New York – Six Months Ago
As the atomic bomb explodes, Rip is thrown about Waverider. Gideon warns that it will take 15 years to repair the damage, and Rip pries open a panel to reveal a wooden staff. He then tells Gideon to initiate repairs and shuts the AI down, and then goes to the engine room. Uttering a brief prayer, Rip reaches for the power core.
Now
Waverider is going through the timestream, and Martin hears Mick telling someone that they're his best friend. When Martin goes in, Mick asks him what he heard and Martin says that he's flattered. Mick says that he's not talking to him, and explains that he's been seeing Len recently. He tells Martin not to tell anyone, and orders Martin to fix him/
In the library, Nate is going through the records when Ray and Amaya come in. Nate explains that he's trying to figure out what the "Legion of Doom" wants with the two amulets. He's carbon-dated it and Gideon puts the amulets' date of origin at 30 AD. Amaya suggests that they're a single artifact in two pieces, and Nate realizes that it's the Longinus Medallion.
The team assembles and Nate explains that Longinus was the Roman soldier who pieced Christ's side during the Crucifixion. The blood got on the Medallion, giving it and the Spear magical powers. The Medallion takes the holder to the Spear, which is known as the Spear of Destiny. The team wonders what the Legion wants with the Spear, and Nate says that it can permanently change reality. Sara blames herself for handing over the Medallion, and points out that Rip wouldn't have done it.
Los Angeles, 1967
Damien and Malcolm go to a theater, Damien holding the Medallion and they approach two bikers. The bikers order them to hand over their wallets, and the villains tell them to hand over their bikes.
On Waverider, Nate brings up a photo of Cal DeVito and explains that he's died. His death generated an aberration, and Gideon reports that the men were killed with a League of Assassins technique. Sara orders Gideon to head for the point of origin of the aberration: Hollywood, 1967. When they arrive in Hollywood, Jax admits that Martin has been surprisingly withdrawn recently. They enter a nearby studio where an actor is playing Rip Hunter and rehearsing a scene with "Vandal Savage." The director--Rip—cuts and says that he needs to think. He calls his assistant George outside and complains that the actor playing Vandal can't bring any menace to the part. George tells Rip that his thesis film is due in a month, just as Damien and Malcolm over and address Rip by name. He assumes that they're looking for the actor, Adam, just as Sara and the others arrive. They're surprised to see Rip, and Damien and Malcolm open fire as Rip and George take cover. George is hit in the arm and runs off, and tells Rip to run. When Jax tries to lead Rip away, Rip beats him with his script. The police arrive and the Legends fall back. Malcolm and Damien run off, and the police arrest Rip.
Back on Waverider, Sara says that they'll spring Rip from the police station and find out what's going on. Ray suggests that Rip is suffering from time drift and may have lost his memories. Sara figures that the Medallion led them there, which means Rip has the Spear.
Mick shares his childhood with Martin, who warns that he's no psychiatrist. Martin asks if there was something that might have trigged the vision, just as Sara comes in. She tells them that Rip is in 1967 and they can't sit out their mission. Martin claims that he was helping Mick with a migraine, and Sara tells Martin that he'll pose as a shrink.
At the police station, Martin goes in with Sara and Mick posing as his orderlies, and claims that Rip is his patient. Rip is there under the name "Phil Gasmer," and the desk sergeant realizes that Rip is the guy who thinks that he's being pursued by futuristic space guys. Rip doesn't recognize them, and Martin tells the sergeant that Rip is having memory problems. Once the officer leaves, Sara introduces the team and says that they're his friends and they're there to help. When Rip doesn't stop screaming, Mick punches him and they take him to the extraction point. On Waverider, the team spots Damien and Malcolm approaching. Malcolm kills the sergeant and continues on.
The team warns Sara that the Legion is coming, and Sara realizes that they're blocking their escape. She tells Rip to pilot Waverider to the station roof. They take Rip there via the elevator, but Rip breaks away from them and wonders if they're playing a joke. Sara tells him that he's a Time Master, but Rip backs away. Waverider appears behind him just as Damien and Malcolm open fire. The team gets into Waverider and the timeship flies off.
Gideon scans Rip and tells Sara that Rip has been reprogrammed with a new identity. Ray figures that Rip altered his brain using the power from the ship's time drive. Suddenly absent-minded, Ray walks out. Gideon figures that Rip shut it down to prevent it from stopping him, and remembers that he took a piece of wood from his quarters. They figure that it's the Spear and Sara goes to tell the others. Mick suggests to Martin that they use the scanner to see what's up with his brain. Martin figures that Mick is having visions because of emotion, not neurological damage, and assures him that it's normal. Mick insists that he doesn't do feelings and tells Martin to fix his brain.
In the study, Amaya and Nate are going through the records to get a description of the Spear. Ray comes in and Nate suffers a similar bout of memory loss. They realize that they're losing memories of their past, and realize that they first started losing memories at the film set. Amaya goes over what Sara recovered, and finds a board with "G. Lucas" on it. Ray realizes that it refers to George Lucas. Amaya brings up the records and discovers that George was an insurance salesman.
Once Amaya has Gideon check for aberrations, she tells the team that the Legion scared George out making films and it affected their lives. Without the inspiration of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, Ray and Nate never became an inventor and an historian, respectively. Gideon confirms that George is no longer enrolled in film school.
At his dorm, George throws his films away and moves out. The Legends approach him, and Nate and ray explain that they'll lose their superpowers if George never makes his movies. If he doesn't go back to school then they don't live up to their potential. Amaya says that she'll deal with it, and tells George that Ray and Nate care about movies. She tells George to consider all of the people in the future that he will inspire, and says that he's their only help.
In Mick's quarters, Martin scans Mick and finds a receiver in his head. He explains that Len bonded with the temporal blast from the Oculus, and Mick is seeing a "time ghost." Mick realizes that the Time Masters put the receiver in his brain when he was Chronos, and starts talking to Len, insisting that he's dead. He then tells Martin to get the receiver out of his head, and Martin figures that he and Gideon can devise a way.
Sara takes Rip to the study in the hopes that it will restore his memories. She says that Rip saved her life by giving her purpose, just as Jax comes in and says that versions of them are all in Rip's movie. Rip also wrote about the Spear, and says that it's the McGuffin in his movie. The "Rip" in the movie has only one piece of it and it's scattered throughout time, and he gave his piece to his prop master... George.
Amaya, Ray, and Nate take George back to his dorm after he agrees to go back to film school. Damien and Malcolm attack and knock out the team, and Malcolm takes the Tantu Totem from Amaya. The Legion then tells George to hand over the piece of the Spear.
Damien and Malcolm take their prisoners into George's dorm room, and Ray and Nate realizes that they can't use their powers. Amaya figures that the piece isn't there, and Malcolm demands to know where it is. George says that he tossed all of the props down the garbage chute once the movie was done, and Damien asks where the city dump is.
Sara and Jax enter the medbay and find Martin performing brain surgery on Mick.
The Legion takes their prisoners to the dump, shove them into a crusher, and order them to find the piece. As they dig, George complains that they don't have superpowers, and Damien turns on the crusher to give them some "incentive." As the others brave the walls, George finds the piece. Ray tells him not to show it to their captors. Waverider arrives and blasts the villains back. Sara and Jax run out and take on the villains.
On the Waverider bridge, Rip watches and realizes that the mission isn't going well. Gideon points out that Rip Hunter had no superpowers, and Rip asks her what he would do if he was there.
The Legends tell George that he has to believe that he will make amazing movies so Nate and Ray regain their superpowers. George finally says that he really wants to direct, and Nate transforms into Steel. He jumps out and punches Malcolm, while Ray regains his Atom suit. Amaya gets the Totem from Malcolm and throws him across the dump, while Atom flies out of the compactor and opens fire. Damien drops the Medallion and Sara grabs it.
Reverse Flash arrives and asks who they kill first. Rip steps out, wearing his coat, and says that for the first time in recent memory he is truly alive. He aims his gun at the Legion and shoots... and nothing happens. The Legion members realize that he's bluffing, and Rip tells Gideon to fire everything. The team gets aboard the timeship but Reverse Flash grabs Rip and runs off with him. The Legends have no choice but to leave with George.
Later, Jax tells Sara that she couldn't have saved Rip. She says that she failed, but Jax points out that they got a piece of the Spear and the Medallion. He figures that nothing will stop Sara from finding Rip.
Mick tells Martin that he hasn't seen Len recently. Martin says that the receiver hasn't functioned in months, and Mick figures that he's going crazy. The professor tells him that Len is no more, and the voice Mick is hearing is his own. If "Len" is questioning Mick's moral obligation to the team, it means that Mick thinks that.
Gideon checks the timeline and confirms that all of George's movies are part of history again. Nate and Ray take Amaya to the study to treat her to a Lucas movie marathon. Ray has second thoughts when he remembers that they lost Rip. Gideon says that Rip would want them to enjoy themselves, and Ray has Gideon pick a movie.
Rip sits in an empty chamber and Reverse Flash speeds up to him. When he calls Rip "Captain Hunter," Rip insists that he's a filmmaker. Reverse Flash doesn't believe him and figures that he knows where other parts of the Spear are. Rip realizes that they're going to torture him, and Damien and Malcolm step out of the shadows.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 30, 2017