Ray and Nora scramble to maintain a facade when the Legends run into a new Encore: their former archenemy and Nora's father, Damien Darhk. Ava talks with Sara about her trip to Star City, while John and Charlie discuss the Loom of Fate, and Mick and Zari find a detractor of his book.
Tropes
- Addiction Displacement: John quits smoking and starts chewing on sunflower seeds instead.
- Altar the Speed: Ray and Nora marry on the spot.
- Always with You: Shortly before obliterating himself, Damien promises Nora that he'll "never be far".
- Ambiguous Situation: While Sara remembers the Pre-Crisis events where Damien killed Laurel, this is never directly addressed in this episode, keeping the ambiguity of the circumstances surrounding Earth-1 Laurel's death from Arrow's finale.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Nora finally starts getting through to Damien when she tells him that he hasn't actually been much of a father to her because it was a demonic cult who actually raised her.
- Back for the Dead: Damien's resurrection lasts all of one episode.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The entire group, when they are trying to make Damien eat the mousse laced with the potion to depower him.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Damien stabs himself with Khan's sword, choosing oblivion over letting Astra drag him back to Hell for failing to live up to his end of the bargain.
- Birds of a Feather: John and Damien actually get along splendidly, with the latter being very disappointed when it turns out that he is not Nora's boyfriend.
- Bittersweet Ending: Damien makes peace with the Legends (except maybe for Sara), gives his blessing to Ray and Nora's wedding, but kills himself with Genghis Khan's sword.
- Boyfriend Bluff: Constantine has to pretend to be Nora's fiancé or else he'll ruin the entire facade he accidentally walks into.
- Brick Joke: Gary gets his wish to serve as the flower boy for Ray and Nora's wedding.
- Brought Down to Normal: Invoked. Nora tries to slip Damien a potion that will strip him of his powers so he'll be "harmless" and the Legends will let him live. Apparently, she forgot what she experienced first-hand in "Daddy Darhkest", that Damien was a deadly assassin even before he learned magic, and he would actually be Brought Down to Badass if her plan worked.
- Brutal Honesty: Both Pippa and Lita are very straight-forward kids.
- The Bus Came Back: Damien Darhk returns, having not been seen since the third season finale.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Nora stands up to Damien, telling him off for handing her over to the Cult of Mallus instead of raising her himself, telling him that she likes her new life as a Fairy Godmother and one of the good guys.
- Chained to a Railway: Damien does this to 2018!Gary before stealing his time courier.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Ray's VHS collection of Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac ends up being vital to resolving the conflicts of the episode.
- Genghis Khan's hellsword, with which Sara intended to kill Damien, is used by Damien to kill himself at the end.
- Continuity Nod:
- Sara says that a power like the Loom of Fate should not be used by anybody, possibly in reference to the Spear of Destiny.
- Sara has a job offer from Rene Ramirez a.k.a. Wild Dog from Star City. It's also a continuation of a plot thread from way back to the beginning of Season 3, where Sara was unable to get a decent job because a) she was Legally Dead, and b) she was basically an Un-person because of her time travel escapades. This time around she made sure to invoke the clause of having a friend in high places (the mayor) to get a cozier job offer.
- "Puppets, again..." Constantine exclaims, recalling his encounter with the Puppets of Tomorrow.
- Contrived Coincidence: All three of the remaining first-generation members of the Legends find themselves in situations where they might think of going into retirement: Sara secretly tries to get a normal job in case Ava wants to settle down, Mick finds out he has a daughter, and Ray and Nora get married. So far, the first two have become Red Herrings, but the last one...
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Damien is pleased when he thinks that Nora is going to marry John Constantine, a morally grey warlock, and gets upset when he learns she's actually marrying Ray Palmer, a philanthropist do-gooder. Ironically, he'd prefer his daughter were engaged to a "bad boy" (especially one with magical powers) rather than a Nice Guy, since he's a Card-Carrying Villain and believes that Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad.
- Didn't Think This Through: Charlie didn't consider the possibility that her sisters might go looking for the Loom of Fate now that all of the pieces are on Earth-Prime, and she's convinced to help find them by John's promise to only use it once (to solve the problem with Astra) then destroy it for good.
- Faint in Shock: Mick drops like a sack of potatoes when he finds out that he has a teenage daughter.
- Forgiveness: Averted. While Sara acknowledges Damien's Heel–Face Turn, she understandably refuses his offer for reconciliation and Damien agrees that he wouldn't forgive himself either for what he's done (i.e. murdering her sister Laurel and his numerous crimes across the timeline) before killing himself.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Despite Damien's Heel–Face Turn, Sara can never really forgive him for killing Laurel, which Damien accepts before he commits suicide.
- Funny Background Event: When Peppa wishes for the Legends and Darhk to be sent into Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac, Nate can be seen slapping himself in the forehead as they all get zapped.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Enforced by pretending that they've been brainwashed by Nora, but Sara, Ava, Gary and Constantine have to endure serving and kowtowing to Damien Darhk for dinner.
- Gone Horribly Right: This is ultimately the case for Tabitha’s ploy that bestowed the Fairy Godmother curse on Nora in the first place, considering how much being Fairy Godmother has helped Nora cope with her life, and made her happy.
- Heel–Face Turn: After having a Heel Realization, Damien finally, genuinely changes his ways...and promptly kills himself, this time presumably for good.
- Hidden Depths: Gary succesfully conjures up a potion that would have depowered Damien, had he taken it.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Damien makes such a threat to Ray during the wedding reception.
- Immediate Sequel: Downplayed: Due to the circumstances of Damien's Encoring, the episode briefly concerns itself with a period of time five hours following Mallus's defeat in 1874 Providence.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: The last episode of Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac shown features Mr. Parker popping open a beer. Nate notes that after doing 4000 hours of children's television, he's earned it.
- It's Not You, It's Me: Mick erases the memories of Ali and their daughter of their meeting together, believing that it will be the best for all three of them, as he considers himself a lousy father.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Mick thinks that his daughter is better off not knowing him, since he would be a bad influence on her.
- Damien invokes this, telling Ray that in order to properly support his new bride’s fairy godmother job, he’d have to leave the Waverider.
- Kick the Dog: As it turns out, Gary stayed behind for a bit in 1874 following Mallus' defeat to clean up the remnants of the giant Beebo. For his trouble, when Damien comes back as an Encore, he is promptly tied to the railroad tracks and left for dead.
- Knight Templar Parent: Damien wants what he considers best for Nora, and lashes out violently when he doesn't get it. He also threatens Ray to treat her well as her husband or else.
- Love Redeems: Damien's genuine love for his daughter ultimately causes him to have a Heel–Face Turn.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Mick discovers that the troll mocking his books online is the illegitimate daughter he unknowingly fathered back in "Slay Anything".
- Maintain the Lie: Nora tries to convince her dad she's still an evil sorceress. That includes passing off Sara and Ava as her "henchpeople" and John as her boyfriend.
- Manchild: Nora points out Damien's childish mentality.
- Mood Whiplash: Even with the return of recurring Arrowverse villain Damien Darhk, the usual Legends hijinks have a rather light tone, and Damien even looks like he has a Heel Realization...then he suddenly commits seppuku with the hellsword.
- Nightmare Fuel: In-Universe, Mr. Parker's painting of a smiling monkey, as he claims it will haunt his dreams until the day he dies.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The show doesn't even try to pretend that Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac isn't an Expy of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
- Poor Communication Kills: Most of the conflicts in this episode come from a failure to communicate; once everyone is forced to sit down and actually talk things out, all the issues get worked out pretty quickly.
- Previously on…: Variation: instead of recapping the events of previous episodes of the current season, the episode recaps the climax of "The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly" before jumping ahead five hours later (from 2018!Gary's perspective).
- Punch-Clock Villain: Damien is mandated to commit evil deeds again as per being resurrected by Astra, but he obviously doesn't feel like it.
- Ret-Gone: Briefly occurs to Gary due to events in 1874 with his 2018 self, and he feels the flickering in and out of existence. He immediately comes back thanks to 2018-Gary being rescued by Sara and Ava.
- Serious Business: Mick throws a huge tantrum over his book getting mean reviews online (by his own daughter as it turns out).
- Shipper on Deck: Even after realizing he's been had, seeing Constantine's display of powers had Damien still consider him husband material.
- Shout-Out:
- Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac is a very obvious spoof of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
- Ali named her and Mick's daughter after Lita Ford of The Runaways.
- When Gary interrupts Sara, Ava, and Nora's conversation to make Damien mortal, he says "I volunteer as tribute".
- Damien says "Brexit" as he casually flings John away when the latter tries to stop Damien from strangling Ray.
- Nate as the smiling, babbling sun is a reference to Teletubbies.
- Single Tear: Damien sheds one when he looks at his daughter for the last time.
- Spotting the Thread: The immediate particulars concerning Gary almost dying in 1874 start coming together for Sara and Ava when Gary refers to the latter as "Director Sharpe".
- Third Line, Some Waiting: The two important plot lines are about Damien's resurrection, as well as John trying to find the loom. Then there is also Mick finding out that he has a daughter.
- Troll: Mick and Ali's daughter Lita reaches out to her father by trolling him about the quality of his books.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Ray bakes the ring he bought for Nora into a mousse to be served at dessert during the romantic dinner he planned for her...which she finds while Damien is still under the impression that John is Nora's boyfriend.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: As a result of Damien tying Gary to the railroad tracks shortly after Beebo killed Mallus, 2020!Gary develops a fear of trains.
- Wild Goose Chase: Charlie shapeshifts into Nate and attempts to put John on the wrong trail to Antarctica in his search of the Loom of Fate.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: It can't be a coincidence that the Legends (and Darhk) settle their grievances with each other (Ava and Sara; John and Charlie; Damien and Nora; Gary and trains) through the wish of a mere child, Pippa.
- Wizard Duel: Between John and Damien at two points during the episode.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: John when he sees Puppet Sara and Puppet Ava.You're bloody serious. Puppets, again??
