The Flash and Arrow existing in the same CW universe has always meant that there’s an awful lot of story to be explored whenever the characters happen to cross paths, and the epic 2015 crossover event between the two shows felt more like a movie than a pair of television episodes.
It also felt kind of like a backdoor pilot for upcoming Flarrow spinoff Legends of Tomorrow, as a whole lot of information about some of the key Legends characters hit the airwaves. We now know a lot more about what is to come with the next installment in the CW’s DC universe, and here are 5 key things that the Flash and Arrow crossover revealed about Legends of Tomorrow.
Vandal Savage Gets Around
We already knew that Vandal Savage was going to be the big bad guy for the first season of Legends of Tomorrow, and it’s not difficult to imagine why an immortal supervillain could spell disaster on a very large scale. The Flarrow crossover revealed that Savage has been up to no good for a very long time already. According to Malcolm Merlyn, Savage worked at the right hand of Genghis Khan and helped Julius Caesar to win the Gallic Wars.
It’s clear that Vandal Savage is dedicated to his work as an evil-doer as he has managed to steer powerful men of history while also hunting down the reincarnating Hawks over and over again to steal their life forces. Sure, it's evidently kept him too busy to ever change his hairstyle or shave his scruff, but it’s good to have a supervillain with his priorities in order.
The Hawks Aren’t Going Anywhere
The crew for Legends of Tomorrow is pretty motley, lending to the idea that the show could really work as an anthology with a revolving cast in a way that Flash and Arrow could not. Still, it looks like the Hawks won’t be going anywhere as long as Vandal Savage is around. Their life forces are all tied together, and 4,000 years have not yet been enough to disengage the immortal Savage from the reincarnating lovers.
If the three are fated to always cross paths, the Hawks could be invaluable members of the Legends crew when it comes to tracking Savage. In one fell swoop, the Flarrow crossover made Hawkgirl and Hawkman the most important members of the team of Legends good guys that we’ve met so far.
Vandal Savage Can Be Defeated
Vandal Savage may be an immortal who has killed Hawkgirl and Hawkman more than 200 times whenever he’s not preoccupied with changing the course of history, but the Flarrow crossover proved that he can be defeated. "Defeated" may not mean "dead" for Vandal Savage, but Malcolm Merlyn sneaking onto the scene of the showdown to steal some pathetic Savage ashes to rehydrate is not the same as Savage slinking off into the night to lick his wounds.
Killing Vandal Savage may not be an option now or even ever for the good guys of the Legends of Flarrow-verse, but reducing him to a pile of ashes (only reconstituted because Team Arrow doesn’t keep a terribly tight leash on Malcolm Merlyn) is a heck of a lot better than sending him off to find greater and more terrible weapons to hunt the Hawks.
It Takes A Team
Of course, it did take the better part of two episodes and one total destruction of Central City - only averted thanks to some handy dandy time travel - for Barry and Oliver to figure out how to get rid of Savage. In fact, it wasn’t until the boys got their heads on straight and worked out a plan involving the rest of Team Flarrow – masked and unmasked – that they were able to defeat Savage without getting everybody aside from the speedster incinerated.
It came as no real surprise that Barry and Oliver needed assistance in the crossover. Teamwork is the name of the game when it comes to Flarrow, but the group's takedown of Savage is a good first taste of how it will be to see the Legends of Tomorrow crew taking him on throughout time and history.
Brawn And Brain Aren’t Enough
Teamwork was necessary for more than just extra boots on the ground. Both Barry and Oliver learned swiftly enough that relying on superspeed or arrow-shooting skills alone was not going to be enough to take down Vandal Savage. Barry managed to dazzle Savage with his abilities, and Oliver managed to stick Savage with a decent amount of arrows, but just brain or just brawn was going to fall short. They needed to combine their strengths with magic and mysticism from the Hawks to take down the bad guy.
The combination of disciplines bodes well for Legends of Tomorrow. With the techno factor from Ray Palmer, the superpowers from Firestorm, the kickass strength from Sara, magic from the Hawks, and Rip Hunter’s time machine, the Legends crew has the potential to take down Vandal Savage in a phenomenally entertaining way.
Legends of Tomorrow will premiere on January 21, 2016 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.
