The third season of Legends of Tomorrow wrapped up back in April, closing the book on another chapter of the Arrowverse’s high-octane, time-traveling antics.
This latest entry of the Arrow and The Flash spinoff series dove headfirst into a new direction, taking the show’s ragtag group of characters on a whole new adventure. The ensemble was tasked with hunting down “anachronisms” throughout history, in an attempt to protect the universe’s timeline from any further harm.
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What resulted from there were eighteen episodes of incredibly unique television, which balanced ridiculous fun with major character developments in a slew of ways.
“It does feel like a small miracle when you get to the end of season and you look back on it and it feels coherent.” showrunner Phil Klemmer told ComicBook.com before Legends‘ season finale. “You’re like, “You know what? It’s crazy and it’s wacky but …” And not that we had any of this planned ahead of time because we’re not that conscientious or intelligent, but the fact that we’re able to pull all of the wild, dispersate, loose ends in some semblance of a bow. It does feel, I don’t know, more that anything you just feel like a giant relief and humility.”
As superfans of the series know, Legends of Tomorrow certainly had no shortage of memorable moments, which ranged from ridiculous to genuinely moving. Still, as we eagerly wait for the show’s return this fall, we thought we’d count down some of our favorite moments (in chronological order) from the past season.
#1 – The musical number in “Phone Home”
It’s pretty easy to see that “Phone Home” was Legends’ send-up to the ’80s, incorporating Easter eggs to everything from E.T. to (weirdly) season two of Stranger Things. But it was one of the episode’s older pop culture references that brought about a rather delightful sequence.
The episode saw the Legends travel to the childhood of Ray Palmer, in which he had befriended a baby Dominator. As it turns out, young Ray and Gumball the Dominatorย had developed a bit of a routine, part of which involved watching and singing along to Singin’ in the Rain.
In the episode’s third act, the government agents chasing Gumball and the Legends were taken care of in a unique way — by Gumball making them perform the song “Good Morning”, tap dancing and all. Sure, the moment wasย pretty ridiculous, but the running reference to the musical revealed a lot about why and how Ray approaches the world.
#2 – The fight scene in “Return of the Mack”
Legends certainly has no shortage of inspired fight scenes: Sara and Ava fighting off Roman soldiers while essentially being handcuffed together, Sara literally fighting herself, and the entire Ray vs. Giant Robot plotline, just to name a few. Still, there’s something weirdly delightful about the finalย fight in “Return of the Mack”.
The episode saw the Legends traveling to 1897, in an attempt to track down a time-traveling vampire. While there, they are met with a rather unique anachronism – a Palmer Tech smart watch taken off of Damien Darhk’s body, which includes the 1996 R&B song that the episode is named after.
By the episode’s end, Darhkย is resurrected, and he and Nora fight off the Legends and the Time Bureau in perfect time with the song. Again, it’s an absolutely ridiculous moment, but it’s executed in a way that feels so quintessentially Legends (and will get the song stuck in your head for hours).
#3 – Helen being dropped off in Themyscira in “Helen Hunt”
From the title to the setting to the episode’s plot, everything about “Helen Hunt” took Legends fans by surprised. But the episode’s final scene proved to be a sort of perfect cherry on top.
The majority of the episode saw the Legends in 1930s Hollywood, where Helen of Troy has been placed as an anachronism, causing a literal war amongst various movie studios. As the Legends attempt to rescue Helen and restore the timeline, she begins to be admired by the female Legends’ skills, and remarks about how she wishes she could be as respected and as badassย as they are. At the end of the episode, Zariย gives Helen her wish, taking the Waverider’s jump ship to “an island full of women” around the same time of the Trojan War.
All at once, it’s a genuinely heartfelt moment, an awesome Easter egg, and a pivotal character moment for Zari. Plus, it had a pretty awesome payoff in the season three finale, as Helen showed up as a full-fledged Amazon to help the Legends fight against Mallus.
#4 – Mourning Stein in “Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4”
Sure, Legends is often seen as the most upbeat of the Arrowverse shows. But when it swings for the more heartbreaking moments, it knocks them right out of the park.
After Martin Steinย wasย severely injured in the third hour of “Crisis on Earth-X”, the crossover saved his actual death for the Legends hour. What followed in the immediate aftermath was two minutes of the team – and those who knew Stein on The Flash – quietly mourning his loss.
It’s a genuinely gut-wrenching sequence, which is part of why it was crowned ComicBook.com’sย Most Tragic Death of 2017. And in a show – and a crossover – that always strives to be bigger and more extravagant, this more intimate moment made even more of an impact.
#5 – Jax’s speech in “Beebo the God of War”
The larger aftermath of Stein’s death was put on display in Legends‘ next episode, “Beebo the God of War”. Butย through that, Legends found another beautiful – albeit bittersweet – moment.
The midseason finale followed the team to a Viking settlement, where the younger version of Stein (and a certain furry blue friend) had been zapped to. After they saved the day, Jax realized that he needed to figure out the next chapter of his life, and decided to leave the team and head back to 2017.
As sad as that is, we have to appreciate the way that the show said goodbye (for now) to Jax, sending him off with the team having a Christmas dinner. In the middle of it all, Jaxย made a speech that could essentially be the mission statement for the show:ย “When you get a bunch of broken pieces and you put them all together the right way, you make something new. And suddenly, they don’t feel so broken anymore.”
#6 – Constantine smoking in “Daddy Darhkest”
The midseason premiere brought the team a new ally, as John Constantine made his first of many, many more appearances on Legends.
For fans of Matt Ryan’s portrayal of Constantine, the episode brought a lot of long-awaited firsts, including him actually smoking onscreen. In the episode’s final moments, Constantine departed the Waverider, leaving Ray with a word of wisdom about how to defeat Darhk. Constantine then lit up a cigarette, prompting a hilarious airplane-like announcement from Gideon.
It’s a short scene, but it’s a pretty memorable one, which showcases just how unique of a role Constantine could have in Season 4.
#7 – Zari’s Montage in “Here I Go Again”
There’s a heck of a lot to love about Talaย Ashe’s performance in “Here I Go Again”, but the episode’s montage sequence summarizes things quite nicely.
After Zariย realizes that she’s stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque time loop, she tries to seek advice fromย Nate, who ultimately recommends that she should use it to have some fun. From there, Zariย (and occasionally Nate) get into some hijinks, ranging from shotgunning whipped cream to getting intoย snowball fights to holding up cue cards of what her teammates are going to say.
It’s an unbelievably delightful montage, one that simultaneously honors the weird sort of history that Legends has accumulated over the past three years. And come on, you have to appreciate the brief moment where Zariย dons the Hawkgirl mask.
#8 – Wally and Rip singing karaoke in “The Curse of the Earth Totem”
The latter half of Legends third season certainly has a lot of unexpected moments, but it’s safe to assume that “Rip and Wally drunkenly singing karaoke” wasn’t in anyone’sย list of predictions.
In “The Curse of the Earth Totem”, Rip attempts to convince Wally to join the Legends, with the help of a bit of Speedster-proof alcohol and a lot of emotional heart-to-hearts. This culminates in the pair singing Wham’s “Careless Whisper” in a 1990s karaoke bar.
The sequence is just absurd enough to work really well, largely thanks to Arthur Darvillย and Keiynanย Lonsdale’sย musical talents. And we have to admit, it does make us wish that Legends had been a part of the Arrowverse’s last musical crossover.
#9 – John Noble’s cameo in “Guest Starring John Noble”
Almost as soon as the episode’s title was announced, fans expected “Guest Starring John Noble” to get to some weird places.ย Even then, it’s safe to say that the end result, which brought Mallus’ voice actor into the actual canon of the show, exceeded expectations.
The episode saw the team in a last-ditch effort against the Darhks, as they tried to determine a way to steer Nora to their side. Thankfully, the movie Mick was watching on TV – Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – provided them with just that.
Ray was transported to the film’s set in 1999, where he awkwardly had Noble recite lines that would later be used to help Nora. The minute-long scene that happens from there is so uniquely Legends – hilarious, pop culture savvy, and commenting on female representation all at once.
#10 – Beebo vs. Mallus in “The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly”
Come on, we had to include this moment.
After a whole season of wondering how the team would defeat Mallus, the show stumbled on the best possible answer. Six of the Legends tried to merge their totems together, as a way to create some sort of Mallus-caliber super being.ย Ultimately, the team decided to conjure up “a powerful light of pure goodness”, which resulted in them creating a gigantic version of Beebo.
What happened next was arguably the best final fight an Arrowverse season has ever had, as giant Beeboย vanquished Mallusย by, and I quote, “cuddling him to death”. It’s easily one of the weirdest and most enjoyable ways that Legends could’ve wrapped up their season, and one that hopefully put a lot of smiles on fans’ faces.
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What was your favorite moment from Legends of Tomorrow‘s third season? Let us know what you think below.
The fourth season of Legends of Tomorrow will debut on Monday, October 22nd, at 9/8c on The CW.
