Crisis on Infinite Earths : “Part IV”
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For a quick read, go to Review. For a complete summary, go to Recap.
KBear Recap [Read time: 5-7 min]
“My towering ambition has doomed us all.” Mar Novu
Planet Maltus 10,000 years ago. Mar Novu/The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) is with his wife Xneen Novu (Melanie Merkosky). She is the monitor of his temporal jump trail. Mar Novu is trying to jump back to the dawn of time. When he makes the jump, he finds out he is in the antimatter universe. This creates his counterpoint, the Anti-Monitor. He realizes what his actions have caused, “My towering ambition has doomed us all.”
At the Vanishing Point, Ryan Choi (Osric Chau) is writing a letter to his deceased daughter. After being there for months, the Paragons have given up. Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) is missing. J’onn J’onzz/ Martian Manhunter (David Harewood) meditates, Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) has given up hope. Kate Kane/Batwoman (Ruby Rose) continues training. Sara Lance (White Canary) does nothing, while Ryan helps Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) try to build a teleportation device from the left over machinery in the Vanishing Point. Kara nominates Lex to test out the machine. It doesn’t work. Barry returns, running into a wall. Barry has bad news, “There’s no way out of here.”
There is a montage of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) training while we get flashbacks of Oliver training and fighting in past seasons. Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo) tells Oliver, “Every fight, every punch you’ve thrown, every kick you’ve landed, every arrow you’ve fired, they have led you here to this moment, to the ultimate fight.” Barry is exhausted but he’s ready to leave again, the rest of the Paragons try to stop him. Barry tells them he needs to get to the speed force. Oliver appears out of nowhere. They can’t believe it’s him, but he quickly convinces them. Kara: “Maybe your right, maybe the speed force is our last chance.” Oliver: “It is. The speed force is the key to saving you. It’s the key to saving everyone.”
“Right. There are few things more powerful in the universe than memory and connection.” Oliver Queen
Oliver explains what happened back on Earth. He unlocks Barry’s potential so he can get into the speed force. He takes everyone out of the Vanishing Point. Kara, Lex and Ryan are dropped off at Maltus, right before Mar Novu began his tests. Ryan: “Why doesn’t this alien forest look more alien?” Lex disappears. Barry makes it to the speed force. Oliver meets him. Oliver: “The Anti-Monitor attacked. We were separated, and I am utilizing various pieces of my essence to keep me, Sara, J’onn, and Kate together.” Barry: “That’s why I’m here. This is – – this is where we first met.” Oliver: “Right. There are few things more powerful in the universe than memory and connection.” Barry meets his movie counterpoint Flash (Ezra Miller) in Star Labs. Both are confused about the other. Kara finds Lex, he gave himself some upgrades and knocks out Kara and Ryan.
Kate wakes up and sees Oliver and Ray Palmer/Atom (Brandon Routh) arguing. It’s a scene from a previous season of Arrow. Another scene from a previous crossover has Kara and Oliver together during an alien attack; J’onn shows up. Back at Maltus, Ryan wakes up and wakes up Kara. Ryan: “Are you sure you guys got the right guy?” Kara: “You left your family because someone you never even met told you ‘you were needed’, I’d say that makes you pretty special.” Ryan: “I don’t know about hope but you’re definitely The Paragon of Pep Talks.” Oliver finally tells Barry about the deal he made with the Monitor to keep Barry and Kara alive. Oliver offers this encouragement, “Dying is the easy part. The dead are at peace, but the real heroes are the ones who have to keep going.” John Diggle/Spartan (David Ramsey) and Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) are in the Arrow cave standing over Sara’s dead body. Barry zooms in and brings Sara back to life leaving with her. J’onn tells Oliver and Kara they will come to trust each other.
Lex finds Mar Novu and tries to convince him to ally with him. Kara and Ryan show up to prevent Lex from convincing the Monitor to give him power once the Monitor gets it. Kara and Lex fight while Ryan convinces Mar Novu not to open the portal. Unfortunately their efforts fail, and they find themselves in the dawn of time in the anti-mater universe. The Anti-Monitor explains what happened, “Some fates are unescapable. You spoke to one man across countless universes, but within the tapestry of the multiverse, there will always be one Mar Novu who cannot turn from his towering ambition, and in that inevitability, there is destiny. Welcome to mine!”
“Thank you Oliver.” Barry Allen
Oliver and the other Paragons appear and Oliver tells them they can hold the line, “I light the spark; you fan the flame.” Oliver fights the Anti-Monitor while the Paragons fight the Shadow Demons. Oliver tells the Anti-Monitor, “You have failed this universe!” The Paragons try to figure out what they can do to win this fight. Lex: “I made myself The Paragon of Truth. What if truth can tell us what we need to do? Use what’s left of the book to fan the flame.” Barry: “How do we all use the book?” Kara: “We focus. A singular, laser-like focus.” Ryan: “On what?” Kara: “Humanity, Truth, Love, Destiny, Honor, Courage…and Hope.” They do it and turn the tide. Oliver defeats the Anti-Monitor, but not without paying a price. Oliver is dying, he talks to his two oldest friends, Sara and Barry. Oliver: “I need both of you to watch over my family. There was an end…and there’s a beginning. This world, this new world…it needs, both of you.” Something is definitely happening around them. Barry: “An end.” Sara: “And a beginning.” Barry: “Thank you Oliver.”
KBear Review [Read time: 1-3 minutes]
Oliver is dead again, probably for real this time. Before his death, Oliver helps the Paragons get out of the Vanishing Point and into the speed force. They reenact different scenes from seasons past. There are few things more powerful in the universe than memory and connection. Kara, Ryan and Lex go into the past to stop Mar Novu from going into the portal, at least that’s Kara and Ryan’s plan. Lex is going to try to convince Mar Novu to give him some of his future power. They all fail because some Mar Novu in the multiverse was going to enter the portal anyway. After another big fight, Oliver defeats the Anti-Monitor but he dies, creating a new universe.
It was fitting that in the Arrow episode Oliver died and created a new universe. He did create the Arrowverse after all. It was a good episode with many scenes from Arrow’s past recreated. It was good that when Oliver died he asked his two oldest friends and allies, Sara and Barry to look after his family. The episode honored who Oliver was and gave him a fitting farewell. Oliver did not fail us.
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