For those who have been sleeping through the Arrowverse Invasion! crossover so far, here’s the quick pitch: an alien ship filled with aliens called Dominators crashed into Central City. Barry called in Team Arrow, the Legends, and Supergirl to help but everyone is mad at him for Flashpoint.
But then the non-meta-human heroes were captured and mind probed by the Dominators so the aliens could make a weapon. They escaped but it is the eleventh hour, and the situation is grim. Let’s see how Legends of Tomorrow can handle things.
Revenge
With news of a Dominator weapon in the making, the heroes decide to return the favour and kidnap an alien for themselves. They can’t find one right now, but Heywood has a lead from the 1951 footage. Because no geek, nerd or sci-fi lover could pass up the opportunity, Felicity and Cisco gleefully join the Waverider. Yet Oliver has benched Supergirl — their greatest strength — as he wants to claim some normality in his life.
The duo of Stein and Snow relocate to STAR Labs to work on a weapon against the Dominators when problems appear. The new daughter, Lily Stein, has been drafted to help, but the good professor hasn’t been fully integrated into this timeline yet, and his memories are incomplete.
Battle Royale
Having successfully travelled back in time, Felicity suffers the proverbial ill effects and vomits everywhere. Cisco is less than pleased to hear that his first foray into the past will be confined to the ship as Heatwave, Vixen, and the newly-suited Steel go on the hunt. In an unusually tactical — or perhaps cowardly — move, Rory wants to hang back to let the army take down a weaker one. There are no weak ones, but there is a straggler.
Unlike the rag-tag band of heroes in the late ’50s, Martin is having problems when his daughter starts reminiscing, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Caitlin and Lily. Out in the corridor, Martin reveals the truth to Caitlin — he created Lily by telling his younger self to cherish Clarissa. Now, he has to go back and correct this aberration. As Caitlin steals a look at the friend who will shortly be erased, the Legends are ambushed and captured by the government in 1951.
Captives
Luckily, tech support noticed their plight and arm themselves to rescue the Legends. The same Legends who are currently taking advantage of being locked in the same room as the Dominator. Back in 2016, the man who Waller supposedly took cues from overrides a Presidential visit to the available heroes — the same man who is also holding the Dominator hostage in the past.
The Dominators arrived in both times in response to the emergence of meta-humans. During their escape, the nerd herd and muscle men decide to rescue the tortured alien as a gesture of good faith. Cisco covertly removes a transponder from the ship.
In the present, our mystery man finally reveals why the Dominators have returned — humanity broke the truce. No aggressive moves would be taken by either side but Barry — oh, he knows who Barry Allen is — rewrote the timeline, and he knows about Flashpoint. But a new deal has been brokered: the Flash surrenders and humanity lives.
Deliberations
Barely back in the present, Felicity is both blind and vomiting this time. Cisco receives a call on his space-phone from their alien pen-pal. Because they saved him, this Dominator is willing to spare their lives but can’t offer that of Barry Allen. If the Flash doesn’t surrender, they will use a metagene bomb.
Cisco Vibes himself and Steel up to their new friend. Even though the current meta-humans are friendly, what if people like the Mystery Man had powers? Suddenly, Cisco realises he is guilty of the same crime as Barry — breaking time by trying to fix a mistake. The lead Dominator is the one he saved in 1951.
Just as Stein manages to set the beginning of a relationship with his daughter, Barry volunteers to get beamed up. So Oliver and co. decide to stand up to the fastest man alive. In a mushy display of friendship, Cisco finally straightens things up with his best friend. But their emotions expend the last of their time and the Dominators attack.
War
The Stein family has managed to create a device to incapacitate the Dominators, but it’s all or nothing. If any of the Dominators go unmarked, they can retaliate. With ships all over the world, the Mothership launches the meta-human bomb. Vibe and White Canary pilot the Waverider to intercept the bomb while the rest of the heroes hold the line in Central City.
The Waverider catches the bomb but can barely keep it from slowing. Firestorm is called away as Supergirl saves Green Arrow from a messy death. With countless other Dominator ships across the country, Flash and Supergirl are dispatched to tag them. Up in the sky, Firestorm attempts to transmute the bomb. Only after Martin provides encouragement by revealing his daughter is Jefferson able to transform the device into water. By the slimmest shade, the heroes manage to pull off their rescue.
Recuperation
Awarded Presidential medals, the heroes have a party to celebrate their victory. With their new partnership firmly cemented, Flash and Green Arrow offer to let Supergirl stay on their Earth. Amusingly, she wants them to go to her Earth. With that in mind, Cisco gives the Woman of Steel an inter-dimensional bus ticket to travel between their Earths whenever she wants.
In a slightly generational discussion, Firestorm sits down with himself to discuss the issue of Lily Stein. It appears that even with just a handful of memories and a few brief days, Martin loves his daughter and he gets Jefferson to promise not to tell the Legends. As mystery man ‘Agent Smith’ arrives to taunt Heywood about performing a coverup, Supergirl drops by. It appears that the new Earth-One President loves the Earth-38 DEO idea. She was also agreeable to having Smith relocated to Antarctica.
With the party over, Supergirl travels back to her own world. Sara and Oliver recognise that the world the Dominators trapped them in might have been a prison, but it was also a gift. Barry and Oliver decide to hit a bar and discuss getting together more often. They both recognise from their respective experiences that had their lives turned out normal, they wouldn’t have been as full as they were.
Observations
- It finally appears that people are starting to forgive Barry for what he did. But with so many changes still in effect and to come, Barry might never forgive himself.
- Even with the Flash and Supergirl on the job, the pair must have been going at ludicrous speeds to cover every city on the planet.
- You have to admire how committed the heroes were. They save America and the rest of the Dominators just happen to leave. How lucky.
- Now that Kara has an inter-dimensional door key, CW left themselves a nice way to bring Supergirl back in the future. But considering the size of the Speed Cannon, remotely triggering the STAR Labs Breach would be easier to accept.