Okay, here's the thing: I love Mick Rory. I feel like I haven't gotten to talk much about him this season, but he's basically my favorite Legend—maybe even my favorite #DCTV character as a whole. I also love military history. Vietnam and WWII, specifically. So, you can probably imagine my delight with…well, all of this.

Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or been given a sudden, unexpected gift. This episode kind of felt like that. Except with more flamethrowers and a giant, telepathic gorilla.

...You know, the usual.

But anyway. We'll get to the surprising, hilarious and actually weirdly heartfelt moments between Mick and his dad here in a second. First we should talk about the major moment: Grodd is now teaming up with Damien Darhk and his motley Mallus-adjacent crew. So, that can't be a good thing. If you haven't been keeping up with The Flash and aren’t a comic book reader, you might not know who Grodd is. If that’s the case, don't worry. He's pretty much a "what you see is what you get" sort of villain: a giant telepathic ape with a superiority complex and a vendetta against humans. He and Barry have had some pretty rough encounters in the past, both on the show and in the comics.

Suffice it to say, when Grodd's in the mix, things are likely to get a little messy for everyone involved.

So that brings our total of Mallus followers to four so far: Damien and Nora Darhk, Kuasa and Grodd. That's two immortal magic users, a water totem bearer, and an extremely powerful telepath. Not a great mix. And then, of course, there's Mallus itself—who or whatever they turn out to be.

And while I'm on the subject: I've had a couple of Legends fans tweet me some really great Mallus theories—please keep them coming! I know I've been campaigning hard for the "something's up with Lily Stein's baby" brigade, but I'm really interested to see what everyone else is thinking! I've got my hills to die on, obviously, but I'll be the first person to admit that I miss some clues every now and again (by which I mean pretty frequently.)

This episode also gave us a closer look at just what might happen to Firestorm in the future without Stein in the mix—or, at the very least, what the theoretical plan is. I've talked a few times about the Firestorm matrix and occupying just one body, so I can't say I'm exactly surprised that that's the route Martin and Ray are going with their planning, but I still feel like it might not be a good or a permanent solution. It's not that I don't think Jax can do the hero thing on his own—I mean, he did a pretty great job improvising this week, if I do say so myself—but I do think that Firestorm is a more balanced hero when it's comprised of more than one person.

I guess we'll see how that shakes out. I'm anxious about it, but pretty excited at the end of the day. I feel like Jax is making a lot of really good improvements this season with where he stands on the team and how he sees himself, and I want to see that keep going.

And while I'm on the subject of team dynamics: am I the only person who was pretty impressed by how well everyone held it together while Sara was temporarily out of commission? I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't think the rest of the Legends are incompetent or anything, but historically speaking their track record hasn't been all that great without someone to come in and act as a voice of reason. It was just a pleasant surprise, is all. Handling Grodd in the middle of the Vietnam War without the captain around is a pretty big deal.

Now, back to the important part of this episode: Mick Rory is...growing up? Maturing? I don't really know how to put this, but I experienced the same emotions I feel whenever I see those videos about mean fighting dogs being rescued and slowly getting friendlier and friendlier. I don't think I ever expected to see a plot for Mick where he's given the chance to completely and totally go editorial on his own past. I mean, let's not beat around the bush here: Mick was basically presented with the exact same choice that Stein got back in season 2, except Stein took the path that landed him with an aberration daughter.

Mick didn't. He didn't modify his own timeline at all. Despite how miserable and messed up it made him, he displayed a really astounding amount of personal control, and, man…if that's not some real deal, capital-C Character Development, I don't know what is.

Anyway, next week is the giant, four-part crossover event between Legends, Supergirl, Flash and Arrow. Are you ready? I don't know if I'm ready, but I’ll be here on Tuesday night breaking down the final part of the event regardless. You’ll be joining me, right?
 

Meg Downey covers DC's Legends of Tomorrow as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. Look for Meg on Twitter at @rustypolished. DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. CST) on The CW.