During “The Magnificent Eight” episode of DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, it was revealed that the Time Masters were sending a deadly assassin to dispatch the Legends.
Instead of sending “The Pilgrim” (guest star Faye Kingslee), to kill the Legends as adults, she will seek out their younger selves, removing them from the timeline before they can grow up to be an elite fighting team.
Here is a look back at what viewers know about the early lives of the Legends and a bit about their stories in DC Comics.
1. It already is known that Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller) had a troubled childhood from reveals on Legends and THE FLASH. The son of an abusive father who took his temper out on young Lenny and his sister, Lisa, the mere fact that Captain Cold is trying to divorce himself from his life of crime is to be praised. Perhaps the team is serving as the family support system of which he often was deprived as a child
2. The history of Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell) is a mixed bag between the comics and other media. Sometimes, he is a pyromaniac teen who watched his family’s house burn down. In other versions, he has been an FBI agent, a fire department consultant and a friend of Barry Allen’s. Judging from the photo and promo of young Mick holding a match and watching a fire, it seems safe to say that, whatever happened between his teenage years and now, his fascination with fire has been with him for a while.
3. While Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) generally has been a brilliant scientist throughout his iterations in print and animation, he has not enjoyed his current upbeat temperament in every version. His father was attacked and robbed by Ray’s Uncle David. He lost his wife to an affair, then found out that she was a murderer. He even was best friends with Carter Hall, husband of his current lover, Kendra.
4. Kendra Saunders (Ciara Renée) has had so many lifetimes and so many childhoods, it is difficult to predict which, if any, The Pilgrim might choose to visit. Even targeting her current life seems to assist Vandal Savage (guest star Casper Crump), so wishing to avoid world destruction in 2166, the Time Masters would not send The Pilgrim to hunt the already immortal Hawkgirl.
5. Jefferson “Jax” Jackson has the opportunity for a fluid past in tonight’s episode. He is not a character with a huge backstory in print, so the writers have a lot of flexibility in building upon his high school football star past. Other than being a man who enjoys being part of a team and is willing to risk his life for others, most of what has been revealed about Jax’s past is that he is an exceptional athlete, a brilliant mechanic and that he helped support his mother. There is a brief shot in the trailer that shows The Pilgrim standing behind a man who could be Jax’s father.
6. Professor Stein (Victor Garber) was a brilliant college student, but not much else has been revealed about his early life. There is a brief shot in the trailer of cars that are too old to be connected with most of the other characters, but possibly could belong to Martin’s parents. Check out the Facebook page for guest star Giordana Venturi, the actress who is playing Martin Stein’s mother. It looks like baby Marty is about to make his arrival.
7. Sara (Caity Lotz) may have been the younger sibling of Laurel Lance, but despite her parents’ divorce, it seems as though she had the love of her entire family. Assume that The Pilgrim has Sara in her sights as Paul Blackthorne of ARROW is making a guest appearance as a younger Quentin Lance, and a mêlée breaks out at the Starling City Police Department.
8. Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) tells the team members who are kidnapping their younger selves that he has a safe place in mind for their refuge…the orphanage where he was raised, which is a home for future Time Masters.
Is Rip really planning to kidnap some of the Legends as babies and hide them at the Refuge? What would be the ramifications of such a drastic shift in the past?
For instance, if Sara Lance is taken, will her sister, Laurel, never become the Black Canary on ARROW?
If “baby Ray” is taken to the Refuge, will Palmer Tech end up being founded by his brother, Sidney, as foreshadowed when the team traveled to the future?
What happens to Lisa Snart, aka Golden Glider, if Leonard is not there to protect her from their father?
Will Mick never develop his fascination with fire if he is removed from his younger life?
Will Captain Cold and Heatwave grow into the duo that had such an impact on Barry’s life on THE FLASH?
How will Jax be affected if he is not hit by the particle accelerator wave from STAR Labs at the football field, and what would become of Firestorm?
If Martin grows up at an orphanage, will it change his story to the point where Ronnie Raymond on THE FLASH never becomes part of the Firestorm matrix?
If the writers retcon the history of these characters, will it change the storylines on ARROW and THE FLASH?
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW also stars Amy Pemberton as Gideon, and guest stars Darcy Hinds, Mitchell Kummen and Kyle Rideout. Rachel Talalay directed the episode, which was written by Chris Fedak & Matthew Maala.
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. on The CW in the U.S. and at 9:00 p.m. on CTV in Canada.
