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Legends of Tomorrow #103 - Blood Ties

4

Hawkgirl's life is in danger and the team splits up to go on their own missions. Can they succeed on their own?

Warning: This recap will contain spoilers for the Febrruary 4 episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

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Recap

The episode opens in ancient Egypt 1700 BC. Vandal Savage is attacked. It turns out Rip Hunter tried to kill Vandal Savage.

Back in Germany 1975, Kendra is having complications in the med bay. Pieces of the dagger broke off in her body and are moving towards her heart. They still can’t time jump because she won't survive. Their only option is to stop Savage in this time. It also turns out the Waverider's jumpship was damaged when Chronos attacked.

Sara talks to Hunter about how they can't kill Vandal Savage, but they can slow him down. Ra's al Ghul taught them when facing a powerful adversary, if you can't kill him—weaken him. She notes that when they ran into him in this time, he was trying to sell a nuclear missile. He was after money. If they take away his fortune, he's just a regular guy with a long lifespan. Once they figure out where his money is, Rip tells Sara he's going alone. He doesn't want to risk anyone else’s life. She insists she's going too just as Captain Cold and Heat Wave overhear the mention of a bank.

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To save Kendra, Ray proposes he shrink down, enter her bloodstream, and destroy the fragments. Professor Stein doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Ray goes in because they don't have time. He destroys one piece but his suit gets hit, and he needs to exit right away. He doesn't think he can or should try again. Stein convinces him that he is capable of saving her.

Rip and Sara infiltrate the bank. It's a private bank that only deals with highly valuable amounts. Sara notices everyone working in the bank are killers. She knows they've been made. Sara starts gloriously making short work of the guards and Rip finally joins in the fight. She’s about to kill everyone when Rip yells out they need one alive because he wasn't able to get any information out of the computer. It appears as if she's still dealing with her bloodlust.

Jax is working on the jumpship. Captain Cold and Heat Wave want to go to Central City to steal a rare gem. Because Jax was reading the instruction manual, he can pilot the ship. They convince him to fly them. After they steal the gem, Snart wants to make one more stop. He wants to give the gem to his dad so he doesn’t go to jail after he gets caught trying to steal it. He runs into his younger self at his house and gives the gem to his dad. He gives it to him and tells him to never raise a hand to his wife and son.

In 1700, Rip could’ve killed Savage but hesitated. Using the guy they grabbed at the bank, they work their way into a ceremony where Savage is going to desecrate Carter's remains. They find Carter's body but are outnumbered. When they’re brought to Savage, he recognizes Hunter. It’s been about four thousand years since their last encounter. He takes some blood from Carter's body and shares it with some of his most faithful. It lengthen's their lives by a hundred years or so. Savage finds the picture of Rip's wife and son on him. He figures out that he must kill them in the future.

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Kendra is having visions during Savage's ceremony. She knows Rip and Sara are in danger. Stein gets Gideon to call Jax. Jax, Captain Cold, and Heat Wave arrive to help Rip and Sara. Cold and Heat Wave get Carter's body out of the building. Sara fights the bank guy while Rip fights Savage. Rip slashes Savage's throat and tells them its for his wife and son. Savage says now he knows their names ad he won’t forget it. He looks to Sara and she’s repeatedly thrusting the knife down on the guy. It turns out she was stabbing the floor right next to his head. She didn't give in to the bloodlust.

Snart checks the timeline through Gideon. His dad still gets arrested. This time for trying to sell the gem. He still goes to jail. They all give Carter a proper sendoff. Gideon figures out where Savage will most likely show up next—1986.

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Thoughts

The team is still coming together. They did agree to work as a team yet we seem them go off separately. Rip's decision to go after Savage alone seems to contradict his entire plan. He tried going after him once and failed. That's why he gathered this team. His first intentions may have been personal and selfish. The team members were expendable since they didn't have remarkable futures. It may have seemed a little odd for him to want to go on his own, but it also shows he's starting to care about them. He doesn't want to risk their lives for his personal mission of revenge.

Ray and Stein's parts were good in allowing them both to grow. Ray's been having a lot of self doubt despite knowing how brilliant he is. Stein may be partners with Jax, but he shows that he can be a huge help to other team members.

Captain Cold and Heat Wave are great for the comedy relief without being too comical. At the same time, we are seeing these two grow as well. Seeing Snart take a risk with his own timeline because of what he had to go through was a big risk. To show he isn't completely selfish, he rushes to the aid of others without a second thought. Seeing that time will work to fix itself again is good in keeping up the way time travel works on this show.

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Sara and Rip's interaction was great. Sara is a cold-hearted killer who just recently got her soul back. These two feel like completely different characters, and it was nice to see them team-up together. Of course this allowed for Sara's League of Assassins training to be spotlighted. The way she immediately noted all the threats in a room was fantastic. I loved the mention and acknowledgement of her possible bloodlust. This is something that shouldn't just be easily forgotten.

The dancing scene with Rip and Sara made me groan a little. It helped move their part of the story and offered some variety, but it felt a little cheesy. Jax had to fight without Professor Stein. That meant he had to run into a room full of Vandal Savage's followers with just his fists. With the deadly mercenaries Savage was employing, he was pretty lucky he didn't have to fight them.

Being in the 70s has been a blast. It's a shame they're leaving already but they did stay longer than I thought they would. The team is really coming together. The characters are all becoming more likable with each episode. Now we have the 80s to look forward to.

Noteworthy line:

“I've seen Men of Steel die and Dark Knights fall. Even then, I accomplished my mission no matter what.”

It might be a cheesy line, but it makes you wonder what they're trying to tell us. Are they directly referring to Superman and Batman or is it just a play on words to get fans worked up?