“Star City 2046” is episode six of season one of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
At the end of the previous episode, “Fail-Safe”, the Waverider came under fire from Chronos’ ship – Time Master Druce having lied about Chronos’ death in “White Knights”; Rory was right, he did want to kill Rip – and sort of crashed, in both place and time, ending up in Star City of the future – 2046 as can easily be determined from the title.
Star City is a total mess, with fires and wrecked buildings, although a huge skyscraper with ‘Smoak’ on the side still looks okay. Although Ray said it looks a lot like the Palmer Tech building. The Legends were approached by an archer in green – both Sara and Ray hailed the archer, assuming it was Oliver (given Oliver’s lifestyle, is he still going to be in decent shape 30 years in the future?). The Green Arrow they hailed was not Oliver, though, and did not know anything about Sara and Ray’s recruitment by Rip. And it looked as if this Green Arrow was going to shoot them.
This Green Arrow fires an explosive arrow over their heads and Rory retaliates with a gout of flame, and Rip and Snart open fire as well. This isn’t Oliver Queen but, as Ray says, he dresses like him. And shoots arrows like him. Jax doesn’t want to get turned into kebab and Rory thinks killing this Green Arrow would be a good idea. However Rip tells them all to return to the ship.
Onboard, Sara asks Rip to tell the truth. He says that they have seen that the timeline is malleable, in flux until it’s set, and that this future is not set. Rip continues, saying he told them that it is dangerous to know too much about their own futures; the events they dread could be because of their actions to prevent them. Rory thinks Rip thinks too much. Rip says that the best thing they can do is repair the Waverider so that they can get back to their own time and make sure this future never comes to be.
Jax is talking to Ray about the engine; he says that an engine is an engine, even in the future. Rip wants to know how long it will take Jax to repair it and he says he isn’t sure. But it will go faster with help. Jax suggests that maybe Kendra could lend a hand. Oddly picking the attractive woman to help. Or perhaps not so oddly. Rip tells Jax to enlist anyone who is free; he has a problem with something else. The something else is a bit of rather important, and broken, technology. Without it, Gideon can’t function.
Ray tells Rip that Palmer Tech was working on something like that and by 2046 they should have a prototype. Rip says that they need that prototype. Ray replies that it may be Smoak Technologies now, not Palmer Tech, but he’s sure he can still her them in. Rip tells Ray that he and Sara need to be kept separate from their future homes. There was a reason why he recruited individuals adept at misappropriating other people’s property.
Namely Rory and Snart. Rory is not impressed with the item but at the moment he would steal anything. Which is what Rip expected. Sara says she is going with them, but Rip tells her she is too emotionally connected. Sara is not taking that as an answer. She says she knows the city better than anyone, so she is either coming with – or they can find out if the Time Masters are as good at teaching people to fight as the League of Assassins are. So Sara goes with.
Jax, Kendra, Professor Stein and Ray are together and Jax says he could do with an extra pair of hands. So the professor suggests that Ray work with Kendra and he will help Jefferson with the engines. It definitely looks as if Jax would have preferred the hot woman to help him.
Outside, Rory says to Rip that if this is a temporary future, it doesn’t matter if he kills anyone then. Rip would prefer if Rory would refrain from killing anyone in order to avoid paradoxes. Rory will not make any promises. Sara says that Laurel’s apartment was near where they are and Snart asks Sara if her father is a police captain. The reason being, considering the state of the place, he did a hell of a job. Sara replies that her father, and her friends, would not let anything like this happen. Unless they were all dead.
On the Waverider, Kendra and Ray are chatting and Jax is gritting his teeth. Then Stein tells the two that they are on an open channel and is it too much to ask for a little professionalism. Then the professor asks himself why he is getting so upset. And realises that he isn’t upset. Jax is upset. Stein says to Jax that he likes Kendra; Jefferson replies that he’s crazy. Stein points out that they share a psychic connection and he can sense what Jax is feeling. Jax replies that it doesn’t matter, as he doesn’t stand a chance. His competition is a billionaire genius who built his own super-suit and a dude that Kendra has known for four thousand years who she is destined to be with. Stein tells Jax he has one word of advice – and gives it even though Jax tells him not to. The word is ‘confidence.’ The professor says to Jax that he met Stein’s younger self, and that he used to be quite the ladies man. He advises Jefferson to put himself out there.
There’s an explosion near Sara and the others, two blocks from Palmer Tech, and they take cover in an abandoned bus. It’s said it’s like World War III, with explosions and bikers, and Rory thinks it’s beautiful. There are more explosions and more bikers then the Green Arrow appears and starts taking them down until someone shoots him. So Sara heads outside. Rip follows, and tells Snart and Rory to not move as they will be right back. Snart thinks that instead of that they should go to the bank they passed. Before they can get to it, a bunch of bikers stop them and their leader tells Snart and Rory to drop their weapons and hand over their wallets. Neither complies. The leader hits Snart to teach him a lesson, to no great effect. Rory hits the leader, also to no great effect. Then blasts him instead. When asked where he got his gun, Rory says eBay. Then takes the fur coat from the leader. Snart wants to head on but Rory thinks taking over the gang and heading back to their lair is a better idea.
Sara comes across the Green Arrow who is fine; he says that his jacket is high-density Kevlar. Sara says that Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow and is told he’s not, as he’s dead. No-one knows how Oliver died as he hasn’t been seen since the Uprising. The Uprising happened 15 years ago when he brought an army. When asked who, a voice from behind Sara says that he did. Sara turns and sees a black and white masked figure. She says it isn’t possible, as he died on Lian Yu. Rip arrives and asks Sara who it is and Sara says he’s very dangerous. Then asks the figure how he survived, calling him Slade. As in Slade Wilson. The man says that he hasn’t heard that name in a long time, and asks Sara how she knew his father. No, not Slade – his son. Wilson also asks Sara if she’s any relation to the late Captain Lance. Wilson says he will enjoy killing them – or we will, because a lot more people turn up at this point. They are heavily outnumbered and this Green Arrow gets himself, Sara and Rip out of there.
On the Waverider, Jax is chatting to Kendra and giving her a hand. He explains that machines are his thing and he’s been reading the ship’s instruction manual in his downtime. Kendra comments that most people struggle to put a bookcase together, and Jax is fixing a time-travelling spaceship. From the future. Confidence appears to be working. Stein approaches Ray and mentions that he saw a little spark between Ray and Kendra. Ray asks if he did, and Stein replies that it was quite apparent. That Kendra threw some glances Ray’s way. Ray had never thought of Kendra like that. Just what is Professor Stein doing? Ray continues, saying he hasn’t spent much time with Kendra. The professor says it would probably be best to avoid personal attachments, as both the ship and the team are small. Okay, that’s what Stein is doing. Although it ends up backfiring a little.
Rory is currently enjoying himself when Snart asks for a moment of his time. Snart wants them to go back and help Rip and Sara, not put down roots here. Rory wants to know why, as they have everything they ever wanted. He has a gang who does everything he wants. Snart says to stop Savage; Rory replies that Snart said they were in it for the score. They can live like kings because there are no cops.
The new Green Arrow tells Rip and Sara that Oliver tried to raise an army to fight Deathstroke but everyone wanted to evacuate. He asks how you can save a city that doesn’t want saving. Rip takes Sara aside and tells her it isn’t her fault, nor does she have a means to change it. Vandal Savage’s future is preventable and Rip wants Sara to focus on the mission. When they say they need to head to Smoak Technologies, the Green Arrow asks them why, as it was cleared out years before. A lot of Felicity Smoak’s projects were relocated.
When Green Arrow leads Rip and Sara to the place, Sara comments that he never said it would be here. He asks her where else did she think. Here is the former base of operations of the Green Arrow, and it’s more than a little trashed. Rip mentions that it has seen better days and is told the place was attacked after Grant Wilson outed Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow. Sara finds the place disturbing, and wants to finish as quickly as they can. Then a voice tells whoever it is to leave. The voice, when it’s owner appears, belongs to Oliver Queen. He is older, as expected, and is also missing his left arm. Also kind of expected – the damage, if not its specifics.
Oliver tells the other Green Arrow to put the arrow down, calling him John, as he’s embarrassing himself. This new Green Arrow2 is, not a great surprise, John Diggle Jr., Diggle’s son. However, John says his father is dead because he couldn’t save him, so he doesn’t deserve the name. He is Connor Hawke. Oliver asks Connor if it’s okay to parade around in someone else’s outfit, and Connor tells him that someone has to, as everyone thought Oliver was dead. When Sara asks Oliver about everyone else, he tells her they are all dead. She and Ray hopped onto a spaceship and never came back. He isn’t saying it would have ended differently, but they would have made a difference. Oliver tells them where Felicity’s things are and gives them the access code.
Grant Wilson turns up and orders Rory’s new gang to scour the city as he wants the Green Arrow dead by morning. Rory tells Deathstroke it’s his gang; Wilson replies that it’s his city. Sure, Rory may be living like a king – but the king is subservient to the emperor it seems. Rory’s new gang heads off and Snart tells him that they are going to kill their friends. Rory asks when they became their friends. Things get a little tense between the two, a matter that will be settled later.
At the warehouse where Felicity’s stuff is kept, Rip and Sara say that if they complete their mission and return, she will be able to help stop Grant Wilson’s Uprising, and this version of the future will never have to happen, it will never come to pass. They split up and Sara finds something, as does Rip. Then they are found by Deathstroke’s people. Who capture Connor.
Sara wants to help, even in a future that may never come to be. Rip doesn’t really see the point. Snart also wants to help, as it seems he’s finally becoming what Barry Allen accused him of being – a hero. However, Rory never wanted to be a hero. He wants to see the world burn. More tension ensues, and will this cause problems later?