Violet recaps Season 1 Episode 14, of Legends of Tomorrow, titled River of Time, where the Legends run into some trouble while transporting Vandal Savage to the Vanishing Point! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
- His thoughts on River of Time, Episode 114 of Legends of Tomorrow
- Her thoughts on Season 1 Episode 14 of Legends of Tomorrow
Legends of Tomorrow Recap, Season 1 Episode 14: River of Time
In a flashback to Ancient Egypt in 1700 BC, we see Rip Hunter being held in a cell by Vandal Savage. Rip is very weak, but manages to stand, telling Vandal Savage he will always rise against him.
Back to the Waverider, the team discusses what to do about Vandal Savage, who they are holding in a cell. Ray and Jax come in with some news: the Leviathan robot that Vandal Savage was using has even more advanced technology than 2166 should have. Rip concludes that Vandal Savage has been engaging in manipulation of time — which means that the Time Masters now have a reason to take action against Savage. However, Rory points out that the Time Masters are at the edge of the timeline. But Gideon says that the time drive is operational, so they begin heading toward the Vanishing Point.
Rip goes to talk to Vandal Savage and asks him how he obtained the ability to travel through time. Savage says it was from Rip. When he encountered him in the 1970s, Savage learned that time travel was possible, and he’s had 200 years to work on figuring out how.
Rip orders Gideon to put the ship in maximum drive, though Gideon advises against it. But Rip insists, wanting to get to the Vanishing Point as fast as possible.
Ray and Kendra pay a visit to Carter, whose wrists are in cuffs and suspended to the wall. He tells them to release him, or he will kill them where they stand. Kendra starts to tell Carter who he is, and who she is, and about their history, but it seems Savage has already told him about his “enemies.” He says if they let him go, he will show them mercy — he will kill them without making them suffer.
Sara asks Rip if he thinks he might be pushing the ship too hard, but he’s keen on getting to the Vanishing Point as fast as possible so they can get rid of Savage. He promises that the Waverider will hold together — but just then, the time drive fails. Rip asks Jax to repair the ship. If that doesn’t work, the jump ship is capable of one jump to 2016, so they won’t be stranded.
Sara goes down to check on Savage to make sure he’s still secure in his cell. Apparently he has been researching his enemies for the past 191 years. He tells Sara that Rip has been lying to them, and that the people he chose for this mission are people he could manipulate.
From the bridge, Rip watches Jax make repairs and gives him directions. He asks Gideon about the levels of contamination, which are 3% above maximum. Professor Stein panics, saying they need to get him out of there, but Rip insists that Jax will be fine. Just then, Jax gets blasted back with an explosion.
As Jax is blacked out, he has a flashback to his mother visiting him at the mechanic shop he works at. She gives him a watch that she was going to give to his father long ago. She reminds him about their dinner that night.
Rip and Stein retrieve Jax and help him to the medical bay. He is conscious, and says he was able to get it working. Gideon reports that Jax has suffered from temporal radiation exposure, and that there’s nothing to be done about the side effects — which are that he’s aging at an accelerated rate.
Meanwhile, Snart tells Rory he has a feeling that things will end badly.
Gideon reports that the times drive’s functions have been restored, but a master reboot will be required before they can continue. Gideon rechecks the timeline for Rip, who is hoping that his family’s fate has changed, but the timeline remains unchanged. Sara walks in just then, and tells him that Savage told her Rip would sell them out to save his family. Rip says that Savage is not wrong, and tells her about what happened to Jax. Sara is upset that their Captain cares more about himself than his crew.
Ray and Kendra go to talk to Carter again. Kendra shows him a picture of their son, Aldus, and tries to remind him of their past lives. However, she gets too close to him, and he attacks her with his legs. Ray punches him, knocking him out.
Ray goes to talk to Savage, and demands to know how to free Carter’s mind. However, Savage points out that the moment he releases Carter, Ray will lose Kendra forever. Savage also reveals that he and Kendra fell deeply in love with each other in one of Kendra’s past lives, and they were happy — until Carter came and took her away from him. Savage tries to convince Ray that they have the same enemy — Carter — and brings up the fact that if Ray loses Kendra, it wouldn’t be the first woman he’s lost.
Ray has a flashback to visiting Palmer Tech to drop off a note for Felicity. However, Felicity comes in with her wheelchair just then and catches him. It turns out that Oliver told her all about Ray’s mission. Felicity tries to convince Ray that he has a life here. However, he says he became the ATOM to make the world a better place, and he thinks saving the world counts. He also tells Felicity that he would have stayed for her. Felicity says she knows, and thinks that the future Mrs. Palmer is somewhere out there in time. But Ray corrects her, saying that he’s off to save the world, not fall in love.
Just then, Ray walks in on Kendra reciting a love poem to Carter, and begging him, her love, to come back to her. Ray stalks out, hurt. Kendra follows him, and tries to explain. She says she loves Ray, but he realizes that it’s not enough. He says Savage was right, even though he knows that Savage is just trying to get inside his head. Ray wants to end things with Kendra, unless she can tell him he’ll ever be anything more than Carter’s placeholder. She can’t. He walks off.
Jax’s blood results are comparable to that of a 63 year old man. Rory and Snart see what happened to Jax, and don’t like the situation Rip has put them in, so they go talk to Rip. He reminds them that the mission has always been voluntary, so they can leave in the jump ship if they don’t want to be here anymore. Since the mission was to kill Savage, which looks like it’s not on the table anymore, they decide they want to leave. Sara, on the other hand, though she seems doubtful of Rip, says she’s never been one to run from a fight.
We then see a flashback of Sara, who had gone to visit Nyssa while she was locked up in a cell at Nanda Parbat. Sara tells Nyssa she’ll get her out of here. However, Nyssa says this isn’t Sara’s fight anymore, and she’s in there because of her own choices. She tells Sara that if she loves her, she’ll leave this life behind, unburdened by her past.
Stein goes to ask Savage about the night in 1975 when he performed a ritual that allowed him to share his immortality with his followers. Stein wants Savage to do this to save Jax. However, Savage shares a bit of info that Stein wasn’t aware of: that it was Carter’s blood that worked the magic. Stein figures out that Savage is trying to put him and Ray at odds with Kendra and Carter while they’re stranded in the time stream. But the conversation also provides Stein with a solution as realizes they’re not entirely stranded.
Stein leads Jax down to the jump ship, and says he has figured out that the trip should reverse the aging effect. Jax refuses to go, but Stein drugs him and straps him into the chair. As Stein locks Jax in, Jax protests, but Stein goes ahead anyway, and releases the ship.
In Stein’s flashback, his wife, Clarissa, stops by the lab to see him. He tells her that he has to meet up with some colleagues, but he’ll be home for dinner. They kiss goodbye, and he tells her he loves her.
Back to the present, Snart and Rory arrive to the jump ship, but Stein breaks the news that he already sent Jax away on it. This angers them, but Stein says that now they must do whatever is necessary to repair the Waverider and deliver Savage to the Vanishing Point.
Ray goes back to talk to Savage, who tries to get in Ray’s head again. However, Ray tells Savage that Kendra is free to do what she wants. Savage tells Ray what he sees in him: weakness masquerading as goodness. He then riles Ray up by saying that at least Carter had the courage to face him like a man. In response, Ray goes inside the cell with Savage and begins fighting him. However, Savage gets Ray in a sleeper hold, then uses Ray’s device to open the cell doors, and escapes, as Ray lays unconscious on the floor.
Gideon reports that the system is back online. Just then, Ray stumbles in and reports that Savage has escaped. Gideon tells them that Savage has already freed Carter, then Gideon is taken offline. Rip says they’ll have to make their approach the old-fashioned way. He orders Rory and Ray to go recapture Savage. Meanwhile, Rip, Sara, and Stein take a look at some maps to try to figure out how to get to the Vanishing Point. Rip appoints Stein as Engineer and Sara as Navigator.
Ray suits up, then he and Rory meet up with Snart and Kendra, who are already under fire from Savage. Carter approaches from the other side of the hall with Kendra’s mace. Rory and Snart go after Snart, while Ray and Kendra go after Carter. Kendra tells Ray she has this, and to go after Savage, so he does.
As they approach the Vanishing Point, Rip volunteers to go help the others with Savage and Carter, while Sara pilots the ship.
Savage succeeds in knocking out Rory, Snart, and ATOM, while Kendra is having a little trouble with Carter. Rip walks in just then, punching Carter in the face and knocking him to the ground. Savage fires at Rip. Carter gets back up and takes hold of Kendra, then brings her to Savage. As Savage begins to strangle Kendra, Carter suddenly gets his memories back, and attacks Savage as Hawkman. It looks like Hawkman is winning — until Savage stabs him. Kendra gets up and fights Savage, knocking him out. Rip checks on Carter and tells her that she saved him.
The ship arrives at the Vanishing Point — and they lose control of the ship as the Time Masters take control over it. As Rip marches Savage to be brought before the Time Masters, Savage asks him how he managed to escape his prison all those years ago. Rip tells him he bribed his guard with a novelty pen.
While Ray checks on an unconscious Carter in the med bay, Kendra walks in. Ray is grateful that Carter saved Kendra, and is accepting of the fact that Carter is part of the team. Kendra wishes things could be different, and assures Ray that what they had was real. Ray says that a broken heart is just what the doctor ordered because she proved that it’s possible that he could find someone he could spend the rest of his life with, despite his not believing so after his fiancee, Anna, had died.
When Rip walks into the Time Council’s meeting, the leader is just about to sentence Rip for his crimes, but Rip interrupts him and brings forth Vandal Savage. Rip says he has incontrovertible proof that Savage has been manipulating time, and shows them the video of his confession. The leader tells Savage to step forward — then announces that he’s returning Savage to Earth immediately, saying that Savage is needed back in 2166. Rip realizes that the Time Council is in league with Savage, though the leader says he wouldn’t expect Rip to understand their reasons, saying that Rip was never able to take the long view of history. Then he has Rip locked away in a cell, and tells his men to search the ship for the others.
Back on the ship, Snart and Sara are hanging out and hear the Time Council soldiers come aboard. Snart says they need to find a place to hide. Meanwhile, the soldiers capture the others and take the ship.
Savage visits Rip at his cell, and tells him that he remembers the guardsman very well — he shows him that he has the pen. He also says that the guardsman died. Then Savage bids farewell to Rip as he leaves for 2166, telling Rip he’s been waiting so long to meet his family. This sets Rip off, who angrily bangs at his cell walls, which are more of an invisible force field.
Her Thoughts on Legends of Tomorrow, Season 1 Episode 14: River of Time
What I liked about this episode is that we got to see flashbacks of some of the characters, which gave us some insight into their relationships with certain loved ones that we’d never had an occasion to see before. It seemed like these people were the last people our characters saw before jetting off with Rip Hunter and becoming part of the Legends of Tomorrow team. In Sara’s, Ray’s, and Stein’s cases, they each are saying their goodbyes, though some more blatantly than others. However, in Jax’s case, he doesn’t seem like anything is amiss, since he hadn’t been planning on going, but Stein had drugged him and took him with them.
What I didn’t like was how so many of the team members kept going down and talking to Vandal Savage. He’s a bad guy, and a master manipulator, so obviously he’s going to try to get into your head. They should know that and avoid him. Also knowing that fact, if they’re forced to encounter him, like when Sara was sent down to check to make sure he was still secure, then they should not let themselves be manipulated. Yet Ray, knowing he was being manipulated, put himself in that situation repeatedly, and was dumb enough to actually open Savage’s cell. Why??? Ugh. So stupid. Ignore this guy. He’s a villain. That’s what villains do — say things to you that have a ring of truth, yet twist it in a way to manipulate you.
Then it turns out that Carter was able to get his memories and mind back without Vandal Savage purposely giving it back to him. Which means that Kendra could have killed Savage last episode, and the team could have figured out a way to get Carter’s mind back on their own, and this whole mess could have been avoided. In fact, Kendra still could have killed Savage at the end of this episode after Carter’s memories returned. But I guess they had to do the more noble thing and hand Savage over to the Time Masters.
Anyway, so what happens now that Rip is locked up? What happens to the rest of the team? Well, the team that they can find anyway, since it seems that Snart and Sara are probably hiding and will make a rescue attempt. Oh, and what about Jax?? Is he just gone for the rest of the season now, until they can go back and pick him up, or is he gone forever? Curious to see how this all goes down.
His Thoughts on Legends of Tomorrow, Season 1 Episode 14: River of Time
How this episode was going, I had a feeling the Time Masters were working with Vandal Savage. I have to say, while this show has had subtle elements of Doctor Who to it, I felt like this episode really made it dawn on me how much alike the two shows are. Right down to the duster coat that Rip is wearing, Legends of Tomorrow feels like a superhero, American version of Doctor Who. I don’t know why I didn’t consider how closely they resembled each other before. It is not a bad thing either, it seems this does pay a sort of homage to Doctor Who.
The one frustrating thing about both Legends of Tomorrow and Doctor Who though, is the fact that convenience to the story seems to take precedence over logic when it comes to time travel. Certain things seem to be doable all of a sudden because the story says it can, or things become impossible all of a sudden because the story says it is no longer possible. It can be frustrating at times.
Either way though, it looks like Savage has won. Rip is going to have to come up with some miraculous plan in order to get out of this one. Hopefully there is some good reasoning behind it, and more “conveniences” that happen.
Scenes from Legends of Tomorrow, Season 1 Episode 15: Destiny
Preview of Season 1 Episode 15 of Legends of Tomorrow
It was nice to get flashbacks on other characters besides Hawkgirl. However, I thought the episode was predictable. You pretty much knew Savage was going to play mind games with everyone. Plus, I wasn’t surprised that the Time Masters were going to release Savage.