The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Lullaby"

 In 2020, doctors and military figures walk around and guard rooms in hazmat suits from the spread of the virus. A younger Jones sings a lullaby to her passing daughter Hannah. Behind her, Cassie enters. She immediately shoots Jones.

In 2044, Jones reads over a passage from Hamlet as Cassie watches over Cole and Ramse walks closer to the red storm. She then prepares Cassie for a new mission and sends the doctor through the machine. Deacon then wakes Cole up after discovering Cassie’s departure, wanting him to find out where she went. Cole and Deacon march up to Jones just as the other scientists report a glitch in Cassie’s tether. Jones replies that if Cassie is successful her tether back to 2044 shouldn’t matter. Cole asks Jones where she sent Cassie, and she reveals that Cassie is in 2020 to stop a worse plague: the creation of time travel. She sent Cassie back on a mission to kill her younger self following the passing of Hannah when she was inspired to develop the machine. Cole argues that erasing the machine isn’t the way, but Jones explains that her machine was part of the destruction of time itself, believing the world would be better off without the machine altogether. Cole nevertheless orders Lasky to pull up the time Cassie was sent to, determined to stop her before assassinating Jones.

Cassie arrives in 2020 wearing a gas mask to protect herself from the virus but hears a military fire for a fallen soldier. She removes the mask within the perimeters and attempts to enter the base. The military immediately accosts her as she introduces herself as Dr. Cassandra Railly from the CDC. They shout that the CDC is dead, but she replies that she survived and needs access to the base.

The military check her for infection and take her DNA to confirm her claim to be Dr. Railly. When asked about her lost I.D., Cassie claims that she escaped Baltimore. The officer questions how she went around the West 7 quarantine zone, but Cassie maintains that she escaped despite reports from the CDC. Lieutenant Foster then leads Cassie through the base, explaining that they hope that her presence as a virologist will help boost the morale of the base since they believed that the CDC was taken over by riders. Because they have seen up to 75% containment rate of outside wanderers, the military fears a greater infection on the inside, especially since almost a dozen officers have been buried. With this fear, they have kept all outsiders, known here as “scabs,” detained. Cassie asks to speak with Jones, but the lieutenant reveals that she is with her daughter who is in serious condition.

Lieutenant Foster takes Cassie to his office where he reveals that security measures have changed since the escalation of the virus. To Cassie’s shock, he reveals that their doctors and security team have stopped assisting many of the sick out of fear of losing some of their valuable members. An officer interrupts their talk to inform the lieutenant that Jones’s daughter had passed. Lieutenant Foster leaves to find Jones while Cassie secretly steals his gun.

Foster speaks to Jones as she sings her lullaby to daughter. Despite his insistence to leave, Jones doesn’t respond. Once he leaves, Cassie sneaks into the room and shoots Jones.

Cassie is then sent back to the outside of the base with her gas mask on once again. This time, Cole arrives to try and stop her from killing Jones. Cassie insists that she already killed Jones, but Cole informs her that he was sent back to the moment she arrived in order to prevent Jones from dying. Furthermore, nothing has seemed to change. Cassie tries to prove that she already killed Jones by leading Cole to the military base.

At the base, however, the two are confronted by the military who once again accost Jones, insisting that the CDC is dead. Cole and Cassie go through the entrance process when Cole asks Cassie why she wanted to to kill Jones in the first place. Cassie admits that both she and Jones felt responsible for the deaths of Sam and Eckland, realizing that their problems with the Army stemmed from the introduction of time travel. Eliminating time travel could eliminate the threat and save time from collapsing on itself. Cole questions what they plan to do about the plague, but Cassie argues that perhaps the plague was inevitable. Cassie is then once again asked by the military about how she arrived there. Cassie, confused, tells the officer that she already explained that she escaped Baltimore, but the officer once again asks how she went around the West 7 quarantine base, a name Cole recognizes. While the officers corroborate Cassie’s DNA, they find that Cole’s only connects to an 11-year-old, Cole’s 2020 self. Unsure of their origins, the military place Cole and Cassie in detainment with the scabs.

In detainment, however, they find 2020 Jennifer Goines who is excited to see both of them. Before she goes further, Jennifer questions what they know about the hyenas in order to find out which versions they are. To Cassie’s surprise, Jennifer remembers that Cassie had already shot Jones only to have time reset itself. Jennifer insists that she keeps hearing the situation repeat with Cassie killing Jones only to have the day begin again. Cole remembers that there was a glitch in the system when Cassie splintered, possibly finding a reason for the loop. However, Cole and Cassie are then taken from the compound.

Jennifer: See you soon! They're like my best friends.

Down the hall, Lieutenant Foster then confronts the two, revealing that he discovered that Dr. Cassandra Railly had died at the CDC. He demands with soldiers at gunpoint to know who they really are with the threat of death otherwise. Cole and Cassie then fight back against the soldiers to escape. Unfortunately, the fight leads to a soldier shooting Cassie in the back with a fatal wound. In a desperate situation, Cole shoots his way through the hall to find and kill Jones, leading to another reset.

Cole and Cassie once again arrive outside the base with Cassie’s bullet wound disappearing. However, both are beginning to falter after the excessive splinters. Nevertheless, Cassie suggests they split up to try a different idea in killing Jones. Cole argues that he only killed Jones the second time to save Cassie from her wound, knowing that it wouldn’t solve their problem. Instead, he says, they should figure out how to escape the loop, but Cassie insists that the mission is still the same.

Separately, Cassie enters the base with the military believing her story and detaining Cole who once again meets with Jennifer. Cassie then steals Foster’s gun and dons a hazmat suit to sneak into the hospital room to find Jones. Just as she is about to kill Jones once again, Cassie notices the readings on Hannah as the girl stirs. Cassie asks Jones about her daughter’s condition, but Jones insists that her daughter will heal because she is immune like her mother. Cole, meanwhile, demands Jennifer to help them out of the loop through her knowledge as a primary. Jennifer offers that perhaps time does not want Cassie to kill Jones. Time may, in fact, need time travel. Cassie looks on the records regarding Hannah, but the group is interrupted by Foster’s arrival. In the chaos, time is reset once again.

Despite the failure, Cassie insists on another try inside the base with Cole once again being detained. This time, however, she asks Foster for his files on the virus. Instead of killing Jones, Cassie rushes into the room with Jones with a plan to help Hannah. She reveals that she noticed Hannah’s condition had a fluctuating temperature, but the symptoms of the virus include a steady rise in temperature. With Cassie’s expertise, she discovers that Hannah might actually be suffering from a bacterial infection rather than the virus. Hannah is immune to the virus just like her mother. Cassie then injects Hannah with an anti-biotic vaccine, but Cole and Cassie begin wincing from the timeline effect. Jennifer warns Cole again that time wants to keep the event the same.

Cole and Cassie splinter back outside the base with Cole vomiting at the effort. Cassie reveals that Hannah was immune and only suffered from meningitis following Foster’s new medical procedures. While Cassie was able to save her, it made no difference in their loop. Cole remarks that Jennifer told him how time wants to keep things the same, believing that includes her daughter’s death. This time, he suggests waiting out the day to return home.

At night, Cole and Cassie discuss Jennifer’s words. Cole believes that time needs Jones to invent time travel, a notion that Cassie believes is ridiculous. Cole then remembers a time when he and Ramse were boys and came across a gun store armed by five older men with boxes of ammo at their feet. The two were out in an open area when the men took fire. However, both Cole and Ramse survived that day without a scratch. Cole argues that perhaps it wasn’t their day to die, that something was looking out for them to survive. Or perhaps the boxes were filled with blanks. Cole then admits that he understands Jones wanting to undo her mistakes since he reveals that he would undo breaking into Cassie’s car in 2013 if he could. Cassie argues that she made her own choices, like waiting for him to return for two years at a hotel, and he needs to stop blaming himself for her actions to save the world. Cole admits that he doesn’t care about the world and only worked to stop the virus for Cassie’s safety, revealing his feelings for her.

Cassie: Did she also tell you that Time has a long white beard with commandments "Thou shall not splinter and kill the creator of time travel"?

Despite not doing anything, Cole and Cassie splinter back to the day’s beginning with Cassie having a brief vision of Titan in the red forest. Although the situation is fruitless, Cassie and Cole return to the military base where Cole speaks with Jennifer who is angry at not seeing Cole and Cassie in the previous loop. She then encourages Cole to “do something by doing nothing” to escape the loop and save the world. To begin with, Jennifer encourages him to keep hope like she has, despite her fear of being killed and leaving her people without a leader. Using Jennifer’s words, Cole comes up with an idea.

Cole convinces Foster that Cassie and Jones were behind the smuggling of the virus into the base with Jennifer Goines. After revealing that Cassie is not really the late Dr. Railly, the lieutenant sentences the four of them to death. Just as they are being dragged to the firing wall, Cole asks Jones if a little bit of happiness is better than anything else. When she responds yes, Cole tells her to hold onto that thought. Cassie grabs onto Cole’s hand as the soldiers fire, leading to another redo. However, Cole claims to have another idea.   

Back in 2044, Jones and the scientists manage to reach Cole and Cassie’s tethers and fix the glitch, bringing both of them back to the lab. Still, Jones is disappointed that everything has remained the same. Cassie and Cole admit that they tried to kill Jones, but time kept resetting the day. After speaking with Jennifer there, Cole believes that time needs them and Jones to set things right in the world against the army of the 12 monkeys. In other words, time is on their side. Jones scoffs at the idea and insists that the only thing that happened was a machine malfunction. The glitch in the system caused them to be sent in a perpetual splinter sequence back to the same spot rather than time itself causing the act. Cole, however, still has something else to show Jones.

Cole, Cassie, and Jones walk outside the base to confront the Daughters and Jennifer. Jennifer is satisfied to see that the future came but tells Cole to explain what happened to Jones. Cole then reveals that they couldn’t change the loop by acting or doing nothing, so they did something by doing nothing. Cole and Cassie, utilizing multiple resets, came up with a new plan. Cassie explains that Hannah was immune to the virus but succumbed to bacterial meningitis. In one loop, Cassie had managed to save her, but time continued to reset itself. Jones blasts the argument since she remembered seeing her daughter dead. The two then reveal that time needed Jones to believe that Hannah was dead in order to be inspired to create time travel. Cole broke Jennifer out of the detainment facility while Cassie smuggled Hannah in a back room where she cured the girl’s meningitis. They then took Hannah to Jennifer’s group The Daughters where she has lived for the past twenty-four years. Now, Jones reunites with her daughter, alive and well, in a tearful embrace.

Amidst the reunion, Jones develops a new sense of hope in keeping the machine going. Cole and Cassie talk following his earlier declaration. He claims that, like Jones and her daughter’s reunion, he would rather have one moment of happiness with her than a lifetime without it. Unfortunately, Cassie rejects the offer, believing that losing anything is the greatest thing that haunts them. She tearfully leaves him and returns to her room.

There she finds Ramse carrying a half-drained glass of scotch and a gun with two bullets. Despite what happened, he believes that Cassie is responsible for what happened to Sam and plans to kill her and then himself. Cassie understands his anger but offers to help him go after the real culprit: the Witness. Ramse doubts that he’s a real figure, but Cassie recalls seeing the metal city Titan inside the Witness’s head while he was inside hers. Together, Cassie believes they can go to Titan and kill the Witness.

Notes from 2044

• If you look carefully in the last scene, you can see Cassie is wearing the same watch used in the paradox from the pilot "Splinter"!
• The Witness might be located in a place called Titan. Could the fact that there were 12 Titans be an influence on the 12 Monkeys?
• This episode includes the return of Spearhead and a still-alive Colonel (then Lieutenant) Foster  in 2020!

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Meltdown"

In 1959, military men play cards in a laboratory as a soldier brings in a dog for experimentation. The lights around them begin to flicker, similar to a splinter. The men wonder if someone broke in, considering there was no alarm. Before they can do anything, each of the men begin to shift and then disappear, as if they splintered out of time.

In 2016, Cassie stands watch in the hotel room until she hears a movement in the bedroom. She takes her gun and slowly creeps through the dark room. She finds nothing, avoiding a figure of the Witness behind the door. Finally, she injects herself with the splinter formula and returns to 2044.

In 2044, Eckland and Jones play cards in bed, appearing more friendly and comfortable with each other through a small bit of flirting. Eckland jokes that he’s seen Adler looking at her, an idea Jones scoffs at quickly. He then asks if she would have ever re-married if the world wasn’t nearly destroyed, something that gives her pause before denying. The two then nearly share a kiss before the time machine reactivates in bringing Cassie back. Cassie returns to the facility but is, at first, unresponsive as she sees the figure of the Witness in the back. Cole then arrives, bringing her back to her senses.

Meanwhile, Sam shows Ramse a complete model of the facility he had created, including the power connections through the river under the base. Ramse, impressed with the creation, indulges his son by reenacting a splinter sequence with models before he is called back to an intel meeting with Cassie’s return.

Cassie informs the rest of the group about her experience with the Witness in seeing him as Aaron and even feeling his touch. Ramse acknowledges that the Army often drank the tea in order to experience visions and communicate with the Witness, similar to a hallucinogen. Jones theorizes that the tea displaces the mind past the time stream to talk to the Witness, essentially splintering the mind. Cassie maintains that it wasn’t a hallucination since she seemed to have seen the Witness splinter. Jones argues that if the Witness could splinter, he wouldn’t require the use of the time machine to send back the messengers. Otherwise, his abilities remain elusive to them. Jones then asks Cassie if she has any idea why he would want to talk to her. Cassie hesitates to answer, leading Deacon to move her out of the room away from more questions.

In the middle of the night, Cassie takes a drink but then hears another shift. She wanders down the hall to the time machine where she sees the Witness near the machinery. Before she knows it, she’s suddenly back on the floor in the room where she got her drink. Unsure of what happened, she wanders, finding Cole looking at the travel research. He remarks that he’s had trouble sleeping after splinters as well as seeing things. Cole also says that he has seen the way Deacon has acted around her and claims that, although he doesn’t care for Deacon, he isn’t bothered by their relationship. Cassie replies that she didn’t think it would bother him, leading both to see how they don’t seem to know each other as well as they did.

Cole: Tough to sleep after you splinter. Kinda messes with your clock.

Jones and Eckland look back into their research while Cassie continues to train alone. The two attempt to find if there was another traveler in 2016 when they splintered Cassie and manage to find another tether linking back to the facility. At that moment, the machine begins to overpower and spurt blasts of electricity and light across the room. Streams of the time machine’s energy begin reaching across the building, forcing Cole, Ramse, and Sam to move. In another hallway, a wounded creature seems to appear from the blast.

Cassie and Deacon arrive at the center where Jones explains that whatever has happened was a deliberate attack based on rewiring the time machine. Now, the machine will start sending out beams in random directions, threatening everyone on the base. Suddenly, the group is interrupted by a gunshot. The creature appears as a twisted human being now wielding a gun. He shouts that Jones is responsible for what happened to him and moves to kill her. Before he can shoot, the man is killed by Cole who arrives with his own gun. Jones reveals that she recognizes the man as one of the volunteers from the splinter test. He was lost in the time stream during the experiment, emerging from the random blasts of the time machine. Meanwhile, Ramse and Sam try to reach the others as Ramse passes a pile of playing cards in the hall.

Jones explains that whoever was responsible for the sabotage wanted to create a meltdown which would cause a chain reaction across time itself. Cassie recognizes that the Witness wanted to destroy time itself and believes that he was responsible for this reaction. She recalls seeing him near the machine, leading Jones to believe that the Witness was the one connected to the phantom tether. As it is now, Cole and Cassie, despite Deacon’s wishes, leave to shut down the power at its core while Eckland and Deacon attempt to find a replace a part of the time machine to reverse the sabotage. Deacon offers Eckland his gun, but Eckland refuses, stating that he is a pacifist.

In the hall, Cassie elaborates on her experience with the Witness with Cole. She reveals that, after impersonating Aaron, he shifted his form into Cole to try and convince her that his true mission was to stop death. They’re stopped after seeing another grotesque human being crawling on the floor, moaning in pain. Cole puts him out of his misery by shooting the man but finds that Cassie has left.

Elsewhere, Ramse tries to lead Sam to the center while avoiding the new appearances. Suddenly, he is attacked by a vicious dog, the same dog from 1959, forced to let go of Sam. When Ramse finally fights off the dog, he sees that Sam is gone. Ramse then catches up to Cole who finds that his communication with Jones is down, leaving the two on their own.

Eckland searches for a replacement part while Deacon watches his back. He successfully finds one, but the men are confronted by gun shots fired by two other men. These two question what Deacon and Eckland are doing on their army base without permission. Deacon then asks the men about the year to which the figures reply 1959. Deacon offers to explain to them the circumstances for lowered weapons, but the two army men fight back regardless. Deacon fires against them along with Eckland, despite his pacifistic nature. Eckland is shot but successfully re-tosses a grenade thrown by the men, stopping the fight. Deacon helps Eckland back to the center.

Jones explains to Deacon that the facility they work in now was previously a military base, explaining the travelers’ confusion. She helps patch up Eckland but insists on the importance of shutting down the machine with the risk it now puts to the base. With the machine unchecked, the meltdown could turn the facility into a crater. She orders Deacon to find Cole and Cassie who are taken too long shutting down the power.

Deacon: Crater, I understand.

Cassie is revealed to be the one who took Sam, dragging him to the power grid at gunpoint. Cole and Ramse follow her until she barricades herself in the room and points her gun at Sam, preventing them from shutting down the power. In reality, Cassie appears to be trapped in the cabin in the red forest with the Witness controlling her body. Ramse tries to reassure Sam, but Sam secretly points to the floor, reminding his father about the river underneath the base. Ramse then finds an opening through a vent with a fifty-foot drop that could leas inside the room. Cole insists on him going, believing himself to be the best option of reaching to the real Cassie. Using a rope made by nearby wires, Ramse lowers Cole down the vent across to the other side.

With no communication through the base and the machine growing worse, Eckland finds himself with no choice but to change the parts manually, putting himself at risk to the blasts. Jones yells at him to return, believing it to be a suicide mission.

Deacon catches up to Ramse as he sees Cassie holding a boy hostage. He helps lower Cole through the vent, but both he and Ramse are confronted by two remaining members of the 1959 army men. They turn their guns, questioning Deacon and Ramse about the things happening on the base. Not believing the situation, the army men take Cole’s tether and try to pull him back, thinking they are helping him.

Eckland continues to replace the part while dodging blasts from the machine. Jones continues to shout for him to return, but he replies that there is nothing like going out on a romantic gesture for someone you love. Jones shouts back that she doesn’t love him, but Eckland states that she once did, which can never be replaced. He finally replaces the part on the time machine but burns and eventually dissolves from the blast back of the power. This reset of the time machine causes the soldiers to splinter away, allowing Deacon and Ramse to guide Cole into reaching the power core to face Cassie.

Cole tries to appeal to Cassie as she tries to fight her way out of the cabin. Cole urges her to fight if she can hear him, but it appears to be of no use. In their desperation, Deacon calls for Ramse to go after them, saying that Ramse is the only one of the men who could be trusted to kill Cassie. Cole then confronts the Witness holding Cassie hostage and asks him what he has witnessed. As Cassie, the Witness simply replies the end and the beginning. Ramse arrives, forcing her at gunpoint to let Sam go. In the cabin, the real Cassie peers outside a window and sees a massive industrial complex baring the name Titan.

The power core begins rupturing, leaving the group with little time left to argue. Cole finally brings up earlier about how she believed they don’t know each other as well as they did. He argues that it’s not true since she knows him better than anyone, and he her. One thing he knows best about her is that she would never kill Cole or allow him to be killed. Cole then orders Ramse to shoot him as proof. The shock of seeing Cole bleeding on the floor breaks Cassie free as she drops her gun and runs to Cole’s body. In the chaos, Ramse finally shuts down the power core.

Cole: The truth is, I don't think anybody's ever known me like you. And I know you.

However, Jones notices high levels still radiating from the room and shouts for everyone to abandon the power core room. Unfortunately, the power core gives off one final temporal blasts which hits and splinters Sam to the horror of Ramse.

Ramse looks back at Sam’s model of the base and the figure of the time traveler. He asks Jones if Sam is truly dead. Jones replies that she is unsure if Sam is dead, but it is unlikely if he could survive whatever happened or wherever he was sent. However, if Ramse could survive lost in time, his son might have a chance. Nevertheless, Ramse packs his things and leaves the base on his own.

Jones then checks on Cole lying in a hospital bed watched over by Cassie. Cassie informs Jones that with Cole’s healing ability, he should be fine. Jones explains that the phantom tether they tracked was the Witness, but, instead of traveling physically, he merely traveled as an essence, using Cassie’s mind as a receiver. The visions Cassie has been seeing around the base were actually Cassie tampering with the machine under the control of the Witness.Jones believes that she has created an injection to counteract the drug Cassie was given, but even she is unsure if it will keep the Witness out indefinitely. Nevertheless, Cassie still feels an intense guilt over what happened, blaming herself for the deaths of Sam and Eckland as well as Cole being hurt. Jones counters that the only one to blame is her. With that knowledge, Jones knows the way to correct it.

In an indeterminate time, Sam calls out for his father in a forest. He then confronts a figure who leads him away. 

Notes from 2044

• The symbol on the water tower marked "Titan" bears the same symbol on Olivia's necklace and tattoo. 
• Jones reveals that the base they use for time travel was previously a military base.

The Geekcap: Arrow "Schism"

Damian Darhk tosses Curtis aside and chokes Donna to force Felicity to reactivate Rubicon. Felicity reminds him that Rubicon is off-line, and threatening her mother means nothing if the world is destroyed. Darhk nevertheless begins draining the life from Donna before Oliver and Diggle burst in from the window to stop him. Oliver fires an explosive arrow, but the explosion disintegrates under Darhk’s stronger power. He sends the ghosts to fire against the two, but they manage to evade the onslaught. Just as Oliver is about to strike, Darhk stops him and begins to drain his life as well. Just then, Thea appears with Darhk’s daughter. She threatens to kill the girl unless he releases Oliver. Darhk relents his attack and escapes with his army and daughter. Unfortunately, Felicity notices that the laptop containing the anti-Rubicon code. For now, the team rushes Curtis to the lair to check on his condition.

On the island, Reiter shoots Oliver in the leg and goes after Taiana. He insists that he can take the power as the runes on his arms prevent the idol from taking over his mind. Taiana nevertheless threatens to kill him. Oliver also points out the plane leaving island, removing all of the prisoners from his grasp. Reiter, however, uses his power to cause the plane to explode, absorbing the power from their deaths. Taiana also absorbs the power and finally attacks Reiter.

Darhk: I know you don’t live here anymore, but those were nice windows.

In the lair, Curtis’ status remains stable, despite the situation on the outside looking bleak. Felicity questions Oliver on why Darhk’s magic affected him this time. Oliver responds that the hope he felt from Felicity is no longer strong enough to fend off Darhk. With Rubicon off-line and unable to be tracked, he is beginning to lose hope in winning himself. Lyla arrives to learn of the news as she tries to help Felicity stop Darhk’s plot. She questions why he would want to destroy the world since the bunker was destroyed, but Oliver replies that even Darhk has lost hope. Fortunately, Felicity believes that she has tracked the GPS of the laptop, allowing them to find it and save the world.

Oliver, Thea, and Diggle enter an office but only find the tracker instead of the laptop. A screen on the wall then lights up and displays the nuclear pattern. With the plan in motion, Felicity notes that they have approximately two hours before destruction.

The team regroups at the base to work on the new crisis. Lyla informs ARGUS to contact the president on the nuclear issue in order to warn the public. From the data, Felicity detects over 15,000 nuclear missiles to be launched worldwide. Even worse, she finds that a missile aimed for Star City has been sent out earlier, giving the city only forty-five minutes before its destruction.

On the island, Reiter and Taiana continue to fight. Reiter flings Oliver aside as he tries to help and then proceeds to drain the life from Taiana. However, the draining then turns on him as Taiana fights against it. She then sucks the life from him, causing him to be destroyed.

Back at the lair, Lance arrives after receiving a call from Felicity. She quickly advises him to take Donna on a route out of the city since she trusts him to keep her mother safe. Meanwhile, Lyla and Diggle say their goodbyes to their daughter, acknowledging that they can at least be together if the worst should happen. Diggle also laments how he has lost hope, something that Lyla believes came from Andy’s death. She tries to remind him how the death was self-defense, not knowing the truth, but they are interrupted by an ARGUS team successfully infiltrating city hall, the site of Darhk’s power. Oliver advises against sending the team who has no chance of defeating Darhk’s power now, but Lyla insists they take the opportunity. The ARGUS team corner Darhk with his daughter in the Nexus Chamber but immediately falter under his magic to the horror of the team listening to the events. Moments later, the lair is soon invaded by ghosts. With the return of Malcolm, the team manages to fight off the army despite Diggle being haunted by the image of Andy in a cornered ghost, but the lair is destroyed.

Taiana begins attacking Oliver herself, furious at him for killing her brother. Oliver pleads with her to keep control to fight the darkness. She manages to break from her rage, but she fears the hold the darkness has on her. With that fear, she pleads for Oliver to kill her.

Despite defeating the ghosts, they have approximately twenty-seven minutes before the nuclear warhead hits the city. As Oliver helps Felicity clean the base, she reminisces on Laurel when they find her Black Canary suit, how she wouldn’t want them to give in now. Oliver, however, feels disheartened that his efforts to unite the city against Darhk had failed, wondering whether or not Laurel would have lived if he stayed out of the city altogether. Curtis then hears them talking and offers his own view. He recalls his husband Paul’s incessant comments on the dangers of the city after three terrorist attacks, leading to them wanting to move. However, they changed their mind when they saw the Green Arrow on their screen, inspiring the people. Curtis states that, while it takes a special tenacity to live in Star City, the citizens prove their spirit and strength by surviving. He believes, even now, that the Green Arrow can inspire people.

With this in mind, Oliver enters the city as himself while the people resort to chaos. He stands among them and reminds the people that despite their fears, they have survived disasters in the past. Using Curtis’ words, he encourages the people to hold on to their hope that they will survive because this is their city. They are worth defending by standing united.

Oliver: I know what you're feeling right now! I'm feeling it too. It's a sense of helplessness, of hopelessness. I don't know how we even begin to process what might happen to us right now. But there are a few things that I do know. I know that this city has been through tough times before and we have pulled through. We survived the Undertaking. We survived the siege. We survived the outbreak, and somehow, someway, we will survive this! A friend of mine told me that living in Star City takes a special kind of tenacity, but we do live here. Because this is our home. …We will look to each other for hope. We will cling to each other for strength. If we do that, no matter what happens, we can all stand here, united.

In the lair, the team spots the nuke headed to the city. By seeing the nuke, Curtis then theorizes that they can now affect its path. The two move to the roof where they track the missile’s GPS signal for Felicity to upload a code to set the missile on a different path. With the code also programmed to make the missile think it already exploded, the nuke passes the city harmlessly to the surprise and relief of the city.

The two return to the lair. Although they have stopped the missile for Star City, they still need to stop more than 15,000 worldwide. By uploading the code, fortunately, Felicity and Curtis found a way to hack into the main computers for the missiles. From there, they can devise a code to divert the missiles like before throughout the world, using Lyla’s connections to enforce it. Still, they need to locate Darhk’s hacker to ensure that the missiles can be shut down. She tracks Cooper’s source while Oliver lays down the plan. He orders Diggle, Malcolm, and Thea to protect Curtis and Felicity as they find Cooper’s whereabouts while he will go after Darhk himself. Diggle protests that he will go with Oliver, but Oliver insists that he needs to make sure they are safe. Diggle reminds him that his speech inspired all of them as well.

Taiana continues to beg Oliver to kill her, something he refuses to do. She pleads that she fears killing him and everyone on the island by becoming worse than Reiter, and, if he ever cared for her, he would do it out of mercy. Before he acts, she reminds him to keep his promise to return to her home in Russia which he agrees to fulfill. Oliver then snaps her neck, only to be found by fellow prisoners.

Diggle prepares to go out in the field, but Lyla then questions him about freezing in the field. She asks if it was because of Andy, leading him to reveal that he killed Andy in cold-blood rather than self-defense. Lyla understands that it was in the fog of war and refuses to blame him for what happened, stating that he had to kill his brother. Diggle, however, cannot see past what he had to do.

Oliver confronts Darhk in the Nexus Chamber, beginning a fight that spills into the streets. Darhk easily overpowers him with his magic while the rest of the team move Curtis and Felicity to the source. Darhk mocks Oliver’s attempts to stop the end of the world but is stopped by the citizens themselves defending the Green Arrow. He further taunts the crowd, reminding them that they were ready to tear the city apart in their chaos. He tosses them aside and insists that he is providing a mercy killing for a feckless world. Nevertheless, Oliver stands up and says that he will defeat him because, this time, he is not fighting alone. The people stand up behind Darhk. Oliver fires an arrow that finally grazes Darhk’s face. He is now immune to Darhk’s magic with the hope of the people of Star City. Darhk then fights Oliver hand to hand with the city cheering their hero.

Felicity and Curtis find Cooper setting the code for the missiles while bleeding in the process. He reveals that Darhk fired a bullet at him and is slowly moving that bullet to his spine. If he moves away from the computer, he will be killed. Felicity advises him to be the man she loved seven years ago and fulfill his goal of saving the world by helping her disarm the missiles. Inspired by Felicity, he releases himself, causing Darhk to sense and kill him. Felicity then works to disarm the missiles herself.

The fight continues with Darhk nearly killing Oliver before being stopped by Diggle and Lyla who decided to save their friend despite the risk. Darhk then reveals an army of his own as ghost pour in to fight. The citizens then move to fight the ghosts as Oliver further fights Darhk.

Felicity has three minutes to disrupt the multitude of missiles despite having no way of changing their paths. Curtis then suggests that instead of disrupting the war head, they should go after the missile itself. Felicity and Curtis send out codes to order the missiles to explode before they hit their targets, saving the world from a nuclear death.

Darhk then grabs hold of Oliver’s bow and fires an arrow into Oliver’s chest. Oliver is then helped by a returning Lance. He states that Donna is safe, but he had to protect his city after hearing Oliver Queen’s speech. Oliver orders Diggle, Lance, and Lyla to fight off the ghosts to help the people while he takes on Darhk himself.

Lance: That Oliver Queen guy gives a hell of a speech.

Oliver finally corners Darhk with an arrow. Darhk tells him to stop posturing, believing that Oliver will not killing him after sparing the life of the man who killed even his own mother. Oliver, however, points out that Darhk had killed not only his friend but tens of thousands of people. While he made a choice regarding Slade, he has no choice here. Oliver stabs Darhk, defeating him once and for all.

The team returns to the destroyed lair as they ponder their future. Lance reveals that he plans to leave the city with Donna since his suspension from the force was made permanent. However, he admits that he did not feel a loss from losing his job and believes that leaving the city will give him a new perspective. Following that, Thea also admits that she wants to leave the city. After her recent threat to kill a little girl, she believes that she needs to leave to discover her real self, something Laurel would want her to do. Thea exits, leaving the original Team Arrow alone in the lair. Despite the reunion, Diggle admits that he may have to leave as well after the things he had been through so far. Oliver argues that Diggle has been the moral support since he began, but Diggle says that Oliver has been the bigger support recently.

On the island, Oliver explains that Taiana was overpowered by the idol, forcing him to kill her after she begged. He also clarifies that Reiter was the one who took out the plane, but Oliver believes there’s another way off the island. After burying Taiana, Oliver once again meets up with Amanda Waller who received his alert on the link he had returning to the island. She commends him on completing his mission and stopping Reiter’s force, saving many lives. Oliver rejects that, remembering that he took a few lives in the process. Waller explains that the situation demanded the darkness that was always a part of him, and sometimes justice requires killing. ARGUS confiscates the idol, but Waller returns a package to Oliver containing his hood, bow, and book of names. She offers to utilize his skills for ARGUS or have him return to his life as a vigilante. Oliver instead asks to fulfill a promise.

Oliver speaks to Laurel’s grave about how he killed Darhk. Although he believes it was not what she would have wanted, he apologizes for having to kill him. Felicity comes and asks about how he feels. Oliver admits that he doesn’t think he could defeat the darkness within him, but Felicity believes it is just a conflict within him, one between the man who killed Darhk and the man who inspired the city to fight. Inside him is a schism between the light and the dark, something that he needs to fight to maintain. Suddenly, Oliver receives a call from Thomas Kemp, a member of the city council who was interested in Oliver’s display to the city and asks for a meeting.

Oliver returns to city hall where, after Oliver’s display as well as his massive support as a write-in candidate, he is about to be sworn in as interim mayor. As he recites the oath to the public, the others prepare to leave the city. Lance drives out with Donna. Thea sits in Laurel’s old apartment, pondering where to go. Diggle packs his things and says his goodbyes to Lyla and Sara before returning to his military role.

After the ceremony, Oliver returns to the destroyed lair, looking on at the preserved suits. In the back, Felicity emerges to join him, stating that there’s not a chance that she would leave now.

The Geekcap: The Flash "The Race of His Life"

Barry rushes to his father’s body to find him dead. Zoom stands over him, remarking that after watching Henry die Barry can become like him. Barry, in his anger, fights Zoom as they race around the city. Zoom then sends a time remnant of himself that fights Barry. Barry finally stops the Zoom but remains hesitant to kill him. The real Zoom then kills the remnant himself, warning Barry that he will never be ready until he has the strength to kill himself.

The team then gather for Henry’s funeral. While Barry is at a loss for words, Joe speaks on behalf of all of them. He remembers Henry as a man who lost both his wife and son in the midst of being accused of a crime he did not commit. Still, Henry was a man who proved how love and hope can triumph. Once Joe’s speech ends, the group returns to the West house after the ceremony. Wally talks to Barry after learning that he was the Flash. After learning about what happened to Henry, Wally offers to help Barry in any way that could make him feel better. Barry thanks him for the offer as the rest of the team tries to come up with another plan to stop Zoom. They ponder what Zoom could mean by being ready as well as Cisco’s vision of Earth-2’s destruction. Barry, meanwhile, excuses himself to get some air.

Outside on the porch, Iris comes to talk to Barry. He tells her that, after his encounter with the Speed Force, he felt that he had finally come to terms with his mother’s death. Now, he must go through all the emotions once again in his father’s death. Iris states that while she knows he’s in pain he must find a way to move past it in order to live his life. Before they can go further, Barry spots Zoom racing past the house, forcing Barry to follow.

Barry corners Zoom who claims he was allowing Barry to grieve his father before meeting up again. Zoom then reveals what he really wants from Barry: a race to see who is truly the fastest man alive. If Barry chooses not to race, Zoom threatens to take down everyone he loves.

Barry informs the team about Zoom’s offer, wondering why Zoom would just want a race. Harry, however, discovers Zoom’s real motivations for the race. He has tampered with Mercury Labs’ magnatar generator. With the power utilized from the race, Zoom could turn the machine into a pulsar weapon that could effectively destroy the Earth-2 universe. Barry nevertheless insists on running the race in order to have a chance at Zoom and protect the others.

Joe then talks with Barry to try and convince him out of the race. He argues that running the race would be fighting on Zoom’s terms, already losing an advantage. Barry insists that this is his only chance to get his hands on Zoom without risking the others. Even so, Joe recognizes that Barry is mostly after revenge for what happened to Henry, an allegation Barry confirms despite sounding irrational. Since Barry refuses to compromise, Harry knocks him out with a tranquilizer. When Barry comes to, he sees that he has been locked inside the pipeline. Harry confirms that everyone, including Joe and Iris, decided that if Barry wanted to race against Zoom, the best decision would be to take Barry out of the equation. Barry pleads for them to change their mind, but they leave Barry in the pipeline to work on a new plan. Joe questions Iris on whether they made the right call, though Iris believes they have.

In the lab, the team track Zoom’s movements to the machine near the magnatar, and they go over their new plan. Caitlin will distract Zoom long enough for Joe and Harry to place the boot onto him. Then, Cisco will open the breach for them to toss Zoom back into Earth-2. After that, they will destroy the weapon. Despite her previous experience with Zoom, Caitlin agrees to go along with the plan since she can reach him. Meanwhile, Jesse confronts Harry on what they plan to do after they catch Zoom. Though Harry hasn’t thought about what could happen after, Jesse wonders about leaving STAR Labs. She tells him that she’s seen him at his happiest when he’s helping the team while she misses her friends back home in Earth-2. She suggests that, once everything is clear, he could stay in STAR Labs while she returns home, giving him a chance at happiness.

Cisco: Classic psychopath. Why can’t they ever just say about they’re gonna do.

The plan works in motion as Joe, Harry, and Cisco mind their positions while Iris and Jesse keep an eye in the van as Caitlin moves to the weapon. She calls out for Zoom, causing him to appear. While he reminds her that he would show no mercy if she betrayed him, she claims that she was wrong. He was the one who had her admit that there was a darkness inside her. She states that she wants him to be the only one who understands her again. Zoom states that it’s too late, but, as he moves to kill her, Caitlin is revealed to be a hologram with the real Caitlin still in the van with Iris and Jesse. Joe and Harry quickly move to boot Zoom with Cisco opening the breach. Once Zoom is knocked into the breach, though, he grabs onto Joe, dragging him into Earth-2.

Back at the lab, Cisco tries searching for Joe through his visions, but the image keeps shifting due to Zoom being on the move. Wally then arrives to have Iris inform him on Joe’s kidnapping. He asks for Barry to see if he can do anything, but Iris reveals to him their plan to lock Barry up as they capture Zoom themselves. Wally wonders how they could have thought to defeat Zoom without the Flash and then asks if they have a plan to save Joe. Unfortunately, Iris also reveals that the team agreed that if they succeeded in trapping Zoom in Earth-2, they would not open the breach under any circumstances.

Joe is now trapped in Zoom’s prison when he comes to consciousness. Joe states that if he wants to kill him he might as well now, but Zoom has other plans. Joe then spots the man in the iron mask and asks who it is. Zoom reveals that in his quest to become faster he developed the drug Velocity 9 and worked in traveling through dimensions and timelines. In his travels, he came across a world with another speedster acting as a hero. Zoom kidnapped the man and attempted to take his speed. However, his efforts to siphon the man’s speed failed, leading Zoom to take him prisoner as a trophy as well as a way to ward off the time wraiths in his tests. After capturing the speedster, he then came up with the idea to play the hero in Earth-2 by stealing the speedster’s name: Jay Garrick. Now he plans to do the same to Barry.

Meanwhile, Wally lets Barry out of his cell in the pipeline, stating that he never agreed to trapping Barry. Barry admonishes the team from preventing him from taking on Zoom despite their protests on his anger. Caitlin reminds him that when she felt the same anger and hollow feeling after watching Ronnie die, he advised her to take a breath and calm down before acting. Barry insists that he isn’t angry and emphasizes that the only way to get Joe back is to agree to the race. Harry then hooks Cisco to the machine that allows Barry to project himself in Earth-2. From there, he agrees to Zoom’s terms on the race for the sake of Joe’s return.

The group meets at the magnatar to face Zoom. They reveal they know Zoom’s plan to create a pulse wave, but Zoom goes further. Since Earth-1 is the axis point for the multiverse, he plans to use the weapon to destroy all alternate universes, leaving Earth-1 as the only in existence. He then settles the terms for Barry. Each lap around the machine charges it by one gigawatt, with the system needing 500 gigawatts to work. If Barry can stop Zoom before that, he can save the multiple universes. However, if he stops at any point in the race, then Joe will be killed.

Zoom: Run, Barry. Run!

The race begins. Zoom continues to elude Barry as the machine continues to gain power. As Barry keeps running, however, he then forms his own time remnant that escapes the race to rescue Joe. With Joe safe, Barry takes on Zoom, stopping the race. Unfortunately, the machine is already powered and ready to destroy the multiverse. Quickly, the time remnant that races around the centerpiece, causing his own pulse to cancel out the machine. However, the effort disintegrates the remnant, effectively sacrificing his life. Barry then corners Zoom who taunts him on the inability to kill. Fortunately, Barry responds, he doesn’t have to this time. Suddenly, the time wraiths emerge from a rift and set their grasp on Zoom, changing him into a black skeleton speedster before whisking him away.

The team returns to STAR Labs as Barry attempts to explain to everyone what happened. Using his speed, he traveled back to a few seconds prior to the race, thereby creating a duplicate of himself. When the world was threatened, the remnant sacrificed himself. In the meantime, Harry and Cisco manage to remove the iron mask from the captive Jay Garrick. Once it is removed, he introduces himself, revealing Jay Garrick to be a doppelganger of Henry Allen.

Barry leaves into the hall as he breaks down seeing his dad alive once again. Joe reminds him that Jay does not know about Barry’s dad, making him a different man. Although Barry is hesitant to watch his father leave again, he knows that Jay needs to return home.

Jay dons his old costume, the one stolen by Hunter Zoloman, as he prepares to leave. He remarks that Zoloman stole the Jay Garrick look for him, except for the helmet that belonged to Zoloman’s father. Harry responds that the helmet on his world represents hope, leading Jay to take it as his own. He requests the team’s assistance to return him to his universe which he refers to as Earth-3. Cisco offers to take him to Earth-2 while Harry offers to help him from the other side. Both he and Jesse plan to return home to their world.

At the breach, Harry says his goodbyes to the team individually. He remarks that Caitlin is a brilliant doctor but an even better person. Cisco admits that he may use the machine to check up on Earth-2 as he tosses Harry’s stuff around, leading Harry to call him by his first name for the first time. Finally, he confides in Barry that he was a better man since coming to Earth-1, and he owes that to Barry. Meanwhile, Jesse says her goodbyes to Wally, who also mourns the fact that they likely can’t message each other in alternate worlds. Finally, Jay takes Harry and Jesse as they whisk back into Earth-2.

The family returns to the West house with Barry remaining on the porch. Iris once again speaks to him as he mourns that he doesn’t feel any better after Zoom’s death. Iris understands that seeing his father as a different man was sure to shock him but offers to help him through the rough times in their new relationship. Barry is glad to hear her confirm her love but believes that he is not ready for a relationship with the broken sense he feels now. Despite that resolve, Iris offers to wait for him, just as he waited for her, leading the two to share a kiss. Iris then returns inside, but Barry remains on the porch. He takes one last look at the family inside before running away.

Barry runs through the city before going through a breach in time. He quickly finds himself back to his childhood home on the night of his mother’s death at the hands of the Reverse Flash. Just as his future self rescues his child self, Barry rushes in and beats the Reverse Flash into submission. Barry looks over and sees his other self, the one who jumped one year earlier, upon saving their mother. Satisfied, that Barry evaporates as the timeline is changed. Barry then goes over to his mother, assuring her that she is finally safe. 

Flash Notes

• John Wesley Shipp reprises his role as the Flash in the episode but this time as Jay Garrick! They even use the traditional Flash theme for his look!
• Jay's not the only speedster introduced in the finale. As the time wraiths take Zoom, he begins to change into what looks like the Black Flash, otherwise known as a grim reaper for speedsters. Perhaps this might not be the last time we see Hunter Zoloman.
• Comic book fans should recognize Barry's return to save his mother. Looks like season 3 will feature the Flashpoint Paradox!

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Immortal"

In 2044, Jones once again looks out at the red storm as she smokes a cigarette on the roof. Eckland joins her, questioning how the world’s destruction could come from the deaths of a few people. Jones reminds him that those people were primaries, and their deaths will result in the destruction of time as they know it. They must find the remaining primaries and protect them from being hunted by the Messengers. Eckland provides her with some interesting information.

Inside the base, Cole and Ramse look prepared to take someone down. Turns out, they are really playing with Ramse’s son Sam as they hunt him around the facility. Jones comes to stop the fun and informs Cole of the name that they have tracked the man Kyle Slade in 1975. As Cole prepares for a new mission, Ramse speaks with Sam. Sam asks whether or not Ramse will go with Cole this time, something that Ramse doesn’t answer directly. Sam then reminds him suddenly that Ramse could have stop the bad people but chose not to instead. He then tells his father that while he understands that he did those things for love, the things they do know are for the future.

Jones and Eckland fill in Cole on Kyle Slade, the man Jennifer and Cassie found relation to the primaries. With four messengers still lost in time, they also advise him to be aware of those who will be looking to kill Slade. More importantly, however, is their information on Slade: he is a man known as the Immortal Serial Killer, wanted for the murder of about twelve people over the course of one year. Their only form of tracking him was the one murder where he was identified, the death of a woman named Victoria that took place on July 2^nd 1975 which is also the date of his death. Ramse then enters and deduces that they want to send Cole back to protect Slade from his death since the messengers could have tracked him with this knowledge as well. With the mission in mind, Ramse offers to join Cole, believing that it would save him the trouble of having to save his skin later. Jones agrees to Ramse’s accompany Cole but reminds both of them not to interfere with Victoria’s murder due to the threat of disrupting the time line even further. Using the machine, she is able to send them both back to July 1^st, 1975.

In 2016, Cassie tends to Jennifer’s injuries at the Emerson Hotel and gives the woman a few sedatives to sleep. Jennifer is less reluctant to sleep, however, and begins feeling an odd presence in the room. Jennifer asks Cassie whether or not she believes in ghosts. Despite remembering her vision of Aaron in the Red Forest, Cassie tells her no. The sedatives eventually work, and Cassie takes Jennifer back to her bed.

In 1975, Cole and Ramse track the woman Victoria to a diner where she works as a waitress. She serves them some breakfast and coffee, remarking on their hearty appetites. Ramse has a conversation with her on where to find an interesting spot when she replies that anyplace in New York can be a good time. Cole reminds Ramse that they can’t get involved in Victoria’s life knowing that she will die that night, but they then spot Victoria meeting with an older woman and a little boy, her mother and son. Ramse then asks Cole what would become of them after she dies.

The two track Victoria outside the building a night where she meets up with a man to deal her cocaine. As predicted, they spot Kyle Slade fighting and preparing to kill Victoria. Although they agreed to stay behind, Cole rushes in to save the woman and fights off Slade. When he secures Victoria, a ripple sounds off in the universe, rattling Cole and Ramse. They have affected the timeline by rescuing Victoria. In the chaos, Slade takes off in a vehicle while they spot a man, one of the messengers, chasing after it.

Cole and Ramse take Victoria to the Emerson Hotel to explain what had happened. Against their instincts, they tell Victoria the truth about them being time travelers tracking down then Immortal Killer and order her to stay in the hotel where she can be safe for now. Victoria protests since she has a child to look after, but Ramse fires back that a way she could help him is to stop taking cocaine. He reminds her that they have given her a second chance at life, something that she should not waste.

Cole and Ramse then plot out a new way to catch Slade. Using the knowledge they have from the future, the two inform the police on what they know about the killer including his name and his backstory being dishonorably charged from the military. After disclosing the information, they then request to be present at the arrest to secure Slade. The officers, at first, refuse the request, but then Cole blackmails the men using a newspaper article from the future reading about the officers’ failure to stop the murder. With no choice, the officers take Cole and Ramse on their search for Slade in their own resources. The police have investigated the Immortal Killer on their own time as he has not only killed his victims but mutilated their limbs and drained their bodies of blood. In that time, we see that Slade has painted an image of a monkey using his victims’ blood.

Back in 2016, Cassie goes to the hallway to retrieve some ice when the lights begin flickering. She then hears a voice calling her name. She follows the voice down the hall until she reaches their room 607.When she opens the door, she comes face-to-face with Aaron.

The police chase on Slade leads the group to a grocery store where Slade has apparently taken a woman hostage. While the police plan to send a negotiator, Cole rushes into the store to confront Slade. Cole sees the killer and tries to calm him down, explaining that he understands the visions that he has been seeing. Slade then recognizes him as James Cole and agrees to go with the man, releasing the woman in the process. Cole leads Slade to the police, planning to keep him in jail for protection against the messengers. Slade instead offers a release in exchange for leading Cole to the Witness himself. The police take Slade into custody before Cole can elaborate further on the matter. Because the officers refuse to let Cole and Ramse any closer to the arrest, Cole has no choice but to steal a cop car and track Slade down himself.

Aaron then explains to Cassie that he was rescued from the fire and nursed back to health by the army but states that he doesn’t plan to hurt Jennifer. Cassie nevertheless states that he betrayed them to the army, helping to cause the deaths of billions. Aaron recalls that in his final moments of life and his first moments in his new life Cassie was the only thing he could think about to give him strength. He claims that she was the reason he fought back to live and apologizes for what he has done.

Cole and Ramse successfully chase down the police and hold the officers at gunpoint to retrieve Slade. Ramse questions why he goes to this much trouble to rescue a serial killer. Although Slade claims to have the Witness, Ramse persists that they have no reason to trust Slade. Ramse instead argues that this plan is just Cole rushing into situations without thinking them through with any consequences. He refuses to follow Cole on his search with Slade.

Ramse: You’re all leap no look, little brother.

Ramse returns to the hotel where he finds Victoria tied to a chair. He then faces off against the messenger who tracked Ramse down after finding a sheet of paper they used from the Emerson Hotel. The two fight off as Victoria manages to free herself and stab the messenger. Using the distraction, Ramse fully kills the man to the shock of Victoria. He tells her to take care of her son and to leave the town, saying that this would be the best thing for both of them.

Slade leads Cole an alley outside his lair where he explains what he has been doing. All of his murder victims had been primaries as well that he killed to prevent the disaster. Victoria, who wasn’t a primary, was only a means to an end. He also mourns the fact that in his experiences, both as a killer and in the military, he had remove any attachments to others. Connected to his explanations, Aaron also tells Cassie that the army is not the enemy. The true enemy is time itself. By destroying the primaries, the army can create a world with no death. Slade tells Cole of this plot as well, where the people will essentially live in a forest of blood as immortals.

Slade shows Cole his lair filled with body parts as well as rigged bombs to explode. He shows to him the Witness, a cloaked and masked figure chained to a pole. Slade believes that the Witness came back to kill him after killing Victoria. He assured that he and Victoria could be identified in order for the Witness and James Cole to find him. Once he has both of them, he can ultimately kill the Witness and return to the future, where the Witness also emerged as a traveler. Slade describes that while the Witness has special powers he is still a man that can be killed. In the meantime, a police officer files a report finding Kyle Slade in the area, just as Ramse finds the lair.

Slade offers Cole the bone that the Witness planned to create a paradox by stabbing him. With the bone, Slade orders Cole to kill the Witness, ensuring their victory. However, Cole instead unmasks the Witness to reveal a face he recognizes as one of the remaining primaries. The messenger planned to trick Slade into believing he caught the Witness in order to ensure his capture. The real Witness is the figure speaking to Cassie in 2016. She recognizes this reveal as the world shifts around him, and his eyes turn to black slits. He mocks her stating that wanted to take a form she would be comfortable with and shifts into Cole to further haunt her. He then disappears as Cassie realizes that she is walking in the middle of the lobby with Jennifer coming to her rescue. With all of the hotel guests staring, Jennifer guides Cassie back to their hotel room offering to listen to what happened.

Slade demands the death of the messenger, refusing to believe Cole’s claims that it’s not the Witness. Cole doesn’t desire to kill the man, so Slade advances to kill both himself. Ramse arrives to hold the man at gunpoint as Cole tries to explain. Slade then grows angry at the fact that the army would send a regular messenger to kill him with his status. At the standoff, the police officers then arrive to take in Slade, but a stray bullet hits against Slade’s bomb, causing the room to be engulfed in flames. The messenger uses the distraction to try and kill Slade, but Cole shoots the messengers before turning his gun on Slade. Slade warns Cole that he was sent to be protected. However, Cole reminds him, that was only protection from a paradox not an ordinary death. Cole shoots Slade.

Cassie begins packing her and Jennifer’s bags, preparing the two to leave the hotel. While Jennifer understands that Cassie is scared from her encounter with the Witness, she also remarks that the encounter actually proves that the Witness is scared of them, trying to stop them by rattling them. Jennifer believes that the best course of action would be to fight back by hunting down the army themselves. Cassie is more unsure, remembering how the Witness made the destruction of time and the end of death sound persuasive. Jennifer counters that death, in its own way, is beautiful as it makes them human and strives them to do better.

Jennifer: We have to go monkey hunting!

Cole and Ramse return to 2044 as Jones and Eckland remark that the red storms have been receding. Their work in the past is having an effect on the future after all. Cole and Ramse then talk privately with Cole remarking that he was surprised seeing Ramse rush in to save him. Ramse states that he understands that rushing into situations is who Cole is, and he hopes that never changes. Cole than begins to say “I love-“ before Ramse quickly interrupts, not wanting him to ruin their moment. Cole claims that he was only going to say that he loves whiskey as the two laugh walking back inside the facility.

In 2016, Cassie returns to check on Jennifer, only to find a note by the bed. Jennifer has left to begin their fight on the streets, knowing that Cassie has to return to the future. As Cassie ponders Jennifer’s note, the room begins to shift as though a time traveler is arriving. She then spots the figure of the Witness before it instantly disappears. As she looks around, her eyes also turn a dark black, the same as the Witness.

Notes from 2044

• Looks like Jones and Eckland are getting a little closer by this episode's end!
• Could whatever happened to Cassie at the end affect her return to 2044?

The Geekcap: Legends of Tomorrow "Legendary"

The Waverider arrives in Star City 2016. Because of the randomness of time without the oculus, Rip has decided to bring everyone back to the meeting point. The team argue that the mission isn’t finished if Savage is still alive, but Rip states that since they can’t find Savage, and can’t kill him with Carter and Kendra, they are better off returning to their regular lives. However, because of the randomness of time now, he could only get them to May 2016, five months after they left. They continue to argue on staying, but Rip reveals he already made the choice by showing that the Rip they were speaking to was a hologram. The real Rip takes off on the Waverider, leaving the others behind in the present. Each member then returns to their old lives.

Sara returns to the Arrow lair where she finds her father waiting by the computers. He informs her about an attack by Damian Dahrk, which Sara remarks is business as usual. However, Lance tearfully informs her that in the time she was gone Laurel has been killed by Dahrk. Sara breaks down as she hugs her father.

Rory returns to crime, giving a new partner Snart’s old cold gun. However, he finds that the new recruit wastefully uses the weapon and therefore incinerates him. The crime is interrupted by Ray who asks for a talk. Ray formally apologizes for what happened to Snart, believing that he was the one destined to die. Rory thinks nothing of the situation, but Ray sees it as an opportunity for them to have a new partnership, especially when they both have the same goal in mind. Meanwhile, Stein reunites with his wife, though she notices that he has been noticeably quiet about his sabbatical. Stein reveals that he believes that his work was not yet done.

The team then reunites at the meeting point where both Ray and Stein come up with a machine to contact the Waverider. Rip, listening to recordings of his wife and children, receives the message from Gideon and returns to recruit the team, despite his previous reservations.

In 1944, Kendra escapes from Savage and runs into a French soldier. She implores him to escape but then recognizes his helmet. Kendra takes the soldier’s helmet and writes down a message to place inside the lining. Savage then arrives and kills the soldier to take back Kendra back to the ship.

Back on the Waverider, Sara immediately attacks Rip for knowing about Laurel’s death. He warns her about messing with the timeline, but she demands that Rip takes her back to save her sister. Moving quickly, Rip knocks her out and has Rory takes her to her room to sleep it off. The rest of the team then try to find a way to locate Savage without the oculus. They notice an old World War II helmet that was moved from its original spot. Rip understands it as a temporal change when something occurs in the past that ripples in the future. Inside the helmet, they find Kendra’s message with her location in France of 1944.

In 1944, Kendra wakes to find herself strapped to a chair in the ship. Carter wakes up next to her, still disoriented but seemingly recognizing Kendra. Savage interrupts the two to take blood from Carter. Kendra orders him away from Carter, but Savage explains his plan. Kendra and Carter’s blood arise from the meteorites that fell upon the region in 1700 B.C. Those meteorites, he reveals, contained Thanagarian materials which granted Carter and Kendra powers. Now, with their blood, Savage plans to erase time back to 1700 B.C. where he can ultimately rule.

Rip finally confronts Sara on Laurel’s death. Sara once again asks to go back to save her sister, but Rip further explains. Taking Sara resulted in Laurel’s death, but returning Sara to the timeline would have resulted in Laurel, Lance, and Sara’s death. Sara argues that he can’t be sure that it will happen, but Rip insists that they can’t risk it. Sara tearfully states that she can’t continue knowing that Laurel has died. This leads to Rip admitting that she can because she is the strongest woman he knows. She the agrees to help save Kendra.

The team arrives just as Savage attempts to attack some soldiers. Firestorm meanwhile finds the ship and rescues Kendra, freeing Carter in the process. The rest of the team fights off against Savage, holding their own while Firestorm leads Kendra and Carter to the Waverider. When a soldier confronts them, Firestorm takes hold of his weapon, causing it to dissolve in his hands. Jax marvels at what occurred which Stein explains was transmutation, changing the molecular structure of an object. The team escapes to the Waverider, except for Kendra who was shot by a soldier and fell to the ground.

Stein: Concentrate!

Jax: Why are you always saying that like I'm not concentrating?

On the Waverider, Carter attempts to explain what he knows to help the team. He recalls Savage describing the meteors as Thanagarian technology and how Savage stole their blood. Whatever Savage has planned, they also realize it involves the meteor that was spotted in 1958. Meanwhile, Jax hopes to practice the transmutation move with Stein since he was shocked at the action earlier. Using Ray and Kendra’s lucky vase, the two as Firestorm attempt to transmute the material, but the vase instead shatters to pieces. Stein encourages Jax to keep trying since the third time’s usually the charm. From that revelation, Stein realizes just what Savage wants to do.

Rip and Stein discover that Savage wants to detonate the Thanagarian meteors in three different time periods using a ritual with Carter and Kendra’s blood. With the power from the meteors and the paradoxical actions, he could effectively send the time stream back to 1700 B.C., the time of the first temporal displacement. Using coordinates from the distance between Earth and Thanagar, Stein figures that the three time periods to find and set off the meteors would be 1958, 1975, and 2021. With Savage’s power of immortality and a time machine, he can effectively set them off at the same time using his past selves. As they speak, Savage meets with his past self from 1958 to plot to detonate the meteor from that period. Fortunately, the radiation from having contact with the meteor should be enough for the team to kill him once and for all.

In order to stop Savage, the team breaks up into three groups to stop the meteors. Ray and Rory track Savage to Harmony Falls 1958, the site of the crash. Sara and Firestorm follow Savage to Norway in 1975. Finally, Rip and Carter find Savage and Kendra in St. Roch 2021. Once Savage activates the ritual, the team attacks. Ray and Rory take on Savage together while Sara fights Savage one-on-one. Carter tries fighting Savage on his own but struggles in the fight. Seeing Carter hurt, Kendra bursts from her restraints and takes on Savage, stabbing him. The fight continues across the three timelines, leading to Rory torching Savage and Sara snapping his neck. In 2021, Savage starts to bleed out, but he still taunts Rip on how killing him will not bring back his family. Rip tosses him into an electrical system, effectively killing the dictator.

Although the fight is finished, the meteors begin to go critical. Ray stops the meteor in 1958 by using his new technology to shrink the blow. In 1975, Firestorm combines Jax and Stein’s concentration to transmute the meteor into water. However, when the team meet up in 2021, neither are able to stop the third meteor as their power has been spent. The team believes that they could fly the meteor out, but none of them have the speed or power to eliminate the threat. Rip then arrives with the Waverider to drag the meteor out on its tractor beam. Unfortunately, his idea is to fly the meteor into the sun with him on the ship.

Sara: Aw, man. You got my boots wet!

The team try talking him out of the mission, but Rip simply thanks them for their dedication and states his was proud to be their captain. As he flies into the sun, he sees a vision of his wife and son one last time. However, he later emerges and converses with Gideon who is as unprepared to die as he is. He then prepares for one last time jump.

Twenty minutes before he left, Rip returns with the meteor destroyed in a temporal displacement. He picks up the team and agrees to take them back to where they desire. However, he plans to stay with the Waverider. With the oculus destroyed, someone needs to protect the timeline. As a former Time Master, Rip sees himself as an ideal guardian. With that in mind, he offers the rest of the team the opportunity to rejoin him.

In the present day, everyone considers the offer as they return to their lives. Sara visits Laurel’s grave with her father, offering flowers in her honor. Sara believes that she should stay and fight Dahrk in Laurel’s name, but Lance helps to remind her that Laurel was the reason for her to go on the Waverider in the first place. Stein returns to his wife, but she and a returning Jax then convince him that he is meant for bigger things, such as protecting the timeline. Rory, however, arrives in a 2013 Central City bar to see Snart alive and well. Snart is confused as to why Rory called him, but Rory simply tells him that he is the best man he knows, a hero even if he doesn’t know it. Snart shrugs it off, so Rory returns to Rip and Ray outside a bar. Rip reminds Rory that he could visit Snart anytime he likes in the past to see him again.

The team meet up once again in 2016 to rejoin Rip’s mission. However, Kendra and Carter decline the offer, desiring to live a life without Vandal Savage following them. They come to say their goodbyes and fly off, leaving the team for a new adventure. Just then, a second Waverider appears in the distance and lands near them. A man emerges from the ship and asks them for the date. Confirming that it is May 2016, he warns them against getting on the ship for the risk of death. Rory is skeptical of the man, but the figure states he was sent by Rory himself. He introduces himself as Rex Tyler, a member of the Justice Society of America. 

Notes of Tomorrow

• The three different timelines of the fight also take place in "Pilot, Part 2" and "Night of the Hawk."
• Rex Tyler is also known as Hourman, a hero with a chemical drug that grants him superhuman beings for one hour at a time.
• Rex also references the Justice Society of America which, as we all know, is the precursor for the Justice League!

The Geekcap: Arrow "Lost in the Flood"

Oliver and Diggle attempt to shoot Damian Dahrk, but the arrows and bullets dissolve on his body. Dahrk quickly flings them aside and causes the cave to collapse around them. He keeps them alive only for them to experience the destruction of the world after he regains control of Rubicon. Fortunately, Oliver and Diggle escape the rubble.

In the underground city, Thea continues to mourn over Alex’s body. She then finds a phone on his body and quickly messages to Felicity. Malcolm returns with some ghosts to the house to see Alex dead and asks about what happened to Anarky. She turns to see that Anarky has disappeared when she went to see Alex. With Anarky gone, the ghosts and Malcolm take Thea back into the house to ensure she won’t try anything rash.

Back at the loft, Felicity watches a news report on the destruction of Havenrock. Behind her, her father Noah Cuttler turns off the television and insists that they focus on trying to stop Rubicon after they bought themselves twenty-four hours. In the panic, Felicity hugs her father than quickly tries to get to work. However, they are interrupted by Curtis who came to talk to Felicity about the Havenrock destruction. She introduces him to her father whom Curtis recognizes as a man wanted by the FBI. In the rush, Felicity brings Curtis aboard to work on the Rubicon problem with Cuttler after she receives the message from Thea. She leaves to inform the team.

Curtis: You make so much more sense now!

Meanwhile, in a secret lair, Dahrk reunites with his wife as they discuss getting back the Rubicon system. Dahrk assures her that they have it under control by recruiting another escaped prisoner: Cooper Seldan, Felicity’s ex-boyfriend. However, Dahrk also realizes that they have the additional threat of Anarky in the underground city.

The team reunites in the lair where Lance questions what has been happening. Felicity informs him on the Rubicon system as well as Thea’s message. Oliver and Diggle unfortunately inform them that Dahrk appears to be unstoppable. Fortunately, Felicity uses Thea’s message to track the location to somewhere near the Glades. Oliver and Diggle move to find Thea, advising Lance to stay behind and give the city someone to watch over them.

On the island, Oliver and Taiana keep running with the idol. Taiana questions Oliver’s look of fear when he admits that her eyes began glowing just like Reiter’s, hinting that she may be contracting the idol’s power. Before they can go further, Reiter’s soldiers begin shooting against them. Oliver ducks for cover, but they hit Taiana directly. However, Taiana appears to have survived the shots, giving Oliver the opportunity to fire back at the soldiers. After the soldiers’ death, Taiana absorbs more power, finding that she enjoys the rush.

Back under the dome, the ghosts have Thea strapped to a chair. Malcolm warns against her acting defiant in the town. She once again refuses Malcolm’s orders, leading Malcolm to try other methods to ensure her compliance.

Oliver and Diggle reach the location but find that there is nothing there but an empty street. Diggle then reminds them that whatever is in that area should be relatively new considering Dahrk’s plan. Oliver spots a new sewer cover which actually leads to an underground tunnel. Felicity remarks that there were no plans for this system in the city files, but Oliver reminds them that Dahrk had control over city officials. Oliver and Diggle follow the tunnel to the underground town. There, Ruve advises Malcolm to deal with the Anarky problem, as well as the new arrivals of the Green Arrow and Spartan.

At the lair, Felicity loses the signal to Oliver and Diggle and receives a text message from Curtis advising her to come back to the loft. When she returns, she finds her mother has arrived and is now locked in argument with Cuttler. Donna says that she has been calling Felicity endlessly with no reply and wants an explanation for why she was with her father. Felicity tries to tell her something, leading Donna to believe that she is pregnant. However, Felicity then informs her that the world is in danger, and she needs Cuttler to save it. When Donna questions how she can do this, Felicity reveals that she has worked with the Green Arrow for the past three years. Under limited time, Donna stays as Felicity continues to work with her father.

In the underground town, Oliver and Diggle split up to look for Thea. Oliver eventually locates the house by spotting Alex’s body. He enters and finds Thea strapped to the chair. As soon as he sets her free, she attacks him and pulls a gun towards him, threatening to shoot. Malcolm arrives with the ghosts to take Oliver in, but Diggle returns just in time to offer Oliver and himself a chance to run. Diggle wonders what happened to Thea, but Oliver explains it was the yellow pills. Malcolm had likely drugged Thea to keep her docile and sent her against them. In the chaos, they escape into another house. Unfortunately for them, a family is present inside, and Ruve announces to the citizens to apprehend and kill the vigilantes.

On the island, Taiana becomes more wrapped into the power of the idol as she begins to understands Reiter’s motivation. She remarks that he wanted revenge for his village’s destruction just as she has a village she wants to protect of her own that is run by a government strong arm named Kovar. Oliver tries to assure her that they will return her to Russia if they can save the others, just as her brother would have wanted them to do.

Ruve implores Malcolm to find the vigilantes as Dahrk orders Cooper to find Rubicon. Felicity and Cuttler work against Cooper when Curtis comes up with an idea. Instead of trying to shut Rubicon down, they can flood it with too many access requests thereby shutting it down. Cuttler argues against it, saying that they need a better idea besides brute force, but Donna argues that they might as well try, believing it to be a creative choice. They begin to argue leading Donna to mention how he abandoned his family, but Cuttler reveals that she didn’t give him a choice in the matter. Before they can explain, Felicity loses control of her systems as Cooper activates her old virus to work into her computer. Cuttler recognizes the virus pattern, revealing that he kept track of Felicity from time to time, and begins to work against it. Cooper sends electrical surges to disrupt the loft, but it gives Felicity the opportunity to work back to his location. Curtis counters the attack, sending the surges back at Cooper and effectively destroying Rubicon. Cuttler congratulates Felicity, which leads to a disappointed Donna.

Under the dome, Oliver and Diggle quiet the family to stop them from turning them in to the ghosts. Diggle tries to force them into being quiet, but Oliver stops them, believing they are not in their right minds. One of the members actually responds that none of them have taken the pills. They chose to follow Damian Dahrk since the world has become an awful place while Dahrk provides hope for a future. The family questions how the Green Arrow with his hood and his weapons could inspire the same.

On the island, Oliver and Taiana fight off the soldiers with their deaths providing her with more power. Oliver then spots a wounded man and asks Taiana for help to carry him. Taiana, however, offers to kill him instead. She says since the man will only slow them down, they may as well kill him to make her stronger.

Back at the loft, Felicity finds Donna folding clothes in a bedroom. After seeing Felicity with her father, Donna finally reveals the truth about what happened. While Donna led Felicity to believe that he father left, Donna had, in fact, took Felicity and herself away from Cuttler. She states that she could not trust Cuttler to change his criminal ways and wanted to protect Felicity. Felicity, though surprised at the reveal, hugs Donna and assures her that she could never lose her.

Oliver and Diggle then tie up the family as Oliver ponders how Dahrk could inspire the innocent better than he could. Suddenly, the place is ambushed by Malcolm, Thea, and more ghosts. Diggle fights against the ghosts while Oliver is forced to fight his sister. Oliver tries to appeal to Thea, reminding her that she is stronger than this just as he’s seen of her every day in the field. Before Malcolm can kill Diggle, Thea arrives to shoot a dagger from his hand. The three corner Malcolm when Anarky appears on the screen. He reveals that he now has Ruve and her daughter held captive in the center base, and, unless Dahrk should surrender, he will kill the two and destroy the base. Malcolm warns the team that if Anarky had access to materials that could kill everyone under the dome, forcing the group to work together. Oliver states that his team will fight Anarky while Malcolm evacuates the people. Malcolm argues that the world outside could be destroyed by a nuclear holocaust by now, but Oliver maintains hope that the world is safe.

Oliver: I have hope.

Back on the island, Oliver fights Taiana for her gun, refusing to let her kill an innocent man. She demands the man’s power and tosses Oliver aside to snap the man’s neck.

The team make their way to the facility to fight Anarky who reveals that the base is powered by a dwarf star alloy. One stray shot could bring down the entire dome. Oliver and Thea nevertheless take aim and fire, causing explosions throughout the facility and the dome. Anarky then stabs Ruve and proceeds to fight the team. In the chaos, the people of the dome and Anarky escape, but Oliver goes to rescue Ruve’s daughter. When he goes back for Ruve, she dies after making him promise to protect her daughter. The team ultimately escapes the dome just as it creates a giant chasm in the middle of Star City. Felicity finally makes contact with Oliver who informs them that everyone is safe, but the city still needs saving.

On the island, Oliver takes the idol and finally gives Taiana an ultimatum. If she wants the idol, she needs to kill him. However, they are interrupted by Reiter, who is eager to kill both of them.

Dahrk remains alone in his lair after the loss of Rubicon and his family. Malcolm arrives to inform him that the channels are down due to Anarky, but Dahrk asks about gaining control of Rubicon. Malcolm reminds him that even if they took back the nuclear weapons, there would be no safe reserve for survivors. Dahrk, however, just wants the world to burn.

Donna finally confronts Cuttler on the events. Though he has proven helpful and honest in his care for their daughter, she orders him to leave since he is still a danger to Felicity. He accepts her decision and leaves the loft.

Curtis then talks to Felicity regarding Donna and Cuttler. Felicity informs him that Donna left Cuttler because he lived a dangerous life that she didn’t think he would change. Curtis remarks that the situation is similar to her own relationship with Oliver since she left Oliver because she didn’t think he could change. Suddenly, the group is interrupted by the appearance of Damian Dahrk who demands a favor from Felicity. 

Arrow Notes

• The name Kovar is an interesting Easter Egg. It's the surname of the former Teen Titan Red Star! Could he be in Russia?
• The dwarf star alloy, the material that makes up Ray Palmer's ATOM suit, makes an appearance once again.