The Legends and the Legion of Doom track Rip and The Spear of Destiny to 1967 Hollywood... and inadvertently cause George Lucas to drop out of film school.
Tropes:
- The '60s: The episode's setting, specifically 1967.
- Allohistorical Allusion: Before history got corrected, George Lucas wound up winning awards as a businessman in 1977, 1980, and 1983.
- Artistic License – History: At one point the Legends are shown observing the police station where Rip is being held through a security camera. A regular police station in 1967 would definitely not have had such cameras, as video surveillance didn't become commonplace until the 1980s.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: When Sara and Jax walk in on Martin operating on Mick:Jax: Grey, what are you doing?
Martin: Brain surgery, what's it look like? - Brought Down to Normal: Because Lucas's films inspired Ray and Nate to become an inventor and historian, ultimately setting them on their paths to becoming superheroes, they lose their powers and knowledge when he decides to not pursue film.
- Celebrity Paradox:
- Of a sort. Nate says he got the name Legion of Doom from Hanna-Barbera cartoon. But that old Hanna-Barbera cartoon would have to be Superfriends, which had characters like the Atom, Firestorm, Captain Cold, Green Arrow, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, and Gorilla Grodd all on it.
- Amaya's actress, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, was on The Force Awakens.
Appropriately enough, it is ultimately Amaya who encourages George Lucas to continue filmmaking, as the ensured creation of both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises are important plot points in the episode.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Ray and Nate get their abilities back when George Lucas declares his wish to direct.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The episode ends with Darhk and Merlyn about to do this to amnesiac Rip.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Throughout the episode, Merlyn and Darhk get the drop on the heroes. The situation is reversed when Vixen, Ray, and Nate get their powers back...only to be reversed again once Thawne shows up.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The Spear is in several pieces.
- Evil Is Petty: Malcolm and Darhk kill two bikers for their rides and Malcolm later kills a police officer for no reason than just he could.
- Fainting: Amnesiac Rip, after seeing the Waverider.
- False Reassurance: Thawne states that he's not going to torture Rip...Darhk and Merlyn are.
- Faux Affably Evil: Darhk and Merlyn constantly switch between chatting politely with the heroes and threatening to kill them without any scruples within mere moments.
- Flash Back: The episode opens with one, revealing part of what happened to Rip after the Waverider was damaged in the season premiere.
- Foreshadowing: Early on in the episode Nate says that he was inspired to become a historian after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark, which actually becomes a major plotpoint later on in the episode.
- Full-Name Basis: Except for the one time in the beginning where Rip just calls him George, George Lucas is always addressed by his full name throughout the episode.
- Gunship Rescue: The Waverider swoops in and blasts the Legion, giving the Legends a chance to escape.
- He's Back!:
- Subverted. Rip seems to have gone through this when he shows up for the climax, accent and all, but is revealed to be acting when he can't figure out how his gun works.
- Meanwhile, it was played straight earlier in the trash compactor. After George Lucas corrects the timeline (by loudly declaring he wants to be a director), Nate instantly turns into Steel, and Ray discovers a mini ATOM suit on his person.
- Hidden Depths: Jax is familiar with the story of both the Spear of Destiny and St. Longinus, crediting it to attending Sunday School.
- Hope Spot: If you think Rip is back, you will be disappointed.
- Insistent Terminology: Sara insists on referring to the McGuffin as “the Holy Lance”. Nate can’t think why.
- Internal Reveal: Stein learns that Mick is being haunted by hallucinations of Snart and tries to help him with it.
- Kick the Dog: Merlyn and Darhk get a huge moment when they slaughter an entire precinct of policemen.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: It turns out Rip's memory loss isn't because of time drift. He effectively lobotomized himself with the Time Drive in order to rewire his brain, giving him new memories and a different personality.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- "Phil Gasmer"'s complaint about the Vandal Savage character lacking menace is a reference to how many critics felt about Casper Crump's performance in the first season.
- Nate took the name "Legion of Doom" from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon he used to love. We know which one it'd have to be but of course, he doesn't name it.
- Legion of Doom: Thawne's group is finally referred to as such. The name's coined by Nate and quickly catches on with most of the other Legends (except Sara, who's adamant that she won't call them that).
- MacGuffin: The Spear piece, as Rip directly references.
- MacGuffin Guardian: Rip is the protector of one piece of the Spear.
- Mythology Gag: Nate says that he got the name "Legion of Doom" from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The Legion of Doom first appeared in Superfriends, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera.
- Mugging the Monster: A pair of bikers try to mug Darhk and Merlyn. Their subsequent deaths by League of Assassin-style fighting techniques alert the Legends to the villains' presence.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Amnesiac Rip tries to be badass, acts like he regained his memories and points a gun at the legion... only for it to jam. Then, however, the Waverider uncloaks.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Legends are only alerted of the Legion's location when Darhk and Merlyn kill two random muggers with League of Assassins techniques.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: Nate and Ray have this to say when Amaya suggests adding Howard the Duck to their George Lucas movie marathon.
- Not So Stoic: Initially Rory assumes he's seeing visions of Snart because something is physically wrong with him. Turns out its just because he's massively conflicted on his being part of the Legends and has no real way of processing the emotions, likely due to his mental issues.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Mick assumes Stein can fix his hallucinations due to being a doctor. Stein reminds him that his doctorate is in nuclear physics.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: We don't see Darhk and Merlyn killing the bikers that tried to rob them.
- Oh, Crap!: The legion's reaction to the uncloaking Waverider.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Averted, Stein rightfully points out that he is a nuclear scientist, not a psychiatrist, a neuro-diagnostician, or a brain surgeon. He still ends up doing all of these (in the latter cases, with a lot of assistance from Gideon) to try and help Mick.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When Jax and Sara are talking about the Legion of Doom, Jax says, "The Legion have..." (British) rather than "The Legion has..." (American).
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: Of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Retconjuration: The discussed power of The Spear of Destiny, which would be impossible to correct outside of it, unlike simply changing historical events.
- Ret-Gone: All of Lucas's films, due to him being scared out of continuing film school. Fortunately, the Legends put him back on track, restoring them.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: In an Alternate Timeline where George Lucas quits filmmaking, he becomes a successful businessman. This results in Ray and Nate respectively becoming a heart surgeon and a yoga instructor since they are inspired by Lucas' films to pursue their respective original fields. This is a little odd since Nate previous stated that his greatest inspiration was his grandfather Commander Steel. Then again, that could've been another direct result of the butterfly effect, considering what wound up happening to give Nate his powers in the first place.
- Ripple Effect Indicator: Ray suddenly not being able to know sci-fi terms and Nate having trouble reading a history book.
- Self-Deprecation: Amnesia!Rip deriding the Vandal Savage character of his in-universe movie seems like an acknowledgment of how poor a Big Bad the actual character was viewed as by parts of the fanbase last season.
- Shout-Out: George Lucas gets several.
- The title is one to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Vixen, Lucas, Nate, and Ray get trapped in a trash compactor and try to brace it with a metal pole."Don't just stand there. Try to brace it with something!"
- Vixen, when appealing to Lucas to rethink leaving film school, tells him "you're our only hope."
- Howard the Duck gets a Take That!, as Amaya thinks it would be a good film to watch before Nate and Ray resoundingly reject it.
- On the non-Lucas side, Nate says that he got the "Legion of Doom" name from an old Hanna-Barbara cartoon he watched as a kid.
- Also, a token one to Terminator 2: Judgment Day when time travelers Merlyn and Darhk demand the bikers' motorcycles.
- Rip seems to be channeling Nero when he orders Gideon to "Fire everything!"
- Skyward Scream: Amnesiac Rip ends the episode like this when he realizes he's about to be tortured by Darhk and Merlyn.
- Stock Scream: Merlyn actually gives off a Wilhelm's scream when Vixen throws him away.
- Suddenly Shouting: Merlyn first speaks calmy to George Lucas, but then suddenly screams when asking about the whereabouts of The Spear of Destiny.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Without the influence of Star Wars and Indiana Jones in their lives, Ray and Nate are helplessly reduced to complete idiots for most of the episode. When George Lucas gets his inspiration back, so do they.
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Darhk and Merlyn share one, albeit a very small one.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Sara realizes what a big mistake it was to hand Merlyn the amulet.
- Villain Ball: The Legends are alerted to the presence of the Legion of Doom when Darhk and Merlyn kill the bikers (creating a time aberration), which ultimately results in them recovering the artifacts by the episode's end.
- Villains Out Shopping: At one point, Merlyn requests to Darhk that they take the time to do the tourist thing and visit Frank Sinatra's star on the Walk of Fame. Apparently, he's always wanted to do that.
- What Were You Thinking?: Despite having an arguably superior firearm, Jax engages in close-quarters combat with Malcolm Merlyn, former leader of the League of Assassins. It ends about as well as you'd imagine...
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- When the amnesiac Rip is terrified of going out to help the Legends, since he has no powers, Gideon tells him that his true personality didn't either, except for courage and determination.
- Jax makes a Rousing Speech for Sara when the latter is angry at herself for letting the Legion capture Rip.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Sara's reaction when she finds out that without the movies of George Lucas in the world, Nate and Ray are essentially useless.
- Young Future Famous People: A young George Lucas plays a key role in the plot.
