Waverider arrives above London in 2146 and is caught in an
aerial bombardment. Rip confirms that Vandal's forces are the ones
opening fire, and repeats their mission to find Vandal where they know
that they can find him. He confirms that Vandal will kill his wife and
son in three days' time, but they will save them by stopping Vandal now.
Gideon slips Waverider beneath
the artillery fire and Rip has the AI set them down near the encampment
of the remaining resistance forces. He insists that they have to move
out immediately because Vandal will be out in the open that night.
Later, Vandal is with a woman, Cassandra, giving a speech to his
forces. Rip, Sara, Mick, and Len are disguised in uniform and watching
from the crowd, and realize that they can't grab Vandal at that time.
Once he leaves the stage, Kendra tells the field team that Jax is in the
jumpship ready to extract them. Cassandra goes by and Len suspects that
she noticed them. Rip isn't convinced, and the field team follows
Cassandra and her soldiers.
Kendra has Gideon do a close scan of Cassandra and notices that she's wearing Kendra's bracelet from ancient Egypt.
Once Vandal, Cassandra, and their soldiers have moved off, Mick trips
Rip. The soldiers turn and Sara and Rip attack the soldiers while Len
and Mick go after Vandal. Sara and Cassandra fight, and Kendra tells
Sara that she needs to take Cassandra's bracelet. More soldiers move in
and Rip orders the team to fall back. As Jax moves in, Len contemplates
shooting Cassandra and then leaves with the others.
Back on Waverider,
Len explains that they staged the distraction. Kendra tells the team
about the bracelet, and Sara wonders how they're going to kill Vandal
with it. Rip figures that Len and Mick can steal it, just as Gideon
detects resistance fighters approaching. Before Rip leaves to talk to
them, he tells Sara to get Kendra ready to kill Vandal with the
bracelet.
Ray, Martin, and Jax accompany Rip out, and the
resistance fighters ambush them. Rip says that his wife and son live in
Whitechapel, and warns that the same fate will befall them if they don’t
accept the team's help. He points out that they'd be dead if they were
with Rip, and the leader takes them to the encampment. She explains that
Whitechapel fell eleven days ago, and Rip is sure his family isn't
there. The leader leaves them to get acclimated, and Jax gives a child a
candy bar. More children run up, and Martin tells Jax that they should
return to the ship and get additional provisions.
Ray asks Rip
about his family, and Rip says that he doesn't want to discuss it. When
Ray points out that Rip isn't trying to get his family to safety, Rip
explains that after trying to kill Vandal in Ancient Egypt, he traveled
to 2146 and tried to save Miranda and Jonas, but they were cut down by
Vandal's soldiers. He jumped back and tried to save them again and
again, and each time his family died. Time wants his family to die and
the timeline to remain unchanged.
The leader comes back and
says that they have no record of Rip, and the others disappeared 150
years ago. Rip says that they have to get to Vandal as possible, and the
leader says that someone tried to kill Vandal earlier and he's gone to
ground in the citadel's bunker. Delta Camp calls in requesting help,
and the leader takes a team there. By the time they get there, the
rebels are dead. The leader explains that London is the last patch of
free ground on Earth, and wonders what the team can do against soldiers
with such power.
Back on Waverider, Ray suggests that
he and Martin examine soil samples and wreckage from the camp to
determine what kind of weaponry Vandal is using. On the bridge, Mick and
Len say that they're working on a plan to get the bracelet. Rip
explains about the weapon Vandal used to wipe out the camp, and Kendra
agrees to go through Boardman's notebooks. In the cargo hold, she and
Sara check the books again. Among the items there is Hawkman's mace, and
Kendra says that she tries not to think about him because he's her pat
and Ray is her future. As she touches the mace, she recalls a memory
from the past.
In Iowa City in 1941, Carter is training
with his mace when Kendra comes in, dressed up. She reminds him that he
missed their anniversaries, and Carter gives her his mace as an
anniversary gift. He says that it's time for her to learn how to use it,
and wants to know that if he goes first then she can protect herself.
Kendra says that she doesn't want to consider facing life without him,
and Carter assures her that he'll always be near. She takes the mace and
wonders if she'll be strong enough to kill Vandal, and Carter assure
her that she has everything that she needs.
Kendra tells Sara that she knows what they can use to kill Savage.
In the bunker, Cassandra is sparring with her guards. She spares them
and warns that the rebels won't show them any such mercy. Mick and Len
come in, weapons drawn, and order her to hand over the bracelet. Alarms
go off and Cassandra addresses Len by name, asking what he's going to
do. Len and Mick take Cassandra to Waverider and lock her up,
and she says that she knows who all of them are. She addresses Rip by
his Egyptian name, and explains that she's Vandal's daughter.
In Rip's office, Rip tells the rest of the team what he's learned.
Kendra says that she knows what to do with the bracelet, and will need
Mick to burn something. Mick suggests that they send Vandal one of
Cassandra's fingers, and keeps sending them until he offers his life.
Sara suggests that Cassandra knows the details of Vandal's defenses, and
Len says that he's on it.
In the brig, Len asks Cassandra how
he's going to get the information he wants. She says that Vandal has
prepared her for torture, and Len notes that her father sounds a lot
like his. Cassandra explains that Per Degaton was a madman who unleashed
the Armageddon Virus 14 years ago. Her mother was among the millions
that died, and Vandal stood up to Degaton. Cassandra insists that Vandal
is the only one capable of putting the world back together. She says
that her suffering is a small price to pay, and Len points out that he
said nothing about torture.
Mick melts down the bracelet and
Kendra pours it over the mace head. He wonders if she can kill Vandal
after thousands of years of never having done so. Kendra says that she's
sure she can do it, and Mick says that if she isn't then she'll end up
like Carter.
Ray and Martin discover that Vandal's weapon is
some kind of giant, and the impact craters around the rebel camp are
footprints. The ship shakes as something huge approaches it.
An
aide informs Vandal that they've located the rebels who abducted
Cassandra and sent the Leviathan to confront them. Vandal tells his
people to find Cassandra and kill her abductors.
Cassandra hears the footsteps and tells Len that Vandal is coming for her.
Martin and Ray go to the rebel camp and watch as they prepare to fight. They take the children to Waverider
and Martin reminds Rip that he recruited them to save the world,
including the refugees. Rip orders Gideon to take off as soon as the
remaining refugees are onboard. On the bridge, Rip has everyone strap
themselves in and turns on the floodlights. Facing them is a giant
humanoid robot based on the tom suit, standing 200' tall. Waverider opens fire but the energy weapons have no effect. The Leviathan grabs Waverider and throws it over the hilltops.
After the timeship crashes, Leviathan determines that the occupants are
still alive and moves in. Gideon warns that it will arrive within the
hour, and that their engine is no longer functional. Rip wants to take
the jumpship and tries to outrun it, and Martin points out that it won't
carry the refugees. As they talk, Martin realizes that he's taken a
piece of metal in the stomach. Rip takes Martin to the medbay, and Jax
arrives. Martin tells Jax to take care of the refugees, and then passes
out as Gideon administers a sedative.
Len returns to the brig
and releases Cassandra, and explains that he's going to show her what
Vandal is really like. He leads Cassandra to the hold and explains that
most of the refugees are dead, and the survivors are all they could
save. Cassandra insists that Vandal was trying to save her, and Len
points out that the refugees are unarmed civilians. Vandal unleashes
Leviathan on a bunch of tents. The criminal says that it took a long
time to accept that his father was a monster, and figures that she's
smarter. Cassandra is unimpressed, and Len tells her that Vandal was the
one who unleashed the Armageddon Virus. She doesn't believe it, and Len
has Gideon run the footage from 2147. Cassandra insists that it isn't
true, but Len figures that deep down she knows it is.
Ray finds
Rip, who warns that they can't repair the engines in thirty minutes. He
insists that everyone onboard is as dead as his family, and Ray says
that he believes in choices, not fate. He tells Rip that they can choose
to fight, even if it's futile, but Rip points out that they have to
kill Vandal and their chances are impossible. Kendra and Len arrive and
Kendra says that she's found a way to kill Vandal. Len says that
Cassandra can get them in, and Ray says that he can stop Leviathan. Rip
says that he figures that it was fate that compelled him to bring the
team together and change the future once and for all.
As Kendra
prepares to go after Vandal, she meets with Ray. He assures her that
she can do it, and refuses to let her say any goodbyes. They kiss and
Leviathan's footsteps echo throughout the ship.
Outside, Jax wires up Ray's atom suit to Waverider's
auxiliary time drive and reverse the polarity of the dwarf star matrix.
Once Jax is done, he tells Ray that he's the real hero. Ray has him
stand back and then activates the Atom suit. As Jax looks on, the Atom
grows to giant and charges toward Leviathan. The two fight and Ray
manages to topple the titanic robot.
Vandal's aide informs him
that Leviathan is encountering resistance. Vandal realizes that it's the
Atom, and another aide tells Vandal that Cassandra has returned. The
immortal tyrant goes to greet his daughter and wonders how she escaped.
He realizes that her bracelet is gone, and that Cassandra is lying when
she claims she lost it in the escape. Cassandra tells Vandal to try and
tell her that he wasn't responsible for the release of the Virus.
Leviathan and Atom continue fighting.
The team steps out of the shadows, guns aimed at Vandal. Cassandra
tells her father that he's a monster, just as soldiers arrive.
Jax tells the Atom to open fire with his hard-light beams, and the hero opens fire.
Vandal realizes that Hawkgirl is there, just as she flies down and
snatches him away. While her teammates take on Vandal's soldiers,
Hawkgirl hits Vandal and he realizes that her mace can hurt him.
Atom slams an electrical tower into Leviathan and then hits it full-force with his blasters.
Hawkgirl smashes Vandal down and keeps beating him.
Cassandra saves Len, killing one of his attackers.
Leviathan flies up and fires a blast at Atom, knocking him down. Jay tells his friend to get up.
Hawkgirl prepares to strike the death blow, but a soldier arrives and
opens fire on her. She prepares to kill him, knocking off his helmet,
only to realize that it's Carter. As Kendra goes to him, Vandal explains
that Carter reincarnated and doesn't remember who he is. When Vandal
discovered Carter, he brainwashed him into forgetting his past lives.
Kendra grabs Vandal, and he says that he's the only one who can unlock
Carter's mind.
Jax reminds the stunned Atom of what he said
about believing in choices. Atom recovers and punches the charging
Leviathan, smashing its head off. The robot goes down and Atom shrinks
back to normal
Rip arrives and tells Kendra to finish Vandal. She tells Rip that it's Carter.
Reinforcements arrive and Mick yells at Kendra to finish it. Rip points
out that if Kendra doesn't kill Vandal then his wife and son will die.
After a moment, Kendra releases Vandal and says that she can't do it.
Rip says that they need to get Vandal and Carter back to Waverider and knocks Vandal unconscious.
The next morning, Len takes Cassandra to the rebel camp. When the
leader wonders why she shouldn't kill Cassandra, Cassandra says that she
knows the soldiers' tactics and weaknesses. She tells the leader to ask
Len why she changed her mind.
On Waverider, Ray asks Kendra what happened. Kendra says that they need to talk.
Martin wakes up and Rip confirms that he's okay. He tells Martin what
happened and confirms that the refugees are safe. Martin wonders if time
will assert itself and cause them to die, and Rip says that for once,
time is on their side. He then goes to see Vandal in the brig. Vandal
points out that Rip has failed to kill himself, and notes that he has
placed Kendra in an impossible position. She has to choose between her
soulmate and Rip's. Rip says that there is no such thing as destiny, and
Vandal warns that time will tell if there is still hope for Rip's
family.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 23, 2019