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Harry: There's a fifty-third Earth, and it's called "Earth-X". It doesn't have a designation because it's a place so awful, so horrific, no sane person ever travelled there. Basically our Earth: same history, same timeline, with one crucial and critical difference.
Martin: Let me hypothesize. The Nazis develop the atomic bomb before the United States did, and they're more than happy to use it.
Harry: Yes, the Nazis won the war. And New York, London, Paris and Moscow, all obliterated. The S.S. set up outposts. Not only all throughout Europe, but throughout the Americas, and Hitler continued his brutal reign, aided by Prime Ministers and Presidents sympathetic to him, until his death in 1994.

Crisis On Earth-X is the fourth annual crisis crossover television serial, of The CW's Arrowverse, following Flash vs. Arrow, Heroes Join Forces and Invasion, and is told across Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow with characters from Freedom Fighters: The Ray also appearing.

After a decades-long courtship and many near death experiences between them, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) —better known as The Flash—and Iris West (Candice Patton) are finally getting married. Naturally, the momentous occasion is attended by all of their closest friends (and enemies) — super or otherwise.

Before their vows can be shared, the wedding is interrupted by evil counterparts of our heroes from Earth-X — an Alternate Universe wherein Nazi Germany won World War II. Naturally, this rallies all of the Arrowverse's superheroes together once again for a common cause.

Not to be confused with the extremely similarly named Marvel series, Earth X.

    Characters featured in this crossover include: 

Crisis on Earth-X consists of four episodes aired in pairs on November 27th and 28th, 2017.

Episodes


Crisis on Earth-X contains examples of the following tropes:

  • 0% Approval Rating: The Nazis are pretty much a given, since literally everyone at the wedding says in unison "I hate Nazis" when they crash the ceremony, though a more subtle case shows Adolf Hitler in this light, astonishingly for the place he came from. Even in an alternate Earth where he took over the world and managed to live through a century, it's shown that he isn't even respected by his successors as Overgirl states in a private conversation with Dark Flash that Oliver-X is a superior Führer than Hitler ever was.
  • 20% More Awesome: In their first three-way spat, Dark Flash suggests that he'll stop vibrating his hand to threaten Dark Arrow's life, Overgirl stop breaking Dark Flash's wrist in counterthreat, and Dark Arrow "Be 10% less brooding."
  • Action Survivor: Iris, Caitlin, and Felicity. The girls have proven themselves as able to handle themselves in the field, but they recognize they'd be in over their heads against the invaders, and Caitlin still partially fears letting Killer Frost take the reins, but she does let her transform if no other option is available.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Earth-X invaders occupy S.T.A.R. Labs, and then goes so far as to use its Pipeline to imprison some of the heroes.
  • Alternate-History Nazi Victory: Earth-X is a reality in which Nazi Germany won WWII, courtesy of developing the atom bomb first, leading to dark versions of our familiar heroes.
  • Amazon Chaser:
    • Mick seems quite taken with Killer Frost.
    • Alex was already taken with Sara but seems more turned on finding out her one-night stand is a trained assassin.
  • Arc Villain: The Führer, a.k.a. the Dark Arrow, is the one calling all the shots, although he seems to be playing equally with Overgirl (which is justified because they're married) and the Dark Flash.
  • Arch-Enemy: The New Reichsmen quickly become this for their good counterparts. Except for the Dark Flash, as he's actually the Reverse-Flash, Earth-1 Eobard Thawne, and thus already Barry's Arch-Enemy to begin with.
  • Badass Army: Once they are finally assembled, Earth-1's defenders (plus a couple of Freedom Fighters from Earth-X) essentially become a small yet very potent one.
  • Battle Couple: Several.
    • Alex and Sara become this for the crossover, first sleeping together and then kicking all the asses together.
    • Leo Snart and the Ray are lovers and fellow freedom fighters.
    • On the villains' side we have the Unholy Matrimony of Overgirl and Dark Arrow.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: The New Reichsmen are the collective main antagonists. While Dark Arrow is the Führer, Overgirl acts as his partner and is far more powerful, while Eobard is helping them mainly just to screw with Barry.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Team Arrow comes to Heatwave and Killer Frost's rescue against Dark Arrow. Subverted in that he takes all of them down singlehandedly.
    • Citizen Cold saving several of the Earth-1 heroes from a Nazi firing squad. He was actually there to save Ray Terill, but Ray tells Cold that they should free them as well.
    • The remaining Legends finally arriving to rescue the heroes being held hostage at S.T.A.R. Labs, with Ray Palmer in particular being the one to save Kara from being cut open by Thawne.
  • The Big Damn Kiss: Unsurprisingly, Barry and Iris, and Oliver and Felicity's, first kiss as husband and wife.
  • Big "NO!": Dark Arrow, when Overgirl explodes.
  • Big Red Button: One is used to shut off the Earth-X Waverider's shields.
  • Big Sister Instinct: Alex may have no chance against Overgirl, but that doesn't stop her from threatening her if she hurts Kara in any way.
  • Book Ends:
    • When facing off against the teamwork of Sara and Alex, Prometheus-X declares that today's wedding will also be followed by two funerals. The crossover ends with two weddings after one funeral.
    • The first battle between Overgirl and Supergirl ends with the former sending the latter plummeting back to the church, and Supergirl retaliated with a Shockwave Clap that disoriented Overgirl, causing Dark Arrow's Big "NO!". The way the final battle between the two Kryptonians ends almost literally mirrors the whole thing, where Supergirl carries Overgirl to the atmosphere before detonating, and was then also followed by Dark Arrow's Big "NO!".
    • In the Villain Opening Scene, Dark Arrow finishes off the Freedom Fighters' Guardian with an arrow point-blank to the heart. The final battle in Central City ends with Oliver sending an arrow point-blank to his Nazi counterpart's heart.
  • Brick Joke: In the non-canon promo Superhero Fightclub 2.0, Kara jokingly told Oliver that he needs a Kryptonite Arrow to take her on. Turns out he took her advice.
  • Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Oliver is laid out and coughing up blood after just one punch from Overgirl.
  • Brought Down to Normal: Overgirl and The Reverse Flash expose a captured Kara to a Red Sun Lamp to deplete the Yellow Solar Energy in her cells.
  • Brutal Honesty: When meeting Captain Singh at the wedding, (who somehow fails to recognize him), Mick states outright that he hates cops. After meeting Cecile, he mentions he also hates attorneys.
  • Call-Back:
    • Cisco and Harry use quark spheres to trick the Firestorm Matrix into thinking Martin and Jax are still linked, just as Cisco did in "The Flash Reborn" to trick the Speed Force into releasing Barry.
    • Mick recalls having kidnapped Caitlin back in Season 1, to which she advises him not to try it again.
    • Eobard Thawne is wearing the face of Harrison Wells for "old times' sake".
    • Ray is confused at how Thawne is back, remarking how he thought the speedster was dead.
    • Barry quotes advice about plans going awry given to him by Earth-1 Snart in "Infantino Street", and even mimics Snart's manner of speaking.
    • In "Flash Vs Arrow" Ollie had advised Barry to give up on Iris (who was dating Eddie at the time), telling him, "Guys like us, we don't get the girl." Early in episode 1, when Ollie comments on how happy Barry looks, Barry answers, "What can I say? I got the girl."
  • The Cameo:
    • The crossover upholds the Arrowverse tradition of cameos from former superhero television with William Katt as the priest who gives Iris and Barry their vows moments before he's vaporized by Overgirl.
    • Susanna Thompson, who played Moira Queen, makes a surprise voiceover appearance as Earth-X's Gideon.
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: Barry and Iris have a discussion regarding RSVPs for the wedding while he's fighting King Shark. Similarly, Felicity bothers Oliver while he's fighting ninjas to ask if they're going to the wedding, and the Legends discuss their own plans for the wedding while fighting some of the Sheriff of Nottingham's men in medieval England.
  • The Cavalry:
    • When Oliver-X invades STAR labs, and give a lot of trouble to the heroes, the Team Arrow recruits arrive as reinforcement...but don't end up faring any better.
    • After the Nazis have completely taken over STAR Labs, Felicity sends an S.O.S. to the rest of the Legends. They only manage to arrive near the end of the event, but are a lot more helpful against the Nazis with Ray Palmer saving Kara's life.
  • Cliffhanger:
    • Part 1: The leaders of the New Reich unmask themselves...and they are the Earth-X doppelgangers of Kara and Oliver. The third leader shows up, and it's Eobard Thawne.
    • Part 2: Iris and Felicity are trapped in a Nazi-occupied S.T.A.R. Labs as they watch the invaders lock Team Arrow, Killer Frost and Heatwave in the Pipeline, and the rest of the heroes find themselves in a concentration camp on Earth-X, with Kara's location unknown.
    • Part 3: The heroes on Earth-X fight the Nazis in the hangar with the portal to Earth-1, while Red Tornado-X is flying in ready to blow the place up, Flash and the Ray having failed to stop it. And Martin Stein is shot, to Jax's horror...
  • Combined Energy Attack:
    • The Flash combines his lightning attack with the Ray's energy burst to finally take out Red Tornado.
    • All the heroes with ranged energy attacks worked together to destroy Earth-X Metallo.
  • Conservation of Ninjutsu: This trope is specifically lampshaded by Felicity during Oliver's introduction. She gets annoyed that Oliver isn't responding because he's fighting "just some ninjas", dismissing them as complete fodder.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Barry and Oliver's conversation of the doomed love they shared with Iris and Felicity is discussed as they realize Oliver was wrong.
    • Mick brings up the fact that he and Snart had kidnapped Caitlin, and she just replies never to even think of trying it again.
    • Barry and Kara recall their experiences in their musical coma. Barry even requests Kara to sing for the wedding, and she happens to sing the very song Barry used to serenade Iris with as his wedding proposal.
    • After the first attack by the Earth-X invaders, Sara speculates at first that they're another historical anachronism that the Legends have to clean up.
    • Oliver mentions how Earth-1 Tommy is Thea's other half-brother and that he died for Laurel, a woman they both loved.
    • Felicity mentions that the one plus side of facing Black Siren is that they now have enough experience with doppelgängers to differentiate the Evil Earth-Xers from their friends and loved ones.
    • Barry comments that Thawne was wearing Harrison Wells' face before his death/erasure from history, the same face he wore when Barry became the Flash.
    • Upon seeing the Kryptonite arrow, Felicity is concerned that Oliver shot Kara, referencing Oliver's tendency to shoot arrows at his friends.
    • Oliver and Felicity's failed first engagement is constantly brought up as a reason why Felicity doesn't wish to marry Oliver.
    • Barry and Iris consult the articles from the future in the time vault as Barry fears he'll never escape Thawne.
    • Thawne is once again in his wheelchair that he used throughout season 1.
    • When consoling Alex over her fear of losing Kara, Sara mentions the death of her own sister Laurel and it led her on an obsessive need to avenge her death against Damien Darhk.
    • When Felicity mentions the Earth-X invaders having a giant robot on their side, Ray says that he's fought one of those before.
  • Cooldown Hug: An inconsolable Jax breaks down crying in Clarissa and Lily's arms after he reports to them of Martin's death.
  • Cover Drop: At one point in the Final Battle, the Flash and Reverse-Flash both leap off of opposite buildings towards each other, in a near-perfect reproduction (albeit a mirror image) of their appearance in the comic book cover that promoted the miniseries.
  • Crapsack World: Based on Harry's comment, Earth-X is such a terrible place that no one else aware of the multiverse wants anything to do with it. Note that one of the known Earths is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where humanity struggles to survive, and Harry's comment implies that even it is better than Earth-X.
  • Crazy-Prepared:
    • Oliver brought a collapsible bow to the wedding, and later carries around Kryptonite arrows. When Kara asks why, he says it's just in case he ever had to fight an evil her.
    • The same is true for his Earth-X counterpart, who circumvents Wally's Arrow Catch with an electrified arrow. He pulls a similar trick on Killer Frost, but with an electrified bow.
    • In a deleted scene, Harry reveals to a very surprised Thawne, who tries to kill him, that after Zoom and Savitar, he has infused his body with nanites programmed to attack any speedster attempting to phase through his body. Thawne looks visibly disturbed at this.
  • Crisis Crossover: It's the fourth annual Arrowverse crossover.
  • Crossover Couple: Alex and Sara get hammered at the rehearsal dinner and have a one-night stand. It's just a fling, but the whole experience winds up being cathartic for Alex, who had just come out of a serious relationship with her Closet Key.
  • Darkest Hour: It was in The Flash episode where everyone is at their most desperate, the situation going From Bad to Worse after a handful of Hope Spots. The heroes only pick up their second wind at the start of Part 4. Ironic, since The Flash was supposed to be going back to its Lighter and Softer roots this season.
  • Dark Secret: Earth-X's existence is treated as this — even Kara was unaware of it.
  • Drowning My Sorrows:
    • Alex at the rehearsal dinner, due to it all just reminding her of her recent breakup with Maggie.
    • Inverted with Mick when he learns from the Earth-X version of his old partner that Mick-X died a hero. He actually stops drinking, if only for a moment.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: The Arrowverse's version of the Ray makes his debut in this story arc, and will be seen again in Freedom Fighters: The Ray. It also features the first appearance of Barry and Iris' daughter from the future, Nora.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Not exactly an ending per se, but after all the shit they've been through, and the many obstacles, including death itself, the two had to overcome, Barry and Iris can finally call each other husband and wife.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They are the leaders of the Third Reich, and yet Dark Arrow and Overgirl are deeply committed and in love with one another. Also, his version of Gideon has his mother's voice.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Oliver-X and Kara-X are usually just called "the Führer" and "the General" by their men, respectively.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • Nazis. Even Mick, the least moral of the protagonists, stated several times in his team's series how he hates them, and Oliver has absolutely no issue suspending his Thou Shalt Not Kill rule for them, something that no one holds against him. According to Harry, this actually extends to the entire multiverse — as he puts it, no sane person has ever willingly traveled to Earth-X, because it is that much of a Crapsack World.
    • Killer Frost dislikes pink and is rather frosty and prickly and occasionally falls in with the wrong crowd...but even she loathes Nazis, which culminates in her forming a sharp blade of ice to attack them.
  • Evil Counterpart: Earth-X versions of Oliver and Kara, along with Earth-1's Eobard Thawne (wearing Wells' face), are The Heavy.
  • Evil Is Petty: Thawne isn´t helping the Nazis of Earth-X because he agrees with their politics or anything similar — he just wants to keep making Barry's life hell, and this was as good a way as any.
  • Expendable Alternate Universe: Earth-X Winn Schott hardly cares about endangering Earth-1 or the heroes of alternate earths. He just cares that the Nazis are not on his Earth.
  • Fairytale Wedding Dress: Iris wears one during the first attempt at a Barry and Iris wedding.
  • Fastball Special: Mister Terrific does a variation on this with the Atom, throwing a T-sphere with the latter riding in his shrunken form.
  • Final Battle: The climax of Part 4 (and ultimately of the entire event) sees all the heroes come together to take on the Earth-X army.
  • Fire/Ice Duo:
    • Mick Rory ends up striking this with Killer Frost, having the ice meta substitute for his late partner, Leonard Snart.
    • And then, Leo Snart comes to fill the void.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Subverted. We thought from the trailers from Freedom Fighters: The Ray that Overgirl and Dark Arrow would survive the events of the crossover. Turns out that they both die in the final fight, and thus revealing the Ray's series is in fact a prequel.
  • Gratuitous Nazis: Why just have evil doppelgangers when you could have Nazi doppelgangers?
  • Go Through Me: Felicity shields a weakened Kara from Führer Queen.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Jax had to fuse with a critical Martin Stein to safely bring the latter back to Earth-1 and to the Legends' Waverider, but this causes Jax to also go critical because of their link. Martin decides that he has to take Cisco's serum to sever the link and save Jax's life at the cost of his own.
  • Hope Spot: In part 2, after Oliver-X makes short work of Mick and Killer Frost, the rest of Team Arrow arrives as The Cavalry. Unfortunately, Oliver-X makes short work of them, too.
  • Hypocrite:
    • Dark Arrow mocks Oliver by claiming that caring for others makes you weak. But he clearly cares for Tommy-X (whom he openly calls his best friend). He also cares for his wife, Overgirl, leading the invasion of Earth-1 so he can save her life, and is shattered when she dies.
    • Overgirl believes that humans are inferior to her. But that didn't stop her from marrying one.
  • If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Quentin-X asks a disguised Earth-1 Oliver to prove he's Oliver-X by asking him to shoot a bound up Felicity-X. Played with as this is disguised as a present for sadistic Oliver-X. He fails. And the gun wasn't loaded.
  • Impersonating the Evil Twin: Oliver infiltrates the facility where the Nazis store the breach-making device by pretending to be the Führer.
  • In Spite of a Nail: Even when they're both horrible people thanks to growing up on Earth-X, Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn are still best friends.
  • Insult Friendly Fire: Kara reacts with a "Gross!" after learning that her and Oliver's doppelgängers are married only to quickly apologize to Oliver.
  • In the Back: Averted. Oliver has a perfect opportunity to shoot Dark Arrow in the back after Overgirl explodes, but can't go through with it. When Dark Arrow turns to attack him, Oliver drops him then and there.
  • Ironic Echo: Dark Arrow laughs at a threat from Oliver, saying he's too weak to do it. Dark Arrow later says the exact thing right before Oliver offs him with an arrow to the heart before he can retaliate.
  • Irony:
    • Overgirl revels in her strength, believing it makes her superior to others. In the end, she is helpless to prevent her own death.
    • Thawne talks about all the times Barry has killed him. In truth, Barry has never killed Thawne; Both of his on-screen deaths were causd by others. Though it's possible Thawne was talking about a different Barry from a previous timeline.
  • It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: Heatwave sleeps through the actual wedding, but when the Nazis arrive he goes to town with a flamethrower and declares it the best wedding ever.
  • It Works Better with Bullets: Oliver attempts to infiltrate the breach facility on Earth-X, and is given the "gift" of executing one of the prisoners. He turns the gun on the other Nazis, but of course, it's unloaded; they were on to him from the get-go.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • Tommy-X plays up the fact that his family is in constant danger due to the Third Reich. Oliver swears he will help protect him and his love ones from the Dark Arrow. Cue Tommy's mocking laughter in a confused and pained Oliver's face before ingesting a Cyanide capsule, declaring his steadfast allegiance to the Führer.
    • The Reverse-Flash once again wears the face of Harrison Wells just to mess with Barry.
  • Kryptonite Factor: As per usual for a story with Kryptonians, it plays a part. Aside from Earth-X's Metallo, apparently Oliver has some...somehow.
  • Kirk Summation: Kara lectures Overgirl on why it's wrong for her to think herself above humans. Overgirl isn't having it.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • Kara dismissing a Dominator as "So last year."
    • When Caitlin suggests using the Waverider to make their search of the New Reichsmen easier, Jax explains that the other Legends took the ship to the Stone Age. Both Caitlin and Harry's silent stares at Jax obviously state their mild annoyance at the bad timing.
    • Not even Thawne could come up with a good excuse about how he returned.
    • Half of the Legends apparently spent the majority of the event on a mission in the Stone Age. They make it back just in time to save everyone...and also just in time for Part 4, a.k.a. their Earth-X tie-in.
    • Reverse-Flash's last scene has him muse what face he'll have next time. In context, it's a vow he'll return with a threat that he can hide anywhere as anyone. Out of context, it can be viewed as a subtle joke about Thawne having two main actors (Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher) and how the time travel nature of his character mean either one of them could be him next time.
  • Leitmotif: All of the characters' themes are present and usually blended seamlessly together. In addition, the Flash's theme plays during the meeting between Barry and the awkward waitress who talks to him during his wedding, Foreshadowing that she is Nora Allen, his daughter from the future.
  • Literal Metaphor: When Harry and Caitlin bring up that they can use technology on the Waverider to find out the location of the Earth-X invaders, Jax denies it because the Waverider is "in the Stone Age". He then clarifies that he means that literally.
  • Locked Out of the Loop:
    • Given how Alex was absent when Barry attempted to explain the Multiverse to Kara, James and Winn, she was unaware of the concept of Doppelgängers, and is slightly confused when Harry mentions that there are 52 other versions of Kara.
    • Jax was also unaware of multiple Earths, even though his other half of Firestorm was well aware, Martin Stein having been around when Team Flash learned of Zoom and Earth-2.
  • Love Is a Weakness: The New Reichsmen are strong proponents of this, which is why they are so disgusted by their Earth-1 counterparts, who are driven to fight to protect the ones they love. It also makes them hypocritical — the main motivation of Oliver-X's decision to invade Earth-1 is not to conquer it, but to save his wife, Kara-X. When she dies, he becomes distracted in his grief, and is killed by his counterpart for it.
  • Lyrical Dissonance: During Earth-X's Quentin Lance's interrogation of his daughter's doppelgänger, a discordant arrangement of "Edelweiss" plays as Sara admits she's bisexual.
  • Mass "Oh, Crap!":
    • The whole cast when they learn the Earth-X invaders are gathering materials for a neutron bomb.
    • A funnier version happens when the girls quickly search for an excuse as to why Kara's alien fingernails breaks a manicurist's blade.
  • Meaningful Echo: Kara sings "Running Home to You", as Iris walks down the aisle. The song Barry sang when he proposed to her (also in a crossover episode with Supergirl (2015)).
  • Metaphorically True: During the wedding procession, Mick reasons that he can't be a friend of the groom since Mick tried to kill him a couple of times, so he settles for being a "friend of the bride" instead.
  • Mirrored Confrontation Shot: In part 2, between Oliver, Barry and Kara vs. their Earth-X counterparts (just as they unmasked themselves in front of them, conveniently enough) and Eobard Thawne.
  • Mirror Match: Oliver and Kara vs. their Earth-X counterparts.
  • Mission Control: Iris, Caitlin, Harry and Felicity choose to serve as this, with Curtis and Team Arrow following suit from Star City, only for Team Arrow to come to Heatwave and Killer Frost's aid against Dark Arrow.
  • Mook Chivalry: Despite possessing overwhelming numbers and guns, most battles between the heroes and the Earth-X forces involve each hero taking on at most two or three mooks at a time, and the Nazis nearly only ever use their guns against those who happen to be armored or Immune to Bullets.
    • An even more egregious example happens at the start of the final battle, when, despite being ordered to kill the heroes, they don't even raise their weapons to take aim until they're at point-blank range.
  • My Friends... and Zoidberg: "Well, it's a good thing we have a metric ton of smart people in this building...and Rory."
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Earth-X itself has its origins in the comics, in Justice League of America (vol. 1) #107 "Crisis on Earth-X!" The original story featured the Quality Comics heroes asking the Justice League and Justice Society for aid, with some heroes staying on Earth-X while others moved to other Earths.
    • The crossover's promotional art (seen above), drawn by prolific DC artist Phil Jimenez, is an homage to the cover of Justice League #207.
    • The title is also evocative of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which followed three years later, even using the same font design. Not to mention how turbulent "red skies" are the very first thing we see on Earth-X.
    • Overgirl has her origin in another Crisis event: Final Crisis.
    • When the DEO is first trying to identify the Dominator Supergirl fights, one of Alex's guesses is Czarnian.
    • As fighting Overgirl, Supergirl delivers a "thunder clap", a move she has occasionally used in the comics.
    • Earth-X Guardian's costume having a gold color scheme like in the comics.
    • Overgirl's Superpower Meltdown; Superman had a similar terminal condition from All-Star Superman.
    • The awkward waitress at Barry and Iris' wedding is Nora West-Allen, their daughter from the future.
    • Citizen Cold/Earth-X Snart's goggles are the same design as they are in the comics.
    • Supergirl taunting Overgirl to come out and fight her while hovering outside the window of the Earth-X Waverider is intentionally styled after Superman's confrontation with Zod in Superman II, down to an identical line.
    • Harry telling Kara to take Overgirl "Up, Up and Away."
    • Zari's new black costume with gold highlights is based off of the color scheme of her comics counterpart's lover, Black Adam.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In Part 3, the Kommandant's idea of executing the captive heroes and another prisoner simultaneously seems to be his idea of hitting two birds with one stone, except he didn't really anticipate a fellow Freedom Fighter coming to the rescue of said prisoner? Because of this, the Freedom Fighters now have half a dozen new allies to help take down the New Reich. Especially jarring when the Kommandant was portrayed as virtually competent for the rest of the episode.
  • Non-Indicative Name: The majority of the crossover takes place on Earth-1 and the titular "Crisis" is the invasion caused by the Nazis leaving Earth-X.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • Why exactly are half of the Legends in the Stone Age?
    • It's not explained how exactly Oliver got a Kryptonite arrow. Or how he knows what Kryptonite is, for that matter.
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Thankfully (since previous attempts in Legends sounded very phony), nobody on the Nazi side bothers with trying on a German accent, let alone speaking German.
  • Not His Sled: The opening scene of the event had the Freedom Fighters readying a portal, with the scientist in charge explicitly stating that this may be their last hope; it's implied they are finally planning to send an SOS to other Earths, just like how the heroes of Earth-X in the comics were also requesting aid. And then Dark Arrow arrives and takes out the resistance unit, claiming the portal for himself and his army. At the end of the event, however, the Freedom Fighters do manage to get their new allies anyway, and conveniently find a way to open breaches to other Earths (specifically, Cisco) if they're ever in need of assistance again.
  • Not the Fall That Kills You…: Taken to ridiculous levels. Kara falls from orbital height and is caught just above the ground by Steel and is unharmed. And so is he. Although to be fair, they are both Nigh-Invulnerable.
    • Especially ridiculous because not only would being caught three feet from the ground after so long a fall do nothing to save someone who could be hurt by a fall, falling on solid metal would be worse than the ground!
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Harry, when Dark Arrow breaks into S.T.A.R. Labs.
    • Kara, when the Earth-X version of Metallo shows up.
    • While losing to Earth-X Red Tornado, Flash and Ray (Terrill, not Palmer) actually say "oh, crap" in unison while on the ground with their foe speeding toward them.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted, as there is one character whose name is Ray Palmer and one whose is not only Ray Terrill, but his alias is also The Ray.
  • Out of Focus: Aside from the leads of their said shows/teams (i.e. Barry, Iris, Kara, Alex, Oliver, Felicity, Sara, Stein, Jax, Mick) none of the other members of Team Flash, Team Arrow, Earth-38 or the Legends are given much focus, constantly involved, or receive nearly as much event long screen time. Downplayed with Team Arrow's B-Squad who actually make an appearance outside of the Arrow portion of the crossover and show up at STAR Labs to help fight Oliver-X, while last year they were restricted to their episode of the crossover.
    • Especially the case for Diggle, who as opposed to usual, was left out of the events of the crossover entirely save for the final scene where he's only brought in to marry Barry and Iris. Justified Trope in that he's still recovering from the nerve damage in his arm.
    • Again the Martian Manhunter is left out of the action.
    • Wally is hit hard by this, disappearing after the wedding and not even showing up for the climatic battle.
    • Especially notable with Ray who only shows up in the final part, unlike in Invasion when he was in every episode like the rest of the Legends who were recurring characters on other shows before joining, who all do so here as well. And like in Invasion the Legends that only joined after the first season (Nate, Amaya, and now Zari) don't appear outside of the Legends episode of the crossover, and Rip Hunter doesn't show up at all.
  • Powerful and Helpless: Behold Overgirl. An Evil Supergirl, she has all of the power of her counterpart and has embraced the fact she's a Physical God fully, which means she fights with even less restraint...and she's dying of a solar power overload which will make her explode at any moment, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Most of the actions she and her Oliver take throughout the story are driven by the fact they are running out of time and trying to pull a "Hail Mary" (so to speak) and a lot of their conversations are tinged with the fact that Kara may die soon...and sure enough, once Overgirl finally explodes during the final battle, the evil Oliver Queen, the Führer of Earth-X, pretty much pulls off a Suicide by Cop out of despair.
  • The Psycho Rangers: The Nazi leaders are the evil counterparts of the Arrowverse "Trinity": Overgirl for Kara, Dark Arrow for Oliver, and the Dark Flash for Barry, who turns out to be actually Earth-1 Eobard Thawne.
  • Put on a Bus: Joe and Cecile are evacuated from Central City due to her pregnancy, and Wally goes along to serve as their bodyguard.
  • Red Sky, Take Warning: Over Earth-X.
  • La RĂ©sistance: The Freedom Fighters for all of Earth-X.
  • The Reveal:
    • The multiverse isn't infinite. There are 52 Earths — officially. Earth-X is the 53rd, but nobody wants to talk about it.
    • Prometheus-X is Tommy Merlyn and the Dark Flash is actually Earth-1 Reverse-Flash working with the New Reichsmen just for kicks.
  • Running Gag:
    • Again Alex points out how Kara's Kryptonian DNA gives her an unfair advantage in her beauty, mentioning how it's impossible for her to gain break-up weight.
    • Killer Frost still expresses her disdain for Caitlin's more bright and feminine sense of style.
    • The fact that Oliver doesn't have superpowers like Kara or Barry is brought up once again.
      [Kara and Barry show up to the scene, and wait for quite a while, only for Oliver to finally come in on his motorcycle, glaring at the two.]
      Oliver: [defensively] Just a quick reminder. Super-Speed...I don't have it!
    • Mick developing the hots for the newcomer superheroine, this time being Killer Frost.
    • Digg still throws up after being "kidnapped" by Barry at superspeed.
  • Serial Escalation: The first big multi-hero crossover (the fight against Vandal Savage) had 9 heroes and Mission Control backups involved fighting on the side of the good guys. The second against the Dominators had 17 (including Mick). This one has 25 heroes, not counting most of the Earth-X resistance. But including Mick.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Given it's a wedding, everyone comes out dressed to the nines, even a slob like Mick and tomboys like Sara and Alex.
  • Shout-Out:
  • SkeleBot 9000: Similar to the classic comic look, Metallo-X looks like this.
  • Skewed Priorities:
    • In the beginning, Barry, Oliver, and the Legends are more worried about their plans for the wedding than they are about fighting King Shark, ninjas, or the Sheriff of Notthingham's goons, respectively.
    • When the other heroes are going to take on the Earth-X invaders, Mick is more concerned with either Iris or Caitlin showing him where STAR Labs keeps the mustard for his sandwich.
    • When Dinah and Cisco are taking cover from Earth-X Metallo, Cisco is more focused on Dinah's pop culture reference.
  • So Last Season: Said word for word by Supergirl when she takes down a Dominator at the beginning. Subverted with the fifth season Arrow villain Prometheus when he shows up. Though the Prometheus of Earth-X was taken down by Sara and Alex somewhat easily, it's revealed that Earth-X's Prometheus actually wasn't an incarnation of Adrian Chase.
  • Something We Forgot: The heroes pull an epic Lock-and-Load Montage as they march off to face the invaders...and then Mission Control learn Mick was actually just left behind.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Iris thankfully survives the Reverse-Flash's invasion of her wedding this time around.
  • Special Edition Title: As per the tradition for crossover events, but taken up to eleven where instead of combining each show's logos for each part, all the lead characters are featured together in a special, unified title for this event. The scene transitions are also custom, simply featuring the "X" from the logo zooming into the screen.
  • Stealth Pun: Most of the action apparently occurring in Central City.
  • Storming the Castle:
    • In Part 3, the heroes break into the facility where the Nazis are generating their breach.
    • Part of the Final Battle in Part 4 sees Killer Frost, Amaya, and Zari board the Earth-X Waverider.
  • Superior Successor: Overgirl certainly believes her husband to be Hitler's in regards as the current Führer of the Third Reich.
  • Superpower Meltdown: One of the reasons for the invasion is because Overgirl is dying from being supercharged with solar energy, and needs Kara's heart as a replacement to save her. Without it, the charge builds until her body can no longer keep it at bay and she literally goes nuclear.
  • Take That!: Before anyone realizes that the Nazis are from Earth-X, everyone wonders why anyone would want to follow an ideology that failed seventy years ago. Clearly a reference to the current rise of Neo-Nazis and fascist apologists, with a specific one in Jax uttering his disgust with the quip "Make America Aryan Again".
  • Terrible Trio: Since Prometheus dies at the start of Part 2, Thawne, Overgirl and Dark Arrow form this.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill:
    • Completely averted on the part of the good guys. Even Barry redirects one soldier's gun to shoot another one. But they're Nazis, so no one really worries about it.
    • Played straight at the end of the crossover when Barry corners Eobard Thawne. Barry lets him leave just like that.
  • Timey-Wimey Ball: Thawne, possibly from some point in time when he was disguised as Wells, working with Earth-X. When called out on the oddity of this, he merely states "time travel's confusing".
  • Together in Death:
    • Oliver-X is killed by his Earth-1 counterpart not long after his wife completes her Superpower Meltdown, goes nuclear, and blows up in the atmosphere.
    • Professor Martin Stein, having been fatally shot, forces Jax to sever the connection between them so the latter may live, and joins his first partner Ronnie Raymond in death. Caitlin even asks, during the burial, if he could say a hello to Ronnie for her.
  • True Companions: Demonstrated once again, it doesn't matter if they're meeting for the first time, are from different cities, different eras or different Earths, the heroes of the Arrowverse always have each others' backs.
  • Underestimating Badassery: While the New Reichsmen have reason to be confident, they still underestimate the heroes, such as attacking them during Barry and Iris' wedding, believing that they would be caught too flat-footed to retaliate. They are quickly proved wrong, and after that the New Reichsmen take them much more seriously.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Dark Arrow and Overgirl are married.
  • The Unreveal: We never do find out exactly how Thawne returned or what he hoped to achieve by helping the Earth-Xers conquer Earth-1.
  • Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Downplayed, but in the final battle, Barry is able to fight Reverse-Flash on equal footing, and win within a short time. In all their previous encounters (save for those that involved a younger, less experienced Thawne), Barry was sorely outclassed, but due to a combination of experience and a recent upgrade to his speed, he can finally match his nemesis move for move. Thawne even bails when Barry lets him.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: Or wife in this case, Overgirl does not take kindly to Reverse-Flash threatening her husband.
  • Wedding Episode: The plot commences on Barry and Iris' wedding day. Smashing ensues.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: General Schott, while sympathetic to the Earth-1 refugees, still adamantly refuses to keep the warp gate back to Earth-1 standing long enough for them to return home. At least, at first.
  • What Did I Do Last Night?: Alex and Sara end up getting drunk and sleeping together. Hilarity Ensues the following day.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • Several of the Legends are glaringly absent until the last quarter of the event; Jax claims they're on a mission in the Stone Age.
    • Iris questions why Alex and not Mon-El came as Kara's plus-one, and quickly drops the subject when she recognizes the awkwardness Kara displays.
    • Given the state of emergency Central City is in, you'd think someone on Team Flash would have tried contacting Ralph Dibny, particularly when Iris and Felicity are trapped in Nazi-occupied S.T.A.R. Labs, after Dark Arrow dispatched of Heatwave, Killer Frost, Black Canary, Mr. Terrific, and Wild Dog.
    • Wally whisks Joe and Cecile out of Central City after the New Reich's first attack...and doesn't appear again.
  • Worf Had the Flu:
    • Cisco goes comatose (but not too serious, they believe he'll eventually recover from it soon enough) during the first battle against the Earth-X invaders. The significance of creating this "absence" is only explained in Part 2, where the heroes are now trapped in Earth-X. Surely, even if he's not completely 100%, Cisco could have easily broken them out.
    • The only reason the X invaders even managed to be a threat was because the Earth-1 heroes are involuntarily divided. Once they finally put their acts (and themselves for that matter) together, the Nazis never stood a chance.
  • Wham Shot:
    • While Dark Arrow and Overgirl are reeling from their first encounter with the Earth-1 heroes, their speedster cohort shows up to them (his first appearance in the event) and unmasks himself: He's Eobard Thawne.
    • During the main battle in the Arrow episode, the heroes have Overgirl and the Reverse-Flash accounted for fighting their respective counterparts, but then they realize the Dark Arrow is not among them. The scene then cuts to Oliver-X casually strolling towards S.T.A.R. Labs.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Iris' response to Alternate Universe Those Wacky Nazis acting in a Wedding Smashers scenario on her wedding day. Given everything that could possibly go wrong in the West-Allen relationship had gone wrong up until then (including multiple super villains and more), it's understandable.
  • Zeppelins from Another World: Earth-X has them.

 
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Arrowverse DC and WBTV

Across the Arrowverse, each DC and WBTV logo adopts tonally fitting colors and transitions.

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