John Constantine enlists the team to help him with a demonic possession of a young girl that's somehow connected to Sara.
Tropes
- Achilles' Heel:
- Nate has finally figured out Kuasa's Logical Weakness — Snart's cold gun.
- The Zambesi totems are this for Mallus, apparently.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Despite everything, Nora still finds Zari's story about how her friend used to think she was her pet cat "Slinky" pretty funny.
- Anti-Magic: Ray and Zari are working on making an anti-magic "nanite pistol" for use against the Cult members.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Sara channels the power of Mallus to make the Time Travel magic sigil. Though it's a close call, she manages it without falling in his grasp.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: Subverted. When the legends find Nora, Sara seems like she's gonna start faking to be doctors with an emergency in order to get the staff to giver her up to them, but then she quickly decides that's too much work and just knocks them all out.
- Bedlam House: Sumner Asylum, Mad Doctors and 1960s lobotomies included.
- Beyond the Impossible: Mallus shows us just how powerful he is when he steps out of John's protective seal meant to contain him.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Once again, Darhk has the Legends (or at least Ray and Zari) at his mercy and doesn't kill them.
- But Now I Must Go:
- Constantine leaves to help other people.
- Leo decides to go back to Earth-X and marry Ray Terrill/The Ray.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mallus taunts John that he'll fail to save Nora just as he failed to save Astra.
- Just when it seems Zari and Ray are getting through to Nora, seeing a newscast speculating if Oliver is the Green Arrow while also showing him killing Damien Dahrk triggers enough negative emotion in her to allow another possession by Mallus.
- Vixen mentions that she only knows of five Totems of Zambezi, including fire and earth.
- Deal with the Devil: The reason Kuasa joined the Cult of Mallus at the behest of Damien Darhk was the latter promising her to save her village from Benatu Eshu.
- Demonic Possession: John tells Ray that it is only a matter of time until Mallus takes over Sara and that they have to be ready for it. Mallus also possesses Nora multiple times during the episode.
- Downer Ending: In the end, the Legends can't stop Nora on her path to villainy thanks to Future Darhk's emotional manipulations. He's even aware of it.Damien Darhk: I know, family reunions can really suck.
- Dowsing Device: When asked how John even found Sara in the first place, he mentioned he "attuned a dowsing dagger to [her] specific energy and followed it from there."
- Everyone Can See It: Leo bluntly tells Sara how it couldn't be more obvious that Ava Sharpe has a crush on her.
- Everyone Has Standards: By the end, John admits that the journey with the Legends has been "weird, even for me."
- Evil All Along: Dr. Moore turns out to be a member of the Cult.
- Evil Is Hammy: Mallus, extremely so this episode.
- Exorcist Head: Mallus does this with young Nora during the fight with the suitless Ray and Zari.
- Forgot About Her Powers: Zari doesn't even attempt to use her totem powers to defend against Mallus.
- Friend to All Children: John puts a lot more effort into finding and trying to help "Emily" than others he faces, and makes a concentrated effort to be nice to her. This is heavily implied to be a result of what happened to Astra.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Like his appearance on Arrow, John Constantine departs by the end of the episode, though he notes to Sara to contact him if she needs "help with Mallus again".
- Insistent Terminology: John is an accomplished warlock.
- Insufferable Genius: John, at least at first, is incredibly outspoken about his magical abilities.
- Internal Reveal: The Legends find out that Oliver's identity has been outed and he's being charged for Darhk's murder.
- Jedi Mind Trick: John does something like this to a female staff member of the Sumner Asylum.
- The Load: Despite once giving surprisingly effective orders to the team in Sara's absence, Mick is quite unhelpful this episode, preferring to watch football rather than helping out his teammates in the field.
- Logical Weakness: One has to wonder why the Legends didn't figure out earlier that cold tech immobilizes Kuasa.
- Magical Incantation: With the return of John Constantine comes the return of this kind of magic, both from he himself and from Mallus.
- My Greatest Failure: John is obviously still not over failing to save Astra.
- Mythology Gag: Sumner Asylum is named for the musician Sting (real name: Gordon Sumner), who was the inspiration for the John Constantine character.
- Nanomachines: Inherent in the "nanite pistol" for the Anti-Magic gun in progress.Zari: This code will replicate the combustive effect of the heat and cold gun crossing streams using nanotech. The only thing that's made him flinch so far.
- No-Sell: Mallus shrugs off all of John's attempts to exorcise him.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When Sara denies that she and Agent Sharpe are anything alike, Leo quickly lists the similarities, both being strong, time-travelling women trying to save the world.
- Oh, Crap!: Mallus's arrogant facade clearly cracks when he is affected by Zari's totem.
- One-Steve Limit: It's pointed out that the Arrowverse now has two superheroes named Ray, as Mick is quite thrown by Snart saying he intends to marry his Ray.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When you see Sara terrified, you definitely know Mallus is a big threat.
- Origins Episode: For Nora Darhk and how she joined the Cult.
- Pet the Dog: Kuasa lets Nate live at the request of Amaya, showing the she is not beyond redemption yet.
- Place Beyond Time: Mallus's dimension appears to be one of these, since Sara (physically in 1969) is able to communicate with and talk down the distressed young Nora (physically in 2017).
- The Reveal:
- We finally learn what happened to Nora after her family was killed. She was put into child services and her name was changed for her protection. And it was in that vulnerable state that Mallus first came to her, which put her in an asylum.
- Why has Kuasa joined the Cult of Mallus? Darhk promised to stop her village from being razed by Eshu.
- What happened to Amaya when she finally returns home? Eshu ends up killing her the night he razed her village.
- Running Gag: Constantine trying to smoke, only to get interrupted.
- Skewed Priorities:
- Mick sits out the entire mission to watch a football game, not breaking away even when Zari and Ray are radioing for help with with a possessed Nora or when Leo hugs him goodbye.
- Lampshaded by Leo when he finds out Sara and Constantine were busy shagging while he was almost lobotomized.
- John also constantly tries to find some fire for his cigarettes, even in the face of immediate danger.
- Sequel Hook: Rip has escaped from the Time Bureau's custody through unknown means.
- Sex for Solace: John and Sara engage in some after sharing their worries and fears with each other.
- Shipper on Deck: Leo and Gideon are both in full support of Sara and Ava being together. It gets to the point that not only does Gideon know exactly when in the holographic communication to pause to show Ava flirting when Leo asks her to rewind, but she asks if Sara wants some privacy for their talk at the end of the episode, and even closes the doors around her.
- Shout-Out:
- Nora's antics when possessed are a clear one to The Exorcist, down to the Exorcist Head routine.
- "Allons-y, Alonzo!" is a big one to Doctor Who, specifically the Tenth Doctor. Furthermore, it was originally directed at Midshipman Frame, played by Russell Tovey, who plays Leo's boyfriend Ray Terrill.
- The room that they try to exorcise in is Room 237.
- Special Edition Title: The background for the usual title screen is replaced with the one from Constantine.
- Spit Take: Downplayed. When Mick casually mentions that Amaya is talking to her "granddaughtercicle", Nate comes this close to spitting out his beer in shock.
- Stable Time Loop: What sets Nora on the path to villainy. Future Darhk comes to her telling her that one day she'll bring him back.
- Stealth Sequel: In many ways this episode is more of a sequel to Constantine than "Haunted" was, with liberal references to that series — mainly Astra.
- Take That!: Constantine keeps getting stopped from lighting his cigarette, and finally succeeds at the episode's end, in what's likely a dig at the NBC execs' refusing to let him smoke onscreen.
- There Is Another: Apparently there is a sixth Zambesi totem out there somewhere that never made it into the history records.
- Tragic Villain: Nora didn't turn evil until Mallus possessed her a couple of years after her parents died. It's hard not to pity her, especially when her father comes to tell her that Mallus will help her bring him back to life.
- Trauma Button: Nora seeing a newscast of Oliver killing her dad weakens her emotional state enough for Mallus to regain control.
- Unusual Euphemism: Just before leaving, Constantine tells Sara to call if she needs "help with Mallus again". Sara says she will...then she thanks him for the sex as well.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The reason Kuasa serves Mallus is because she wants to change the fate of her village.
- Wham Line: "Emily's" true identity.Zari: Um, guys? That girl you're trying to save...is Nora Friggin' Darhk.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Kuasa calls Amaya out for essentially dooming her village.
- The Worf Effect: Just to show how powerful Mallus really is, he shrugs off all of John Constantine's exorcism attempts that tended to work in his own show.
- Write Back to the Future: Subverted. Leo, Sara, and John attempt to send a message on the back of the portrait that has been hung in the asylum for 48 years, but Dr. Moore catches their attempt, forcing them to find another solution.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: When Sara realizes that John is trying to seduce her through their shared suffering.Sara: Are we really this damaged?
John: I certainly hope so.
