So, the time has finally come. Our up close and personal look into the Legion of Doom is here and it’s...well, pretty intense, if I’m being honest. The Legion is anything but a well-oiled crime machine, but that’s to be expected, really, considering the desperation that pulled them all together.

And speaking of that desperation, let’s kick off this week by diving a little deeper into the source of Eobard’s fears: the Black Flash.

The Black Flash is, quite literally, the grim reaper for anyone connected to the Speed Force. Which, maybe sounds a little strange considering speedsters are essentially just metahumans, right? And most metahumans don’t really need their very own special death dealer. That is, at least, until you consider the exact nature of the Speed Force in people: How can a speedster die when their powers allow them to literally travel through and manipulate time? Which, obviously, is a problem that Eobard is facing pretty directly right now.

Another way of looking at it? The Speed Force allows speedsters to be too fast for even death itself to catch, so the Black Flash is there to settle the score. Pretty bad news for a speedster who escaped oblivion like Thawne, right?

A little side note for all you comics trivia and #DCTV Secrets fans: The Black Flash is actually not the only personification of Death that’s tied to the Speed Force in the DC Universe. The Black Racer is another, and though they look very similar and serve similar purposes, they’re actually not the same creature. A quick way to tell the difference is that the Black Racer wears ski-like blades on his feet.

So now we know why Thawne is so desperate to literally reshape reality, but things are looking worse than ever for poor Rip/Phil.

...Man, I hope you guys are less squeamish about dental stuff than Malcolm and I are, because that was pretty gross.

So, one traumatic tooth extraction later and we learned that Rip backed up his identity onto a sort of temporal hard drive. This should be great news, except now it’s in the Legion’s hands and they’re free to do whatever they want with it...including modifying some pretty fundamental aspects of Rip’s, well, personhood—his actual, non-film student burnout identity

It seems like the Legion and the Legends are running in parallel with one another, always one or two steps apart but rushing toward the same ultimate goal. As the Legion got their hands on Rip’s memories, the Legends figured out how to decode the map to the Spear...so, Rip’s future, and the future of the planet aren’t hopeless yet by any means, but it’s certainly leaning more towards a “worst case” than a “best case” scenario.

Also, we probably ought to talk about Lily Stein before we wrap this up, right? I talked a bit about my concerns over Martin keeping Lily secret back during the “Invasion” crossover. and now the cat’s out of the bag more than ever. But...that’s maybe not a terrible thing, all things considered?

I’ll be honest with you guys. I’m not totally sure where I stand on Lily right now. She’s clearly a huge asset to the team, but...that doesn’t really make her any less of an aberration. It’s a complicated situation, but one that opens up some pretty interesting potential avenues for the future.

I can’t help but feel like there are some big things on the horizon for Lily. Whether those things are going to be good or bad (or heartbreaking) however, is the real question

What, if anything, do you think lies ahead for Lily? Do you think the team is ever going to be able to get Rip back? And if they do, which Rip do you think they’ll be getting?

Let me know your theories in the comments!
 

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 Thursdays at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) on The CW.