With Legends of Tomorrow, the past is always an option, but the future is something more unclear. Why? Because though we may see A future, it may not be THE future. As we saw here in “Star City 2046”.
Right from the start, it was apparent how different things were in the future. Most of Team Arrow is gone or dead. A new Green Arrow, Conner Hawke, has taken up the mantle. And Grant Wilson (son of Slade) has taken over Star City, letting it be a true city of thieves.
Part of the fun of this episode was finding out as much as we could about this possible timeline, and yeah, it’s only possible, which thankfully was stated in numerous ways both obvious and subtle. From Rip’s notes about how the future is always malleable, to Ollie’s reference to how Sara and Ray never came back from their time traveling adventure, it’s clear that though this COULD happen, it still may not…and likely won’t. Still, very fun to watch.
And yes, Ollie is alive! In full goatee and with an arm missing (in reference to The Dark Knight Returns). Yet, this Ollie is a man broken to his core. He truly had failed this city, so much so that he let it believe he was dead. Seeing this weary and worn Oliver makes you both sad, and hopeful that this future truly doesn’t come to be. Oh, and the fact that Conner Hawke is actually John Diggle Jr.? Awesome! And hopefully something that gets picked up in Arrow!
An unexpected, yet very impactful, storyline featured Snart and Mick, as they fully embraced the new Star City…at least one of them did. Seeing Mick truly be “at home” was an interesting look at the character, while Snart knew this wasn’t what he wanted…even though it kind of was. As things escalated, it became clear that the partnership between the two has fractured, and numerous things could go wrong now that Mick and Snart aren’t on the same page anymore. It’s the characters that sell Legends of Tomorrow, I look forward to seeing what happens with these two.
On the funnier side, Kendra, Ray, Jax, and Stein had a fun little diddy about whether Jax and Ray should go after Kendra, with varying, and hilarious, results. While this easily could have been mind-numbing, it turned into something both pure and fun. From Stein giving Jax good advice about how to approach things with Kendra, to the end result of Kendra admitting she didn’t want to be in a relationship for a while, to Ray and Jax acknowledging what happened and laughing it off. This was good stuff. And honestly? This was the best result. Kendra is still mourning over Carter. And while not “wrong”, it’s still a little odd for this to have happened.
Rip and Sara were yet again a fun dynamic, as they clashed about what is right, as well as what is real. Sara calling him out for trying to save his wife and kid, while not letting the others help people they care about was something many fans have wondered about. Why does Rip get to make that decision, but not the Legends? His answer was true enough, and even he admitted that what he’s done won’t likely get him into heaven. Rip is a deep character, and one fully willing to both commit to something, and make mistakes.
At the end of “Star City 2046”, we honestly have no idea where they’re going next. But if this episode is any indication? There’s going to be a lot of fun coming up.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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