, like blowing a fuse. 

Mia uses a Canary Cry arrow to take out Frost and Allegra.

Barry reasons that the Flame of Py'Tar may be a mystic alien energy source, but it still has to act like a normal flame, which means it can be harnessed and dispersed by a vacuum.

Chester reworks the PED into the lining of a pair of gold boots for The Flash costume. This gives Barry the ability to redirect energy fields around him, including the Flame of Py'tar.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Barry explains the Reverse-Flashpoint to Joe.)
Joe: Uh... well, I'm so sorry you went through that. Hey, listen to me. I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere.
Barry: I know, it's just... seeing you again after everything that's happened... 

(Joe chuckles. ) 

Barry: It's just... I can finally breathe again.
(Joe and Barry both jump suddenly and stand as a voice speaks behind them. It is Damien Darhk, who has somehow appeared in Joe's living room.)
Damien: Nothing like a second shot at life. 

Barry: Damien, what you're doing now...
Damien: I'm no hero, Barry. I'm just a dad.

Thawne: Flash. I didn't come here to fight. I came here to make a scene, publicly, so that there would be witnesses for what I have to ask you.
Barry: What is it?
Thawne: I need you to save me.

(Thawne has been taunting Caitlin by telling her she's wasted her life with Team Flash.)
Caitlin: Fine. You want honesty? When I was a resident, fresh out of med school, one of the first things they taught me is that sometimes, you lose a patient. That death is a part of life. So guess what? It's your turn. Because all the speed in the world can't help you outrun what's coming for you.
Thawne: You'll save me. You'll save me, Snow. You don't have a choice.
Caitlin: (continuing as if he hadn't spoken) And another thing: I stayed here because Barry and the rest of the team, they're not just friends, they're family. And just so we're clear, what I've been doing for the last eight years is hating you. So if you're looking for someone to save you, look somewhere else.

Barry: Don't you have anything better to do than trying to destroy my life? 

Thawne: Destroying you is my life. 

Dialogue Disasters

Joe: This decision is for the two of you. But I can tell you one thing: if you let Thawne die, you don't have to worry about him destroying our family.

Continuity

The episode continues where 804 ended, with Barry running to Joe West's house to see him after calling him on the phone to confirm he is alive.

Damien Darhk appears in Joe's living room. He guesses that there's something he has to do before the timeline is restored.

Barry gives Damien Darhk back his time stone.

Revere-Flash appears at CCPD headquarters.

Barry tells the rest of Team Flash about the Reverse-Flashpoint and how Chillblaine and Frost were married in that future.

Barry doesn't know about Chester and Allegra's rekindled romance from 804 or that the two ever became romantically involved in the first place..

Barry gives Chester the PED.

Taylor at CCC Media sends out a news alert regarding the Reverse-Flash attacking CCPD Headquarters.

Mia Queen, the future Green Arrow, shows up at CCPD HQ and threatens Thawne, asking him where William is. This is a reference to William Clayton, Mia's older half-brother, who was abducted in A809.

Thawne says he has no idea who William is..

Mia notes that Thawne is suffering from temporal fade, suggesting he doesn't have long to live.

Thawne surrenders himself to Barry, saying he only made a scene so there would be witnesses when he asked him for help.

Thawne wants Team Flash to keep him from being erased from the timeline.

Chester knows who Mia Queen is and has heard many stories about her parents.

Caitlin says she is going to call Frost in so the whole team can discuss whether or not to save Thawne.

Mia is against the idea of saving Thawne, saying nothing good can come of it.

Barry asks Caitlin to figure out how long Thawne has before he stops existing. 

Mia tells Iris that she's come to the past looking for her brother, who was abducted two years earlier.

The only other clue Mia has apart from a temporal signature leading her to 2021 is the Queen family Hozen, which William gave to her before he was abducted.

Mia says that she hasn't killed anyone yet, but she will to rescue her brother.

Iris tries to convince Mia that her father ruined his life by killing people.

Mia points out that Thawne killed Joe West and tried to manipulate Iris into marrying him

Caitlin says that Thawne has two hours left to live and that she can quite happily watch him die.

Thawne recalls Ronnie Raymond and his death in 201.

Caitlin tells Barry that she thinks they need to let Thawne die.

Barry asks Thawne why he's so determined to destroy his life.

Thawne claims that, in 200 years, he discovered how to give himself The Flash's powers and go faster than he or any other hero had. Unfortunately, before he got the chance to reveal himself to the world, The Flash showed up and saved a crowd he was meant to save. This inspired Thawne to prove that he was the superior speedster.

Thawne says that he will keep trying to find ways to ruin Barry's life once Team Flash saves him.

Despero returns from 2031 and confirms that the Armageddon was prevented. He came back to 2021 to confirm that Thawne is erased from history.

Barry asks Despero why he doesn't just kill Thawne if he thinks it is so important. Despero says that he would, but there's a chance that he would come back as a remnant like he did before. The only way to be certain, Despero says, is for Thawne to naturally be erased by the forces of paradox.

Barry, Iris and Caitlin vote to let Thawne die Cecile, Chester and Allegra want to find a way to save them.

Iris tells Chester and Allegra, point-blank, that they do not get a vote when it comes to Thawne.

Joe shows up and asks to speak to Iris and Barry in private.

Joe tells Iris and Barry that if they let Thawne die they won't have to worry about him destroying their family, because it will already be destroyed.

Barry says that he thinks he can save Thawne by removing his connection to the Negative Speed Force, the same way Jefferson Pierce almost took away his powers in 803.

After Team Flash decides to save Thawne, Despero takes control of Mia Queen and turns her against them.

When Barry tells Despero about his plan to depower Thawne, Despero points out that Thawne has been depowered and regained his powers before.

Iris tells Allegra and Frost to protect Thawne from Despero, but they are neutralized by a Canary Cry arrow used by Mia.

Barry tells Despero that he thinks he must have been the tyrant on his homeworld rather than the heroic rebel leader, because a real hero wouldn't choose to take a life instead of trying to save one.

Despero is able to knock out all the power at STAR Labs, except for the force-field trap containing Thawne.

Mia shoots Caitlin in the leg.

Cecile is able to use her powers, mixed with Mia's willpower, to break Despero's control.

With his control on Mia broken, Despero threatens to destroy all of Central City of Team Flash doesn't allow him to kill Thawne.

Barry is able to disperse the energy of the Flame of Py'Tar by using his new boots 

Despero seemingly spontaneously combusts after Barry snuffs out the Flame of Py'Tar.

Barry is able to destroy Thawne's connection to the Negative Speed Force with a focused electrical blast. This also stabilizes him in time.

Barry rents out a bar for a private party to celebrate.

Damien Darhk shows up at the party. Mia threatens to kill him for what he did to Laurel Lance and Damien says she can go ahead, since he's not sure how he's still alive anyway. Mia changes her mind.

Sebastian James is Mia's favorite brand of scotch.

Iris gives Mia a lead, saying that one of the symbols on the Queen family Hoen matches a symbol on some heavily redacted documents from Berlin. She couldn't find out more thanks to some intense firewalls, but she thinks a great hacker could probably get more.

Mia says she will consult with Felicity Smoak in 2021.

Joe comes to the part with Allegra and Frost.

Frost notices Chester is starring at Allegra and guesses he has a crush on her.

Barry thanks Allegra and Chester for holding him accountable regarding Thawne.

Damien gives Joe his Time Stone, saying he thinks that he'll need it some day.

When Joe takes the Time Stone, Damien disappears. 

Damien briefly meets Nora in some sort of psychic landscape resembling the bar, but ethereal and glowing.

Nora appears in the bar confused, asking what happened to her dad.

Joe takes Nora away to explain everything.

In CCPDHQ, a photo of several police officers labeled New Years Eve 2014 changes so that Bart and Nora are seen in the background behind Joe and Eddie Thawne.

Location

Damien Darhk and Nora Dark briefly meet in some sort of psychic space between life and death.


Untelevised Adventures

Despero travels to 2031 and determines the Earth is no longer endangered by the Armageddon event.

Mia Queen spent the two years following her last appearance in A810 searching for William Clayton in her time with no success. She denies having killed in that time, but has still done things she thinks Felicity wouldn't approve of. 

Barry makes arrangements with Cisco Ramon for the Reverse Flash to be locked up under ARGUS custody.

Mia goes to Felicity Smoak in 2021 to ask her for help in tracking William.


The Fridge Factor

Mia Queen is only saved from a quick death at Reverse Flash's hand because Thawne was holding back.

Mia Queen admits that her arrival in 2021 is accidental, having tracked the wrong temporal signal after spending two years failing to find her kidnapped brother William.

The Boomerang Factor

The drama over the Reverse-Flash being allowed to live requires characters who killed in self-defense before to suddenly become militant about heroes never killing ever.


The Bottom Line

An utter disappointment, both as an individual episode and the conclusion of Armageddon, which manages to undo everything the first four episodes of Season 8 did to salvage the series after Season 7. The long-awaited Mia Queen cameo is pointless, only serving to make the character look incompetent while failing to advance her story. The fight with Despero is nonsensical, as is the central storyline with Team Flash suddenly deciding they need to save Thawne. The damnable thing is that there's some wonderful effects works and performances among all the elements that don't work, but all that does is highlight how much better this should have been.

The Flash Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 4 - Armageddon, Part 4

 For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Traveling to the future seeking to stop himself from destroying the Earth, Barry becomes trapped in a Reverse-Flashpoint, living on borrowed time in a timeline where Eobard Thawne is The Flash and about to marry Iris West! Faced with a new Team Flash that sees him as an enemy, Barry will have to make an unthinkable alliance to get back to the past.

Influences

Flashpoint by Geoff Johns (evoked by Eobard Thawne, who cites it as his inspiration in making himself The Flash), The Flash comics of Mark Waid (creator of modern Reverse-Flash origin) and The Flash #165 (Reverse-Flash tries to marry Iris)


Goofs

Eobard's speech at the rehearsal dinner at the beginning of the episode isn't precisely like his speech at the end of the previous episode.

Ryan Wilder and Alex Danvers change into their superhero suits instantly between the scenes on either end of the title card sequence. 

Caitlin Snow was not in attendance at Iris and Thawne's rehearsal dinner. (Maybe she volunteered to monitor the city case of an emergency?)

It is unclear why Damien Darhk is alive in the new timeline. (Presumably Thawne may have arranged his resurrection so that he could go on to kill the Legends, preventing them from being able to interfere in his establishment of the Reverse-Flashpoint.)

It is also unclear why Ryan Choi is single in the new timeline, when he was happily married and had a young daughter during his last appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths. While this could be an unintended side-effect of the Reverse-Flashpoint (like Barry accidentally awakening the Frost persona in Caitlin Snow during Flashpoint) it is somewhat strange that Batwoman and Sentinel don't seem to have had their timelines changed at all.


Performances

Neal McDonough has a fantastic turn here as Damien Darhk, managing to be gleefully evil and yet somewhat sympathetic in how he chooses to nobly sacrifice himself to save his daughter.

It also should be noted that the chemistry between Javicia Leslie and Candice Patton is fantastic and you can truly believe they're best friends, despite this being their first episode paired opposite one another. 


Artistry

Again, top-notch effects work for the fight scenes.


Flash Facts

The title teaser of this episode is changed to show scenes of Eobard Thawne in place of Barry Allen.

The idea of the Reverse-Flash taking Barry Allen's place and marrying Iris West comes from The Flash #165 (November, 1966).

Ryan Choi's Atom costume is modeled on the classic Atom costume worn by Ray Palmer in the comics.

Technobabble

Sentinel is able to reconfigure her weapon into a paralysis ray capable of temporarily holding a speedster.

The Particle Eradication Distributor (PED) is a device that can erase any type of matter. It was created by Ray Palmer. Combined with the power of a Time Stone, the PED can erase any unsolidified anachronisms on the temporal plane. 

Chester determines that the Reverse-Flash is running on limited speak, making him harder to track as he's generating fewer negative-tachyons than normal. He is able to compensate for this by synching Ryan Choi's Atom bracelet's microsensors to the satellite, allowing it to better isolate minute signals.

Batwoman has a Velocity-Zero gun that can temporarily disrupt whatever connection a speedster has to any type of Force. 

Leaving a person in bed alone after a night of passion is known as the French Exit.

Barry determines that he'd need to reach a speed of Mach 20 to open a time portal. This requires a runway 40,000 miles long. While he could run around the Earth that quickly, the pressure he exerted on the mantle while doing so would cause cataclysmic changers to the Earth's core. He would only have two minutes to open the portal before the damage he did reached the point that it could permanently damage the world.

Barry estimated his odds of success as 2%.

The speed wake of Barry's build-up generates 100 earthquakes around the globe and a tsunami in Japan.

Ryan Choi's new Atom suit allows him to increase the molecular density of Damien Darhk's sword by a thousand fold, making it weigh two tons.

Dialogue Triumphs

Thawne: You got a lot of nerve showing up here, Allen.
Barry: It's been you this whole time. Despero, Armageddon, Joe.
Iris: Don't you dare say my father's name, you murderer!
Barry: Guys, it's me, Barry. Iris is my wife. 

(The assembled heroes stare at Barry in disbelief, their hatred of him obvious.)

Barry: We've all fought Thawne together!

Cecile: Oh, my God. He actually believes the things he's saying.
Barry: I'll show you it's me.
(Barry raises his hand and releases the costume from his ring. He changed reflexively, not noticing that his costume is now yellow - the costume of the Reverse-Flash!)
Barry: Thawne, what did you do?
(Thawne just looks at Barry and shakes his head.)
Thawne: You're not the Flash, Allen.
(Thawne runs out of the room and back. He is clad in a familiar red costume.)
Thawne: I am.

Thawne: Iris West is my lightning rod now, Reverse-Flash.
Barry: What the hell did you do?
Thawne: Nothing you haven't done before.
Barry: You created a Flashpoint.
Thawne: Wrong. I created a Reverse Flashpoint. I started by doing a little housekeeping at S.T.A.R. Labs, and then I took care of the one father you had left.
Barry: Why?
Thawne: Because after our last encounter, it was clear to me you were faster than I was, and that the only way to defeat you... Was to become you. So I ran back to the year 2013 and made sure that I was the one struck by lightning. I was the one that Iris West wrote about as the Streak. I led Team Flash. I was the one Iris West fell in love with. I stole your life! And because every hero needs a villain... I created that, too.
Barry: You wore my face. It was you that attacked the city that day. That's why they don't trust me.
Thawne: Made you think you were crazy, crazy enough to beg, literally beg Jefferson Pierce to steal your speed. What's it at now, 5%? Maybe less?
Thawne, what you've done destroys the world. It creates Armageddon.
Thawne: No.
Barry: No, it's true, damn it!
Thawne: I would not create a perfect world just to watch it die. As a matter of fact, the only thing that is set to expire is you. And do you know why? Because I finally did what I set out to do all those years ago. I killed you as a child.
(Barry tries to punch Thawne but his hand just passes through him. Like he was a ghost.)
Thawne: You can do that all night long. But the fact remains, at the stroke of midnight, my timeline will solidify... And you will cease to exist. And your precious Speed Force cannot help you now, because in this timeline, she chose me. An Iris chose me. I've won. I finally won. Who's faster now?!

(Damien Darhk is strangling Barry with his magic.)
Darhk: Don't make me ask you again. Who are you?
Barry: Thawne's the real Reverse-Flash. (gagging) Erase me from the timeline at midnight.
(Suddenly, Darhk drops Barry on the ground. He stares into space, stunned as he considers this.)
Darhk: Man, he is good! I mean, that's like a... work of evil art. The question is now, what do I do with you?
Barry: (still gasping) You could still help me.
Darhk: "Help me?" No, I'm the bad guy. I don't help heroes.
Barry: But you're also a father, which means you know what it feels like to love someone with all your heart and soul, like your daughter Nora.
Darhk: My Nora's dead. I am done listening to you.
(Darhk gets ready to do his choking spell again but Barry starts speaking faster.)
Barry: She's supposed to be alive! And she is in the timeline I'm trying to restore. In my timeline, a demon was gonna take over her soul, but you switched places with her. You gave your own life so she could live.
(Darhk considers this and pulls his Time Stone from his pocket.)

Darhk: If you're lying to me, I'll see you burn. 
(Barry nods and touches the Time Stone. Darhk sees the moment of his death in the original timeline.)

Darhk: Nora, Nora.
Nora: Dad, why?
Darkh: Because I love you. And I couldn't watch you become a monster. Like me. 

(The image fades away. Darhk looks stunned but nods.)
Darhk: It's true. My Nora doll's supposed to be alive. I sacrificed myself to save her. 

Barry: So honor that sacrifice. Help me restore the timeline and bring her back.

(There s a pause. Darhk finally turns around to regard Barry.)

Darhk: Let's go to work. 

(Barry is having a crisis of faith about being fast enough to get the time portal to open.)
Darhk: Why do you think I'm helping you? You think I want to die? I don't. But if sacrificing my life means that Nora gets to live the life that Thawne stole from her, then yeah, I'm gonna do it because my love for her is what keeps me going every damn day in my life. I mean, who do you think I built this whole empire for? Iris, your family, your friends, they are what keep you going.
Barry: Iris doesn't remember what we had.
Darhk: Well, that doesn't matter. You do. 

(Chester and Allegra kiss as the world is falling apart. Caitlin Snow watches this tunned.)
Caitlin: When did this happen?! 

Continuity

Ryan Wilder is Iris West's best friend and the Maid of Honor at her wedding.

Iris West was Ryan's Maid of Honor at her wedding to Sophie Moore.

Ryan wants to have a baby, but is worried about balancing pregnancy with being Batwoman.

Allegra is said to be living in London now, but is considering a job offer in Gotham City.

Reference is made to Barry Allen being responsible for killing Sara Lance, Nate Heywood, Ray Palmer and Cisco Ramon.

Barry tries to talk sense into Iris, calling her his lightning rod.

Thawne confesses to altering the timeline so Joe West died, sabotaging the safety equipment at STAR Labs so that it wouldn't detect a radiation leak and attacking Barry's friends and the people of Central City in 802.

A news report confirms that Damien Darhk was just released from prison on a technicality, having been convicted on multiple counts of murder six months previously. Darhk and the Reverse-Flash teamed-up to fight multiple heroes, reportedly killing all of the Legends of Tomorrow, Ray Palmer (who is described as a tech philanthropist rather than a superhero) and ARGUS Director Cisco Ramon. 

Cecile Horton uses both the Thinker's Chair and the Medusa Mask of the Psycho Pirate to boost her powers to try and find Barry.

Iris notes that Barry called her his lightning rod - a pet name that only Thawne had used for her previously in private.

Alex notes the awkwardness between Allegra and Chester and asks what is going on.

Allegra tells Alex that she and Chester hooked up for one night after a "lusty" D&D session, but that when she woke up the net morning he was gone. By the time they talked about it, they decided it was better they stay friends.

Chester is working on a new costume for Ryan Choi.

Barry finds the PED in the secret compartment in the pinball machine in Chester's lab.

Barry runs Damien Darhk out of STAR Labs rather than let him kill Ryan and Chester.  This tips Darhk off that something is off with the man he knows as the Reverse-Flash.

Damien Darhk uses his Time Stone to see how the past was in Barry's timeline and sees his heroic sacrifice in L318.

Ryan is forced to return to Gotham City, after a call from Batwing confirms that Two-Face is on the loose again.

Ryan gives Iris a Velocity-Zero gun and promises to be back for the wedding tomorrow. She says that Batwing built it after an encounter with a certain "Lady in Red." 

Iris is having trouble writing her wedding vows.

Iris has won two Pulitzer's in this reality.

Ryan says that she has decided she wants to adopt a kid rather than having her own.

Chester is once again confirmed not to drink alcohol.

Alex confronts Chester on his one-night-stand with Allegra.

Chester says that he went to go get coffee and blueberry muffins, wanting to have breakfast in bed ready for Allegra when she woke, but that Allegra was gone when he got home.

Chester never told Allegra the truth because they got attacked by the Legion of Doom immediately afterward and by the time he approached her, she didn't want to talk about it and kept telling him that night was a mistake.

Ryan Choi is a cynic about love and says he's spent years trying to help Chester get over Allegra.

Damien uses the Time Stone and sees Barry's past as the Paragon of Love, during Crisis.

Alex confronts Allegra on why she cut Chester off.

Allegra tells Alex that every relationship in her life ended with her getting kicked to the curb and waking up alone brought back all her bad memories of being abandoned.

Alex tells Allegra it is worth the risk of rejection to try and make things work with Chester.

Ryan Choi admits that for all his acting like he doesn't believe in love, he's scared of winding up alone. He too encourages Allegra to go for it with Chester.

Barry goes to Iris and tries to plead his case to her again.

Thawne shows up and tells Iris to just shoot Barry.

Iris shoots Thawne with the Velocity-Zero gun, but tells Barry to run before she changes her mind.

Barry meets with Darhk, who agrees to stay at his point of origin and keep in touch with him through magic.

Frost and Chillblaine confront Darhk. They are immune to his magic thanks to a shielding spell provided by John Constantine.

Ryan Choi, in his new Atom suit, ends the fight with Darhk, with his new costume.

Barry gets a sudden boost in speed when Iris realizes she does love Barry Allen.

Despero senses that Barry is telling him the truth when he tells him that the Revese-Flash framed him and the disaster he caused in the future and that the future is now safe, but he still decides to travel back to his own time to confirm it for certain.

Barry talks to Joe on the phone and confirms that he is alive again in 2021.

Thawne, once again the Reverse Flash, manifests in the Time Vault at STAR Labs and tells Gideon that he will change what is about to happen.


Location

Central City - 2031 - The Reverse-Flashpoint Reality


Untelevised Adventures

In the Reverse-Flashpoint reality, there are a number of changes beyond Eobard Thawne being The Flash - some of which are at odds with the current Arrowverse timeline.

The Barry Allen Reverse-Flash and Damien Darhk teamed up to fight multiple heroes, in a battle that killed all of the Legends of Tomorrow, including Sara Lance and Nate Heywood. They also killed Ray Palmer and Cisco Ramon.

Cisco Ramon was the director of ARGUS in this reality, rather than head of the R&D department.

In this reality, Ryan Choi became the Atom, but apparently never got married and had a daughter, as he makes reference to pretending to be a Don Juan but secretly being afraid of waking up alone every morning for the rest of his life.

Allegra Garcia was said to be working at a new job in London.

Allegra and Chester are revealed to have had a one night stand which ended awkwardly, as Chester left Allegra alone to get them breakfast and Allegra woke up thinking Chester had abandoned her.

Chillblaine is revealed to have reformed and is in relationship with Frost.

Ryan Wilder and Sophie Moore are married and planning to adopt a baby.

Ryan Wilder and Iris West are best friends in this reality and Iris was the Maid of Honor at Ryan's wedding.

Alex Danvers is also married in the new reality, but it is not confirmed it is to Guardian/Kelly Olsen.

Nora Darhk is dead in the new timeline, for unspecified reasons. There is a chance she was not romantically involved with Ray Palmer in this timeline.

John Constantine apparently left the Legends, as in the main reality, but still felt the need to help bring their killer to justice, providing Frost and Chillblaine with a shielding spell to protect them from Damien Darhk's magic.

Two-Face is said to be active in Gotham City again. 

In the past before Barry resets the timeline to how it was before he left, Despero kills all of Team Flash accept Cecile.

The Bottom Line

A surprisingly good penultimate chapter. A lot of the subplots are given more time than they deserve and some of the character interactions are odd. For instance, it would make a lot more sense for Ryan Wilder to be approaching Alex Danvers about her worries about having children given Alex knows that struggle. Of course it's possible Alex never adopted Esme in this reality, which would make for a random change as strange as Ryan Choi no longer having a wife and daughter. Still, the performances are solid and more than make up for the incongruities in the script.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5, Episode 7 - Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Ray plans a romantic evening for himself and Nora, during which he can finally propose to her. Unfortunately, the night is spoiled by the unexpected arrival of a recently resurrected Damian Darhk and Nora's desire to impress her demonically demented father. Will Ray play along and not reveal their romance when Nora starts pretending she's dating John Constantine? Can Sara be kept from spoiling the evening by killing Damien Darhk? And how does all this time in to Nora's current charge and Ray's favorite childhood program?


Influences

Mister Roger's Neighborhood, various wacky sitcoms centered around the protagonists lying to impress some important person during a fancy dinner and classic Western melodrama (Gary being tied to the train-tracks) 


Performances

It's hard to pick out a single moment in the episode, but the non-verbal acting between Courtney Ford and Brandon Routh as Nora sees the engagement ring, realizes what happened and questions Ray about it with only a few facial expressions is amazing.


Artistry

The script is amazing, balancing the farcical aspects of the story perfectly.

The soundless wedding sequence is beautiful and the musical accompaniment amazing.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The goggles and jacket that John wear as part of his Antarctic explorer outfit are taken from Leonard Snart's Captain Cold costume.


Technobabble/Arcana

The Loom of Fate has the power to change a person's life story without changing the timeline and causing a paradox.

Damien Darhk was able to track Nora by using the location sharing feature on her PalmerTech watch.

Zari is able to scour the metadata from the troll's video to find where they live.

Nora knows a potion that can permanently strip a warlock of their powers.

Damien says that even with the Loom of Fate assembled, you'd need a Fate to put it back together and operate it.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Gary taste-tests the soup. Suddenly, he fades away rapidly and the soup spoon falls into the soup pot. Gary just as suddenly fades back into existence.)
Gary: Did I just fritz out of existence?

(Damien has just shown up on the doorstep of Constantine's mansion.)
Nora: How are you?! You.... are an Encore.
Damien: Look, all I know is I'm up here right now as some soul-harvesting pyramid scheme. Honestly? I can't keep up with these Millennials and all their newfangled world domination plans.
Nora: So you're doing the whole villain thing again?
Damien: Well, no. I mean... it's, it's part of my parole agreement.

Zari: (reading one of Mick's books) This is extremely pornographic.
Mick: Thank you.
Zari: You're welcome.

(John walks by Nate in the Waverider hallway, wearing a heavy winter parka, gloves and goggles over his usual trenchcoat, while dragging a sled. Nate looks at him confused.)
Nate: Where are you going, Captain Cold?
John: Antarctica, of course.
Nate: Yeah? That place is the worst.
John: Well, I'm following up on the lead that you...
(John sees the confusion on Nate's face and immediately puts two and two together.)
John: Bloody shapeshifters!

Nora: Stop it! Both of you!
Damien: This vagrant is trespassing!
John: This is my house, you plonker!
Damien: Your house?!
Nora: (forcing a smile) Well... technically..... it IS his house. His name is on the title. (backing towards John, sliding her arm through his and taking his left hand with her right hand.) But in practice... it's our house.
(Nora gabs John's faces and kisses him deeply. Damien is stunned. So is John.)
Nora: (breathy) Right babe?
(John glances to the side room, where Sara motions at him and whispers "Just go with it.")
John: Right love. My love. Because we are indeed, uh... together.

(Nora and Damien refuse to get along after being sent into Mister Parker's Cul-De-Sac)
Ray: Well! I think this is going to be tougher than we thought, kids. Why don't we travel to the land of Make-Em-Ups, with Gary The Unspeakable Train Abomination?

(Damien goes to the front door and grabs his coat from the rack. Sara comes up behind him.)
Sara: Taking off already?
Damien: (chuckles) Oh, I hate prolonged goodbyes. I'd rather slip out while everyone's in there, still having a good time.
Sara: So where are you going?
Damien: (sighs) I was given this... Encore under certain conditions. I was ordered to cause pain and misery and damn more souls to Hell.
Sara: But instead you decided to check in on your Nora-doll.
Damien: I just wanted to make sure that my little girl is okay. And she is. (smiles) Thanks to the help of you idiots. Plus... Astra's going to recall me soon to an eternity of torture. I didn't want to bum my daughter out with all of that on her wedding night.
(Sara says nothing. Damien offers her his hand. She doesn't take it.)
Damien: I know you'll never forgive me. To tell you the truth, I won't either.
(Sara still says nothing. Damien sighs and looks sad for a moment as he exits out the front door. It's then that Sara looks to the umbrella stand and realizes Genghis Khan's sword isn't there. Sara runs to the front door, just in time to see Damien's body crumble to ashes in a flash of green fire as he stabs himself with the blade. Sara picks up the sword and looks up into the night sky, as the wind blows all that remains of Damien Darhk away.)


Continuity

The episode's opening scene takes place five hours after the destruction of Mallus in 318.

The 2018 version of Gary Green is attacked by an unseen figure while cleaning up the Beebo mess after the battle with Mallus.

John tries to convince Sara to send the Legends after the Loom of Fate, arguing that if they can stop Astra from ever going to Hell, it will stop the Encores.

Charlie says that reassembling the Loom is too risky.

Sara agrees that putting the Loom back together is too risky and they're doing just fine containing the Encores right now.

Sara still has Genghis Khan's sword from 506.

Nate, Behrad and Gary are at John's house, helping Ray prepare his proposal to Nora.

Ray hides his engagement ring for Nora in a chocolate mousse.

Nora is still attached to Pippa from 506.

John has begun chewing sunflower seeds in order to stop smoking.

Nate tells John that there was an explorer named Ernest Shackelton who was obsessed with finding the Loom of Fate and was convinced that part of it was buried at the South Pole. This is later revealed to be Charlie disguised as Nate.

Mick is locked in his room, arguing with a troll on-line who is trashing Rebecca Silver.

Zari is still on the Waverider and is locked in the bathroom, exfoliating in preparation for a new makeover idea.

Sara puts Zari in charge of helping Mick deal with his troll problem.

Gary in 2020 is briefly erased from existence thanks to someone in 1874 tying the Gary from 2018 to a train track.

Sara and Ava rescue 2018 Gary.

Gary reveals that he was attacked by Damien Darhk, who stole his Time Courier.

Damaien Darhk spent two years in Hell but was resurrected and sent back to where he died in 1874.

Nora has a PalmerTech watch.


Nora lies and says she's a master sorceress and that Constantine's house is hers.

Nora asks Ray to keep Pippa happy and distracted so that she doesn't summon her to grant her wishes.

Zari suggests that Mick send an autographed Rebecca Silver book to his troll to win them over, saying every troll is just a disgruntled fan who wants attention.

Ray decides to show Pippa his favorite show when he was a kid; Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac.

Pippa doesn't like Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac but agrees to give it a shot after Ray pays her $20.

Ava and Sara agree to try and take out Damien Darhk without Nora finding out after Gideon tells them Damien is at Constantine's house in 2020.

Gideon says she has a message for Sara from Wild Dog.  Sara tells Ava it is nothing.

Zari has never read a Rebecca Silver book before.

The troll makes a video burning the autographed book.

Zari is able to hack the video to find out where the troll lives.

Mick's troll turns out to be Lita - his old girlfriend Allie's 16-year-old daughter. She is also Mick's daughter, from Allie and Mick's 2004 one-night stand in 504.

Nora convinces Ava and Sara to pretend to be her henchman for a night so she can make peace with her dad.

Damien identifies Genghis Khan's sword as 11th century Mongolian in design.

Nora puts Genghis Khan's sword in an umbrella stand by the front door of the mansion.

Sara ignores another call from Wild Dog on her phone, which Ava notices.

Gary agrees to make the anti-magic potion and slip it into Damien Darhk's food so that he'll be powerless and he can be allowed to live as a harmless mortal man.

John was planning to go to Antarctica until he runs into Nate in the hallway and realizes he was conned by Charlie.

Ray had a five-course meal planned for his romantic dinner with Nora. Six if you count the cocktails.

Ava answers Sara's phone and talks to Wild Dog, while she's taking a course out to Nora and Damien.

John returns home and gets into a brief magical duel with Damien, who goes to investigate when John calls out for Gary in the foyer.

John and Damien have never met before but they know each other by reputation.

Nora tells Damien that she's dating John and the house actually is his house. John immediately plays along with this after Nora kisses him and Sara signals him while Damien's back is turned.

Pippa tells Ray that it's pretty clear Nora is trying to hide him from her dad.

Mister Palmer said everyone should be free to love who they want without being ashamed in Season 8, Episode 15.

Lita is named after singer/guitarist Lita Ford of the Runaways.

Allie did look up Mick when she found out she was pregnant, but he was in jail at the time.

Allie finally told Lita who her father was when word got out that Mick Rory was Rebecca Silver.

Mick erases Allie and Lita's memory of his visit.

John tries to grill Damien for information on the Loom of Fate.

Sara got a job offer to work in Star City in some capacity with Rene Ramirez and hadn't discussed this with Ava.

Sara claims she was going to discuss it with Ava, but that she was making arrangements for both of them to move to Star City.

Damien had a strict "no-fraternization" policy for all of his henchmen.

Nate and Behrad convince Ray that he should confront Damien with the truth about him and Nora.

According to Damien, there is no chocolate in Hell.

Ava gets the mousse with the engagement ring in it.

John takes the ring and proposes to Nora.

Nora refuses the engagement and finally tells her father the truth.

Damien realizes Nora tried poisoning him and blames her hero friends.

Charlie, Nate and Behrad go with Pippa to Constantine's house after Pippa wishes them there.

Pippa wishes everyone into the reality of Mister Parker's Cul De Sac.

John makes reference to the events of 408 and how Sara was a puppet in that reality as well.

Sara says she was only considering the job in Star City because she thought Ava wanted to settle down somewhere normal.

Ava said she wanted that before but she's having a lot of fun on the Waverider now. Sara says that she'll turn down Wild Dog's job offer then.

Charlie explains she destroyed the Loom of Fate to keep her sisters from controlling everyone's lives.

John points out that with the Loom pieces in one universe there's nothing to stop her sisters from assembling the Loom of Fate and using it for the wrong reasons.

John promises Charlie that he'll help her destroy the Loom of Fate once and for all if she'll help him find it and use it to save Astra Logue. Charlie agrees.

Behrad appears as a bike-messenger who delivers a Safe Space Sombrero that makes it so that only the person wearing the Sombrero can speak.

Damien and Nora work out their issues with some honest talk, after Nora explains that being a fairy godmother and helping kids is her choice - not something Ray or anyone else forced on her, unlike everything Damien ever did forcing her to become an evil sorceress.

Damien admits he's been an ass and says he is proud of Nora.

Nate appears as the smiling sun in the Mister Palmer's Cul-De-Sac world.

Pippa releases Nora from her service.

Gary is no longer afraid of trains.

Nora accepts Ray's proposal and suggests they get married that night while her father is there.

Gary is, as he asked last week, the flower boy for the wedding.

Nate acts as Ray's Best Man.

Sara conducts the wedding ceremony, presumably in her capacity as a Captain.

Damien tells Ray that he appreciates that he makes Nora happy and asks him to support her. He asks Ray to leave the Legends because Nora needs to be in the real world to do her job.

Mick says that the fact that Lita isn't already in jail at her age proves she's better off without him. Zari disagrees.

Damien tells Nora he's going to give up the evil-doing and return to Hell to serve his punishment.

Damien tries to make his peace with Sara. She refuses to shake his hand.

Damien kills himself with Genghis Khan's sword.


Location

Salvation, Dakota Territory - 1874
Northumberland County, UK - 2020
Central City - 2020


The Bottom Line

Darn near perfect in every respect and a fitting swan song for Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk.  Darhk's a polarizing figure in Arrowverse history. Many disliked the jokey tone of the character in Arrow. Many disliked him being brought back to be a villain twice in Legends of Tomorrow. Still, this episode does a good job paying tribute to both sides of Damien - the comic relief baddy and the sinister sorcerer - and the whole ensemble get at least one moment to shine throughout.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 18 - The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 



Plot

With Mallus freed, Rip Hunter becomes determined to improvise a new plan that doesn't involve using the six Zambesi totems. Amaya, in turn, becomes more determined than ever to use the totems to destroy Mallus once and for all while Sara wants to seek out new bearers. It all leads down to a Legendary showdown in The Wild West... but not everyone may be making it out of this fight.


Influences

Weird Western Tales (the general theme), every cartoon that involves the themes of the heroes combining positive energy and elemental powers for an ultimate attack and the movie Ghostbusters (the team goofball causes an elemental being to manifest in a silly form.)


Goofs

With all the references to Care Bears and Voltron, they really should have dropped a reference to Captain Planet too. (Elemental jewelry being used to summon a perfect being?)


Performances

It's a brief thing, but the short scenes of Tala Ashe and Johnathon Schaech as Zari and Jonah Hex become friendly (despite Zari's obvious aversion to a man who wears a Confederate officer's hat) are magical.


Artistry

The final battle between The Legends and Malice's forces is perfect.

The CGI for the battle between Malice and The Perfect Being, while not wholly realistic, does work for what it is.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title is a parody of the classic Western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

This episode reveals that Mallus' true name is Malice. Strangely enough, there is a long history of comic book villains named Malice, but only one of them is from DC Comics. These include two Black Panther villains, an evil secondary personality of The Invisible Woman, an alternate universe version of The Invisible Woman, a body-less X-Men villain who possessed others, a Ghost Rider enemy and two characters from two separate Image Comics series. The DC Comics Malice is the daughter of the New God Vermin Vundabar and a member of The Female Furies.

Ray identifies the town of Salvation as lying in North Dakota, though in 1874 it was still known as The Dakota Territory. North Dakota did not become ratified as a state until 1889.

Nate compares the original Totem Bearers unifying their powers to The Care Bear Stare - an attack used in The Care Bears cartoons where the titular animals would fight beings that thrived on negative by radiating their positive energy through focused blasts of light that emitted from their tummies.

Nate also compares using the Zambesi totems to create a perfect being of light to counter Malice to the cartoon character Voltron - Defender Of The Universe - who was formed by a combination of five robot lions.


Technobabble

By removing The Time Drive of The Waverider, Rip makes it unstable. He hopes to use its explosion to temporarily delay Malice, though it will likely kill him in the process.

Salvation is a temporal blind spot to those who have the ability to see through time. Sara presumes that this applies to a time demon like Malice as much as it did The Time Masters. This turns out to be dead wrong.

Zari creates a "temporal beacon" program to contact The Legends allies across time in order to find likely totem bearers.

Code 1-1-3 in Nate's system for PA announcements means "Everyone Report To The Bridge." It seems likely this is the code Nate meant to use in the last episode, when he usded Code 1-3-1, which means they're serving pancakes at breakfast.

The process for creating a perfect being of light using The Zambesi Totems is thus: Fire provides the spark of life. Air gives it breath. Water gives it blood. Earth gives it flesh. Spirit gives it a soul. Death gives it the power over Malice.


Dialogue Triumphs

Gideon: I believe I know what you are planning. It is extremely reckless with a low likelihood of success.
Rip: Well, then. It seems like I've finally learned how to think like a Legend.

Sara: Rip?!
Rip: I'm a little busy at the moment, Sara!
Sara: Look, you didn't tell us that you were buying us time with your life.
Rip: Listen carefully: this gambit will not kill Mallice. I'm only delaying him long enough for you to make an escape.
Sara: There has to be another way!
Rip: No. There isn't. (calmly) It's all right, Sara. I should very much like to see my wife and son again. I will miss you, Captain Lance. You and the rest of The Legends. My one hope is that you all live up to that name.

Rip: Goodbye.
Sara: (quietly) Goodbye, Captain. (shouting) Gideon, get us out of here!
(Malice approaches Rip, growling and throwing fireballs, but unable to reach him because of the force field. The Waverider flies past them and disappears. Malice growls in rage.)
Rip: Ironic, isn't it?! A time demon who has run out of time!
(The Drive explodes, creating a portal that pulls Malice into it.)
Damien: (depressed) Well, I hope you're here to make good on your promise and kill me. Which would work out for both of us. It would be a real win-win.
Sara: Mercy killing's not my style. Even if it were, you don't deserve my mercy. You deserve to live out the rest of your days knowing that you destroyed your own daughter.

Sara: Ray? Nothing stupid.
(Sara leaves the lab. Damien turns to Ray.)
Damien: Is she right? Are you really planning something stupid?
Ray: Maybe. Probably. (pauses) Most likely. But it could fix this whole thing. And get Nora back. 


Sara: So who died and made you Sheriff?
Jonah Hex: That would be the old Sheriff.

Sara: We are not here to cause trouble. We're here to avoid it.
(Suddenly, there is the sound of shooting out in the streets. Everyone runs out to see three riders approaching.)
Jonah Hex: This the trouble you aiming to avoid?
Sara: ... not exactly.
(The riders stop to reveal themselves as Blackbeard, Julius Caesar and Freydís Eiríksdóttir. Their eyes glow red, indicating their possession by Malice.)

(Ray punches Nate and runs onto the now activated jump-ship. Nate can be heard pounding on the side of the ship, asking Ray if he's gone crazy.)
Damien: You know, not that I couldn't watch Pompadour get punched out all day, but you could have just told him where we are going. (pauses) Where are we going?
Ray: To right before Mallus took over Nora. And I can't tell anybody because we're not supposed to travel to events in which we've participated in.
Damien: Hah. And no one on your team trusts -me-?
Ray: Well, that goes without saying.

Zari: Sara wants us to find new totem bearers but we're a little short on allies.
Jonah Hex: Well, The Legends, they may be... an unorthodox lot, but they got a knack for making friends. 
Zari: Like you?
Jonah Hex: (grunting) I don't take a shine for most folks.
Zari: (smirking) Me either.

(Amaya is running through how to use the totems to create their "perfect being".)
Amaya: Nate...
Nate: (firmly) I will use The Earth Totem to give Voltron flesh!
Sara: You've got to stop calling it that.
Nate: I will never stop calling it that!

(Sara is reluctant to wield The Death Totem)
Mick: (earnestly) Don't worry. If you turn into witch bitch, I'll kill you.
Sara: ... thank you.
Mick: You're welcome.

(The six totem bearers join hands and the totems light up. The following conversation takes place telepathically.)
Mick: Why does Pretty have such girly hands?
Nate: Damn... this Lyoga root is strong!  Concentrate Nate. Think about "Voltron: Defender of the Universe."
Wally: I kind of pictured myself wielding something cool. Like a lightning totem.
Zari: Am I crazy, or is Jonah Hex hot?
Sara: Eh. You could do worse than Hex.
Zari: Wait. You can hear me?
Amaya: We can all hear each other.
Mick: Even what I said about Pretty's girly hands?
Everyone Except Mick: YES!

Ava: I got your message. We all did.
(Helen and Kuasa nod to The Legends.)
Jax: You guys just can't seem to keep yourselves out of trouble, can you?

Sara: All right. We're facing an army of Romans, Vikings and Pirates. But you know what today is? Today is the day that we prove that Rip did not sacrifice his life in vain. And today is the day that we prove that we are not losers! And today is the day that we earn the name Legends!
(Everyone cheers as Sara slams back a shot of whiskey.)
Sara: Now... how do we sneak out the back?

(Amaya opens her eyes to look at the perfect being as it is forming.)
Amaya: Wait - Is somebody thinking of-?
Nate: I'm sorry! You said think of something pure and I thought -
Sara: (disgusted) No. You didn't...
Nate: Again, I said I'm sorry!
Zari: Yeah. I can't stop thinking about him either.
(The being continues forming as Jax backs into the saloon, gun in hand.)
Jax: Guys! Whatever you've got -
(Jax spins around and goes slack-jawed as he sees something astonishing. He then runs back out into the street because whatever he was running from is clearly not as bad as what the other Legends have unleashed. The ground begins to shake as the assembled hordes of Malice's troops and our heroes look around, united in terror.)
Jonah Hex: What the Sam Hill is going on?!
Ray: I think this is part of Sara's plan.
(The roof is blown off of the saloon. Everyone looks up in shock as a being lands on the ground before them. It is big, blue and cuddly with large eyes. It is a giant Beebo.)
Beebo: Mmmm!  I lo-lo-love you!
Freydís Eiríksdóttir: (horrified) The Blue God - he has returned!
(Ray's jaw drops as he tries to say something but instead laughs manically.)
Helen of Troy: That is your Captain's plan?!
Ava: Where in the hell are Sara and the others?
Jax: That is Sara and the others!
Ava: What?!
Beebo: Beebo hungry!
(Beebo runs off towards where Mallus stands in the distance.)
Jax: Man, have I missed you guys.

Beebo: Beebo want cuddle!

(The rest of the team run up to find the Totem Bearers in a crater as blue fur and stuffing rain down from the sky.)
Zari: Guys, we did it! Our totems united to create a single furry love child.
Mick: Worst. Orgy. Ever.
Nora: (looking around the scene, hoping to see her father) Dad?
Ray: I'm sorry, Nora. (pauses) He died a good man.
Jonah Hex: Damnation. Now I've just have seen 'bout everything.
Ava: (spitting fluff from her mouth) So, wait?  That's it? You destroyed the demon?
Amaya: I'm just glad the ancestors aren't here to see this.
Sara: Yeah, but Rip would be proud.
(Ray laughs again as everyone cheers.)
Nate: We did it, Mick!
(All the totem bearers run forward and group hug a clearly annoyed Mick.)
Mick: Get off of me!

Ray: (To Nora) He died to give you a second chance. Don't waste it.

Amaya: You guys are my family. Always will be. But I have another family waiting for me in the years to come. And they need me more.

Amaya (To Nate): I don't want to forget. Because if I do, I will have lost the only part of you that I'm allowed to keep.

(John Constantine has dropped a large sack onto the beach.)
John Constantine: Now...
(John pulls the sack away to reveal a dragon's head.)
John Constntine: Whose brilliant idea was it to let an ancient demon out of his bloody cage?
Nate: Sara's.
John Constantine: Well, you opened a door, love. And Mallus wasn't the only thing that got out.


Continuity

Mallus' true name is revealed to be Malice.

Rip removes The Time Drive from The Waverider.

Wally and Zari remove the Time Drive from The Waverider's jump ship and use it to fix Gideon's systems so the team can escape.

Rip is apparently killed blowing up the Time Drive in a bid to slow down Malice.

Ray doesn't drink alcohol, but makes an exception because of Rip's apparent death.

The Legends first traveled to Salvation in 111. They arrived there in 1871. This time they arrive in 1874.

Salvation is a temporal blind spot that The Time Masters were unable to see into. Sara believes Malice should be similarly blind to the events that take place there. She turns out to be wrong.

Sara theorizes that the reason why the totems were ineffective against Malice is because the people wielding the totems were not born to be the bearers, as Zari and Amaya were.

Jonah Hex makes his first appearance since 206. Since The Legends last encountered him, Jonah Hex has become Sheriff of Salvation.

Blackbeard (last seen in 312), Julius Ceaser (last seen in 301) and Freydís Eiríksdóttir (last seen in 309) appear as the leaders of Malice's new army.

Amaya journeys into the Zambesi Ancestral Realm for the first time since 313, in order to learn how the first Totem Bearers defeated Malice. Unlike Sara, she believes they can use the totems - they just need better instruction on how to use them properly.

It turns out that Nate has been drinking far too much of the Lyoga Root tea when he took it. One is supposed to take one sip of the tea - not drink the whole cup.

Amaya discovers that The Totems were meant to be used together, with five totems giving form to a perfect being of light and the Death Totem allowing Malice to be made mortal. Without the Death Totem, the other five totems could only imprison Malice.

Code 1-1-3 in Nate's system for PA announcements from 317 means "Everyone Report To The Bridge." The song Ray wrote to help everyone remember the codes actually got stuck in Mick's head, causing him to remember that one code. ("If the code is 1-1-3, it's off to the bridge, for you and me.")

Amaya refers to Mick running into his father in 307.

Amaya refers to Zari taking up the Air Totem in 303 and how their totems called to each other.

Wally says that maybe his joining The Legends in 313 wasn't a coincidence either.

Wally takes up The Water Totem in Ray's absence.

Sara takes up The Death Totem again.

The first effort to create a perfect being fails. Mick kills the resulting creature with his fire gun.

Damien and Ray travel back to Zambesi in 1992, hoping to knock Nora out before her body is destroyed to give Malice a physical form.

Helen of Troy, now trained as an Amazon warrior, makes her first appearance since 306.

Kuasa makes her first appearance since her death in 316.

Since the alteration of the past in 1992 and the salvation of Zambesi, Kuasa's fate has changed. Kuasa has now grown into a good soul, who is anxious to fight alongside her legendary grandmother. She describes Amaya as "The Woman Who Saved Zambesi." Kuasa and Mari also now share The Spirit Totem. This indirectly means that the events of the Vixen animated series never happened.

Jefferson "Jax" Jackson makes his first appearance since 309. While it has been a few months since The Legends have seen him, for Jax it has been five years since he flew on The Waverider, meaning this version of Jax was retrieved from 2023. During those five years, Jax has gotten married to an unnamed woman (Nate comments on how he is wearing a wedding band) and Jax has a daughter named Martinia.

Damien steals Ray's naninte gun and uses it to shoot Nora. This drives Malice into possessing him instead. Ray takes the wounded Nora and returns to Salvation as Damien.

Ava has never ridden a horse before.

When The Legends try to create a perfect being this time, they create a giant Beebo doll.

Kuasa is given the Death, Earth, Water and Fire totems to guard until they find new bearers.

Jonah Hex gives Zari his hat.

Ray gives Nora Darhk her father's time stone.

Amaya returns to Zambesi in 1942. Nate does not erase her memory.

The team now consists of Sara, Ray, Mick, Nate, Zari and Wally. They go on vacation in Aruba together, much to Mick's annoyance.

Ava and Sara have made plans to celebrate their victory later, but Ava is busy cleaning up all the anachronisms caused by the latest adventure.

Gary Green has been traveling with John Constantine and is wearing a John Constantine cosplay.

John shows The Legends the severed head of a dragon, informing them that other things escaped from Malice's prison when he was released.


Location

Salvation, Dakota Territory - 1874
Zambesi - 1992
Zambesi - 1942
Aruba - 2018



Untelevised Adventures

Apparently John Constantine and Gary Green fought a dragon.


The Fridge Factor

Averted hardcore. Indeed, after seeing how easily Helen of Troy is able to handle multiple enemies, the only real goof here is that Hippolyta didn't send a horde of Amazons to help Helen in this fight. Then again, given what one Amazon can do, there wouldn't be much of an episode of a score of them ended the fight in two minutes


The Bottom Line

Absolutely perfect. Does it always make sense? No. Is it goofy as all get out? Yes. But unlike every other CW Superhero show, Legends of Tomorrow has embraced its goofiness without making its characters into total idiots to make its stories work. In doing this, it has perfectly captured the spirit of the comic books that inspired it. And I can't wait for Season Four.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 17 - Guest Starring John Noble

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

With the timeline barely stable and Mallus about to break free, The Legends have their hands full. As Wally and Nate try to stop Amaya from changing her own future, the rest of The Waverider crew will recruit a most unlikely ally in the battle against Mallus after thwarting Gorilla Grodd's attempt to assassinate a young Barack Obama.



Influences

The Lord of The Rings (references to the movie and the whole plot does center around the retrieval of magical jewelry to stop the release of a great evil who takes possession of people.)



Goofs

Grodd is oddly resistant to fire, surviving two point-blank blasts from Mick Rory's Heatwave gun.

The old age make-up used to turn Maisie Richardson-Sellers into "Old Amaya" is pretty lousy.


Performances

There is something about the way Dominic Purcell says "Boss?" when he's questioning Sara as to whether or not he should just kill Damien Darhk when everyone except Sara is giving him reasons not to. While it's understandable that Mick would ignore Ava as an authority figure and Rip as someone who has betrayed him more than once, that one word speaks volumes about Mick's respect for Sara and his acceptance of her as a leader.

Caity Lotz and Neal McDonough steal this episode. Usually their individual performances will be the best aspect of any given episode buy the way they play off of each over is smooth as silk.


Artistry

The special effects work for Grodd is top-notch for television quality.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

John Noble is an Australia actor and director, best known for playing the role of Denethor in The Lord of The Rings trilogy. He has provided the voice for Mallus throughout Season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow, but appears in this episode playing himself on the set of The Lord of The Rings in 1999.

This is not John Noble's first time appearing in a DC Comics related production. He also provided the voice of The Scarecrow in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight and voiced Brainiac in the animated movie Superman: Unbound.

Ray tells a terrified Barack Obama to "Run, Barry, Run."  This is a callback to a repeated line from The Flash, where Barry Allen is told to, "Run, Barry, Run."

Zambesi is described as being 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro. In our Earth, this would place it the middle of north-eastern Tanzania. This matches the description of Zambesi given in Animal Man #10, which said that Zambesi lay in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The exact location of Zambesi has changed throughout comics history. It is generally described as being in Central Africa, but has also been described as being in West Africa along what was called "The Slave Coast". Confounding matters is the fact that there is a real world Zambesi River which flows through Zambia and Zimbabwe in East Africa. Further complicating things is that the mythology behind The Anansi Totem is based around the legends of The Ashanti - a people based in West Africa - but the name of Vixen villain Mustapha Maksai is Swahili - a language based in East Africa!

Originally, Vixen's home country was called D'Mulla in her first appearance in Canceled Comics Cavalcade #2. It was later changed to M'Changa in Justice League of America #234, with her tribe being referred to as The Zambesi Nation for the first time in Animal Man #10 and eventually just being called Zambesi. The Vixen animated series reconciled this by saying M'Changa was the name of a province within Zambesi.

John Noble tells Ray to tell Peter Jackson that he is sick of eating chicken, having eaten four whole chickens that morning. One of the more famous scenes of Lord of The Rings has Denethor eating chicken rather messily while Pippin sings for him.


Technobabble

John Constantine gave Ray instructions for a magic spell that could be used to contain a hostile magician. It requires a magic circle with an ankh. One of the ingredients needed is bat spleen.

According to Damien Darhk, The Death Totem was drawn to Sara because she had died and come back from the dead. He says that he can wield The Death Totem for the same reason.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon.

Water is crucial to life on Earth.

The human body is made up of 60% water.

The Earth Totem does allow its bearer to reshape the ground around them. Previously, we had only seen it being used to control plants.


Dialogue Triumphs

Nate: Code 1-3-1?!  Come on, guys! I wrote a whole memo!
Sara: Yeah. Nobody read it.
Ray: I did!
Nate: Thank you, Ray!
Ray: Pancakes for breakfast!
Nate: (frustrated) No! 1-3-1 is not... (suddenly uncertain) Is it?!
Ray: Yeah. (pauses) Does this mean no pancakes?

Nora Darhk: (gasping)  I can feel his arrival.
(Nora begins to move around the altar, making the kind of moans that a father does not want to imagine his daughter making, much less hear, as Damien Darhk stands in the background looking horrified and disgusted.)
Damien Darhk: (sarcastically) Oh goodie.

(Barack Obama looks up at the stunned Grodd, clearly terrified.)
Ray: Run, Barry, run!

Rip: I must say it has been such an honor, Barack.
Barack Obama: Oh, I go by Barry.
Sara: I really like Barack.
Barack Obama: Well, Barack is what it says on my birth certificate.
Sara: Yeah... you might want to hold on to that.

Sara: The hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was let Darhk live. And now he's back. And it is taking every ounce of self-control not to kill him. And I keep asking myself... why?

Rip: Where are you going?
Sara: To go talk to someone who can think straight when the world has gone crazy!
(Cut To: Barry Obama's dorm room.)
Barack Obama: So, what you're saying is... you won't aid the man who killed your sister, even if it will prevent Mollusk from escaping-
Sara: Mallus
Barack Obama: - from escaping an inter dimensional prison. And wreaking havoc across time?
Sara: Yeah, when you put it that way it DOES sound kinda petty.

Sara: (smiling at Barack Obama) I really miss you.

Sara: I want you to listen to me carefully. I don't believe for a second that you've changed. You're still the same cowardly son of a bitch that put an arrow in my sister. But I will work with you to defeat Mallus under one condition. After this is over, I'm putting you back in the ground where you belong.
Damien Darhk: Deal.
(Sara scuffs the chalk marks of the magic circle. Damien offers her his hand and they shake.)

Ray: What if we just ask Nora nicely? I did have a bit of a connection with her in Berlin.
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.) 
Ray: Not that kind!
Sara: All right. Maybe she'll listen to her dear old dad?
Damien Darhk: Not anymore. Nora only listens to Mallus now. He's always in her ear.
Ray: That's it! What if I get inside Nora?!
(Damien growls at Ray while glaring at him.) 
Ray: Not like that! What if I shrunk down, flew into her ear, and pretended to be... (puts on a deep scary voice) Mallus?!
Damien Darhk: New guy on the team here. Is that a joke plan or a real plan?
Ava: We are so screwed.

Damien Darhk: Nora's gone. It's just Mallus now. You must be enjoying this, seeing your nemesis with a broken heart?
Sara: I didn't know you had a heart to break. (pauses) Where was it the night you murdered my sister?
Damien Darhk: Look, what I did was unforgivable. But back then I hadn't loved anyone enough to understand the pain that I caused. Not that it's any comfort, but if I could take it all back... I would.
Sara: We all have regrets. But we can't undo the things that we've done.
Damien Darhk: True. But even the worst of us can be made whole again. You, for example. From League to Legend. Killer to Captain. That's not a bad makeover, is it?
Sara: It's not good enough.
Damien Darhk: Why? Because you put on The Death Totem and almost killed your entire team?
Sara: Yes!
Damien Darhk: But you didn't, did you. And you know why? The same reason I'm spilling my guts out to a woman who has imagined my death a thousand times over!
Sara: (quietly) More like ten thousand.
Damien Darhk: Love, Sara! Because without it, people like us? We're left alone with the darkness. (pauses) That's not good for anyone, is it?

Nate: You couldn't be selfish if you tried. See that boomin' granny over there? (nods to the older Amaya) She doesn't remember me. Or The Legends. You know why that is?
Amaya: I must have erased my memory...
Nate: And why would you do that?
Amaya: Because if I chose to came back here, after everything we've been through, then... erasing you would be the only way that I could be the protector my people deserve. Otherwise, I'd always be split in two. And part of me would be in love with you. 

Sara: Ava! Please! Just trust me.
Ava: You don't understand! This plan breaks every rule in every book and all I have right now are the rules. Okay?
Sara: You have me.
(Sara kisses Ava passionately.)
Ava: What are you doing?
Sara: I'm admitting something that could save us both... I love you.
Ava: ...there is no me to love.
(Ava steps through her Time Corridor, leaving Sara alone.)

Damien Darhk: (To Sara) You literally stabbed me in the back!
Sara: It only seemed fitting. You're lucky I wasn't aiming for your heart.


Dialogue Disasters

Grodd: Time to make America Grodd again!


Continuity

Mick is in the middle of marathon-viewing The Lord of The Rings movies as the episode opens.

Nate wrote a series of codes for The Legends to use in a crisis situation. Only Ray read the memo and he composed a song to help people remember the codes. Despite this, even Nate can't remember whether Code 131 means "all hand to the bridge" or "pancakes for breakfast."

Code 111 means "Mallus has escaped the time dungeon."

Zari uses her Temporal Simulator to try and find a loophole that will help Amaya save her family but keep the timeline intact. She fails to find one.

Mick makes reference to 307 when he confronts Grodd, saying he should have killed Grodd in Vietnam.

Ray makes reference to 302, saying he thinks they still have some chew-toys on the ship from when they had the saber-tooth tiger, after shrinking Grodd.

Nate uses the alias Andy Watkins when he visits Amaya's village in 1992, claiming to be a PhD student doing history research. Wally is Darren Applebottom - a talent scout for The New York Knicks.

Code 222 means "We're screwed no matter what we do."

Damien Darhk gives The Legends The Water Totem as a gesture of good faith and consents to be locked inside a magic circle. Sara still gives Rory the order to kill him in spite of this.

Amaya discovers that her daughter, Esi, rejected the right to become a totem bearer and take up her role as the protector of their people in 1992.

Wally refers to the events of F301 and how Barry Allen changed the past, creating the divergent Flashpoint timeline when he stopped his mother's murder.

Sara refers to 217 and how the hardest thing she had to do in her life was restore Damien Darhk to his proper place in history, knowing he would go on to kill her sister.

Damien makes reference to The Time Bureau's failed plan to take down Nora Darhk before she got the power upgrade from Mallus in 305.

Ray refers to his brief bonding with Nora in Berlin in 313

After hearing the voice of actor John Noble as Mick is watching Lord of The Rings, The Legends go to New Zealand in 1999 to get John Noble to record some convincing dialogue for Ray's Mallus impression.

Old Amaya has no memory of her time with Nate or The Legends. This suggests that her memory was erased before she returned to Zambesi in 1942.

Rip reveals that he has recruited several Ava clones for The Time Bureau. He says that Ava Sharpe is exceptional, but Ava does not give him a chance to explain why.

Ava Sharpe is the 12th Ava Clone recruited for The Time Bureau.

Sara suggests letting Mallus break free so they can use The Zambesi Totems to kill him, reminding everyone that Constantine said the only reason the Totem Bearers couldn't kill Mallus and had to settle for trapping him in time was because The Death Totem betrayed them.

Damien Darhk is given The Death Totem.

Rip is fired from The Time Bureau.

Nate takes up The Earth Totem.

Nate watched all of the Planet Earth series on Blu Ray while stoned.

Ray takes up The Water Totem.

This makes the roster of Totem Bearers...
Earth: Nate
Fire: Mick
Air: Zari
Water: Ray
Spirit: Amaya
Death: Damien

Damien has a vision of Nora saying that Mallus hasn't killed her yet and it's not too late to save her.

Damien releases Grodd on Amaya's village. This destroys the village, keeping history intact despite Esi stopping the warlords.

Nate saves Esi from Grodd, managing to get The Earth Totem to let him create a wave of Earth that knocks Grodd flying several hundred feet.

The older Amaya recognizes Nate after taking a blow to the head after being hit by Grodd.

Sara stabs Damien in the back allowing Ray to take The Death Totem from him.

The episode ends with Mallus breaking free, manifesting as a large bat-winged monster.


Location

Occidental College - Los Angeles, California - 1979
Zambesi - 14 km west of Mount Kilimanjaro -  1992
New Zealand - The set of The Lord of The Rings - 1999


The Crisis Factor

The only reason Damien is put in a position to betray the team is because Sara manages to put her hatred and rightful distrusting of Damien aside long enough for him to get to that position.


The Bottom Line

A fitting penultimate chapter for the season, silly and touching in equal measure with most of the meta jokes working well. The Nate/Amaya subplot seems to get buried under everything else, sadly, but the Sara/Damien conflict is so strong you almost don't mind Sara's apparently out of character decision to trust Damien with The Death Totem. (Personally, I think she was just looking for an excuse to kill him and figured that if he upheld his end of the bargain, she got to kill him and if he double crossed them, she got to kill him slow.)