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.)

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 16 - I, Ava

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




Plot

When Ava disappears, Sara and Ray set out to find her and discover a disturbing truth about her. Acting Captain Amaya puts Zari in charge of training Rory in the use of The Fire Totem, as Nate and Wally set out on a mission that goes awry when they pair with the most unlikely ally possibly.


Influences

The film version of I, Robot and the movie Blade Runner 


Goofs

Shouldn't Amaya be more worried about a fight between two totem bearers on-board The Waverider?


Performances

Neal McDonough manages to find just the right mixture of comedy and pathos during Darhk's breakdown.

Maisie Richardson-Sellers doesn't get a lot of screen time in this episode but she sells the hell out of Amay's conflict in the final segment regarding the man she loves, the guilt she feels over Kuasa and all the responsibility that comes with her powers.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The holographic commercial for the Ava Shape clone briefly includes a flash of the phrase "More Human Than Human." This was the motto of The Tyrell Corporation in the movie Blade Runner - the company that manufactured the super-realistic biological androids known as Replicants. The general theme regarding humanity existing within artificially created beings is also taken directly from the movie.

Damian Darhk says that watching the drama between Kuasa and Nate is better than "The Brave and The Bold." The Brave and The Bold, while sounding like the name of a soap opera (Darhk may have meant, The Bold And The Beautiful), is the name of a long-running DC Comics series that saw Batman teaming up with other superheroes. It was also the name of a long-running animated series devoted to Batman teaming with other superheroes.

Sara refers to the Ava clones as "fem-bots." This is a reference to the sexy female android assassins used by Doctor Evil in the first Austin Powers movie.


Technobabble

Ray Palmer is a capable enough hacker to break into The Time Bureau's computer.

Time Couriers keep a log of where they have been.

The Time Bureau has declared certain times and places to be "no fly" zones. Only The Time Bureau Director can sanction travel to one of these places. Time Couriers and The Waverider are programmed not to allow travel to time no-fly zones.  Vancouver in 2213 is one such no-fly zone.

Ava was apparently created from what were believed to be the best genes from around the world to make the perfect woman.

Bylaw 575 prohibits unauthorized personnel from being inside the AVA Corp. labs, The penalty is death.

The Totems allow the bearers to sense when another Totem Bearer has died. In this case, Zari and Rory are able to sense the death of Kuasa.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Gary tells Sara and Ray about Ava's disappearance.)
Gary: I've already been covering for her! I've forged her signature twice! What am I supposed to do next?! Put on a wig and pantsuit and pretend I'm her?!
(Ray gives Gary the biggest side-eye glance ever as he looks to Sara as if to say, "Is he serious?")
Sara: No. Don't do that.

Wally: You're sure you saw Kuasa?
Nate: Yeah. Just be on the lookout for a badass in a leather outfit. Or a suspicious puddle of water.

(Ava's "parents" confess to being paid actors.)
Ray: Why in the world would you ever agree to be part of such a charade?
"Pam Sharpe": Do you know how hard it is to get an acting job in Fresno?!

Nate: I thought you hated Mari?
Kuasa: She's still my sister. And even though I resented her for inheriting The Anansi Totem, I'd still rather see it around her neck than Nora Darhk's.

(Wally asks why he can't just run to where the Darhk' are and swipe The Anansi Totem)
Kuasa: You overplayed your hand. Now they know you have a... whatever you are on the team.
Wally: What I am is the "fastest man alive", thanks.
Nate: Second fastest.
Wally: Shhh! She didn't need to know that.

(Nora has just given Kuasa The Anansi Totem)
Nate: (quietly) The plan worked. Free me.
Kuasa: I once thought that losing this totem was the greatest threat to me and my family.  (looking down at Nate) But you are in love with my Nana Baa, and should she choose to love you in return, me and my sister will never even exist.
Nate: This is not the plan.
Kuasa: Plans change.
Damien Darhk: (whispering) This is better than The Brave and The Bold.
Kuasa: For a PhD, you're remarkably gullible.
Nate: Oh, Kuasa... you're better than this. Be the woman your grandmother believes you to be!
Kuasa: I am being the woman she knows me to be.

Nate: Your daughter, she looks - um - she look different. No offense.
Damien Darhk: (sighs while picking up a cattle prod) None taken.
(Damien zaps Nate with the prod. Nate howls in pain but Damien pulls the prod away and sighs, clearly not into it.)
Damien Darhk: Her face...
Nate: (choking) How long has that been a situation?
Damien Darhk: You know what? Since you're going to die, I may as well tell you. The-the closer that Mallus gets to escaping his prison, the worse the situation gets.
(Nate nods, looking up at Damien earnestly.)
Damien Darhk: It's... Don't. Stop looking... don't look at me! I'm just gonna... just gonna...
(Nate keeps looking at Damien and all but gives him puppy dog eyes. Damien sighs in frustration.)
Damien Darhk: I'm sorry!  It's - it's not you! It's- It's me! Torture just doesn't bring me the same joy anymore!
Nate: It's okay! You're distracted! I get it! You made a deal with the devil, and now he's come back to claim your little girl  Am I right?
Damien Darhk: Yes!  I mean, I want to burn the world down and rebuild it in my image! Not lose the person I was doing it for!
Nate: (reassuringly) Damien, this is deep stuff, man. Let's just keep digging, let's just keep digging. Just do me one favor?
Damien Darhk: (half-sobbing) Yes! What?!
Nate: Can you lose the cattle prod? I mean, I'm gonna die anyway. Let's make this a safe space.
Damien Darhk: (nodding as he puts the prod down) Safe space.
Nate: Safe space.
(Damien takes a deep breath to calm himself and smiles.)

Amaya: How can you be so selfish?
Kuasa: You are the selfish one. Our family's destruction looms in 1992. You promised you'd save us. And yet you continuously search for ways to abandon your family and Zambesi.
Amaya: I have done everything in my power to try and redeem you! And in doing so, Mari got hurt. She understands that being a Totem Bearer means protecting all people - not just our own. It's no wonder this totem ended up with Mari and not you. You are beyond redemption.
(Kuasa says nothing but walks away.)

Sara: Ava. You are real. You are as real as I feel about you.
Ava: How can you say that when I'm just like one of those things?
Sara: Because I know you. And I know that you are a badass. And you are different. (pauses) And now that we both know that, I need you to act exactly like one of those clones if we want to get out of here.

Nate: I got Kuasa killed.
Amaya: (shaking her head) I got my granddaughter killed.
Nate: You... how?
Amaya: By goading her to be more like her sister. Kuasa wanted to prove that she was worthy of this. (holds up the Anansi Totem) She died proving that I was wrong about her, by saving the life of aman who threatened her existence.
Nate: Exactly! And if I didn't get captured, then Kuasa-
Amaya: - was doomed either way! I mean, that's how Time works. Well, clearly Time wants my family to suffer.
Nate: Amaya, you have to believe that you are in charge of your own destiny.
Amaya: You know, there are times I wish I'd never set foot on this ship? If I'd never left 1942, I would have returned to Zambesi like I was suppose to. With no idea of the tragedy that awaited me. I would have died an old woman.
Nate: Murdered by warlords. And you and I never would have met. (pauses) Is that what you want, Amaya?
Amaya: I don't know, Nathaniel.
(Amaya takes The Anansi Totem and leaves the library.)


Dialogue Disasters

(Ray, Sara and Gary discover that Vancouver 2213 is full of Ava Shapre clones)
Ray: What kind of world is this?
Gary: Paradise?
Sara: I'm surrounded by my exes, Gary... this is Hell.

Ray: This is the second worst "attack of the clones" I've seen.


Continuity

Sara takes a day off from the team to get her head together after the incident with The Death Totem and her break-up with Ava in 315.

Sara appoints Amaya as acting Captain while she's gone.

Zari doesn't eat pork or bacon and is fasting during the day for Ramadan.

Mick has been "training" himself by using the Fire Totem to grill hot dogs and make popcorn. He has also mastered a trick that requires someone pulling his finger that we do not get to see demonstrated.

Nate and Wally leave for Detroit 2018 to talk to Mari McCabe, who was injured while trying to evacuate an apartment building on fire. Amaya reasons that with Nora Darhk having stolen The Anansi Totem from her, the timeline must be starting to adjust to the fact that it was never there for Amaya to pass on to her daughter, ensuring it eventually went to Mari.

Gary refers to the death of Director Bennett at the hands of Gorilla Grodd in 313.

Ray determines that someone erased Ava Sharpe's employee profile from The Waverider.

Ava's trash can in her office has a birthday card from her parents in Fresno, California in it.

Ava's "parents" are named Pam and Randy Sharpe.

Sara figures out that Ava's parents are fakes based on a photo they say was taken at a slumber party held on Ava's 15th birthday, when Sara recalls Ava telling her in 312 that she spent her 15th birthday playing paintball.

Mick Rory has the eating schedule of a Hobbit, having four lunches.

Kuasa has been watching over Mari ever since Nora Darhk stole The Anansi Totem from Amaya.

Kuasa agrees to help Nate and Wally steal The Anansi Totem back.

Gary Green has astigmatism and was never authorized to fly the Time Bureau mothership.

The Time Bureau's mothership has the ability to travel to temporal No-Fly Zones without the Time Bureau Director's direct approval.

Ava turns out to be a clone created by a company called The Advanced Variant Automation Corporation (AVA Corporation.)

Gary has a fear of things covered in sheets.

Ava does not know about the clones of her in the future and faints when she sees a clone of herself being made.

Kuasa gives Amaya back The Anansi Totem.

Ava called her ex in Las Vegas and created an UpSwipz profile after Sara dumped her. This is where she was when she claimed to be in Fresno visiting her parents.

Mallus is apparently capable of draining The Speed Force from a speedster's body and throwing it back at them as lightning.

Kuasa returns to free Nate during the fight with Nora/Mallus.

Nora kills Kuasa by pulling The Water Totem from her body.

Ray erases Gary's memory of the events of the trip to 2213

Zari admits that part of the reason she keeps to her Muslim upbringing regarding dietary restrictions and fasting during Ramadan and cooking iftar is because it reminds her of her family.

Sara guesses that Rip Hunter was the one responsible for declaring Vancouver 2213 off-limits, hacking Ava Sharpe's personnel records and recruiting the actors who played Ava's parents.

The episode ends with Amaya taking the jump-ship to the M'Changa province of Zambesi in 1992.


Location

Detroit, Michigan - 2018
Time Bureau - Star City - 2018
Fresno, California - 2018
Vancouver, British Columbia - 2213


The Bottom Line

A mixed bag, overall. While the script generally does a good job of balancing all of its subplots, the plain truth is that the Mick/Zari subplot only seems to exist because the writers suddenly decided they needed to be more overt about Zari's religion and needed to give her and Mick something to do while Sara chased after her ex and Nate fell into an obvious trap. Still, the moments that are good are incredibly good but the episode still feels like a bit of filler apart from everything involving Amaya's conflict.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 15 - Necromancing The Stone

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




Plot

When Mallus takes control of Sara and she takes up The Death Totem, Mick will have to overcome his dark side to save the rest of The Legends. Meanwhile, Ava recruits John Constantine to free Sara from Mallus' influence once and for all.


Influences

The movie Alien (the sequence of a possessed Sara hunting down The Legends on their sealed-off ship), The Constantine: The Hellblazer comics series (John Constantine living in New York City, performing odd-jobs involving magic to make ends meet.), Swamp Thing #37 (John's line about being a nasty piece of work) and Hellblazer #41 (John's line about walking his path alone.)


Goofs

Nice as it is for Wally to finally get a scene where his relationship with Jesse Quick isn't treated like an afterthought relative to everything else on The Flash, the whole scene where Wally makes his peace when confronted by a hallucination of Jesse that he knows is a hallucination is just lazy writing that serves no purpose other than taking Wally out of play so he can't tie up the possessed Sara in two seconds.

It is worth noting that most D&D players do not dress up in costume to play the game.


Performances

Caity Lotz does a great job playing against her self, as she is tempted by the Death Totem.

Matt Ryan is once again amazing as John Constantine.

Jes Macallan does a fantastic job playing off of both Matt Ryan and Caity Lotz in this episode as Ava Sharpe.


Artistry

The production team did a great job establishing a spooky atmosphere on the Waverider set.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The title of the episode is a riff on the 1984 action/romance/comedy Romancing The Stone.

Wally and Nate are sent on a mission to rescue a dog named Laika and return her to the Soviet Space Program. This is a reference to Laika - the first animal to orbit the Earth and prove that it was safe and possible for life to survive while traveling at the speeds necessary to achieve orbit.

When Zari and Amaya return from recovering The Mona Lisa, they say that they confirmed that The Mona Lisa was a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci in drag. This is an actual theory proposed by real world art historians.

The Nostromo Sequence which seals The Waverider up is a reference to the name of the ship from the movie Alien. The sequences of The Legends being hunted by a possessed Sara Lance were done as a tribute to the movie Alien.

Ava's profile of John Constantine fits firmly in-line with John's background in the comics. John does have an older sister named Cheryl. Both of his parents are dead - his mother having died in childbirth and his father having been killed by a serial killer called The Family Man. Reference is also made to The Newcastle Crew and John's accidentally condemning a girl named Astra to Hell, as depicted in the Constantine TV series.

It is unclear if the DCTVU version of John Constantine's sister is named Cheryl or if his parents died in the same ways as in the comics.

When Ava tracks down John, he is living in an apartment in New York City which he claims to have won in a duel and helping a woman perform a ritual to find her son a wife. This seems similar to the setup of the comic Constantine, The Hellblazer, where John briefly lived in New York City and performed freelance works of magic to help people when he wasn't busy tending to more vital work.

John makes reference to being heavily under the influence of Ayahuasca. Also known as iowaska or yagé, Ayahuasca is an potent drink used as a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon jungle basin. Those who partake of it often report spiritual revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of the universe as well as deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can. (Perhaps not coincidentally, John's first published adventure in the comics involved him taking a trip to the Amazon Jungle with Swamp Thing.)

John using psychedelic substances as part of his magic is a frequent occurrence in the comics.

The episode does make several references to the more recent editions of Dungeons and Dragons. These include referring to Constantine as a Warlock, which - in D&D - are magicians who work their magic by bargaining with mystical beings.There are also references to Wally West being a monk (warrior built around fast strikes and movement), Amaya being a druid (warrior/wizard who draws power from a bond with nature), Mick being a half-orc thief (half orcs are known for being crude and slow witted but powerful and quick to anger), Nate being a bard (warrior/wizard whose strength comes from their knowledge of history and lore) and Ray being a cheerful gnome who is also a mighty wizard. Zari is referred to as a sorceress - a magic user with a natural talent who typically draws power from their birthright.

Gary refers to his D&D campaign being centered around the search for six artifacts called The Swords of Sorrow. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was the name of a mini-series edited by writer Gail Simone (whose take on Black Canary informed most of Sara Lance's personality) and written by a number of female comic writers that saw various pulp heroines whose rights were held by Dynamite Comics (including Red Sonja, Dejah Thoris, Vampirella and many more) teaming up to recover the titular swords and fight an evil prince who drew power from the submission of strong women.

Several of John's lines in his conversation with Sara are taken directly from the comics. in Swamp Thing #37, he described himself as "a nasty piece of work" and in Hellblazer #41 he talked about walking his path alone.

The final scene of John playing D&D with Gary and his friends may be a nod to The Dresden Files - a series of novels based around a wizard/detective in much the same mold as John Constantine, who is also a old-school RPG gamer when he isn't busy fighting wicked faeries, vampires and demons.


Technobabble

Ray suffered a collapsed lung, three broken ribs and a shattered femur among other injuries after being attacked by Sara.

The Nostromo Sequence is a command programmed into Gideon and The Waverider which seals it off from the outside world and locks all the doors within it.

When Gary and Ava find John, he is chasing a live chicken around his apartment. This was apparently part of a ritual to help a woman find a wife for her son.

Zari can decouple the Jumpship from Gideon's mainframe so they can use it to escape The Waverider.

Normally when John Constantine draws a demon out of a possessed person, he has to use himself as a receptacle. Thankfully, John already has a direct spiritual connection to Sara's soul since they were lovers. This allows John to perform a ritual that calls upon Aken, the Ancient Egyptian ferryman of the dead, to take him to Sara in Mallus' realm. Ava is also able to make the journey since she and Sara are lovers.

John is able to track The Death Totem through time and space using a spell that requires a severed foot, a vile full of mothers' tears and his ruination stones.


Dialogue Triumphs

Amaya: With all these new anachronisms, the time tears are getting worse.
Zari: Yeah, I thought we were calling them "time cracks"?
Wally: What happens if we don't repair history?
Ray: Working theory? Time is frapped together like a smoothie. So instead of just dealing with Julius Ceasar in Aruba, we have to fight off Genghis Khan, a herd of woolly mammoths and a swarm of locusts from The Old Testament.
Nate: And Mallus is freed from Time Jail so he can rule over this giant mess.
Wally: Huh. So... worse than Flashpoint?
Ray: Is that what we're calling that thing that Barry did?
Wally: Mmm-hmm.
Ray: Uh - I think it's something similar.

(Sara hands out everyone's assignments.)
Sara: (tired) All right. That's it. No snazzy send-off. Mama's got a headache.
(Everyone leaves. Zari gives Sara a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she walks past. Nate does the same.)
Nate: Even when you don't try, you've still got it.

(Sara opens the lock box containing The Death Totem.)
Canary: It calls to you, doesn't it? The Death Totem chose you.
(Sara looks up at the voice. She sees herself in her costume as The Canary.)
Sara: You're...
Canary: You. After you died.
Sara: ...This is the Death Totem.
Canary: It yearns for a new bearer. Imagine all you could do with dominion over the dead. You could banish that little girl from your dreams.... bring back your sister.
(Sara looks down into the box but shakes her head.)
Sara: I'm no totem barer.
(Suddenly, The Canary is standing by Sara's side.)
Canary: You've conquered your demons. You're strong enough to wield it. Pick up the totem, Sara. It's the only way to defeat Mallus. The six totems need six totem bearers. Who else on your team was born to wield Death?
(Sara looks at The Death Totem in the open box... her hand slowly moving towards it...)

(The Legends have been locked in the med-bay by the possessed Sara.)
Mick: I'm going to kill that witch!
Amaya: If you kill her, then Sara dies too.
Mick: Better her than me!
Nate: Dude! How can you say that?
Mick: By moving my lips!

John: Are you guys from the housing co-op? Because it's perfectly legal to win an apartment in a duel.
Ava: We're here about Sara Lance.
John: Ah. (John takes the chicken from Gary and hands it to the woman) Right. Well, ah, Mrs. Veras, we will have to continue the ritual tomorrow, but not to worry, love. We'll have your son married in no time!
Mrs. Veras: Gracias, Senor Constantine!
(John closes the door and chuckles in a somewhat embarrassed manner to Ava.)
John: It's a gig economy. I have to take the work where I can find it, you know?

Ava: What do you mean you already have a link to Sara's soul?
John: Well, let's just say our souls have been one. Leaves a metaphysical connection, love.
Ava: Don't call me "love".
John: Oh, pardon me, pet.
Ava: Sara and I also share a very, very strong metaphysical connection, so...
(John ahs and nods silently.) 
Gary: Wait... I can't believe.... you both slept with Captain Lance?!
Ava: Gary!
John: (slyly) Did we now? Well then, we both have excellent taste in damaged women.
Ava: Sara's not damaged!
John: Yeah, and I'm the bloody Pope.

John: There isn't exactly a paint-by-numbers spell for locating a spaceship floating in a temporal stream. My business card says "Master Of The Dark Arts." Not "Doctor Ruddy What's His Face."
Ava: Who?
Gary: Who?
John: Exactly.

Ava: Okay, so you have a foot, but you don't have a phone?! I - I just ... I really don't understand how Sara could have...
John: What? Shagged me in a mental institution?
Ava: Oh my God!
John: Oh, you have nothing to be jealous about.
Ava: I am not jealous! I'm just...
(Ava makes a gesture like she wants to strangle John, growls then sits down.)
Ava: Okay. Maybe I'm a little bit jealous.
John: Oh, we were just trying to find some calm in the storm.
Ava: I don't understand! Who sleeps with a warlock and then turns around and starts calling me her girlfriend?
Gary: She called you her girlfriend?
Ava: Yeah. And I really want to believe her...
Gary: ... but?
Ava: But I don't really think that Sara is a one-woman woman.
John: Well, if the price of admission is looking like a fool or getting your heart broken, then... well, I'd say Ms. Lance is pretty well worth it.
Ava: ... huh.

Gary: The Legends remind me of my D&D group. Don't laugh.
John: Too late.

(Sara takes the repaired Fire Totem from the nuclear reactor chamber.)
Amaya: This totem wasn't meant for me. You have to use it.
Mick: Forget it.
Amaya: You spent your entire life obsessed with fire and heat. What if this is the reason why?
Mick: How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not a hero! Sara's a hero. And look what The Death Totem did to her.
Amaya: That was the work of Mallus. Most people who have seen what you've seen would have succumbed to darkness, but you didn't. You chose to become a Legend. You may try to hide it, Mick, but you're a good man.
Mick: What if you're wrong?
Amaya: (offers him the Fire Totem) There's only one way to find out.

Sara: (To Ava) You saved me again.
Ava: (glancing back to John and Mick) I had a little help.
(John throws a glance to Mick, who is still holding a fireball in his hand, transfixed by the flame.)
John: Well, while we're here... (coughs) A light?
(John puts a cigarette into his mouth and leans over the fire to light it.)

Sara: If you thought Mallus really would have freed Astra, you would have traded me, wouldn't you?
John: In a heartbeat. (pauses) Well, what can I say? I'm a nasty piece of work.
Sara: So am I.
John: But you survived, love.
Sara: For now.
John: You know, there's a reason why I prefer to walk this path alone. It's uh.. so I don't have to share with anyone how lost I really am. But you're not alone, are you, Sara?
Sara: Maybe I should be.
John: She's a good one. Try not to hurt her.
Sara: (quietly) That's what I'm afraid of.
John: Hmm.

Gary: So the question is... are you prepared to join us on this mission most deadly?
(Gary reaches across the table and opens his hand to reveal a twenty-sided dice.  We pull back to see John Constantine sitting across the table from Gary. He takes the twenty-sided dice.)
John: Well tonight, squire... I'm all yours.


Continuity

Sara called out the name John in her sleep.

Sara tells Ava about how she slept with John Constantine but only sees him as a friend.  This happened three weeks before she became serious about Ava.

Sara refers to Ava as her girlfriend.

The cracks/tears in the fabric of time in the temporal zone are getting worse.

Ray refers to the events of 301.

Wally refers to Barry Allen's alteration of the timeline, which resulted in the divergent dimension he called Flashipoint, in F301.

Mick sleeps in the nude.

Sara plans to go on a solo mission to save Einstein, who is stranded in The Ice Age.

For some reason, Mick refuses a mission to "rescue a Ruskie pooch."

Ray refers to 313 and the events that led to him retrieving the secret of cold fusion to repair The Fire Totem.

John Constantine does not currently (i.e. Spring 2018) own a phone.

Gideon is incapable of feeling rage.

Zari is claustrophobic.

While possessed by Mallus, Sara has the powers of telekinesis and teleportation.

The possessed Sara takes out Wally using the anti-speedster gun, first seen in 208.

John Constantine is 36 years old. He has an older sister and both of his parents are listed as deceased. His profile with The Time Bureau lists him as part of "The Newcastle Crew" and describes how he accidentally summoned a demon that dragged a girl named Astra Logue into Hell.

John is described as a true Warlock.

Gary Green plays a Level 9 Warlock in Dungeons and Dragons.

John Constantine now has an apartment in New York City which he won in a duel.

John learned what happened to the sixth lost tribe of Zambesi while heavily under the influence of Ayahuasca. (This seems similar to the tea made of the Lyoga Root from 303 used to enter the Zambesi Ancestral Realm.)

According to John, the sixth "lost" tribe of Zambesi were charged with stewardship over the realm of Death. They allied themselves with Mallus as the other five tribes moved to imprison him.

While not totally certain on this point, John believes that the sixth tribe's betrayal may have caused The Death Totem to have been corrupted by Mallus. He confirms that The Death Totem is inextricably linked to the demon now.

Zari used to read to her younger brother. His favorite story was "The Prince of Timbuktu".

Gary has an aunt named Stacy.

Gary likes Beebo.

Doctor Who exists in The DCTVU.

John kisses Gary, who does not seem at all repulsed by it.

The girl from Sara's nightmares is revealed to be the daughter of a man she killed while she was part of The League of Assassins.

Nathaniel is tormented with a vision of his grandfather, who refers to the events of 214.

Zari loves cats.

Ray was successful in repairing the Fire Totem.

Mallus impersonates Astra's voice in a bit to make John back-off of his exorcism ritual.

Sara offers John a bed on The Waverider. He says he's tempted to take it but reminds her that he prefers to work alone.

Sara theorizes that Mallus can attack a person by making them see their worst fears. In this case, Sara was tormented with the idea that she could never move beyond being a killer, Wally was confronted with the loss of the strongest love he had ever known, Zari was tormented by the brother whose death drives her and Nate was called a disappointment by the grandfather who was his inspiration.

Wally says he liked Sara with silver hair.

Sara breaks up with Ava, saying she doesn't deserve her.

The final scene depicts John playing Dungeons and Dragons with Gary and his friends.


Location

The Temporal Zone
New York City - 2018.


Untelevised Adventures

Zari and Amaya are sent on a mission to Billings, Montana in 1997 to recover The Mona Lisa before it winds up on an episode of Antique's Roadshow.

Wally and Nate go on a mission to rescue a dog named Laika and return her to the Soviet Space Program.

John learned the lost lore of Zambesi and the sixth tribe that was erased from oral legend while under the influence of Ayahuasca.

Once, while on a massive bender, John Constantine cast a spell on a Beebo toy to make it talk. The things it said made even his toes curl.


The Fridge Factor

Unfortunately, this episode brings back everyone's least favorite subplot - the idea that Sara has some kind of inherent darkness that has ruled her for her entire life - and runs with it to let Sara angst over how she doesn't deserve to be loved by a good person like Ava. While it is refreshing to see this sort of storyline with a female protagonist (usually only male superheroes are allowed to play the "I don't deserve you" card), it's still annoying that the writers can't think of any other way to develop Sara's character. At least we're spared hearing about how "Laurel had a light."


The Bottom Line

You know it's a great episode when they can bring back the idiotic idea of Sara having some inner darkness that can't be dispelled and it actually works. Chalk that up to some great acting from Caity Lotz, as Matt Ryan and Jess Macallan run riot over each other. The new Constantine series can't come fast enough and, a bonus, this episode came out the day it was confirmed that Legends of Tomorrow is getting a fourth season with Matt Ryan as a regular cast member. The only downside is that now I want to stat all the Legends characters for D&D.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 14 - Amazing Grace

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




Plot

The Legends travel to Memphis, Tennessee in 1954 after they detect an anachronism that indirectly caused the death of modern music. As Zari helps Wally adjust to life on The Waverider, Nate relishes the chance to teach Amaya about classic rock and roll, accidentally discovering the sixth Zambesi Totem - the Totem of Death - in the process!


Influences

The legends of Robert Leroy Johnson and Elvis Aaron Presley and the movie Footloose.


Goofs

While Elvis Presley was a devout Christian, he was raised a member of The Assembly of God - not the Church of Zion, as the episode depicts.

Elvis Presley also did not have a rock-and-roll hating preacher uncle named Lucius.

The episode seems to have either confused or intentionally combined the recording of Elvis's first record and Elvis first performance that was broadcast on the radio. The episode depicts Elvis as having recorded his first record at Sun Studio in July 1954. Elvis truly recorded his first record at Sun Studio on July 18, 1953. The song Elvis plays in the studio for his first record in the episode, "I'm Gone, Mama" isn't the song he recorded for his first record. He did two songs - "My Happiness" and "That's Where Your Heartaches Begin." Elvis recorded the song "That's All Right (Mama)" for his first radio performance, recording on July 5, 1954.  The song played on the WHBQ two days later on July 7, 1954.

While Nate's insistence that Elvis be allowed to record his first record with the Death Totem Guitar is treated like the unreasonable request of a crazy fanboy, the loss of rock and roll on American culture would be a major anachronism with long-lasting consequences for the timeline. So why is Sara so resistant to letting Nate give the guitar back to Elvis?

It seems highly unlikely that even Mick could go into the galley and make a sandwich without seeing the dead Axl in the middle of the floor.

Elvis Presley did not write the song "Jailhouse Rock". It was written for him by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, for his third movie with the same name.

Given Zari's cynical nature and how she had to hide her religion in her time period, it seems highly unlikely that she'd be the one to suggest to Wally that they try talking to Elvis' conservative preacher uncle about giving his nephew's music a chance... even if she is trying to get Wally to explore options that don't involve just using his powers to solve everything when, in this case, Wally's powers totally could solve everything.

As much as one would like to cheer the general pro-religion, "not all Christians are bigots" message of this story, it's still somewhat unbelievable that a white Southern preacher at this point in time would be open to talking to a young black man or Muslim woman.

For that matter, Nate and Amaya kissing in a church should have been a MUCH bigger deal to the assembled crowd of all-white Southerners.

We never do find out exactly how The Darhks were involved in all of this and how their arrival prompted the anachronism that led to Elvis being committed and Memphis being abandoned.


Artistry

The direction, cinematography and use of music in the opening scene is fantastic. It's also amazing how well the establish the supernatural mood with a simple change of lighting and a few props being shaken around.

The musical performances are strong.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The guitar player mentioned in the opening sequence - Robert Johnson - is a nod to Robert Leroy Johnson. Ranked fifth on the Rolling Stone list of the greatest guitar players of all time, Johnson died young under mysterious circumstances at the age of 27 in 1938. Recordings of Johnson's blues music are credited with inspiring later artists - such as Elvis Presley - to create rock and roll. Popular folk legend has it that Johnson met with The Devil at a Mississippi crossroads at midnight and bargained for his amazing guitar skills.

The third episode of Constantine - The Devil's Vinyl - dealt with a legend similar to that of Robert Leroy Johnson. In that episode, John became involved in the hunt for a vinyl record by a legendary fictional blues man (Willie Cole) that apparently captured the voice of The Devil as he came to claim Willie Cole's soul.

Wally uses the initials WFW when he sets his high scores on Zari's video games. In the classic comics, Wally's full name is Wallace Rudolph West. It is unknown what Wally's middle name is in The DCTVU.

Rory named his pet rat Axl. This is likely in tribute to Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose.

Rory notices that Axl's name has mysteriously changed to Josh Groban, who is a popular classically-trained singer that sold over 20 million solo albums in the first 10 years of his career.

As Nate notes, Beale Street was the heart of the music scene in Memphis in the 1950s.

Elvis Aaron Presley did have a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn. The historical record is divided on what effect the loss of his twin may have had on Elvis, but some of his friends and biographers claim that Elvis believed that Jesse's ghost was always close to him and that Elvis would frequently talk to his dead brother as if he was there in the room.

The episode ends with a video tribute to Axl, showing Ray running from him and Mick making faces at him in his cage.


Technobabble

EMF ratings are a measurement used to gauge the strength of ambient electromagnetic fields. They are measured in metric units called Gauss. As Ray notes, some people believe that supernatural entities - such as ghosts - give off signals that can be detected using an EMF probe.

Constantine's notes on The Death Totem read as follows:

"The background of the Death Totem is entangled in contentious debates amongst ancient artifacts experts. The chronology of other totems are directly traceable through lineage, but records of previous death totem bearers are unknown. Witness accounts of the totem's powers are hard to verify. What is consistent in the testimonies is that The Death Totem is the most volatile of the totems. Historians have concluded that it was lost for eons, along with a sixth tribe of Zambesi."

The Death Totem gives its bearer the power to raise the spirits of the dead, control them and put them to rest.

The average life expectancy of a rat is 1.5 to 2.5 years.

The Wind Totem blasts can affect ghosts.

Apparently a speedster running through a ghost can disrupt their ectoplasmic form (At least, we think this is what Wally does to get rid of the ghosts inside the church.)

Ray develops specially encrypted lock-boxes to hold each of the six Totems.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Wally looks at Ray's Chore Wheel.)
Wally: Wipe down food fabricator?
Zari: Bet you thought time-travel would be seeing Woodstock, saving Shakespeare and having ethical debates while standing over baby Hitler. Trust me. It takes time to get used to life-
(There is a sudden burst of yellow lightning around the room as Wally gets to work. When he stops, the kitchen is spotless.)
Wally: Cool. So what's next?
Zari: It's gonna take time for me to get used to life with a speedster.

(Gideon tells The Legends where Elvis Presley might be found.)
Sara: You heard the lady.
(Everyone just stares at Sara.)
Sara: (impatiently) What?! Why are you staring at me?
Nate: I dunno... we're waiting for you to... do the thing you do.
Sara: What thing?
Ray: You know? You usually send us into the field with a little more... piazza.
(Sara rolls her eyes and flips her hair in an exaggerated manner before walking off making a jazz hands gesture.)
Sara: All right Legends! Put on your Sunday best because we are going to church!
(Everyone nods, satisfied, and moves to change clothes.)
Ray: Amen!

Sara: (dryly) So Elvis is the bearer of the long-lost sixth totem? Consider me all shook up.

Amaya; Every totem is growing strong in response to Mallus' threat. What if the preacher is right and Elvis' music literally drives Memphis insane?
Sara: Then we have to get it before that happens.
(Wally dashes off, leaving papers flying in his wake, and returns seconds later holding Elvis' guitar.)
Wally: I got it! Elvis' guitar totem.
Zari: So I'm not the only one who finds that annoying right?
Nate: So annoying.

(Sara attempts to pry the black gem loose from the guitar with a wrench. Suddenly, there is a weird tone. Sara stops and drops the wrench.)
Ray: Woah. That was weird.
Sara: Yeah.
(The lights flicker and there's a distinctive electric crackle in the air.)
Sara: You feel that?
Ray: Yeah. It's freezing.
Gideon: I am detecting an EMF rating of 6 milliGauss that is disturbing the ship's electrical service.
Sara: EM-what?
Ray: Electro-Magnetic Field. It's a scientific term that's wrapped up in a bunch of (sputters, clearly finding the idea distasteful) paranormal nonsense.
(There's a noise across the room as Sara and Ray both run to a glass wall that's suddenly frosted over with a hand-print in the middle of the frost.)
Sara: Paranormal? As in...
(The two turn to see the guitar hovering in mid-air as if picked up by an unseen figure. The black gem glows as a figure resembling a young Elvis Presley suddenly comes into view only to fade into a grey indistinct shriveled figure,covered in ice.)
Ray: ... ghosts.

Nate: (into comm) Guys? Elvis' guitar is haunted.
(Cut to The Waverider, where Wally is being pulled along the floor of the bridge by the guitar.)
Ray and Sara: We know!


Continuity

We see Ray's Chore Wheel, which was mentioned but not shown in 211.

The chore wheel lists the following parts of The Waverider: Cargo Bay, Galley, Library, Dining, Air Ducts, Storage, Controls, Engine, Servers, Fabricator, Lab, Gym, Med Bay and Parlour.

The chore wheel lists the following duties: Wipe Down Food Fabricator; Tidy, Sweep and Remove Debris; General Cleaning and Tidying; Clean & Maintain Pipes & Ducts, Electrical Set-Up and Dust Removal; Regular Systems Check & Tune-Up and Equipment Maintenance.

Zari pretends not to understand Ray's system for the chore wheel since he'll eventually do all her chores for her rather than make a fuss about it.

Wally beats the high scores on Zari's favorite video games.

According to Wally, the trick to Ms. Pac-Man is to focus on attacking the ghosts - not chasing the fruit. Zari says everyone knows that.

The first clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is Zari's discovery that her copy of Guitar Hero is now a game called Trombone Hero.

The rat that Ray gave to Mick as a pet in 211 is seen for the first time. Rory named him Axl.

Ray refers to using cold fusion to fix The Fire Totem again, as in 313.

The second clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is that Axl's name has mysteriously changed to Josh Groban.

Sara is now fully aware that Nate and Amaya are dating again.

The third clue that an anachronism destroyed rock and roll music is that Nate's distinctive hairstyle has changed.

Nate uses Royal Crown Pomade to spike his hair - the same hair product used by Elvis Presley.

Gideon determines that Memphis, Tennessee became a ghost town following a mysterious bout of mass hysteria in July 1954. This coincided with a concert performance by Elvis Presley, which ended with Presley being committed to Bolivar State Hospital.

As Nate explains, without Memphis, there would be no rock and roll, which would have a butterfly effect on American culture further down the line.

Mick likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches fried in bacon fat - a reported favorite food of Elvis.

Nate hates ska music.

It is confirmed that the anachronisms being caused by The Darhks are not showing up on The Time Bureau's Radar, for some reason.

Amaya is a fan of Benny Goodman.

Zari's amulet reacts to Elvis' guitar while he's singing. This leads The Legends to conclude that Elvis is a totem barer.

Sara has some means of contacting John Constantine.

Amaya refers to the events of 213 and how she and Nate saw dinosaurs together.

Amaya and Nate once watched the entire series of Friends in one week on Netflix.

Axl dies after ingesting some green liquid left on the floor of the galley.

Nate is apparently something of a Goth, being a fan of The Smiths and Morrisey.

Amaya exposes Nate to the traditional music of Zambesi.

The episode ends with the box containing The Death Totem visibly jumping around on Ray's desk.


Location

Memphis, Tennessee - 1950
Memphis, Teneessee - July 1954


Untelevised Adventures

There was a Category Two Anachronism during the Belle Epoque in Paris.

The was a Category Three Anachronism during the launch of The Spirit of St. Louis.


The Bottom Line

Badly researched in terms of its history and full of plot holes and a lot of out-of-character moments. The production values are decent and the music is fantastic but the writers forced a lot of the story elements in order to tell the story that they wanted to tell. Ultimately, this is a painful and problematic episode in many respects and easily the worst one of Season Three so far.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 13 - No Country for Old Dads

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




Plot

When Ray's efforts at showing mercy to Nora Darhk end in his capture, he is put to work helping repair the broken Fire Totem. The two of them wind up traveling to 1960's East Germany, where the search for a scientist who discovered the secret of cold fusion leads them into an encounter with a younger version of Damien Darhk.


Influences

No Country For Old Men (the title of the episode, the general aesthetic, the hairstyle of a young Damien Darhk is modeled on Javier Bardem's haircut in the movie)


Goofs

It's a little hard to believe that Wally never saw a picture of Nate and Amaya or learned the name of the "basic bitch" that broke his friend's heart given how close he and Nate apparently were.

How could the Damien Darhk of 1962 be unaware of magic existing given that he was almost 200 years old at that point and using The Lazarus Pit of The League of Assassins? (Technically, The Pit in the comics was powered by alchemy - not magic. Also, Darhk's surprise at his older self's use of magic may be because he is aware of magic's existence but never had encountered it in person before 1962.)


Performances

While the novelty of Damien Darhk's character wore off for me about halfway through Season Four of Arrow, I'm still amused by Neal McDonough's nonchalant yawning as he's telekinetically throwing Alan around. And his telling dad jokes. I can't explain why beyond the fact that the tone of it works so much better on Legends than it did on Arrow.

The chemistry between Brandon Routh and Neal McDonough is fantastic.


Artistry

The transitions, camerawork and witty script do a perfect job of emulating a Coen brothers movie.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

The one match that Damien Darhk keeps getting on his Upswipez Profile is a red-haired woman named Carrie C. This is Carrie Cutter a.k.a. Cupid - the obsessive Arrow fangirl, who was later recruited for Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad. She was last seen in A514, teaming with Liza Warner and China White.


Technobabble

Cold fusion is a theoretical form of nuclear reaction that could take place at lower temperatures and levels of pressure than the standard hot fusion, which occurs naturally within stars. The term is a bit of a misnomer, however, as the only thing cold about cold fusion is that it takes place at a relatively much lower temperature than hot fusion and it is more properly called a "low energy nuclear reaction."

The Zambesi Totems can only be wielded by a person with a selfless reason for doing so. This is limited, however, in that an evil person can still use the totems if they have a good reason for needing the power. This is apparent as Kuasa was able to use the totems in the past, despite her own lust for power, as she was seeking justice for her murdered people. Likewise, Nora Darhk is able to use The Spirit Totem in order to save her father from his past self.

The bond between the Zambesi Totems and their current bearer is strong enough that, even across time itself, the Totems will refuse to work for someone wearing the Totem if the do not have the proper mindset to wield their power. This is why Nora Darhk is not able to tap the power of The Spirit Totem - it's bond with Amaya is too great and she only sees the Totem as a means of gaining power.

Despite this, the bond between the current bearer and their Totem is finite and the longer the Totem is in the possession of an evil being, the more corrupt it becomes. This corruption is reflected in The Zambesi Ancestral Plane, which goes from a beautiful jungle to a cold, dark hellscape the longer Nora Darhk possesses The Spirit Totem. It transforms completely into a dark place once Nora activates The Spirit Totem.

The Totems cannot be destroyed. Even the fragments have power.

Amaya is able to communicate with the Ancestral Plane and learn the location of The Spirit Totem by meditating, using Zari and The Air Totem as an anchor.

According to Ray, only cold fusion or the energy released by The Big Bang could generate the energy needed to reignite The Fire Totem.

Damien and Nora use magic devices called Time Stones to travel in time.

The ATOM suit has a voice-activation mode keyed to Ray Palmer's voice.


Dialogue Triumphs

(As they are watching the message that Ray left for them about how he's been kidnapped.)
Zari: Hey. When we see him, do we tell him we didn't even notice he was gone?
Sara: Yeah. Definitely not.

(Ray puts down his phone and turns to Damien Darhk, Nora Darhk and Kuasa. Kuasa is holding an electric cattle prod.)
Ray: Okay. I've done as you ask. So, no more torture today, right?
Damien Darhk: (laughing)  I really don't think you understand how this "torture" thing works.
(Kuasa slowly moves towards Ray with the prod raised.)

(Nate and Mick enter the bridge. They're both wearing tie-dyed shirts.)
Sara: Any sign of Ray?
Nate: Oh, no. Just another Grateful Dead end. (grins to Wally) I for sure got a contact high.
Mick: Yeah. And I managed to swipe Jerry Garcia's glasses.
(Mick holds up a pair of round-rimmed glasses with green-tinted lenses and puts them on. Wally is suddenly running across the room and back, taking them.)
Wally: One a thief. Always a thief.
(Nate clears his throat)
Nate: No, uh - we, we allow light to moderate theft on this ship. We like to call it souvenirs.
(Wally winces as Mick gives him a death glare.  He holds up the glasses apologetically and looks to Nate.)
Nate: It's ok. It's ok.
(Wally cautiously walks back over to Mick, who continues to glare at him, even as Wally places the glasses in his hand.) 

(Nora, Damien and Ray are confronted by Ray's old boss, Alan.)
Damien Darhk: Oh! You're the up-and-down guy? Me? I prefer side-to-side.
(Damien waves a finger and begins telekinetically throwing Alan against the walls, side to side.)
Alan: Our focus groups found up and down was more intuitive!
(Alan is thrown to the floor and then up against the ceiling. Then to the floor and the ceiling again.)
Damien Darhk: (grinning to Ray) You know, he might be right.
Alan: (in pain) We think it shifts the paradigm.
(Damien continues to amuse himself throwing Alan from the floor to the ceiling and vice versa. Ray winces as Nora hands him the broken pieces of the Fire Totem.) 
Nora: You have your lab. Now get to work. Nerd.
(Ray moves to a work station as Damien yawns, still raising and lowering his hand as we hear Alan's moans of pain.)

Damien Darhk: (looking at his phone) Sweetie, do you think it's too early for me to... you know... get back out there? I mean, how long should I mourn your mother?
Nora: (tired) It's been 23 years on my end, Dad. I say go for it.
Damien Darhk: Thank you. (looking back at his phone) Trouble is, I haven't had a single match yet. I think this thing is broken.
Alan: If I may?
(Damien and Nora look up. Alan is still pinned to the ceiling.)
Alan: You might have more luck if you talk about your hobbies...
Damien Darhk: I just said that I enjoy destroying the world to remake it in my image! Oh! And I like trying new restaurants! (starts typing onto his phone)
Alan: Also, your profile says you're 199 years old.
Damien Darhk: Yeah - it, it wouldn't go any higher? Can you fix that?
Alan: Well, everybody lies about their age, brah.
Nora: (annoyed) Can you please stop fooling around?!
Damien Darhk: Nora-doll, what's the point of living if you can't have a bit of fun?
Nora: Well, I'm not enjoying myself. I'm annoyed.
Damien Darhk: Hi Annoyed. I'm Dad! (laughs)

Damien Darhk: Well, I guess I'm off to East Berlin to stop myself from killing Vogal. Should be fun. (To Nora) You watch the prisoner, and I'll bring you back some chocolate. Oh, who am I kidding?! I'm probably going to get a hat for myself too.

(Wally has prepared a dimly lit room with incense and peaceful music for Zari and Amaya.)
Amaya: Thank you for helping us.
Wally: (shrugs) Yeah.
Amaya: So how do you know Nathaniel?
Wally: I was kind of like his wingman back in Central City. Just helped him get over a broken heart, actually,  because this basic bitch just dumped him on his birthday. (laughs) Can you believe that?!
Amaya: (cooly) Yeah... 'cause I was actually that basic bitch.
Zari: (dryly) Great vibe, Wally. I think we can take it from here.
Wally: (chuckling nervously) Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna go.
(Wally runs from the room at super speed.)

Ray: Torture is not the answer!
Nora: Yeah, but it's fun either way.

Ray: It's high time you showed your dad what's really inside you... besides a demon.

Damien Darhk: Don't you know that I've only ever had your best interests at heart?
Nora: Was it in my best interests or yours when you pushed a scared little girl into the arms of a demon?
Damien Darhk: Yeah! To bring us back together!
Nora: To bring you back to life!
Damien Darhk: What has gotten into you?! I sent you off on one lousy mission by yourself, and suddenly the -
(Damien stops and looks at Ray)
Damien Darhk: Ohhhhhhh. Of course. I should have known that Ray Palmer would be a good influence on you.
Ray Palmer: Perhaps I should give you two some priva-
(Ray is cut off as Damien begins to strangle him with one hand telekinetically.) 
Nora: You know what? I thought I raised my father from the dead but instead I see I just got a selfish man-child!
Damien Darhk: Man-child? Man-child?! Why don't you run along to your little hellscape and boo-hoo to Mallus? Because now that you're a demon's mouth-piece, it's obvious you don't need me!
(Nora just stares at him and storms off.)
Damien: Nora! I... Nora!
Nora: Leave me alone, Dad!
Ray: (choking) No, that's good! Just - just keep talking!
(Close-up on Damien as he makes his now familiar annoyed grunting noise and waves his hand as we hear Ray crash into the wall.)

Ray: If you really care that much about Nora, then maybe you shouldn't let her be a conduit for a primordial evil?
Damien Darhk: I admit, this isn't the life I wanted for her. World domination was supposed to be my gift to her - not her career path!
Ray: Then maybe you should tell her how you feel? She's under a lot of pressure, you know? And it's all to impress you.
Damien Darhk: Me?! I'm so proud of Nora. Obviously she knows that!
Ray: (incredulous) She only knows what you say to her, Damien! (pauses) Can I call you, Damien?
(Damien growls in annoyance and raises his hand to strangle Ray again when the phone rings.)

Nora: Give me the doll.
Ray: I'm sorry, Nora. I can't do that.
(Ray powers on his blaster.)
Nora: C'mon. You and I both know you're not going to shoot me.
(Ray stares her down... and then fires his blaster at The Berlin Wall in the distance, blowing up a small portion of it.)
Ray: You're right.
(Cut To: The Waverider Bridge. Sara and Rip grab at a console for support as Wally and Nate run in.)
Wally: What was that?!
Sara: It's a time-quake! Gideon, what's the source?
Gideon: An aberration has occurred in 1962. It appears that someone has blasted a hole in the Berlin Wall.
Sara: Ray!
Rip: (looking out the front window of The Waverider) Which appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
(The rest of them follow Rip's eye-line, seeing a crack forming among the rolling green waves that normally make-up the Time Stream) 
Wally: I'm guessing that's bad?
Rip: Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Those are tears in the fabric of time itself.
Sara: Gideon, plot a course for East Berlin - 1962.
(Sara turns to Wally.)
Sara: Allright, Kid. You're up. Let's see how fast you really are.
(Wally slowly smiles.)

Director Bennett: Make it fast, Agent Sharpe, because I have to stop Alexander Hamilton from seeing Hamilton: The Musical.
Ava Sharpe: How is it possible that everyone got tickets to that but me?

(Sara, Rip and Ava have just seen Director Bennett killed by Gorilla Grodd on a video link.)
Ava: Oh my God.
Rip: It's... Grodd, actually.
Sara: Ava, I'm so sorry. He was a good man. (pauses) I think.
Rip: Yes. Most unfortunate. (quickly) I believe that this tragedy makes you the highest ranking official at the Bureau. (pauses, looking up at a still stunned Ava) May I return to work... Director Sharpe?
Ava: (still in shock) Uhh.. yes.


Continuity

Ava Sharpe stayed the night with Sara on board The Waverider.

Zari wanted to go see the Mt. Saint Helens eruption in 1980, for some reason.

Ray loves doing dirty dishes.

Ray puts grass-fed butter and MCT oil in his coffee. He believes it has neurological benefits.

As Kuasa notes, she was killed by The Fire Totem.

Ray likes runny, poached eggs.

Sara remembers Wally from Barry and Iris' wedding in S308.

Rip Hunter had not heard about the events of Crisis on Earth X.

Damien Darhk does not like The Grateful Dead or jam bands in general.

Alan, Ray's annoying manager from Upwipz in 301, makes an appearance. He confirms that Ray officially quit his job.

The adult Nora Darhk is confirmed to be from 2039, saying that it's been 23 years, from her perspective, since her mother died. (This occurred in Star City - 2016, in A422.)

Damien Darhk kills Alan.

According to Damien Darhk, Cold Fusion was invented by an East German scientist named Bernhard Vogal in 1962. He knows because he was contracted to kill him.

Wally West knows a fair bit about meditation thanks to his travels in China.

Apparently, despite becoming good friends with Nate in 2017 Central City, Wally never found out the name of the woman who broke Nate's heart or saw a picture of her, as he doesn't know Amaya was the "basic bitch" who dumped Nate on his birthday.

Wally refers to the events of 301 and Amaya dumping Nate.

Sara has a picture of Damien Darhk that she uses as a target for knife throwing. She finally destroys the picture as Ava reports her failure to find Ray.

The Ancestral Plane of Zambesi - seen in 303 - has become dark and cold, resembling Mallus' realm with more vegetation. The Ancestral Spirit Amaya spoke with says that the longer an evil person possesses a Totem, the more it is corrupted.

The Ancestral Spirit says that retrieving The Spirit Totem is not enough - Amaya must win Kuasa's help as well. The spirit says that she and Amaya will both need each other shortly.

The Ancestral Spirit explains that the original Totem Bearers worked together to trap a great evil - Mallus.

The Ancestral Plane exists outside of time. As such, Mallus can influence it, since time itself is his prison. His name should not be said in The Ancestral Plane as he can sense it

The more time is broken, the weaker Mallus' prison becomes. This is the reason why Darhk and his allies are creating anachronisms - to free Mallus.

The Damien Darhk of 1962 was unaware that magic existed or had never seen it up close.

Nora is able to activate the Spirit Totem in order to use its power to fly so that she can save her father. This turns the Ancestral Realm completely dark.

Damien Darhk is 257 years old.

The older Damien Darhk kills Bernhard Vogal in order to keep his perfect record.

Ray's use of The ATOM Suit to blast a hole in the Berlin Wall proves to be the straw that broke the camel's back, starting a time quake that begins to crack the fabric of time itself.

Wally steals the pieces of the Fire Totem from Damien Darhk's pocket.

Director Bennett of the Time Bureau is killed by Gorilla Grodd.

Rip is reinstated with The Time Bureau as an agent.

Wally elects to stay with The Legends rather than follow Rip to The Time Bureau.

Before leaving The Waverider, Rip Hunter tells Gideon to delete File 354-Z, saying that Sara cannot find out the truth about Ava Sharpe, whom he describes as "special".

Gideon addresses Rip as "Director Hunter".

Damien remembers that Nora likes hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce. She hasn't had one since Ray and Zari took her for a drink as a teenager in 310.

The episode ends with Nora screaming and her eyes glowing red, as black cracks begin to form in her skin, mirroring the cracks seen earlier in the time stream.


Location

Upswipz HQ - Silicon Valley - 2018.
East Berlin - East Germany - 1962.


Untelevised Adventures

Nate and Mick go to a Grateful Dead concert in an effort to find Ray. They aren't successful, but Mick does steal Jerry Garcia's sunglasses.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode all around that give Nora Darhk some much needed definition and proves to be a wonderful comic turn while still pushing the plot forward.