With this episode, we have come to the conclusion of season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow. This season has see the introduction of the Time Bureau, which was created by Rip Hunter to fix the time anachronisms, and also expelled him because the organization didn’t believe that Mallus was a threat. They’ve been at odds with the Legends, but with Sara and Ava’s relationship, have been working with the Legends. This season also saw the return of Damian Darhk, accompanied by his daughter Nora, who is all grown up. They are trying to free the time demon Mallus. The Legends have been trying to gain all 6 of the totems to destroy Mallus, while also fixing the anachronisms that they were responsible for.
The Legends’ plan was to actually let Mallus escape his prison, thinking that they could use the 6 totems to actually kill him, rather than just keep him imprisoned. Well, of course the plan backfired when Damian betrayed the team, in an attempt to save his daughter, knowing that Mallus coming would kill her. But it didn’t matter, because Mallus came anyways. The team totem bearers tried to fight him, but the totems proved ineffective. The team asks Rip for help to get them out of there. Rip has other plans.
He removes the time drive from the Waverider, and runs off towards Mallus. When everyone gets back on the ship, they realize what Rip is doing. He’s adamant that he’s going to sacrifice himself, as he wants to finally be reunited with his wife and son. He tells them that they still need to run, because this isn’t going to kill MSara has Wally and Zari take the time drive from the jump ship and install it in the Waverider. They escape before the jump drive Rip has explodes. When it explodes, it seems to pull Mallus into a portal. Rip is gone. It was a very moving moment for Rip, as his entire journey has been about his family, and here he is with the sacrifice himself, hoping to see them in the next life. However, if there’s one thing I have learned in comics, it’s that if there’s no body, there’s no death. So, it’s certainly possible that Rip could be somewhere in time.
The team goes to the 1860s Wild West to think up a plan of what to do next. There, they run into Jonah Hex again. While the rest of the team is in town, trying to come up with a plan, Amaya and Nate go on a vision quest, and meet up with the original totem bearers to see that they have to use the totems together to form a being of light to fight Mallus. In town, the team is greeted by Blackbeard, Julius Caeser, and Freydis (Leif Erikson’s sister), all now under the control of Mallus. They demand that the team turn over the totem’s to Mallus.
Meanwhile, at some point during all of this, Ray Palmer, always the optimist, gets the bright idea to let Damian Darhk go, appealing to his love of his daughter. And, Damian does love Nora. They go back in time, a few minutes, to right after Nora has run off because Damian freed her and betrayed the team, but before she transforms into Mallus. Ray shoots her with the anti-magic gun. As Damian is holding Nora, Mallus senses that Nora is dying, and possess Damian, which I suppose was part of the plan. Damian transforms into Mallus, and everything else continues as we previously saw. Ray rushes Nora back to the ship, and administers the cure. It is presumed that Damian is dead, because that’s what everyone said would happen to Nora. However, again, no body, no death. If they wanted to bring Damian back, you could always just say that Mallus didn’t really kill Damian when he emerged, but they really just switched spots. Or something. Personally, I think Damian should stay dead. I think they’ve done as much as they can with him in the Arrowverse. He was a far better villain in Legends than he was in Arrow.
Amaya and Nate return to the group, and inform them of what they learned in the vision quest. The group tries to come together to form Votron, as Nate puts it, but they are all distracted. What is created, is nothing less than an abomination that they have Mick put out of its misery. Before they can try again, they are attacked by the forces of Mallus. They have some help in fighting back as Helen of Troy, Jefferson Jackson, Kuasa, and Ava show up to fight. After the Legends stopped Amaya’s village from being destroyed in order to free Mallus, Kuasa ends up being a hero, sharing the mantle of Vixen with Mari in the present. The forces of Mallus are defeated, but then, they’re not defeated. Mallus himself arrives, and raises his fallen. The group finds a place to try to raise a warrior of light again, while their friends hold off the forces. This time, they are successful. And you know what form their warrior took? IT WAS OF BEEBO!!!
You remember Beebo from the mid-season finale, don’t you? The cuddly stuffed animal that has made cameos the entire second half of the season is the giant warrior that comes to fight Mallus. In what is an adorable and epic fight, the team as Beebo defeats Mallus after a giant return to Earth and puff of blue dust. Think of the Wile E. Coyote impact cloud of dusts.
So, all is better. The Time Bureau is called in to return everyone to the correct time. Amaya says her good-bye to Nate, and returns to her village. Because that did have to happen at some point. The team is back in Aruba, relaxing when Constantine shows back up with a severed dragon head. He tells them that when they opened the prison for Mallus, Mallus wasn’t the only thing that came through.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good season for Legends of Tomorrow. Damian Darkh redeemed himself as a villain, after that awful season 4 of Arrow. Yes, there was a little bit of improvement last season for the character, but he had other villains with him, in a Legion of Doom type story. This was him carry the season along as the main bad guy. He was what the show needed. Legends is better equipped than Arrow is to deal with the supernatural aspects of the DCU.
Zari, and later Wally West, were nice additions to the cast. With teams, it’s good to rotate some cast members in and out to keep the interactions fresh. Yes, it was sad to see Martin and Jefferson leave, but it is better to write a character off before they’re run off. If people want to see them leave because their presence has gotten stale, then it’s not a sad moment when they do leave. To me, the only necessary characters of the team are Sara, Ray, and Mick. I think they are the foundation that you build the team around, three basic archetypes for others to interact with: the fearless leader, the naive optimist, and the gruff tough guy with a heart of gold. With them as the base, you can bring anyone in to interact with them.
So that does it for this season of Legends of Tomorrow. It has already been renewed, and Matt Ryan has been announced as a series regular, so we should be seeing much more of Constantine next season. That makes me happy, as I like seeing Matt Ryan play Constantine.
Comicdom Wrecks! 