Tracing a time aberration to the Wild West, the Legends once again encounter Jonah Hex.
Tropes:
- Abnormal Ammo: Turnbull uses his dwarf star alloy to make bullets that explode into blue flame on contact and can penetrate Nate's otherwise Immune to Bullets Chrome Champion form (sans explosion). Given that it's one of the rarest materials in existence, his waste of it in this manner also qualifies as Mundane Utility.
- Affably Evil: Turnbull gets quite chummy with Mick and is even disappointed when he sides against him.
- Arch-Enemy: Turnbull to Hex.
- Arc Words: Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
- Artistic License – History:
- When Hex asks Sara about Rip, she tells him Rip is "M.I.A.", and Hex understands the term without any further explanation. But the first known usage of "M.I.A." is from the WWII era, 70 years after this episode's setting.
- Amaya also jokes about Mick and Turnbull getting matching tattoos, which is a very modern reference for a character from the forties.
- Asshole Victim: The time pirate Turnbull kills at the beginning of the episode.
- Bad Future: We get a glimpse of one where Turnbull, using the dwarf star alloy, takes over everything west of the Rockies.
- Bait-and-Switch: Martin starts having severe headaches and hallucinations. Comics readers will be reminded of a storyline in The Fury of Firestorm in which Stein was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. But here, he's just reacting to having his memory altered by changes in the timeline.
- Bar Brawl: Sara actually invokes one, by having Mick cause trouble in a tavern to alert the owner, Turnbull. To everyone's exasperation, Mick instead winds up making friends with their target.
- Blood Knight: After being overall more laid back for quite a while, Mick's more violent side comes out again this episode.
- Bullet Catch: While saving Jonah Hex from the noose, Nate catches a bullet in his teeth.
- Cattle Punk: The inclusion of the dwarf star mine and its explosive properties makes this episode far more of one of these than it's predecessor from season 1.
- Commonality Connection: Like Sara, Hex is driven by personal revenge and also like her, he decides to spare the life of the man responsible for his tragedy in the end. This whole thing helps them to become closer to each other.
- Deus Exit Machina: Stein's mysterious headaches provide a reason for him not to be around when Firestorm would be very useful (such as stopping the train).
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Stein's headaches culminate in visions showing a woman he's never met before. However, he feels that somehow he knows her and loves her, as a result of his past being altered.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Ray figured out that Turnbull will transport the Dwarf Star alloy across the country's railroad after telling Nate he got a little carried away with his train of (thought).
- Guns Akimbo: During the saloon shootout, Mick wields two Winchester 73's.
- He's Back!: After a bit of moping about the loss of his armor and then becoming a 2nd-rate Captain Cold, Ray brightens up when he captures enough dwarf star alloy to make 10 A.T.O.M suits.
- I Always Wanted to Say That:
- Ray is annoyed that Sara gets a reason to say "this isn't my first rodeo " before he could.
- Nate notes he always wanted to say "I'm gonna cut them off at the pass".
- It's Personal: In the comics, Hex got his facial scars from an Indian tribal punishment. Here he and the rest of Calvert were imprisoned in a church by Turnbull, which he then burns to the ground. Only Hex escaped and he got his scar as a souvenir, from then on he's been a bounty hunter especially for hunting Turnbull.
- Mythology Gag:
- The costume Nate drew is the costume Steel has worn in the comics.
- A Man of Steel proves himself to be more powerful than a locomotive.
- When an aberration is detected, Ray calls it the "Trouble Alert"— Sara says to stop calling it that.
- Politically Correct History: None of Turnbull's men seem to find it unusual to meet a black Federal tax collector when Jax impersonates one. Then again it appears Turnbull hired them for their loyalty and appetite for violence. If their interactions with Ray and Sara are any indication intelligence and observation are not their strong points.
- Revenge Before Reason: Hex' thirst for revenge makes him storm into a whole saloon of people armed to the teeth on his own. If not for the rest of the team, he'd be dead.
- Sequel Episode: To "The Magnificent Eight".
- Sequel Hook: This episode ends with Sara saying their friends from 2016 need their help, setting up the "Invasion" Crossover with the rest of the Arrowverse.
- Shoot the Rope: Sara saves Hex from the noose this way. When he's already swinging.
- Shout-Out:
- Nate says that he is a Man of Steel just as he's injured by a rare material from space.
- During her talk with Mick, Amaya believes he's not "like an animal who just wants to watch the world burn".
- Nate stopping the train seems to be one to Spider-Man 2.
- Status Quo Is God: By episode's end, Ray has enough star dwarf alloy to build a new A.T.O.M. suit and nine more.
- Taking the Bullet: Nate takes a dwarf star alloy bullet for Mick.
- Trainstopping: Nate's role in the climax.
- Trojan Prisoner: Sara pretends to have captured Hex to get into Turnbull's camp.
- Visionary Villain: Turnbull wants to (in his own words) keep the Wild West wild.
- What Measure Is a Mook?: Amaya and Mick have no problem leaving several of Turnbull's men behind in the mine to get blown up.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Double Subverted. Amaya admits that Mick really is the violent criminal he insists he is, despite her attempts to convince him otherwise earlier on, but then argues that's not all he is.
