Talkie Tuesday: Crisis on Infinite Earths

"There was an end ... and there is a beginning.

Thank you, Oliver."

Hello everyone!

Still with me here? Have all your memories, and know Lex Luthor is a bad, bad cookie?

Or are you one of those multitude of numbers who believe he's the Nobel prize winner that he portrays himself to be nowadays?

A lot of things have changed in the Multiverse since the antimatter hit it, and tonight, we're going to be looking at just WHAT happened when it did, and right afterwards.

If you're unfamiliar with the word, hello and welcome to tonight's blog post, in which we try to summarise some of our thoughts over the Crisis in general, come to terms with facts about certain shows, hopefully save the Multiverse from disappearing entirely, and say goodbye.

Yes, it's going to be that kind of blog post.

After all, even though there's been multiple times a crisis has hit our heroes before, none have been on the scale of what took place between December and January on the CW network.

Crisis on Infinite Earths has come.

Because I'm the geek that I am, links to previously-reviewed crossover-events from the CW will be listed at the bottom of this page. Since the inception of the Arrowverse and the very first crossover, during which the heroes from Arrow and The Flash took mini vacations to each other's cities (and everything went haywire because it always does), crossovers became the annual event on the network, and more and more shows were brought in.

This last one was a doozy.

Featuring characters from Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman AND the first appearance of the titular character from Black Lightning, it was the most ambitious project CW had to date - and considering they started advertising for it right at the end of the Elseworlds crossover last year, you know I'm not just talking big.

So what happened, exactly? What IS this Crisis everyone was so terrified of?

We begin the story with Supergirl's installment, where the antimatter wave has now found its way onto the DEO's radar, and nobody knows how to stop it, what to do about it, and how they're going to get people to safety from it.

Most alarmingly: Argo, the colony founded by Kryptonian survivors, and coincidentally the home of retired Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), his wife Lois and their son Jonathan, is the first in the wave's path, and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) can't for the life of her reach her cousin to warn them all in time.

I mean, they can kind of figure something's up, obviously. Red skies are VERY difficult to miss.

Alura, Kara's mother, places baby Jonathan in a pod meant for Earth, just in case Kal and Lois won't be able to escape, in a gesture pretty much the same as what Kal's own parents had done, back in the day, and what she'd done for Kara, too. Kryptonias love their pods - but somehow they haven't figured out how to make them adult-sized.

Anyway, the antimatter hits Argo, and it disappears from scanners and screens, giving people in National City their first taste of just what's coming for them.

Naturally, Kara's devastated, but then Lyla pops up with Lois and Kal, having gotten to Argo just in time to save the pair of them - and no one else. Effectively, the rest have become part of the antimater that's still coming for Earth-38.

And while that's all fascinating and all, Lois is more concerned about her son - where did Jonathan's pod go?

Brainy does what he does best - which is to say, activates that advanced brain of his - and finds him, through a temporal hole, in Star City, 2046. If you recall, this was a possible future Star City in which Oliver Queen was an old man, had lost one arm, and the Legends had visited once upon a time.

Looks like it's going to be getting another visit, because even as Lyla brings the rest of the heroes over to National City (these including fan favourite Oliver Queen, his daughter Mia, Barry Allen, Sara Lance, Ray Harper and Kate Kane), Lois is determined to get her son. Sara volunteers to go with her - after all, she has experience with the place, and if they take Brainy along, too, it shouldn't be too difficult to get Jonathan, and get the heck out again.

So that's exactly what they do, running into Old Man Ollie, who in this version has never met the Legends, so he's all gung-ho about kicking it out with Sara, but eventually they reach an accord, and even share a sweet goodbye before they return to their own time, Jonathan in tow.

Meanwhile, everyone and their mother is processing the news that Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity (Emily Bett-Rickards) had a daughter, not to mention that she's all grown up, which makes zero sense (she's from 2040, duh). But there's not much time for being all nostalgic, and Oliver knows it, too, which is why he takes a moment to gift Mia (Kat McNamara) her own Green Arrow suit, something that initially shocks her, but eventually, she comes to understand this is her father's most precious gift: he's handing over his legacy. And that's no small feat.

But there isn't much time to really appreciate it because the antimatter is now right on top of this Earth, and our heroes hurry to defend the quantum towers that the Monitor raises, which are supposed to slow the antimatter down.

And they do - sort of.

But there's an army of shadow wraiths that attack National City in waves, making it difficult to form any sort of evacuation.

Our heroes throw themselves head-first into battle while the DEO ask Lena Luthor for help to expand a portal they need to open to Earth-1, the place of their last stand, so they can evacuate as many people as possible. And while the Supers power the quantum towers and Ray (Brandon Routh) does some field adjustments to Kate's (Ruby Rose) tech, it's obvious there's too many of the shadow wraiths, and the towers won't hold the antimatter back forever.

This is why the Monitor appears to whisk all our heroes away.

But not Oliver Queen.

Because the planet hasn't been evacuated in total, he denies Monitor the chance to get him out, and fights until he has no arrows left, then continues fighting with his entire body. When the Monitor finally does deliver him back to our heroes, Oliver is dying.

In a shocking twist to what everyone expected, the first of the heroes and the one who brought them all together passes on surrounded by his daughter and loved ones, contrary to what the Monitor foresaw, meaning that the stakes, and the game, have ALL changed now.

And with that shocker, we head into Batwoman's hour of the Crisis.

Everyone's reasonably mad at the Monitor, who at this point comes to them with the revelation that he enlisted the help of Felicity Smoak and another one of those pesky, universe-altering books (remember the annoying Book of Destiny from last crossover?), which revealed that they're going to need seven Paragons to stop the Antimonitor from finishing what he started with his antimatter.

During this conversation, Kara is revealed to be the Paragon of Hope, and Sara (Caity Lotz) the Paragon of Destiny, but they still have to find the Paragon of Courage and Paragon of Truth. 

So the race is on, but of course it won't be as easy as that.

Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) is also in this crossover, after all.

And being the Lex that he is, he steals the Book of Destiny and, divining that the Paragon of Truth is one of the Supermen from the Multiverse, sets out to kill every last one of them. Right on his tail are Iris, Lois and Kal, who know they need to hustle, but are kind of always just a little bit late.

That is, until they reach the one and only Smallville Clark Kent (Tom Welling).

Lex gets there too, however, and sends our lot back so he can happily kill this Superman as well - only, Kryptonite does nothing to Clark. With a bored expression, the ex-Superman explains he gave up his powers to be a husband and father, which means nothing Lex does will work. He does, however, still punch Lex right in the face, because it feels good, and Lex is annoying.

Our intrepid trio isn't done yet, though, and takes the break from having Lex preoccupied with Clark to find Earth-96 Superman, played by Brandon Routh, who's lost everyone he ever held dear and is sort of half-depressed at this point.

This makes it super easy for Lex to show up and push on all the dark desires inside the guy, making him fight our Kal-El, and the two of them kind of do some massive renovating of Metropolis while they're at it.

Thankfully we have some quick-thinking women along for the ride, because Lois whacks Lex over the head while he's busy controlling Routh-Superman, and she and Iris use the Book of Destiny to get him back to normal (also to tell him he's one of the Paragons, which, you know, is just the everyday life of these heroes).

The group, now one Paragon stronger, returns to the Waverider Lyla aka Harbinger acquired for them, where somehow or other Mick Rory ends up as the best babysitter for little Jonathan, because the kid just LIKES him that much.

Also, this Waverider's AI has the voice of Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller), which is a fantastic addition.

But we're still the one Paragon short, and Kara and Kate team up to find Batman - which they kind of do.

Only he's in an exosuit.

And Superman put him there.

This all sounds like something out of a nightmare, and it turns even worse because it was Batman fighting Superman that started the chain reaction to begin with - see, this Bruce Wayne's gone full-on Vader, thinking the heroes and vigilantes were basically at the root of the problem for all the criminals, and taking THEM out instead of the bad guys. He'd have taken Kara out, too, using Kryptonite on her, but thankfully Kate sees what's up and kicks her dopple cousin so he gets electrocuted. In the process, SHE is revealed as the Paragon of Courage.

Never saw that one coming, did you? Sure you did.

She's also smart enough to take some of the Kryptonite with her, because she may need to use it on Kara if Kara tries to read the Book of Destiny to bring back Earth-38 and all she lost, but thankfully the girls manage to talk it out, and while Kate does try to give the Kryptonite to Kara, Kara takes the gesture and asks Kate to keep it and use it in case she has to, someday.

But what about Barry???, I hear you asking.

Where's our Flash?

Well, our resident Flash is pissed off at the Monitor and wants his big brother back, so he, Mia and Sara grab John Constantine and head to find a Lazarus Pit on any of the Earths that are left to try and bring Oliver back. Despite everyone's warnings, they actually succeed, but if we recall a finer detail, this only brings back Oliver's BODY. His SOUL is still stuck somewhere in a purgatory of his own making, so they try to reach the other plane.

Only, Constantine's magic fails, because the antimatter is getting closer, and stronger.

And speaking of that.

Harbinger is suddenly called somewhere, and she heads to what looks like a Star Labs on some Earth, where she faces the Antimonitor - and he tells her they have work to do.

Turncoat, anybody? Did nobody tell the Monitor his alter-ego gets control of his lackeys, too?

You can probably divine that the Flash portion of the Crisis is ... explosive.

Team Flash appears to help our lot, meaning Cisco joins forces with Ray Palmer, who's been trying to figure out a way to find the Paragons remotely, and through tech. They eventually succeed in revealing that Barry is the Paragon of Love, J'onn is the Paragon of Honour, and this unknown guy named Ryan Choi is the Paragon of Humanity (if they had to pick someone, he's basically the most human of all humans, it's true, although I don't think anyone understands how someone with no skills whatsoever could fight the shadow wraiths).

Our team picks him up to get him onto the Waverider, and I forgot to mention that Kate has this way of kicking people around which REALLY comes in handy with Lex Luthor. He's bloody annoying.

Know who else is massively annoyed?

One John Diggle, who has not only lost his best friend and brother, but his wife is also nowhere to be found, so now he needs to pick one or the other, and decides to head to Earth-666 with Constantine and Mia to get some help from a surprising source:

that's right, Tom Ellis, aka Lucifer himself, sends our heroes to Purgatory (on a time crunch, of course), and I'm sure the internet screamed really loudly when he showed up. I know I did.

But there's a problem. (Isn't there always?)

While our group DOES find Oliver, and on Lian Yu of all places, he can't return with them because this is all stopped by a spectre who shows up and tells Oliver that it's time.

For what?

He has to become 'something else' to reignite the spark.

Meanwhile, Cisco, Barry and Frost (Cisco with his Vibe powers returned, because the Monitor doesn't take no for an answer) find the source of the antimatter - and Earth-90 Flash powering the canon it originates from. Because here's the thing: if he stops running, the antimatter will just explode, and it's game over. But if they manage to REVERSE it, maybe things could be turned to their favour.

Pariah (Tom Cavanagh), aka the guy who released the Antimonitor and is now paying for it by witnessing all the great tragedies, unable to do anything, beams in our Black Lightning hero so he can help contain the power from the canon, but just as Barry prepares to sacrifice himself, as he's been told would happen, the other Flash steals his speed (momentarily) and sacrifices himself in his stead, saying that he's run the marathon this far - it's now up to Barry to keep it going.

With the canon destroyed, you'd think this is a win for our heroes, but unfortunately this is also when Lyla returns to the Waverider - and it's not Lyla anymore.

The Antimonitor has taken possession of Harbinger, and he uses her powers to a) kill the Monitor and b ) continue with the antimatter march, destroying what's left of the Multiverse, and everyone who's on the ship.

Know who isn't on it, though?

The Paragons.

In a twist, Pariah finds a little gap he can use, and transports them over to the Vanishing Point, which is OUTSIDE time and space, and the Antimonitor can't go there, so at least they're safe. But the Multiverse is gone, everyone they love is dead, and on top of it all Routh-Superman collapses, revealing Lex Luthor, who rewrote the Book of Destiny to make himself the Paragon of Truth.

And you thought YOUR day was bad.

This is where the Crisis concluded over the holidays, picking up with the Arrow episode in January when we finally got to see how this whole thing even started:

Way back when, the Monitor, at that point simply Mar Novu, and his scientist wife (whom HE calls the monitor, actually) want to go back to the Dawn of Time to see how everything was created. And they sort of do, only this creates a rift that allows the Antimonitor to come through, which means that the Monitor is responsible for everything.

Can we kick the guy and his ego some?

To top that off, the Paragons are stuck in the Vanishing Point, because even though Barry can access the Speed Force, it's much more difficult than before and while he thinks he's only been gone for seconds, he's actually been gone for months instead. Also, nerves are fraying and tempers are going, because Lex and Ryan can't reassemble the old Time Masters equipment to get them out of there, so basically it's all about to blow when we tune back in with them.

It might have even done so, if not for the timely interruption of one Oliver Queen.

Or, more specifically, Spectre.

This is a being of unidentified powers, which is exciting because Green Arrow was always the one WITHOUT all the powers - so him finally getting some is kind of neat.

It's also super useful because he explains that, yes, Barry can get them to the Dawn of Time to stop Mar Novu from ever making his mistake, but he needs an unlocked potential, something Spectre can give him. And because Spectre is also the beloved Oliver Queen whom Barry always looked up to and everyone followed for the natural-born leader that he was, Barry trusts him with every cell in his body, grabbing everyone and running into the Speed Force once again.

Except.

Yeah, except.

They're attacked by the Antimonitor and tossed about through the Speed Force, so now Barry needs to find them before Spectre loses the lot. In doing so, we get to revisit some of the moments from previous crossovers when our heroes first met, because, as Spectre tells Barry, memories are the strongest of all.

This is also where Barry learns about Oliver's deal with the Monitor which ensures he dies, and I honestly teared up seeing the little brother realise he's going to have to take up the mantle from big brother now, because big brother is doing this all for him, and then some.

With these visits over, our friends finally find themselves at the Dawn of Time, but we have a small pitstop to make first.

Because they needed a plan B, Lex, Supergirl and Ryan head over to Mar Novu to try and convince him NOT to do what he's doing, and of course Lex tries to double-cross everyone in existence. He was annoying before, but now that he's the Paragon of Truth he routinely tells everyone what he's going to do, which doesn't save him when a pissed-off Kara marches in to deliver some old-fashioned smackdown.

Unfortunately, however, even though Ryan gets through to the Monitor of THAT particular reality, they still find themselves at the Dawn of Time, because, as the Antimonitor explains, there's always going to be ONE Mar Novu who can't resist.

So now it's on like Donkey Kong.

The shadow wraiths arrive again, and the Paragons are angry enough to go at them with gusto while Spectre takes on the Antimonitor. Lex also figures out, from the Book of Destiny, that while Oliver will reignite the spark, they as the Paragons will have to fan the flames and ensure it spreads.

And speaking of spark, that's kind of literal.

Oliver Queen actually gives up what seems to be his life force, his powers, whatever that beam of light from him is, and REIGNITES the universe, basically creating the new Big Bang, which spreads rapidly with the help of the Paragons - but that's the end of the road for him.

This is his final farewell in the crossover, because he's come to the end of the road, and full circle - after all, as he was the first of the heroes, he is now the one who began it all.

With Sara and Barry by his side, Oliver Queen passes on.

That's our cue to move into the final leg of the Crisis, a special Legends of Tomorrow episode in which our team wakes up on Earth-Prime, together.

Yes, you read that right, EVERY ONE of our heroes is now on the same Earth, so no more need to hop back and forth between them. Argo and a multitude of other Earths are also back, so it's really a time for celebration!

Only, why are we giving Lex the Nobel Peace Prize again?

Kara would love to know that, too, and J'onn explains that some things have apparently changed with this new Multiverse, even though he does return the memories of our superhero teams who aren't Paragons (as only the Paragons seem to retain their memories from before). But this is their new reality, and in this one, everyone gets a happy ending.

Everyone, that is, but Oliver Queen.

He's actually dead - and in his absence, a giant Beebo attacks Star City, which royally pisses off the Legends, who kind of hold him as their totem.

Only, Beebo is just a diversion from a much bigger problem, one that forces the Paragons right back together again, with support and help from the rest of their teams, who, with their memories now restored, are just as pissed about the outcome as the main lot: shadow wraiths attack.

The Antimonitor did not, in fact, die when Oliver sacrificed himself, so now he's here to take out the Paragons before they can stop his plans.

Really, the guy needs a reality check. Like they're going to LET him?

With Oliver becoming their battlecry, everyone goes right into the heart of it again, with a plan to take out the Antimonitor once and for all: they use some of Ray's tech to get him to shrink. And keep shrinking until there's nothing left.

The threat finally neutralised, our team watches the President's national address where she praises the sacrifice made by Oliver Queen, naming him the first of heroes, and if there's a dry eye in the house over the moment of silence then you have a heart of stone.

Our heroes hold their own wake for the man who brought them all together, in a massive hall that Star Labs owns, but hasn't used in a while - and if you remember, it's their hall from the Invasion crossover, also eerily similar to the Justice League headquarters.

Within, everyone who survived because of Oliver's sacrifice pays tribute to their fallen leader and hero before the glass display which holds his suit and bow, lighting an eternal flame (in the shape of an arrowhead) in front of it which will serve as their guiding light from that point forward.

And it's fitting, because the suit overlooks a table Barry set up there in the hall, a round table with a star of justice in the middle, surrounded by chairs for each and every one of the superheroes - including one for the Green Arrow, the spark that started it all.

This means that they now have a group HQ - and a pest problem, because Gleek the monkey escaped its cage, and is running through the ventilation system.

But that's a problem for another day, as Oliver, in a voice-over, explains the beginning of this new universe, showing us a montage of all the Earths that are still to be explored, or have been explored already (this includes but definitely isn't limited to Titans, the Lantern Corps, and Routh-Superman), and giving us one final, gentle farewell.

Thus we close out the final verse of Crisis, friends, and if you've made it this far then you're just as worthy of sitting at that round table as the heroes themselves. While the crossover might not always have been the strongest, it was definitely the most emotional, heartfelt, and tear-jerking of them all.

Our heroes are now all on one Earth, and the ramifications of that are yet to be fully explained and understood, but the bottom line of this all is that there will be no more Oliver Queen.

The motherhip for this resurgence of CW superhero shows, Arrow, is coming to a close on January 28th, only one episode from now, and it's the end of an era.

So thank you, Oliver. Thank you for everything you've done.

And thank you Stephen: even if Green Arrow is a fictional superhero, you are a real one, and superheroes always leave a mark on people, no matter whether you like their shows or not. If you have an emotional reaction to the show, then there's a mark.

And boy, did you leave a mark.

xx

*images not mine

**special shout-out to Ezra Miller for his Flash cameo, briefly connecting the DC movie universe with the DCEU

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