Spoilers might reincarnate from ancient Egyptian legend.

(Source: The CW)
(Source: The CW)

It’s crossover conclusion time on this week’s episode of Arrow 4×08: Legends of Yesterday (2). If you found yesterday’s Legends of Today episode on The Flash a little too peppy, this one might cleanse your pallad. Things get just a little bit darker on Arrow. It’s still fun in some ways, but not in others. Although yesterday’s episode made use of a lot of Arrow’s familiar locations, it doesn’t work the same the other way around. Other than a farm and a brief interlude in Barry’s lab at the police station, we don’t see much of Central City. Even though we get appearances from Caitlin Snow and Laurel Lance, there’s no sign of Iris, Harrison Wells, Joe West or Patti Spivot.

Green Arrow and the Flash get some time with Vandal Savage courtesy of Malcolm Merlyn. Did that felt like warning sign to anybody? I thought so too. Anyhow, the Flash sees an image of himself as he speeds to the meeting. Oliver does stick one arrow into Savage that he non-chalantly pulls out and casts aside. I though for a moment we would be taking that arrow to be analyzed, but no. Team Crossover has 24 hours to produce both hawk-people.

What is analyzed is a strand of hair that Oliver finds on a baseball cap belonging to William, the kid that he saw with his former girlfriend Samantha. She obviously does not want him around his son, but later when confronted by Olivier she lays down her terms: he will tell nobody about William’s existence. Unfortunately, Felicity has already found out after catching Olivier doing the DNA testing. Drama is amped as Felicity confronts Oliver about keeping secrets from her.

Cisco is pushed aside as Carter aka Hawkman tries to train Kendra by appealing to her rage. She’s seen part of the puzzle of her past, as a Priestess of Horus in the ancient Egypt of the Pharaohs, but not all of it. Instead Cisco focuses on a pair of gloves that will allow Barry to grab the staff through the energy shield projected by Savage.

When the time comes for the big battle, things go from wrong to fucked in record time. How’s this for dark: gloves don’t work, Kendra cannot get her wings to extend, Vandal gets the upper hand, stabs both Carter and Kendra and takes the staff to kill everyone. We’re done.

Except that Barry runs again and finds himself running with his image again, on the opposite side. He’s now the guy traveling from the future to the past. And we’re back in time.

Green Arrow and the Flash get some time with Vandal Sav- wait, I already said that! Yes, we revisit the same storyline. But after Barry lets it slip to Oliver that he’s time traveled and knows the outcome, the two set to intentionally alter the finale. Oliver does not run the DNA test (although he now knows). He convinces Cisco to re-examine the gloves. Actually Cisco becomes instrumental in letting Kendra remember her past and a clue to destroying Vandal Savage. Oliver decides to bring in the entire Team Arrow.

It’s a win? It’s actually mixed. Yes, Vandal Savage is destroyed and turns to dust for some reason. Felicity is not let in on what Oliver is hiding, but even as he insists that it doesn’t matter, her face is quietly disagreeing. Meanwhile, back at the scene of the climatic battle, Malcolm saves up the dusty remains of Vandal Savage inside a container while reciting the same speech that the immortal once uttered about never, ever stopping.

Highs/Lows/WalkLikeAnEgyptian:

  • We’re getting serious on the second part of this crossover. I’m not so sure about the whole time-travel thing. It was used on The Flash on the first season, and back then it was a moment indeed. But it does feel like it was a repeat gimmick. Now we knew that things were going to fail because we’ve seen it. The novelty is off. However, it could still turn into a good thing depending on the consequences. Like Barry said, time has a way to turning things back.
  • Things are not well with Felicity and Oliver. The secret might just tear them apart. Oliver as a father is a new dynamic, but will that put William at risk? How many episodes until a villain finds out and kidnaps the kid?
  • It would have been interesting to have Harrison Wells on the show. Hell, what about Iris or Patty? Guess the cast would be too large and we have to focus on the superheroes but still… Opportunities lost.
  • I can’t help but think if Earth-2 is affected when Barry turns back time. It would be interesting if certain other things would change but we wouldn’t know about them until later on.
  • Is it just me or Vandal Savage got a backstory with more backbone than Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara? No? Just me then. I just didn’t quite dig the Hawks. On the other hand I found the idea of Savage being studied by a group of conspiracy theorist pretty cool.
  • Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon and Felicity Smoak are the geek squad! Credit to Olivier for the name. I would watch a spinoff of the three of them fighting crime.

That will do for now.