One thing that’s never mentioned about the Legends is all the inner demons they have inside of them. Each has had a moment or two that has deeply affected them, but has also let them grow and change. However, the person with the most inner demons is of course Sara Lance. We could talk about the deaths she has faced in her life especially her sister’s. We could mention the deaths she has caused as a member of the League of Assassins. These are just a few of the things that makes it difficult for Sara to let people in and to love her.
So of course, the second Sara calls Ava her girlfriend at the beginning of “Necromancing the Stone,” we knew something bad was going to happen. It’s just that we didn’t expect to feel such pain like Ava feels at the end of the episode when Sara breaks up with her. What leads up to such a heartbreaking moment? Read on as we talk about the damage a Mallus-controlled Sara Lance can cause on the Legends.
WHITE WITCH
After a little pre-coitus talk with Ava and Sara (where Ava is very cool with Sara sleeping with John a while back…for now) is clock-blocked…sorry wrong show, interrupted by Gideon, the team is conviently sent away. The Death Totem calls Captain Lance to it by bringing old faces from her past to tempt her including her old self as the Canary.
(Would have been a great time to have Katie Cassidy make a guest-shot on here again but eh, what ya going to do?)
The tricks work and Sara becomes Mallus-controlled with a new, more ghostly look. Which Caity Lotz makes look good. Seriously how does she make spirit-possession look that sexy??
Okay, now that is off my chest, Sara makes quick work of Ray as he is found beaten and bloodied by Zari and Amaya. They make several different attempts to stop Mallus-Sara but success if futile.
- Wally’s attempt is countered by Sara bringing up a vision of Jesse to try to play tricks with his mind. Jesse’s break-up with him changed Wally for the better, though. It has made him more zen and all that inner peace babble that people say, so he’s glad Jesse broke her heart. Mallus-Sara responds by kicking his ass. Mallus -1, Team- 0
- The next attempt is Zari’s turn. Zari goes to override the lock-down on the Waverider Sara caused. Instead she is met by a vision of her dead brother. This works a little better, as Zari is able to fight off this attempt at emotional manipulation by Mallus-Sara but her response is a tearful goodbye and destroying stuff. Mallus-Sara’s response: Strangling the life out of Zari. If not for Sara re-gaining control for a split-second, we’d have had another Legend to mourn this season. Mallus-2, Team-0
- Plan the third is Nate is going to wield the Earth Totem to stop Mallus-Sara. Do I really need to tell you how this goes? Nate sees his grandfather, who in basic terms calls him a loser and proceeds to demoralize Nate so much that Sara’s blows to his face seem mild in comparison. No more scoreboard here as it’s starting to get depressing.
So what’s Ava doing while all this is happening? Well she’s gone to the one man she needs help from to rescue Sara. No, not Gary. John Constantine.
THE FIRE STILL BURNS
Ava and Gary locate John in NY 2018 and after a bit of a “Nice to meet you, We both slept with Sara” jealous banter, they go to try to confront Mallus there. This last all of two seconds, before it blows up in their face. So they go for a new plan: try to find the Waverider and confront Mallus there to save Sara. All hope of finding it seems lost till Gary makes a Dungeons and Dragons suggestion that I can barely remember that while it works shouldn’t make a bit of sense at all. Sort of like the show itself honestly.
Also, GARY comes up with the idea. GARY? Will wonders never cease. This earns Gary a big smooch from Constantine (which he seemed to like a lot). Ava, John and Gary magically appear at the Waverider just in time too because Sara is losing her grip in the “mallus dreamscape”
In the Mallus Dreamscape, Sara is stuck with Nora Darhk who acts as her misguided conscious. After showing her one of her worst kills as a member of the League of Assassins, Nora plays even more mind games when Sara hears Ava’s voice call out to her. Nora plays on the fears we know Sara has : Get too close to someone and you’ll end up hurting them. She fears that she’ll end up hurting Ava like so many others she thinks she’s hurt over the years. Shoutout to Caity Lotz for how she plays these scenes with such toughness and yet you can see Sara’s vulnerability in her eyes.
But how does Sara get free of Mallus’s possession? Well, thanks to Rory’s new snazzy Fire Totem. I do question how it took them this long to figure out Rory should be the one to use it. Rory is a psycho, but he’s a psycho who cares about these Legends. As Amaya tells him before he goes to wield the totem to fight Mallus “You are a good man”. That’s one inner demon that Mick Rory has always wondered. I feel like that answer is “Mick is a man who is trying to be good.” For now, that’s good enough.
So Rory is able to knock out Evil Sara and Sara escapes the dreamscape, but Nora’s words still haunt her. So much so that when she meets up with Ava again in her bedroom, the scene of happiness becomes one of sadness. Sara breaks up with Ava and I felt so sad for the two. Now, I hate this trope of “I must break up with you for your own good.” This was tiresome when Oliver Queen would do it and it’s tiresome now. The only saving grace is the emotion sold by Caity and Jes in this scene, selling their heartache and pain.
At the beginning of the season, I said it was inevitable these two would get together. So that came to pass as AvaLance. What happens now that they have loved and lost one another at the moment? Is it really over?
Don’t bet on it, sister.
QUICK THOUGHTS
- Favorite one-liner of the episode goes to Constantine “It is perfectly legal to win a apartment in a duel.”
- Matt Ryan has so much fun as John Constantine and you can see it on the screen. I really do hope we get a season 4 so we can see John become a Legend on a full-time basis.
- “This spot reserved for the girlfriend of Sara Lance” If you didn’t feel after seeing Sara find that note and the look on her face after, you are a cold-hearted SOB.
- I liked seeing Sara in her old Canary outfit one more time.
- The preview for next week’s episode looks bananas. IS AVA A ROBOT OR A CLONE OR SOMETHING ELSE??
Legends of Tomorrow airs on Mondays on the CW at 8pm.