Friday, May 6, 2016

The Geekcap: Legends of Tomorrow "River of Time"

In Ancient Egypt 1700 B.C., the first Vandal Savage interrogates his prisoner Rip Hunter. He questions why Rip attacked him and asks who he is. Rip states that he is the one who will stop him. Savage questions what Rip knows about the future, but Rip says that all he needs to know is that he will always try to stop him.

In present day, Rory breaks out one of Rip’s prized bottles to toast Savage’s capture. However, the team continues to question what to do about Savage now that Carter is in custody. Stein and Kendra obviously question murdering Savage especially with the potential side effect of losing Carter, but Snart reminds them that killing Savage was always part of the plan. Losing Carter shouldn’t outweigh their mission, and every second they keep Savage alive on the ship risks the people they care about at home. Ray and Jax arrive with some interesting news. Ray has been examining the schematics of the robot and finds that its creation is more advanced than even 2166. In other words, Savage has been found with manipulating the timeline, making him a criminal of the Time Masters. With this evidence, bringing Savage to justice will no longer make the team criminals to the council.

Rip then interrogates Savage on the technology. Savage reveals that since seeing Rip again in 1975 he realized that time travel could be the only option for his reappearance. Since then, he has found his own way to move through time. That was the reason Rip had problems tracking Savage throughout the timeline. Furthermore, Savage argues that he is looking to save the world just like Rip claims, by preserving it in his image. Rip states that he wants to save his family, but Savage states that he has held his own children as they died of age. He is playing a much bigger game than any of the Time Masters, proclaiming himself as a master of time. Rip leaves the man and orders Gideon to fly them back to the vanishing point. Gideon argues that the power has been drained since Ray used the cell to fight the robot, but Rip insists that they move quickly.

Kendra confronts Carter whom they’ve restrained in the back. Carter believes himself to be a ward of Vandal Savage, but Kendra tries to remind him that he is Carter Hall, formerly Prince Khufu. Carter recognizes her as Kendra Saunders but still believes her to be an enemy as told to him by Savage. He warns that if they do not let him go he will kill them where they stand.
Rip examines the ship when Sara comes to speak to him. Sara wonders why Rip continues to be so desperate when the timeline hasn’t changed. Rip believes that the circumstances will change once they bring Savage to the vanishing point. Sara wonders if he’s pushing the ship too hard, but Rip says that he knows the ship better than anyone. It can take the stress. Suddenly, the power begins to blow out, leading them to be stuck in the time stream.

Stein asks about their condition, but Rip states it can be fixed. Even if the drive can’t work, Rip reminds him that there is a jump ship on the Waverider that is powered to take them back to 2016. Stein fears about Savage onboard, but Rip plans to handle that by sending Sara to check on the prisoner. Meanwhile, Rip takes Jax to help him fix the time drive.

Sara checks on Savage to make sure he was still secure. Savage then questions Sara on her sister Laurel, something Sara ignores. He then remarks that the only reason Rip chose them was for their ability to be manipulated. He warns that Rip is obsessed with saving his family, more than he cares for the safety of his crew. Sara leaves without responding to that.

Jax works with the temporal core despite Stein’s worry for his safety. Once he re-configures the core, Jax is blasted back with temporal radiation. He then flashes back to the moment before he left for the Waverider. He was fixing up a car before he was visited by his mother. She stops by to offer him a watch that was originally a gift to his father and reminds him about coming to dinner with her and his grandfather. Jax remembers but says he has to meet with someone at the university. In the present, Rip and Stein drag Jax from the room. He looks fine, but Gideon reveals that Jax’s internal systems are aging rapidly. Snart and Rory meanwhile talk over things in the kitchen. With the debate open for Savage’s death, the two realize how unnecessary they are at this point. Through this situation, they decide to try and find their own way out.

With Jax’s corrections, Rip works with Gideon to reboot the ship’s system to continue the trip. In the midst of this, however, he still asks Gideon for any changes in his family’s timeline. Gideon responds there is still no change which leads Sara to question why he keeps asking. Rip says that he still retains hope in change as seen by their mission. Sara reveals that Savage stated that Rip would sell out the team for his mission. Rip then reveals that that part is true. Moreover, he even questions whether or not sending Jax to fix the core was his own way of sacrificing the team for his own goals.

Rory- Why are all of the snacks in the future sugar free?

Kendra and Ray return to try and convince Carter of his past. She shows him a picture of their son in hopes that he remembers, but, when she gets too close, he attacks her. Ray pulls her from his grasp and punches Carter to knock him out. With no results, Ray storms into the prison to force the solution out of Savage. Recognizing his rage, Savage recalls his own past love for Kendra and reveals that the two has a relationship in one of her past lives before she remembered. Ray calls the idea perverse, but Savage says that the situation ended the same with Kendra returning to Carter, just like it will for Ray’s relationship. Ray refuses to believe him, but, after leaving Savage, he spots Kendra reciting a love poem to Carter in hopes for him to remember. Kendra tries to explain her feelings, but Ray states that he can’t stay in a relationship where he’s just Carter’s placeholder.

We then flashback to the moment before Ray left with the Waverider as he talks to Felicity at Palmer Tech. Felicity asks why he wants to go risk his life fighting an immortal bad guy when he could stay and do some good. Ray responds that since the world believes him to be dead, there is nothing he can do here. However, by traveling through time, he can truly make a difference. Felicity wishes him luck and hopes that he finds a girl in the past or future for that matter. Ray responds that he’s going to save the world, not fall in love.

Jax is taken to the hospital bed where he aged to be nearly sixty-three years. However, with the power sent to fix the time core, all they can do is wait to arrive at the vanishing point. With Jax’s life in jeopardy, Snart and Rory finally go to confront Rip. Since Rip refuses to kill Savage if they can bring him to the Time Masters, Snart and Rory decide to take the jump ship home. When Rip asks Sara if she too will leave, she simply responds that she isn’t one to back away from a fight. We then flashback to Sara’s last moments in 2016 where she visited Nyssa locked up in Nanda Parbat for destroying the Lazarus Pit. Sara offers to break Nyssa free, but Nyssa replies that if she truly loved her, she would leave and never look back.


Finally, Stein approaches Savage. He asks about the immortality ritual he witnessed Savage hosting in October 1975. Savage agrees to help but states that he needs Carter’s blood to continue it. Stein recognizes that Savage is trying to pit him and Ray against Carter and proclaims that he will find another way to save Jax. Instead, Stein leads Jax to the jump ship where he reveals that he had made some modifications to the machine. While it will take Jax back to 2016, it will also reverse his aging condition. Jax refuses to leave the team, so Stein once again sedates him to force him on the ship. With Jax secured, he sends the jump ship back to 2016, much to Snart and Rory’s dismay. We finally flashback to Stein’s last moments in 2016. His wife Clarice offers to take him on a date, but Stein replies that he’s going to meet with someone on his latest research: time travel. He, however, promises that he will make it and proclaims that he has always loved her.

In his frustration, Ray confronts Savage to state that Kendra is free to make her own choices. Savage simply calls Ray a coward and dares him to fight back to prove him wrong. Ray enters the prison and proceeds to fight Savage. However, Savage eventually gains the upper hand and chokes Ray into submission. With Ray out, Savage escapes his prison. When Rip finally fixes the systems, Gideon suddenly loses power. The team is at Savage’s mercy.

Sara: I was in League of Assassins, not NASA!

In the emergency, Rip sends Snart, Rory, Kendra, and a revived Ray to handle Savage while Stein manually handles the engine. Sara, meanwhile, must serve as the manual navigator through time to the vanishing point. The three struggle against Savage with Carter eventually fighting against them as well. Savage takes out Snart and Rory while Ray and Kendra are forced to fight Carter. In the attack, Rip chooses to help his team, leaving Sara to captain the ship. He arrives just in time to take a devastating laser blast from Savage who then takes out Ray. However, just as Savage is about to kill Kendra, Carter regains his memories and fights off the tyrant. Savage manages to stab Carter, but Kendra is able to knock out Savage, saving the team.

The team takes Carter to the hospital bed, revealing that he’s alive but requires rest. Kendra once again speaks to Ray, but he still feels unsure about their relationship now that Carter is back. Sara finally reaches the Vanishing Point, the Time Masters’ Council at the end of time. Immediately, they are taken in as fugitives, but Rip argues their case by planning to take Savage into custody. He takes hold of Savage who last questions how Rip escaped from the prison almost 4000 years ago. Rip argues that sometimes the best escape plans are the simplest, and the Vanishing Point guards will not be as easily manipulated as his team. Sara then asks Rip what he let her captain the ship. He replies that he had to defend his team.

Rip takes Savage to the Time Masters and presents his case. He shows proof that Savage has manipulated the timeline for his own gain through the robot and his confession in the prison. The Time Master listens to the case but then orders Savage to be returned to Earth and for Rip’s team to be arrested. The Time Master is revealed to be on Savage’s side, explaining their hunt for the Waverider. The team is then taken into custody.

Notes of Tomorrow

  • For those who want an update on the timeline, it looks like the Legends left sometime between episodes eleven and fifteen in Arrow. Felicity is still in her wheelchair!
  • Looks like Jax has been sent back to 2016. Do you think he'll return?

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