#FlashxArrow was set to be another amazing crossover, with an even greater purpose – to act as a springboard for the upcoming ‘Legends of Tomorrow” series. Introducing us to Vandal Savage, having Hawkgirl discover her powers, giving us some important developments on several fronts, this pair of episodes carried a tremendous weight of expectations. Given that, it’s a good thing that FLASH and ARROW exceeded every expectation. Want to know more? Just follow us after the jump…

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

There were so many developments in this crossover that it would take several articles to list them all, so we’ll try to stick to the highlights here.  This pair of episodes ties together the stories of Vandal Savage, Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Here’s a brief history in the DCTVU of these characters.

• Vandal Savage was granted immortality in part thanks to a glowing meteorite (“sky rock”). The same event granted Prince Khufu (Carter Hall/Hawkman) and Priestess Shayera (Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl) their ability to reincarnate.
• Each time Savage kills the lovers, his powers increase. He has killed them 206 times so far, meaning he is very powerful at this point. His abilities are part mystical, part experience and training, and with the Staff of Horus in his possession he is nearly unstoppable.
• Carter Hall has “awakened” to his prior lives, but Kendra is just beginning to remember who she is over the course of the two episodes.

Savage demands to have Hawkman and Hawkgirl turned over to him, with the threat that he would otherwise lay both Central City and Star City to waste. Of course, our heroes won’t give up without a fight. They make plans for a major battle with Savage, but the battle goes very badly…in fact, the good guys lose in a cataclysmic way. Everyone dies, the end…

…okay, not quite the end. We see some scenes played out twice, something like “Groundhog Day”…and also like some scenes from Season One of THE FLASH. We do see Central City destroyed, and everyone other than Barry dies…literally everyone is killed by Savage. That drives Barry to run so fast that he goes back in time (something foreshadowed earlier in the story). This gives him the chance to change things, even though he is reluctant to do so – understandable given the events of last seasons’ finale.

But, he does work with Oliver to make some changes, and they appear to work. Of course, we know that we will see Savage again before long, but we at least have a victory for tonight. However, the crossover was so much more than this simple summary of the main plot…

NOTES:

• We have a storyline from ARROW season 2 come back around as Oliver meets…his son! No, not Connor Hawke, but a boy named William. In the first run through of the battle timeline, Oliver loses Felicity because he lied to her about being a father. In the second timeline…he still doesn’t tell her but isn’t caught just yet. This cannot end well…but it will at least stretch out over a longer period of time.
• Harrison Wells is shot by Patty Spivot, who believes she is dealing with the Earth One Reverse Flash. Wells is saved by…Jay Garrick, using a serum called Velocity 6 (comics fans know about Velocity 9, which was in the comics developed by Vandal Savage instead of Wells and Caitlin). By the way, how much longer can they go with Patty not knowing about Barry being the Flash? She is shuffled off by Joe quickly after the shooting without an explanation. This, too, cannot end well unless it is resolved soon.
• We see the concept of the “Nth Metal” introduced here, this time related to the meteorite that granted Vandal Savage his immortality.
• Malcom Merlyn is brought in with several “sneaky sudden appearance” scenes. The first time he and his entourage suddenly appeared, it was cool…but it kept happening often enough that I started to think to myself “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition” when he showed up. Still, Malcom plays an important role in the plot.

There are a lot of other great notes in the show, including the expected relationship issues with Cisco and Kendra. Let’s just leave it at this:

SUMMARY: The crossover hit all the high notes. We have an effective introduction to a Vandal Savage who is powerful enough to need the full “Legends of Tomorrow” cast to address his threat. Just a thought – all those pictures of Savage in those different eras, think those could have been taken by our “Legends” team? We also get an excellent transition for Kendra to her Hawkgirl identity, and a pretty good intro to Carter Hall/Khufu/Hawkman. The plot brings time travel back into the spotlight, giving us a great set-up for “Legends”. That, and several significant points of character development, made this an excellent crossover.

What do you think? Leave your comments below!

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