Line #75 Recap/ArrowS4E8LegendsOfYesterday


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arrowcrossover2015_640x300.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:And you thought you'd have to wait until 2017 for the ''[[Film/JusticeLeague2017 Justice League]]''.]]
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4	[[Recap/TheFlash2014S2E8LegendsOfToday In the second part of the Arrow/Flash crossover]], Savage demands Oliver and Barry hand over Carter and Kendra to be killed or he'll destroy both of their cities. A first attempt to defeat him goes horribly wrong with everyone except Barry dead and Central City being destroyed, and while trying to outrun the shockwave Barry travels 24 hours into the past (again). He reveals to Oliver what happened, and the two change the outcome, destroying Savage. Oliver confirms that he has a son, and agrees to keep it a secret from everyone, including Felicity. Malcolm retrieves Savage's ashes with a plan to resurrect him.
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7	* AbandonedWarehouse: The showdown with Savage happened in one.
8	* AdaptationalNameChange:
9	** In the comics, Ollie's son is named Connor (and he has another son named Robert); here he's named William. WordOfGod is that production wanted the freedom to involve Connor some other way later on, and they wouldn't be able to if he were ten years old. [[spoiler:Connor turns out to be Diggle's post-Flashpoint son in a BadFuture]].
10	** For the matter, his mother's name is Samantha Clayton instead of Sandra Hawke.
11	* AesopAmnesia:
12	** Ollie doesn't tell Felicity about his son, having forgotten that KeepingSecretsSucks, which is really egregious since he took pains to avoid this in the last episode. Although to be fair, in this case the secret-keeping of not telling anyone about his son was part of an agreement with the boy's mother, which would allow him to see William every once in a while.
13	** While Barry warns Oliver about the dangers of changing the timeline, he is invoking his attempt to save his mother that resulted in the near-destruction of the the city (and world) and the death of Ronnie Raymond. He seems to have overlooked that when he earlier hopped back in time unintentionally and made changes he improved the outcome of events (saved the city, prevented thousands of deaths, prevented Cisco's murder by Eobard Thawne, stopped Joe from being kidnapped and brutally beaten) with the minor exception of his brief relationship change with Iris.
14	* AmicableExes: Cisco discontinues his relationship with Kendra after knowing that she should be with Carter, but remains supportive of her, like when he gives her a pendant with GPS chip so she can ask for help if needed.
15	* ArcWords: This time it's Oliver saying "Run, Barry. Run."
16	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Cisco ultimately gives up on his feelings for Kendra, acknowledging that she is destined to be with Carter.
17	* BeenThereShapedHistory: Carter states that Savage was responsible for the 1887 Huang He (Yellow River) flood in China. Savage also puts down Ollie's skills by claiming that he was the one to teach [[Myth/RobinHood Robin of Locksley]] how to use a bow.
18	* {{Bromance}}: Oliver and Barry cement their new found closeness with a hug--though Oliver was a bit reluctant, and only conceded when Barry threatened to hug him at SuperSpeed.
19	* CallBack: [[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E15OutOfTime Once again]], Barry sees a second version of himself running alongside him, and once again, it's a portent that he will travel through time in this episode.
20	* CelebrityParadox: WordOfGod confirms that Thea is talking about ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' during her "Superheroes in a farmhouse" remark. Creator/NealMcDonough (Damien Darhk, who appeared in the first part of the crossover), Creator/WilliamSadler (Simon Stagg), Creator/JAugustRichards (Mr. Blank), Chin Han (Frank Chen) and Creator/FalkHentschel (Carter Hall, who appeared in this episode) have all appeared in the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''.
21	* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Carter tells Kendra that in their previous lives they were always helping people.
22	* CompositeCharacter: Vandal Savage is one for Hath-Set, the Egyptian villain who's tied to the Hawks' various deaths and rebirths. Savage even goes by the name of Hath-Set in the flashbacks.
23	* ContinuityLockout: If you haven't watched ''The Flash'', not only will you have missed part one of the crossover, but you also won't understand anything about the time travel plot point.
24	* ContinuityNod:
25	** Barry tells Kendra not to let Oliver train her, since whenever it rains, [[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E8FlashVsArrow he still gets back pains]] from when Oliver shot him in the back with arrows.
26	* CosmicRetcon: The first attack against Savage goes horribly wrong due to Oliver being distracted due to his fight with Felicity and their technology to protect them from the staff failing, in which everyone ends up dead. Luckily Barry's time travel fixes all that.
27	* {{Crossover}}: The second annual with ''Series/TheFlash2014''.
28	* CrossReferencedTitles: With the Flash episode "Legends of Today" that's part one of this crossover, and with ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', which both episodes are a backdoor pilot to.
29	* DaddyDNATest: Oliver requested Barry to run a genetic test with his blood and William's hair strand. The Y-chromosome matches Oliver with his son.
30	* DarkestHour: Vandal ''kills'' Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and then Oliver himself, and then wipes out all of Central City with the Staff of Horus. Fortunately, Barry time travels, and this time, Barry actually ''knows'' that he will beforehand thanks to now understanding what seeing a speed mirage means.
31	* DeathIsCheap: Even though Savage is reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes, Malcolm seems to know a way to bring him back to life. In ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', it's revealed that Savage can come back FromASingleCell (which is fitting, given that Malcolm's [[Creator/JohnBarrowman actor]] can do the same thing in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'').
32	* DisintegratorRay: The Staff of Horus fires off an energy beam that can turn anybody into dust. Vandal Savage is no exception.
33	* EarlyBirdCameo: Thanks to an old tape our heroes dig up when researching Vandal Savage, we get to see Professor Boardman well before ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' even gets started.
34	* EvilIsPetty: Vandal Savage threatens to destroy all of Central City (and later Star City) if Hawkman and Hawkgirl aren't surrendered to him to be killed. He later ''successfully'' kills the two, but because both Arrow and The Flash keep on fighting him after that, he still destroys Central City anyway out of spite.
35	* {{Fanservice}}: In flashbacks, Khufu/Hawkman had a skimpy cover for his torso and Chay-Ara showed some part of her boobs.
36	* ForegoneConclusion: Due to Vandal Savage being the BigBad of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', it's obvious his death is not going to stick.
37	* ForWantOfANail: After his accidental time jump, Barry tells Oliver about his son without any ''physical evidence'', so Felicity never found out about it (yet, at least), and she and Ollie would never get into a fight. This allows the Arrow to be in "his game" for the battle against Savage.
38	* GetOut: In the Ancient Egypt flashback, Vandal Savage caught Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara in the same bedchamber. Prince Khufu proceeds to tell Savage to get out before starting a brawl.
39	* GiveHimANormalLife: Samantha requests Oliver not to reveal anybody that he is William's father.
40	* GodzillaThreshold: Oliver and ''Barry'' opt to kill Vandal Savage, rather than let someone that dangerous be taken into custody.
41	* TheHeroDies: Oliver and every other character sans Barry were killed by Vandal Savage. Barry travels back a day before that happens to make things right.
42	* HeroKiller: Vandal Savage is established as a dangerous threat, both literally and figuratively.
43	* JerkassHasAPoint: Although Oliver considers Samantha's refusal to allow him to interact with their son to be unreasonable, he does realize she's right when she states [[RightForTheWrongReasons his life isn't one that would be good for William to be involved in]].
44	* KilledOffscreen: Several. All negated by Barry's TimeTravel.
45	** Thea, Cisco, Samantha and William's deaths via Vandal Savage's WorldWreckingWave weren't shown, but they're confirmed to have been killed-off by the attack. Assuming that he's still in Central City during the attack, then Malcolm counts too.
46	** Even though they did not appear in this episode, most of the characters on ''Series/TheFlash2014'' (Iris, Joe, Harry, Captain Singh, Jay, Patty, and the villains that Oliver and Barry defeated that were imprisoned in Iron Heights) and Dinah Lance. Possibly also [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Sara]], assuming that she's still staying at her mom in Central City.
47	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Samantha insists that Oliver not tell anyone he has a son - not even Felicity.
48	* ManipulativeBastard: Malcolm proves once again his villainous nature by helping Savage getting resurrected just so he owes him a favor.
49	* MythologyGag:
50	** Cisco refers to the element in the Staff of Horus and the meteorite as "nth metal", the AppliedPhlebotinum that's been been connected with [[ContinuitySnarl all the assorted versions]] of the Hawkman/Hawkgirl characters.
51	** Although this version of Savage has a significantly different origin story from the classic character, a meteorite impact is still involved.
52	** The meteorite sample Barry retrieves was in Keystone City. Keystone City is the home of two of The Flashes (Jay Garrick and Wally West).
53	** Barry escaping Savage's WorldWreckingWave is played out similarly to the finale of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox''. (although in the movie Barry races the explosion with an injured leg)
54	* NoOntologicalInertia: When Savage is killed the Staff of Horus disappears out of Barry and Oliver's hands.
55	* OhCrap: Kendra realizes that she can't spread her wings the same way Carter does, leading her to waste the opportunity to fight Vandal Savage back during their first battle.
56	* OneManArmy: Savage takes on the entire Arrow team and dominates the fight, despite getting ambushed.
57	* OutOfFocus: Though Laurel, Diggle, Thea, and Caitlin all appear in the episode, they only have one or two lines each.
58	* OutrunTheFireball: The Flash manages to barely escape the wave of destruction that Vandal makes the Staff of Horus emit to destroy all of Central City, and he runs so fast that he travels back in time to the previous day.
59	* PragmaticAdaptation: Considering Hawkman and Hawkwoman have arguably ''the'' most ridiculously convoluted and confusion-plagued continuity in the history of comic books, mixing their fate with Savage in ancient Egypt is the best way for the TV versions to go without getting into the whole "alien policemen" aspect.
60	** Likewise, it's a bit easier to accept Vandal Savage only being about 4000 years old rather than a caveman wandering the Earth since the Cro-Magnon days.
61	** Having the Hawks' wings being able to appear and disappear as necessary makes it easier on all involved instead of having to explain why they wear artificial wings and fly using nth metal (the standard comic explanation) or having them walk around with wings all the time (the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse version of Hawkgirl and other Thanagarians).
62	* PoorCommunicationKills: Barry, after time traveling from the first disastrous attempt to fight Savage, tells Oliver about not only how the attempt went wrong, but also how things ended badly, especially since Oliver and Felicity got into a bad fight about his son. But, due to justified reasons, Barry fails to mention that the fight wasn't because Oliver had a kid, but it was about how he didn't tell Felicity about it.
63	* {{Retcon}}:
64	** Her original appearance in season 2 implied that Samantha became pregnant shortly before the shipwreck of the ''Queen's Gambit'', but in this episode it is stated that those events took place "10 years ago", which would place the flashbacks in ''[[Recap/ArrowS2E20SeeingRed Seeing Red]]'' two years before the ''Queen's Gambit'' went down.
65	* RevealingCoverup: Felicity would never have realized that Barry was hiding something from her (namely, the DNA test Ollie asked for) had it not been for Barry pocketing it in ''superspeed''.
66	* RightForTheWrongReasons: Samantha doesn't want William to be involved in Oliver's life as she considers it would be bad and even dangerous for him to be exposed to Oliver's life... the life of an immature, partying, womanizing playboy, which she still thinks of him as.
67	* SavedByCanon: Vandal Savage's resurrection is secured by his tenure as the BigBad of the upcoming ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''.
68	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Samantha never cashed the million dollar check Moira gave to her (and presumably the second million she promised on her return to Central City) because she did not want the Queens to have any claim on her son.
69	* SecretKeeper: Barry is the only person Oliver tells about his illegitimate child. Felicity finds out too, but Barry's TimeTravel causes a CosmicRetcon.
70	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Barry does it again to save Central City (and everyone else) from a disaster.
71	* ShipSinking: Felicity ends her relationship with Ollie since he didn't tell her he has a son (she's not mad that he has a son, but that he kept it from her). That's undone by the time travel, but the fact he still doesn't tell her at the end implies he's just kicking the can down the road.
72	* ShoutOut:
73	** When the group of superheroes takes refuge in the farmhouse, Thea notes that she saw something like that [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron in a movie somewhere...]]
74	** Cisco tells Barry that [[Film/FightClub "The first rule of time travel is that you don't talk about time travel."]]
75	* ShownTheirWork: The 1887 flood that Carter states Vandal Savage was responsible for is one of the few widespread natural disasters that could, theoretically, really have been caused by a single relatively normal human arranging for breaches (using gunpowder explosives, for example) in the dykes holding back the Huang He.
76	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Thea seems to have grown attached to "Speedy", as she denies Cisco's attempts to come up with a better nickname.
77	-->'''Cisco:''' Maybe you need to familiarize yourself with my [[TheNicknamer body of work]].\
78	'''Thea:''' Why don't you get a haircut, then we'll talk?\
79	'''Cisco:''' ''[twirls hair]'' I think you just mad 'cause my conditioner game is on point.
80	* SpecialEditionTitle: [[CallBack As in "The Brave and the Bold"]], the arrow is replaced by the lightning bolt from the ''Flash'' titles.
81	* StrippedToTheBone: Vandal Savage caused an energy explosion that vaporized everybody within the field, with skeletons visibly crumbling down.
82	* TheStinger: Malcolm collects Vandal Savage's remains so he can resurrect him so he can cash in a favor from him in the future.
83	* SwissCheeseSecurity: When Caitlin asks why they couldn't regroup at S.T.A.R. Labs instead of the farmhouse, Oliver points out that it basically has a revolving door for bad guys. Caitlin retorts that given ''his'' history with bases, he really can't talk.
84	* TheyKilledKennyAgain: This episode marked several characters cheating death due to Barry's TimeTravel.
85	** This would have been Oliver's second official death, and the third time he cheated it.
86	** This would have been Thea and Cisco's second deaths, the latter's first also being negated the same way.
87	** Assuming that Sara is still staying at her mother in Central City, then this is also her second official death, and the '''fourth''' time she cheated it.
88	** Assuming that Malcolm is still somewhere in Central City when Savage released the WorldWreckingWave, then this is the second time he cheated death.
89	** This would have been Carter and Kendra's [[{{Reincarnation}} 207th]] death and the very first time they officially cheated it.
90	* TimeTravelTenseTrouble: Barry runs into this while trying to explain time travel to Oliver.
91	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: In addition to the Vandal Savage subplot, there's one associated with Oliver's son that started in the Flash portion of the crossover, but became more fleshed out here.
92	* WhamShot:
93	** Savage killing ''all'' the main characters of both this show and ''Series/TheFlash2014'' sans the latter's title character. Granted, Barry negated it via CosmicRetcon but it's still a shock to see.
94	** Merlyn collecting Savage's ashes.
95	* WorldWreckingWave: Savage's staff unleashes one that annihilates the city. It could've spanned the entire world had Barry not time-traveled.

Context Recap / ArrowS4E8LegendsOfYesterday