The Legends find themselves in 2045 trying to defeat an alien warrior which leaves Zari no choice but to enter a popular singing competition. Ava has finally had enough of Rory's behavior and with the encouragement of Spooner, gives him some tough love. Sara Lance finds herself struggling after being attacked but someone familiar helps her to keep searching for refuge. Meanwhile, Zari and Constantine have a much-needed conversation with each other.
Tropes:
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Knoxicrillion and the Legends end up turning Da Throne into this, as the latter convince the former that it is the key to conquering the Earth, and Zari enters in order to stop him.
- Accidental Murder: Mick appears oblivious that he killed Lord Knoxicrillion when telling Ava about a lead.
- Alien Invasion: Lord Knoxicrillion threatens Earth with it. After Mick tries to shoot on him with the Waverider, the entire fleet arrives and targets Earth.
- All Part of the Show: Knox's first attempt on DJ S'More Money's life is interrupted by Nate and Behrad, and the ensuing fight (on live TV) is believed by everyone else to be part of the act.
- Ambiguous Situation: Kayla is presumed dead because she was Thrown Out the Airlock. But the Legends don't know that, and their decision to find her seems to make it suspect.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Les-lay, S'More Money, and even Nasreen believe John is only a street magician and con artist, not an actual bona fide sorcerer. Even after setting S'More Money's mask on fire in front of a large crowd.
- The Artifact: Played with. Mick is afraid that he is becoming this since he is one of the last of the original members of the Legends aside from Sara. Which is why Mick gets really reckless and violent in trying to get Sara back until Ava gets him to stop acting up.
- At Least I Admit It: John calls himself a bastard during his argument with Zari, believing that she was solely focused on regaining her popularity while denying it.
- Bait-and-Switch: Ava manages to stop Spooner from killing Knox once he steps out of his mech, only to be killed by Mick instead.
- Beware the Nice Ones: While Nate and John are arguing over who gets to punch Zari's ex first, the normally non-violent Behrad beats them to it.Behrad: What? Can't a pacifist blow off a little steam?
- Big Brother Instinct: Younger brother in this case. Both Nate and John are ready to cream S'More Money for rigging the contest to humiliate Zari, but it was Behrad who hit him first before they could even do anything.
- Big Damn Heroes: Behrad and Nate save S'More Money from being stabbed by Lord Knoxicrillion.
- The Bus Came Back: Zari and Behrad's mom Nasreen, S'More Money, and Les-lay return in this episode.
- Continuity Nod: Nate brings up punching S'More Money before in a previous episode.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Mick is even more drunk than usual, due to Sara's absence.
- Eating the Enemy: At Sara's urging, Gary reluctantly does this to their pursuers. He's not at all happy when he learns they were Ava clones.
- Evil Is Hammy: Lord Knoxicrillion is great at chewing the scenery.
- Fair-Play Villain: Lord Knoxicrillion defaults to conquering worlds by killing their rulers but is willing to honor a planet's own rites of succession to leadership. He is convinced that Da Throne is the way to conquer Earth and puts all effort into competing effectively, never cheating once. (DJ S'more Money's sabotage doesn't count, as Knox is completely unaware of the scheme.)
- Fixing the Game: S'More Money gives Zari and Knox the same song so that the former will lose.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After Mick almost dooms the Earth, Ava finally confronts him and tells him to get it together or else she'll throw him off the ship.
- Giant Foot of Stomping: After Lord Knoxicrillion reveals he's a tiny alien in a Mobile-Suit Human, he's unexpectedly finished off by Mick stomping him underfoot.
- Graceful Loser:
- Implied when the K-Pop duo that Zari beat earlier in the contest comes out to perform with her and John in the finals, helping her win the contest.
- Knox himself actually accepts his loss in the contest, bowing to Zari, caling off his invasion and coming with the Legends to the Waverider without a fight.
- Hidden Depths:
- John, for all his sarcasm, admits to Zari that he wants to try a real relationship, even though he thinks that he'll eventually screw it up and he believes that he doesn't deserve to be happy. Later, he and Zari both admit they are terrified after making their relationship official.
- Mick manages to sketch an almost-accurate portrait of Kayla from the few details Knox gave the Legends.
- Literal-Minded: Lord Knoxicrillion thinks that S'More Money is an actual king and that he can become the new ruler by killing him. When the moderator talks about "bomb shells" he also thinks he is talking about literal explosives.
- Mobile-Suit Human: Knox is actually a mech suit operated by a tiny alien.
- Moment Killer: At the start of the episode, John and Zari get interrupted several times while trying to make out.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Gary's reaction to finding out he ate Ava clones.
- Based on his facial expressions, Mick has this reaction when he pulls his fire gun on Ava and she calls him out on it.
- Mythology Gag: Behrad asks if Lord Knoxicrillion is going to be picked up by a "space cabbie". In the comics, Space Cabbie was a character from Mystery in Space, who has made occasional appearances in the cosmic titles since.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Gideon is a little too excited about S'More Money getting eviscerated.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: Knox says that his species is non-binary and everybody carries children.
- Noodle Incident: Spooner tells Ava she lost her virginity to a guy who later dumped her and took her truck.
- Not So Above It All: Spooner watches Da Throne with the other Legends.
- Relationship Upgrade: Zari calls John her boyfriend at the end of the episode.
- The Reveal: S'More Money cheated on Zari with Les-lay. And leaked the incriminating photos for publicity.
- Sequel Hook: Sara meets Bishop, the apparent mastermind behind all the alien kidnappings.
- Shaped Like Itself: Gideon says, "Lord Knoxicrillion's superior technology is...superior."
- Shout-Out:
- The whole episode is a parody of reality talent shows. The title paraphrases The X Factor, the format for the "Da Throne" is based on The Voice, the Wild Card seems to be a jab at the gimmick of The Masked Singer, and the golden buzzer is a pretty clear reference to America's Got Talent.
- It's mentioned that Dwayne Johnson is president in the 2040s.
- Nate mentions Thor: Ragnarok and calls Lord Knoxicrillion The Iron Giant.
- John compares his new look to that of Criss Angel.
- In a Freeze-Frame Bonus, while Knox is synthesizing the voices of Earth's best vocalists, a POV shot from inside his helmet shows a long list of names, including Freddie Mercury, Beyonce, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Prince, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, etc.
- Show Within a Show: Da Throne.
- Skyward Scream: Gary does this after learning that he ate a bunch of Ava clones.
- Slouch of Villainy: S'More Money sits in a rather undignified manner on his throne throughout the whole contest. Nate as well when he impersonates him during the finals.
- Spot the Imposter: Sara quickly realizes that it's not "her" Ava that is trying to lure her away.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Les-lay is apparently adept at this, frequently startling John when she comes up from behind him unexpectedly.
- Swapped Roles: John tells Zari how he is usually the one to point out that things will end badly in case anybody tries to get close to him.
- Took a Level in Badass: Gary in his true alien form easily overpowers and eats a bunch of Ava clones.
- Trigger-Happy: Spooner once again immediately grabs her gun when an alien is in sight, even when it's the size of a grasshopper.
- The Unfettered: Sara tells Gary that she is ready to do anything to get back to Ava.
- The Unreveal: S'More Money gets Mugged for Disguise by Nate, reducing him to his undies...yet his mask still remains, so we never find out what he looks like.
- Visual Pun: John sets S'More Money's head on fire, making him a roasted s'more.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Lord Knoxicrillion gets stepped on by Mick.
- We Need a Distraction: Zari helps Nate and Ava sneak onto the set of 'Da Throne' by simply walking up to the crowd outside, forcing the men guarding the door to hurry over and get between her and the rush of fans.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ava tells Mick he can't attack Hollywood. She also calls him on his behavior in general, saying that he isn't the only one who misses Sara and that she needs his help.
- The Worf Effect: Lord Knoxicrillion overpowers Nate and Behrad in combat and his tech is advanced enough to casually shut off the Waverider's force field and detect it trying to fire on him.
