The Flash season 2, episode 8, “Legends of Today,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
This episode was the first of a two-part crossover event with Arrow that sets up DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. According to EP Greg Berlanti, the goal of this episode of The Flash was to give it more of an Arrow feel — while doing the opposite for tomorrow’s episode of Arrow.
Superhero team-up
Teams Arrow and Flash met up this week as Barry and Cisco bring Cisco’s beautiful friend who kisses him, Kendra, to Star City to protect her from immortal crazy man Vandal Savage. He thinks she’s some sort of Egyptian priestess. Turns out, he’s right.
Her soulmate, Carter Hall, swoops in — literally, he has wings — and fills in the gaps: He and Kendra are reincarnated Egyptian royalty who Vandal Savage killed and continues to kill each time they are reincarnated because their lives are tethered to his life force. Killing them makes him stronger each time. Being an immortal, though, Vandal Savage is more than a little difficult to defeat, though, and Barry decides they’ve ended in a tie for this episode.
It’s always a pleasure to see members of Teams Arrow and Flash together. They play off each other so well, and this episode brought more characters into the fold, including Thea, who didn’t know they knew The Flash. Cisco, as always, is a highlight; he has wonderful chemistry with everyone and drops some great one-liners, though Barry has his share as well.
Vandal Savage
What Teams Arrow and Flash are unaware of when they meet Vandal Savage is that they’re not going to defeat him in this two-parter since he has to go on to be the villain for Legends of Tomorrow. What’s interesting about this incarnation of Vandal Savage is that he is being conflated with a different character from the Hawkgirl and Hawkman mythos: the Egyptian priest Hath-Set.
In the DC Comics, Hath-Set is the rival of Prince Khufu. He leads a rebellion and kills Prince Khufu (now Carter Hall) and Princess Chay-Ara (now Kendra Saunders). He kills them with a cursed dagger forged from the alien Nth metal — likely the metal fragment Barry found during his crime scene investigation — and this triggered a cycle of all three being reincarnated together. In each life, he seeks out and murders the prince and princess. Perhaps Vandal took on the identity of Hath-Set in ancient Egypt?
Either way, he’s a pretty serious threat. He’s incredibly strong, smart and driven. He adapts quickly to the skill sets of the Green Arrow and Flash. However, he notes that he’s never come across individuals with abilities like the two of them. Does that mean metahumans are a new phenomenon? That seems unlikely since the particle accelerator didn’t create all of them.
Harrison, Jay and… Patty?
The side plot of this episode features Wells and Caitlin working together to create a serum that will help Barry temporarily run faster. They hope it will help him defeat Zoom. When they complete the serum, Wells wants to test it on Jay, but Jay — who has been MIA for far too long — is having none of it.
But when Patty spies Wells, follows him to S.T.A.R. Labs and shoots him, Jay uses the serum to phase through Wells’ chest to remove the bullet. When Wells comes to, he thanks Jay. Jay, in turn, asks Wells to keep the serum away from Barry. (We’re guessing that’s not going to happen.)
This incident will clearly lead to questions from Patty. How is Wells still alive? Why are the S.T.A.R. Labs crew harboring him? What exactly is Joe keeping from her? How does Barry fit into this picture? She’s a good detective, and there’s no way she’s going to take this incident lying down. This will undoubtedly be a turning point for her relationship with Barry. What will he tell her, and how will she react if she learns the truth?
Watch a promo for the next part of the crossover
