The first part of an epic The Flash/Arrow crossover event, The Flash season two episode eight titled Legends of Today, aired on December 1, 2015. The two The CW shows began what will apparently become a crossover tradition this time last season, but this year’s stakes appear to be higher and the action more fierce. The episode helped to introduce the characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl (we’ve seen Kendra before but never in her full winged glory) as well as super villain Vandal Savage who will become a major player in the upcoming series, Legends of Tomorrow. There was heartbreak, the near death of a sort of popular character, and above all the reteaming of Team Arrow and Team Flash complete with quips, barbs, and genuine camaraderie.
Recap of The Flash Season 2 Episode 8:
In a voiceover, Barry (Grant Gustin) explains he’s been running faster than before as he tries to keep ahead of someone out there who’s even faster than he is. Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) tells Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) they have their work cut out for them as Zoom is three to four times faster. But there is one thing they can do to help Barry…
A shackled, silent stranger is taken off a ship in chains but then magically it’s his captor who’s wearing the handcuffs. He kills all of the men from the ship who were holding him prisoner and says, “Soon another sacrifice will be made. I feel you out there.” And that’s our first look at Vandal Savage (Casper Crump).
Back at police headquarters, Barry says one man alone killed all the men from the ship. There was flint left in the wounds, and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) suggests trying to find the store that sells those kind of flint knives. Patty (Shantel VanSanten) leaves, telling Barry she’ll call him later and Joe smiles broadly, thinking they’re cute together. Awww, how sweet!
Kendra (Ciara Renee) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) end up at the coffee shop after it’s closed, but no worries as she’s got the keys. She’s set up quite a spread, including two bottles of wine. They flirt and talk about their new two week-long relationship. Just then Savage shows up and calls Kendra “Priestess Chay-Ara.” Cisco and Kendra are understandably confused, and Cisco secretly alerts Barry that he’s in trouble. Savage demands Kendra and as he’s about to attack, The Flash shows up to save Cisco from Savage’s knife. Cisco makes the mistake of thanking “Barry” so now the cat’s out of the bag and Kendra knows The Flash’s secret identity!
Kendra is brought to S.T.A.R. Labs where they analyze the knife and discover it is centuries old. Wells and Caitlin agree Priestess Chay-Ara is Egyptian, but Kendra still has no idea what’s going on. Although Joe offers police protection, Barry says his friends in Star City would be better suited to protection duties.
Cisco doesn’t think they need Star City’s help but Barry thinks there’s something different, something mystical about this guy and they don’t have any experience dealing with his type. Cisco wonders if Arrow has time to help and Barry jokes, “How busy can they be?”
?That question is answered immediately in a scene of Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) killing people. He’s about to steal a chemical bomb with his HIVE thugs when The Arrow (Stephen Amell), Speedy (Willa Holland), and Diggle (David Ramsey) show up. Darhk sarcastically says, “You’ve brought arrows to a gun fight,” which leads to Arrow asking, “What guns?” as the guns fly out of the HIVE members’ hands. Felicity is back at headquarters patting herself on the back for the magnetic arrow, but unfortunately she’s disturbing The Arrow as her little monologue is heard over the comm system. Darhk somehow manages to get the best of The Arrow, grabbing his chest. It looks like The Arrow’s in big trouble as Darhk squeezes when in zooms The Flash rescuing our favorite Star City heroes. Thea questions whether she knew they knew The Flash, and then decides, yes, she didn’t know that. Barry tells them he’s there because he needs their help protecting a friend.
Barry’s impressed with Oliver’s new lair – and his new sleeveless costume. Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Barry hug and then she hits him. “How come you didn’t tell me Zoom broke your back?” and then she hugs him again. Oliver jokes he has more bruises from her than from Deathstroke. Kendra is amazed by the lair while Cisco claims it’s completely wrong and he’s mourning the death of engineering. They should have used copper wiring and Felicity has to admit that, yes, their system has overloaded because they didn’t follow Cisco’s instructions. Cisco introduces Kendra as his new beautiful friend who kisses him occasionally, and the rest of the group all introduce themselves. Kendra tells them she has no idea who’s after her but Barry quickly sketches the unknown assailant’s face. Felicity uses facial recognition software to locate him and finds a photo from 1975 that matches. Kendra said the guy told her they’ve known each other for ages. In response to Cisco protesting Oliver’s questioning of Kendra, Oliver gets a little fired up about Kendra being there and how maybe Barry’s made them all unsafe. Felicity plays peacemaker, reminding them they’re all friends and suggesting food and drinks at Oliver’s place.
Wells is working on a formula to increase speedsters and Caitlin figures out he’s basically trying to make nitrous oxide for speedsters. Wells has tried and failed five times, and Caitlin figures out they need an oxygen generator – something like sodium chlorate. That combined with the lightning a speedster can generate would increase Barry’s speed.
At Oliver and Felicity’s, Thea and Cisco are arguing about her nickname of Speedy. She doesn’t want to change her name but Cisco says he can come up with something so much better. The rest are all playing catch-up, including Felicity who’s talking to Barry about the dopplegangers from Earth #2. They also talk about Patty and how he deserves someone good. Barry apologizes to Oliver, Oliver apologizes back; things are fine now between The Arrow and The Flash. Barry’s amazed Oliver is happier than he’s ever seen him. Oliver proposes a toast and Barry steals his drink and finishes the toast. Cisco confides in Barry that he got a vibe when he kissed Kendra the first time. He reveals Kendra could possibly be a bird metahuman.
As they’re all standing around drinking and talking, Savage breaks through the window and says, “I will always find you, Chay-Ara.” Barry gives Oliver his bow and arrows, Savage throws knives at the group, Barry saves everyone from being stabbed, and Oliver fires. Barry is hit by a knife and then Savage and Oliver engage in hand-to-hand combat. Savage throws another knife that Barry stops, Oliver fires arrow after arrow, and Thea joins him in shooting at Savage. They hit him multiple times and he falls backward out the window after Thea fired one final shot that Oliver told her not to. Now Oliver’s back to being angry and Savage is not on the ground where they expected to find his body.
Back at the lair, Barry thinks they can get some info by Cisco touching Kendra. He reveals to everyone (including Kendra) that Kendra’s a metahuman and Felicity points out they both are, something Team Arrow didn’t know. Cisco says Kendra’s a bird who can fly. Felicity did not see that one coming. The lights flash and in pops Malcolm (John Barrowman) and the League.
Meanwhile, Caitlin and Wells work on the drug that will increase a speedster’s speed. Jay strides in and says, “Velocity-6? This is what was so urgent, Harrison?” Wells needs him to take the speed drug as Jay’s the test subject before they give the drug to Barry. This is their only option, says Wells. Jay won’t be the guinea pig and he leaves. Wells also leaves saying he’s going to get what they need.
Malcolm tells Team Arrow and Team Flash that they’re looking for Vandal Savage, an immortal. Malcolm also says they can’t save Kendra.
Patty spies Harrison Wells, who is supposed to be dead, loading up his car.
Cisco chases after Kendra who fled after Malcolm’s announcement. They discuss their metahuman-ness and Cisco tells her it will get a little bit more normal each day. And then in flies Hawkman, swooping down and taking Kendra away.
The Flash scours the streets looking for Kendra while Felicity and Cisco search from back at the lair. Hawkman (Falk Hentschel) lands on a roof and tells Kendra she’s as beautiful as ever. He introduces himself as Khufu and Kendra has brief flashes of memories of him as an Egyptian prince. And then she has more flashes of her kissing him while also dressed in Egyptian attire. As he says he’s here to protect her from Savage, the team figures out his location. He flies off and swats The Arrow off his motorcycle. They fight and The Flash shows up, with Hawkman picking him up and dropping him from the sky. The Arrow saves him and they team up to expose Hawkman’s wings and then incapacitate him.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Wells loads up the serum and Caitlin says they can’t use it. Wells claims they can and then in walks Patty who shoots Wells, believing he’s the Wells from Earth #1. Caitlin rushes in and begins performing CPR, telling Patty to call Joe.
Back at the lair, Hawkman/Khufu comes to, all chained up. He says Kendra’s the love of his life and he’s the only one who can save her. He introduces himself as Carter Hall but says that’s not who he is. They are actually Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara…and they’re lovers. Cisco is obviously not happy about that bit of news. They’re drawn to each other in each life and after reincarnating, they always find each other again. He says they can’t protect them from Savage because he hunts them down every lifetime. He’s done it 206 times. “You are 0 for 206 and you still think you’re her best bet?” asks Cisco. Malcolm and The League show up and say Savage has left and is probably trying to locate the Staff of Horus. If he gets that, he’ll be unstoppable. Cisco once again asks the best question: “Since when did our lives suddenly become an Indiana Jones movie?” Oliver asks Felicity to find it and Carter tells Kendra she needs to emerge now.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin is working on Wells but she needs Jay’s help because Wells is dying.
Back in Star City, Carter wants Kendra to just jump off a building, saying that will make her wings emerge. The gang is highly skeptical but Oliver thinks Carter is actually making sense. Kendra climbs on the ledge and Carter pushes her over. Her wings don’t come out and The Flash saves her. Carter wants her to try again but now the gang thinks he’s lost his mind. Oliver, however, is still convinced they need to let her jump and tells Barry he’s just desperate to save her. Barry answers, “I just never thought I’d have superpowers and feel more powerless than I have in my entire life.” Oliver gets it, but they need to help Kendra get her wings and get back to Central City. And then a lightbulb goes off and Oliver figures out Kendra was drawn to Central City because the Staff of Horus is there.
Barry tells Kendra to believe in herself and “her true self will emerge.” Oliver and Barry are going to head out to Central City while the rest of the gang remains in Star City to protect Carter and Kendra.
In S.T.A.R. Labs, Wells is about to code when Jay shows up. He should be able to take out the bullet if he uses the serum. If he doesn’t do it, Wells will die. The serum is working and Jay phases through Wells chest and gets the bullet out, saving Wells’ life.
Kendra and Cisco chat on the roof, and Kendra admits she’s always felt different and now she understands why. Cisco comforts her and says she’ll be all right. Kendra doesn’t think Cisco can actually help her because she has hundreds of lives inside of her. She must embrace her destiny and with that she walks to the edge of the building. Cisco tries to stop her.
In Central City, The Arrow and The Flash walk through the cathedral where the Staff of Horus is supposed to be located. The Flash is antsy because he’s not used to walking but it doesn’t matter because Savage has beaten them to the punch and has the Staff. Savage says he can’t leave Kendra alone because her destiny is to die. He uses the Staff to shoot at The Arrow and The Flash, and the guys aren’t capable of combating its power.
Back in Star City, Kendra prepares to jump.
Back in Central City, The Arrow fires arrow after arrow at Savage while he uses the Staff. Savage has never encountered anyone with their abilities and finds it astonishing.
Kendra leaps.
Savage summons the power of the Staff.
Kendra’s wings emerge and she soars!
Savage realizes Kendra has powers. He plants the Staff in the ground and destroys the cathedral, with The Arrow and The Flash barely escaping thanks to The Flash’s speed. They don’t think Savage blew himself up but they’re alive so The Flash says this round has ended in a tie.
Hawkgirl – as named by Cisco – lands on the roof, but it’s not a smooth landing as she falls face-first.
Caitlin tells Wells he’ll be okay. Jay says the serum is out of his system and he won’t do it again. As he turns to leave, Wells says thanks. Jay tells him he can thank him by not giving the Velocity-6 to Barry.
The episode draws toward a close with the gang being called to Central City to end this. Cisco thinks Barry and Oliver will take down Savage, and Felicity volunteers her company’s private jet to get them to Central City.
In Central City, Oliver and Barry visit the coffee shop and Oliver sees “The Flash” drink listed on the menu. He asks when that became a thing, and Barry says about eight months ago when he saved Star City. Then a kid bumps into them and drops a The Flash action figure. Oliver picks it up and smiles. He hands it back and watches the kid walk away to his mom who he immediately realizes he knows.
Season 2 Recaps: Episode 1 / Episode 3 / Episode 4 / Episode 5 / Episode 7
The Flash Season 2 Interviews: Grant Gustin / Danielle Panabaker / Tom Cavanagh / Carlos Valdes / Andrew Kreisberg