“Left Behind” is episode nine of season one of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
At the end of the previous episode, “Night of the Hawk”, the others were waiting for Sara, Ray and Kendra to return to the Waverider when Chronos appeared and attacked. This time Chronos got onboard- Rip said he must have got some new toys from the Time Masters – and drove the others from the bridge, with Rip telling them to retreat to the jumpship. So as the other three were approaching the Waverider, the ship took off and left them. In Harmony Falls, Oregon, in 1958. And none of them know why they had been apparently abandoned.
The episode starts by going over the battle before. As those on the Waverider retreat from the bridge, Snart asks Rip if it’s a good idea leaving the Terminator on it. Rip starts saying that Gideon has lockdown protocols but Gideon interrupts, saying that they have been overridden. Chronos is using superior Time Master technology and she cannot countermand his orders. Snart mentions the ladies being left in 1958 – and was including Ray in that. Rip says they have to stop Chronos. He tells Stein and Jax to escape on the jumpship; he and Snart are heading onto the bridge to take on Chronos.
As Jax and the professor are leaving, Jax says that he doesn’t know if the jumpship will even fly in the temporal zone. The two stop and can hear sounds of battle coming from the bridge. Stein says it doesn’t matter, because they are not leaving their team. Jax asked what about destroying the whole ship – for Stein had said that could happen if they merged on board – and the professor says he would prefer that alternative to losing their friends. With Jax agrees with.
As Firestorm Jax blows the bridge door to pieces and Stein tells him he could have just opened it. Jax replies that he got a little carried away and looks round. The two separate and go over to Rip who is on the floor. Rip tells them that Chronos took Snart in the jumpship. Gideon can track them but they have a more pressing matter. He tells the other two to strap themselves in then starts ripping out cables. rip tells them that Chronos sabotaged the navigation system and unless they alter course they will be trapped in the temporal zone for all time. Gideon cannot override the commands, so they are going without Gideon until they are fully operational. And are freefalling through time.
Back in 1958, Ray says to stay calm as wherever the others time jumped to, they can come back to the exact same moment. Ten minutes later and they are still waiting. Sara says they aren’t coming back. Ray replies that the first rule as a former Eagle Scout when lost is to stay where you were. Sara response is that as a former member of the League of Assassins, their first rule when attacked is to keep moving. Kendra feels that assassin trumps Eagle Scout. Plus Vandal Savage is still out there. Ray replies that the others wouldn’t leave them marooned but Sara says that is exactly what they did. And as Ray said, with a time machine you are never late. They aren’t coming back, so she walks off.
Ten hours later and Sara is saying that a good thing about 1958 is that there are no car alarms. She has broken into one and is hotwiring it. Ray asks how the rest of the team will find them if they leave Harmony Falls, but Savage is still here and they can’t take him.
Ten days later in Hub City and Kendra and Sara return home to an apartment to find Ray on the floor surrounded by bits of technology. He tells them he has created a time beacon that matches the Waverider‘s quantum signature and only their team will be able to pick it up. Kendra thinks it’s cute that Ray thought either she or Sara understood any of that explanation. Sara thinks it’s time to invest in some real beds.
Ten weeks later and the apartment is furnished. Sara and Kendra are playing Game of Life (although a version that hadn’t been created for a couple more years). Kendra has just got a card that says she is a doctor drawing down $10,000 a year. She says that she made more as a barista. Sara tells her that in 1958 Kendra is lucky to make that as a woman. Sara also misses Netflix. Ray tells them he has finished the beacon and that they will soon be out of there. He fires it up; sadly Ray has built an indoor firework, not a time beacon. Ray tells them the next version will be better. Sara says that it is a waste of time and the others aren’t coming back. Because they are dead. The sooner he accepts that, the sooner he can move on. Sara starts packing a bag as she’s leaving, to go somewhere she belongs she says.
Two years later and Ray is teaching as a college professor (how, exactly, did he land the job when he has no qualifications in the past?). One of his students, Mr Gates, asks wouldn’t it be theoretically possible to miniaturise an atom, going by what Ray just said. ray agrees, in theory – but says not to try it at home. Or for about 40 years. He says to Gates that he thought his son was sick. The student replies William, yes, but his in-laws are at home and he’d rather be here. Ray asks if Gates’ son is Bill and Mr Gates says that Bill has a nice ring to it (Bill Gates’ father’s name is also William, so why would Ray not have twigged a little earlier?).
Kendra arrives and the two head outside for a picnic; their second anniversary. Ray has brought the time beacon, so that they can destroy it together. He says he never thought he would build a life with anyone but Anna, but that’s exactly what he’s done. He’s glad they were stranded. Ray has another surprise and opens his briefcase to retrieve a ring when the time beacon activates. It’s picking up a signal.
On the Waverider, Stein is not speaking English and Jax is deaf. Both were caused by the rather bumpy exit from the temporal zone. Gideon tells them that it is 1960. The navigation system was compromised and they returned as close as possible to 1958. The ship lands in front of Kendra and Ray, and Rip comes out, apologising for being late. You can be late in a time machine if the time machine is not working properly.
Back onboard, Rip says to Ray that it was never his intention to leave them stranded for two years. Ray asks Rip if he could go back to 1958 but Rip replies that Ray knows very well they can’t. Travelling back to events participated in results in time folding ion on itself. Which sounds bad. Ray is saying that they were acclimatised but Kendra is glad to be back onboard and to finally be themselves again. She seems happier than Ray does.
The others tell Ray and Kendra what happened and Rip says they need to retrieve Sara. But the other two lost track of Sara when they went their separate ways and do not know where she is. Rip asks Gideon to search the timeline for references to Sara Lance. Or a blonde vigilante. Kendra wants to know why Chronos took Snart, why not take them all. And if Chronos took one person, why take Snart, not Rip? Presumably Chronos took Snart for a reason. Snart is Chronos’ captive currently and Chronos’ ship says that a time anomaly was detected in 1960. Chronos tells Snart that his friends survived.
Ray wants to go back to his and Kendra’s apartment; the unexpected arrival of a timeship meant he was not carrying the Atom suit. He asks Kendra if she wants anything picked up as well. She feels no need to go back and get old junk. She has an entirely different view to their things to Ray. Professor Stein agrees that they can’t leave the future suit behind so will accompany Ray to retrieve it. After they leave, Kendra says she hopes that Sara takes being back on the team better than Ray. Rip replies that it depends where she ended up.
Where Sara ended up would appear to be at the League of Assassins in Nanda Parbat. One fighter is defeating a bunch of others when Ra’s al Ghul enters with a young girl. The victor of the fight is Sara and Ra’s al Ghul congratulates her as the herbs and meditation are working and her thirst to kill no longer clouds Sara’s judgement. He enjoys watching her train as he has never seen a pupil learn so quickly. Sara replies that she has had the time to learn who she is and what she can learn to do. Ra’s al Ghul addresses the girl, calling her Talia, and says to watch Sara closely, as she could learn a lot from her.
On Chronos’ ship, Snart asks the bounty hunter what is so special about him. He could have taken Rip, but took Snart instead. So why? You can see the next bit coming, for Chronos’ voice, distorted as it is by the helmet he’s wearing, sounds more than a little familiar. Chronos tells Snart he should have figured it out by now and removes his helmet. Revealing Mick Rory. Snart tells Rory that he deserves to know what’s going on. Rory replies that he deserves nothing. Snart says that, after Mick sold them out to the pirates in “Marooned”, he dropped Rory in that forest and meant to kill him. That was the plan. It seemed at the time as if Snart hadn’t actually killed his old partner.
Rory tells Snart he should have stuck with the plan as he would have done Mick a favour. Snart says that he might not have trusted Rory with the team but he was still coming back for him. Rory says he must have lost track of time, for he was almost done when he was found. By the Time Masters. Who took him to the Vanishing Point, where time doesn’t pass like normal. Rory spent lifetimes being restored, training, fighting, being reborn. Snart wants to know when the Time Masters lobotomised Rory and the latter replies he isn’t hunting the team because the Time Masters made him. They barely had to ask.
Ray wants to talk to Kendra. He says they spent the last two years of their life together but when Kendra saw the Waverider it was like it never happened. Kendra says that Ray is not a college professor and she is definitely not a librarian. Ray thought that Kendra was happy with the life they built together, he thought it was their future. Now it feels as if they are moving backwards. Which sparks an unrelated idea in Kendra. Perhaps Sara moved backward too, to the one place she felt she belonged – the League of Assassins.
On hearing this, Rip asks Gideon to bring up the Shadow Record, which lists every member of the League of Assassins since the invention of writing in 3200 BC. Written in invisible ink. Rip apparently did his graduate thesis at the academy on the League’s history. Sara said that Ra’s al Ghul lived a century before she met him. Ray tells the others that was through the Lazarus Pit – which he describes as a life-extending Jacuzzi. Located in a place that is the opposite of life extending. Rip tells Ray he’s one of the few to go there and make it out alive. Sara did become a member of the League in this time. Rip says she will need help, as Ra’s al Ghul is a very controlling, very homicidal fanatic.
Rory is telling Snart that he isn’t going to kill him. Instead, they are taking a trip to Central City to see Snart’s baby sister. Because the thing about time travel is that Rory can kill her more than once. He can kill her, travel back in time and kill her again. Many times. Then his ship tells Rory that the Waverider has been detected landing in Nanda Parbat. Rory says that he used to think fire was the most beautiful thing. Now he knows it’s vengeance.
Outside the League Rip is telling the others that they need stealth. So no Firestorm. Ray is out of practice with the Atom suit as well, so he shouldn’t use it unless it’s absolutely necessary. An assassin jumps down on them at this point but Jax knocks him out (frankly the assassins of the League do not put on a very impressive performance in this episode). Rip sneaks into Sara’s bedroom – it’s lucky she doesn’t kill him. He tells her that the others are there as well. Then she knocks him down and calls for the League. Kendra said she hoped that Sara would take rejoining the team better than Ray. Looks like she hasn’t.
There are some side-effects to time travel that Rip hadn’t mentioned before. Probably because they should never have become relevant. Rip’s knowledge of the League of Assassins for his thesis proves useful – although he either could have studied better or forgot some things in the intervening years.