The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly

For the The Flash episode, see "The Good, the Bad, and the Lucky".

"All right. We're facing an army of Romans, Vikings, and pirates. But you know what today is? Today is the day that we prove that Rip did not sacrifice his life in vain! And today is the day that we prove that we are not losers! And today is the day that we earn the name 'Legends'!"

—Sara Lance

"The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly" is the eighteenth and final episode of the third season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the fifty-first episode overall. It aired on April 9, 2018.

Synopsis[]

The Legends' plan to vanquish Mallus by using the totems doesn't go as planned, forcing Rip to improvise. The team finds itself regrouping in the Wild West where they run into their old pal Jonah Hex. Sara leaves Ray in charge of watching Damien Darhk, while she comes up with a new plan. Meanwhile, Amaya is determined to find a way to use the totems to destroy Mallus.^[src]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Brandon Routh as Dr. Ray Palmer
Caity Lotz as Captain Sara Lance
Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe
Amy Louise Pemberton as Gideon (voice)
Tala Ashe as Zari Tomaz
Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West/Kid Flash
Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood/Steel
Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory

Special appearance by[]

Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk and Mallus

Special guest star[]

Guest starring[]

Co-starring[]

Ben Diskin as Beebo (voice)

Uncredited[]

Plot[]

The episode starts where the previous one finished, with the demon Mallus being released. Mallus demands that they hand over all of the totems, or he will destroy the world. Amaya tells him to come and get them. Amaya, Zari, Mick, Ray, and Nate all try to use their totems to attack Mallus, whilst Wally also tried to fight him, but all fail. Sara radios Rip on the Waverider telling him that they need to be evacuated. Rip tells them what they really need is a miracle. As the Legends are retreating from Mallus, we see Rip removing the time drive from the Waverider. Gideon warns him that the drive is unstable, but Rip tells her that it might be the only thing that could contain Mallus. Gideon tells him that if he does what she thinks he is planning to do, that he is unlikely to survive. Rip tells her he knows – and that he will miss her. Gideon tells him that she will miss him too. The Legends manage to make it back to the ship. Sarah radios Rip and asks him not to sacrifice himself. Rip tells her that what he is doing will enable them to escape, that he is looking forward to being reunited with his deceased wife and child, and that he hopes that one day they all live up to their name and become Legends. Gideon is able to time jump the Waverider away as the time drive explodes, taking Rip and Mallus with it.

On the bridge, the Legends are trying to regroup after their loss, and trying to work out how they are going to defeat Mallus. Sara tells them that Rip gave his life so that the Legends could take the totems to somewhere that Mallus couldn't find them. She realises where they can take them – to Salvation, South Dakota in the days of the Old West. Ray tells them that it is a temporal blind spot. Amaya asks if that really is their plan – to hide. Sara says that it is, and tells Gideon to plot a course.

Sara goes to visit Damien Darhk, who is being held prisoner in a magical circle in the lab. Damien asks if she is there to kill him as she has promised, and admits that he is hoping she will. Sara tells him that killing him would be an act of mercy, and that he doesn't deserve it, and that instead he should have to live out the rest of his days knowing that he destroyed his daughter. As Sara leaves the lab Ray enters. Sara tells him not to do anything stupid and departs. Darhk asks Ray if he really is planning to do something stupid. Ray says he is – something that might mend the entire situation, and bring Nora back.

In Salvation the team head to the saloon. Sara suggests that part of the reason the totems didn't work last time was that only Amaya and Zari were born to carry them. The rest of them are, as Mick observes, losers. At that point they are approached by a familiar face – Jonah Hex. Sara notices that Hex is wearing a sheriff's badge. Jonah asks if they are planning to start any trouble and Sara tells him that on the contrary that they are there to avoid it. Outside the saloon they hear gunfire and go to see what is causing them. Out in the streets some old adversaries ride into town – Blackbeard, Julius Caesar, and Freydis Eriksdottir, all of whom have been possessed by Mallus. Jonah asks if this is that Sara meant she she said she wanted to avoid trouble. The three demand that the Legends hand over the totems or they will destroy the town, and gives them until high noon to do so.

On the Waverider Ray has taken Damien to the jump ship. Nate stops them and asks what he is doing. Ray punches Nate and flies the jump ship away. Damien also wants to know where they are going. Ray tells him that they are going back to right before Mallus took over Nora. He had to keep it a secret from the rest of the team because one of the cardinal rules of time travel is not to go back and change events that you participated in. On the Waverider Nate radios the rest of the team to tell them of Ray's departure. In the library he finds Amaya about to start on a vision quest. He proposes joining her but Amaya says that she has to do it alone, and that she is planning to go right back to the beginning to meet with the first ever totem bearers. She says that as she was the one who decided to break time by saving her village, it is up to her to find a way to fix it. Nate reminds her that they decided to save her village together, and takes a drink of her tea so he can join her in her vision quest and they share a vision of all of the original totem bearers in a circle with their totems all sending a beam into the middle. They realise that the way to stop Mallus is for all of the totem bearers to work together. Elsewhere on the ship Hex visits Zari in her quarters. He sees the computer and asks what it is. Z explains that she is using it as a temporal beacon, to send a signal out for allies. Hex points out that whilst the Legends may be a bit unorthodox, they have a knack for making friends. It's clear that there is a spark between Zari and Hex.

Amaya and (a still high) Nate call all of the Legends to the bridge to explain the results of their vision quest - that the totems are not designed to be used individually, but are elemental forces that when used together combine to create a perfect being of light who will be able to defeat Mallus. Sara questions her reasoning, pointing out that all of the original bearers were from Zambesi, and they are not, but Amaya doesn't think it is a coincidence that they have all ended up with them now. Amaya doesn't think it chance, for example, that Mick ended up meeting his father in Vietnam, resulting in Mick becoming a better person, or a coincidence that Zari's totem called to Amaya's the moment she put it on, resulting in Z staying on the ship. Amaya tells Sara that they have to try.

Out in the Wild West the team assemble to try and combine their totems to create a magical being: Mick's fire totem will provide it with a spark, Zari's air totem will give it breath, Wally, now bearing the water totem, will give the being blood, Nate's earth totem will make it's body, and Amaya's spirit totem will give it a soul. However, Amaya points out, without the death totem they will only ever be able to imprison Mallus, not kill him, and offers it to Sara. Sara is reluctant to take it, but accepts that she has to. The six form a circle, and Amaya tells them to imagine a perfect being of light. All six totems start to glow, but each of them are thinking about other things (like Mick wondering why Nate has "girly hands" or Zari thinking that Hex is hot). They realise that they can all hear each others thoughts. Each of the totems start producing a beam of light that meet in the middle of the circle. Amaya is worried that they are not properly focussing. There is a flash of light and a being is created – but it is twisted and misshapen. Mick shoots it with his heat gun to put it out of it's misery. Amaya suggests that they try again, but Sara suggests that what they really need is to find people who are actually worthy of bearing the totems. At that moment a portal, and Ava comes through, with Jax, Kuasa, and Helen of Troy.

In Zambesi in 1992 Ray and Damien Darhk have arrived in the jump ship. Ray tells Damien that they need to make Nora unconscious before she turns into Mallus. They try knocking her out, but it doesn't work, so Damien tries shooting her with Ray's anti-magic nanite gun. Nora asks him why. Damien tells her it's because he loves her, and that he couldn't watch her turn into a monster like he is. Mallus tells him he is a fool, and that destroying one body will just make him take over another one – Damien's. Damien tells Mallus that that is what he was counting on. Nora is freed from Mallus's possession and Damien tells Ray to get her out of there, as he begins to turn into the demon. Ray carries an unconscious Nora back to the jump ship.

Back in the saloon in Salvation, Nate is watching Kuasa talking to Wally. Amaya tells him that because they saved her village that Kuasa was never turned evil, never teamed up with the Darhks, that she grew up to be a good person who's lived a good life, and that she and her sister Mari now both share the Anansi totem. Jax tells Mick that it has been 5 years since he left the Waverider, and since then he has got married and had a child. Hex meanwhile is showing Helen of Troy, now transformed into a warrior through her time in Themyscira, how to shoot a revolver. Helen thanks the Legends for giving her the gift of a new life, which is why she has come back to return the favour. Sara tells them that they need to start teaching them how to use the totems, but Ava informs her that they are there to back them up, not to replace them. Sara says that they have tried to use the totems twice and have failed. Ava tells her that they have made Kuasa and Helen's lives better, and that is just the tip of the iceberg, so how can she say that they are not the exact right people to wield the totems now? Sara admits that she has a good point. Ava asks Sara if she meant what she said the last time they were together – that she loves her. Sara asks her what she thinks. Ray enters the saloon with Nora. The Legends draw their weapons, but Ray tells them that she is completely free of Mallus. Wally asks if that means they won't have to fight the demon any more, by Ray admits that it doesn't, because Damien Darhk is now Mallus's vessel instead. The Legends quickly fill Ray on on Mallus's ultimatum for them to hand over the totems, and Ray asks how long they have, just as Caesar, Blackbeard, and Freydis ride into town, leading an army of Romans, Vikings, and pirates. Sara returns to the saloon and tells all assembled that today is the day that they prove that Rip did not sacrifice himself in vain, that today is the day that they prove that they are not losers, and that today is the day that they earn the title "Legends".

In the street of Salvation, Sara goes out to face Freydis, Caesar, and Blackbeard and their three armies. They think that she is there to surrender the totems that she is carrying, but she offers them new terms instead – leave town or get hurt. The armies charge, and Sara escapes on a horse being ridden by Ava. The armies give chase, and are led into a trap where the Legends can fight them. The Legends and their allies defeat the assembled hordes, with Mick beating his old adversary Caesar, and Amaya besting Blackbeard once again. But as they think of celebrating all their enemies are reanimated by Mallus. Helen tells the Legends to go and prepare while the rest of them hold off the possessed armies. Ava, Helen, Kuasa, Jonah, Jax, and Ray engage the hordes as the six totem bearers head to the saloon. There is fierce fighting then suddenly all of the possessed soldiers kneel as Mallus arrives in the Old West.

In the saloon Amaya, Sara, Zari, Nate, Mick, and Wally have once again formed a circle and each of their totems light up. Sara tells them to imagine a powerful light of pure goodness. In the centre of the circle the energy from their totems combines. Zari suddenly makes a realisation, followed by Amaya. Nate apologises, saying that when Sara said to imagine a being of pure goodness he started thinking about someone. Zari admits that she can't stop thinking about him too. A figure starts to form in the middle of the totem circle and the ground starts to shake, and out of the saloon bursts...

A giant Beebo toy.

Ava asks where the Legends are. Ray tells her that Beebo is all of them combined.

In the fields outside of Salvation Lilly and Mallus fight. At first Mallus appears to have the upper hand, then Ava calls to them not to give up. Beebo manages to fight back. Mallus declared that even the six totem bearers cannot stop him and takes to the sky. Beebo jumps and grabs Mallus in a cuddle and they fall to the ground together, exploding in a massive heart-shaped cloud of blue glitter. When the smoke clears, the Legends are in a crater full of toy stuffing and blue fur, and Mallus is finally destroyed. They share a group hug, much to Mick's annoyance.

After the battle Time Bureau agents are busy wiping the memories of the townsfolk, and sending the Romans, Vikings, and pirates back to their own times. Amaya says goodbye to her granddaughter Kuasa, and the team give her all of the Zambesi totems to look after. Ava and Jax take Caesar, Blackbeard, and Freydis back to the Time Bureau to have their minds wiped. Jonah gives Zari his hat, as something to remember him by. Ray stops the Time Bureau agents taking Nora away to prison, telling them he needs to talk to her. They step back to give them some privacy. Ray secretly gives Nora her father's time stone, telling her that he died to give her a second chance, so not to waste it. Amaya tells Zari and Sara that it is time for her to finally leave the ship. Although the Legends are her family, she says, she has another one waiting for her in the years to come. In Zambesi in 1942, Nate and Amaya are saying goodbye. Amaya tells Nate that she is going to miss him, but Nate tells her she won't because she won't remember him. He points the memory wiper at her, but she brushes it away, saying that she doesn't want to forget, as her memories of Nate are the only part of him that she is allowed to keep. They kiss, and Nate walks back to the jump ship, never to see his love again.

Aruba, 2018: The team are taking some much needed rest and relaxation after their recent adventure. Nate suggests that Sara should have invited Ava, but she explains that Ava is busy finishing repairing the rest of the anachronisms they left behind. A shadow falls over Mick and he tells the person to get out of his sun. They see that it's Gary dressed like John Constantine, and ask why he is there. He's with Constantine, who shows them the decapitated head of a dragon. Constantine reveals that when the Legends freed Mallus from his prison, the demon wasn't the only thing that got out.

Trivia[]

This is the last episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow to feature Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West).
- This is also the last episode to have Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West) as a series regular in any Arrowverse show.
This is the last episode to feature Amaya Jiwe/Vixen.
The title references the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; a film which, like the majority of this episode, is set in the Old West.
The respective emblems when the title card is shown don't appear at the beginning, mostly due to Rip's death.
Rip's flashbacks while going to confront Mallus are from the episodes "Moonshot", "Out of Time", and "Legendary", respectively.
It's revealed the correct pronunciation of Mallus' name is "Malice".
While intoxicated, Nate describes what the original Totem bearers did as "They beat him with the Care Bear stare!" and compares the combining of powers into a new being like Voltron.
When the Legends use the totems to create an entity to fight Mallus, Sara advises to think of something pure and thanks to what Nate came up with, they end up forming a giant Beebo doll. This may be a reference to the Stay Puft marshmallow man from the Ghostbusters franchise, where the titular team is told that the destructor would come, taking a form chosen by the group. Three of the four present don't choose anything, but the fourth member of the team tries to think of something harmless and ends up summoning a giant Stay Puft marshmallow man.
- The creation of the giant Beebo could also be an homage to the climax in The Muppet Movie when a giant-sized animal burst through the roof of a western saloon.
Zari says Gary's blonde wig is "very presidential", referring to Donald Trump, the president of the United States at the time.
If one listens closely while Nate is attacking the jump ship, he yells, "Damn it, Ray!" in the exact same voice as in "Camelot/3000".
Mick and the rest of the Legends relaxing in Aruba is a reference to the first episode of the season, "Aruba-Con".
Zari notes that she nearly gets killed with the Legends each week, making it a slight fourth-wall joke on the fact that DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs once a week.
Ray is the only member of the Legends who does not fight Mallus in the final battle. However, he did wield the Water Totem when the team tried using all of the totems against Mallus at once earlier in the episode.
When Jonah detonates some dynamite against Mallus' army, the Wilhelm Scream can be heard.
Similar to how Martin Stein's grandson was named after Jax's predecessor (Ronnie Raymond), Jax named his daughter Martina after Stein.
After Mick punches Julius Caesar in the face, he quips, "That's a Roman nose". This is an archaic term referring to a prominent or hooked nose.
Mick references when Rip recruited them including Snart, Professor Martin Stein, and "those stupid hawk flying chicken people", a reference to Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall who were both on the first season.
This is the final episode where every human main character has ties to a character or characters from DC Comics.

Goofs[]

This and the last episode, "Guest Starring John Noble" suggest that Donald Trump succeeds Barack Obama as president of the United States in the same way as in reality. However, as of the Invasion! crossover, Susan Brayden is president of the United States on Earth-1.
- It is possible that Trump tried and failed to become president.
When Sara suggests taking the Totems to the Old West, Ray explains to Zari that Salvation, North Dakota is a temporal blindspot. The team then goes to 1874. However, North Dakota wasn't formed until 1889; in 1874, it would've been known as Dakota Territory.

References[]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow season 3
"Aruba-Con" • "Freakshow" • "Zari" • "Phone Home" • "Return of the Mack" • "Helen Hunt" • "Welcome to the Jungle" • "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 4" • "Beebo the God of War" • "Daddy Darhkest" • "Here I Go Again" • "The Curse of the Earth Totem" • "No Country for Old Dads" • "Amazing Grace" • "Necromancing the Stone" • "I, Ava" • "Guest Starring John Noble" • "The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly"