Egg MacGuffin

"If you murder someone you love, your soul will be mine."

—Neron to Ray Palmer

"Egg MacGuffin"
Information
Season 4 » Episode 13
Episode number	64 of 110
Original airdate	April 29, 2019
Written by	James Eagan Tyron B. Carter
Directed by	Chris Tammaro
Chronology
Preceded by	"The Eggplant, The Witch & The Wardrobe"
Followed by	"Nip/Stuck"

"Egg MacGuffin" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the sixty-fourth episode overall. It aired on April 29, 2019.

Synopsis

While Ray is worried about Nora, he is suddenly faced with his own problem that forces him to do the unthinkable. Nate and Zari are stuck in an awkward limbo, so Sara devises a plan to send them on an easy mission together. Meanwhile, Charlie and Rory are approached with a lucrative offer that could upend their lives.[src]

Cast

Starring

• Brandon Routh as Dr. Ray Palmer and Neron
• Caity Lotz as Captain Sara Lance
• Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Charlie
• Tala Ashe as Zari Tomaz
• Jes Macallan as Director Ava Sharpe
• Courtney Ford as Nora Darhk
• Amy Louise Pemberton as Gideon (voice)
• Ramona Young as Mona Wu
• Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood/Steel
• Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory

Special appearance by

• Matt Ryan as John Constantine

Guest starring

• Adam Tsekhman as Agent Gary Green
• John Murphy as Gordon Gilchrist
• Amitai Marmorstein as Vincent

Co-starring

• Adrian Petriw as Friedrich "Rick"
• Mike Desabrais as Ze Surgeon
• Alexander J. Baxter as Mummy
• Jaycie Dotin as Tammy
• Dale Willman as Audience #1
• Kiomi Pyke as Audience #2
• Ryan Moss as Guard
• Dolly K. Wyatt as Narrator

Plot

In the Arctic wastelands of 1933, an explorer is sitting in his tent as one of his underlings brings in a discovery encased in ice. The explorer cracks the ice to discover a large golden egg inside, something the explorer claims to be his greatest discovery. In the present day, Sara and Zari brings in a mummy, with Sara commenting that collecting magical fugitives has been easier without Neron's interference. Zari and Nate flirt awkwardly before parting ways, prompting Sara to ask Zari about their situation. Zari admits that she is not sure how to proceed in their relationship, afraid that their friendship will be ruined. Sara encourages her to go outside her comfort zone, and that this is the time to get their personal lives in order since Neron is now gone. Mona is reading to Nora a book, as Ray arrives with flowers. Ray tells Mona that he has been having weird dreams and unable to sleep. Mona leaves Ray alone with Nora, and he finds that he is unable to control his hand, which is attempting to smother Nora. Traces of dark demonic energy flows from the possessed hand, alarming Ray.

Ray runs into the bathroom, where Neron appears to him. Neron asks Ray to give himself over freely, making him realize it was Neron controlling him in Nora's room. Neron explains that once Ray kills someone he loves, his soul will belong to Neron. Alarmed, Ray uses a Time Courier to return to the Wave Rider, running into Mick. Mick drops his collection of fan letters, including one requesting for Rebecca Silver's appearance in a convention for 20,000 dollars. Charlie convinces Mick to let her pretend to be Rebecca Silver. Sara receives an alert for a disturbance involving the Adventurer's Society in 1933 which excites Nate. Sara decides to send Zari and Nate to bring in the magical fugitive. Sara bets Ava 20 dollars that Nate and Zari will hook up together on this mission.

Nate and Zari board the Wave Rider looking for other Legends to join them on their mission, but the other Legends are preoccupied with their own matters. Left with no choice, Zari and Nate embark on the mission by themselves, and they realize that the covers that Sara gave them along with the atmosphere of the mission was to give them the perfect first date. Meanwhile, Mick and Charlie arrive at the convention, but Charlie's callousness and disregard for the readers lead Mick to realize that Charlie requires more training to pretend to be Rebecca Silver. At the explorer's club, Nate and Zari see an explorer, Gordon Gilchrist, who talks about his latest discovery being possible due to his overcoming the harsh conditions of the Artic wastelands, disturbing his assistant Vincent who was shown in the opening to be the one responsible for the discovery. Gilchrist reveals his discovery of the large golden egg. On the Wave Rider, Ray injects his arm with a substance to counter Neron, but his attempt fails. He asks Gideon to locate Constantine, but Neron manages to possess his hand to shut down Gideon before she can contact him. Ray calls Gary to look for Constantine, prompting Gary to portal to the Wave Rider himself, as Ray realizes that Neron could force him to kill Gary.

At the explorer's club, Nate and Zari break into Gilchrist's room but find that there are tripwires surrounding the egg. Nate manages to move past the tripwires but discovers the egg is fake. Zari tells Nate that she believes that this entire mission was faked, with Nate agreeing that the characters they met seemed unrealistic. The two joke that the only thing missing to make it more far fetched would be Nazis. Just then, Nazis arrive and tie them up. Nate and Zari don't believe the mission is real and instead provoke the Nazis. They call Sara who tells them the mission is real, as the Nazis throw a knife which narrowly misses them. Meanwhile, Gary misunderstands Ray's situation as Neron attempts to force Ray to stab Gary. Ray instead stabs himself, causing Gary to realize that Ray is being possessed.

Realizing that the mission is real, Nate and Zari defeat the Nazis and are about to kiss when Sara and Ava arrive out of concern. Worried that Ray isn't helping them with the mission, Nate contacts Ray who is acting strangely. Concerned, Nate decides to go check on him while Zari, Sara and Ava continue the mission. Nate apologizes that their date was ruined, but Zari coyly asks him "who says its ruined?" Attempting to locate the real egg, Sara draws from her own experiences from Ava's book club to deduce that the real egg was stolen by Gilchrist's assistant Vincent out of anger of not receiving credit. On the Wave Rider, Gary hides behind a barrier to protect himself. Gary reminds Ray that he will lose his soul if he kills a loved one. Ray awkwardly tells him that while he likes Gary, he does not necessarily love him, something which upsets Gary. Gary reflects on how he is unloved by the Legends, unappreciated at the Time Bureau and always feels like the butt of the joke. Neron uses a television to tell Gary that he sees his potential, and that since demons cannot renege on deals, Gary can believe that Neron could make him whole again. At the convention, Mick has trained Charlie on how to respond as Rebecca Silver and reveals that he has responded to all of his fan letters, something which surprises Charlie who initially thought Mick had only started this charade as a joke. Mona shows up at the convention and recognizes Charlie. She manages to prove that Charlie is not Rebecca Silver, causing the crowd to demand to meet the real Rebecca Silver. Mick takes the microphone and answers Mona's question, revealing himself as Rebecca Silver to the crowd. While initially stunned, the crowd cheers to Mick's surprise. Constantine arrives at Nora's bed, having been preoccupied with acquiring a phoenix tail feather for a spell to wake Nora. The spell works, and Nora warns Constantine that Neron has possessed Ray.

In 1933, Vincent and Gilchrist fight over credit of the egg, with Gilchrist accidentally dropping the egg which rolls into the Nazi's hands. Sara, Ava and Zari manage to defeat the Nazis and recover the egg. On the Wave Rider, Neron has taken control of most of Ray's body. Ray attempts to warn Nate, but is unable to. Nate however still realizes the truth when Neron telekinetically summons a knife into Ray's hand. Just as Neron is about to force Ray to kill Nate, Ray agrees to surrender willingly to Neron if he spares Nate, which Neron agrees to. Constantine arrives and manages to restrain Neron, but cannot keep the effort up. Gary appears and Constantine asks him to retrieve his exorcism equipment. As Gary is hesitant, Constantine yells at Gary to move, and Neron notes that Gary has been underappreciated by everyone. Neron offers to give Gary back the nipple he lost to the unicorn from the season opening episode, but Constantine warns Gary that Neron's gift is cursed. Gary reflects on being mistreated by everyone, and accepts Neron's gift, allowing Neron to knock Constantine out. Gary comments that he is now whole again, and steals Constantine's time stone which he and Neron use to escape with Constantine's unconscious body. Ava, Sara and Zari return to the Wave Rider to find an injured Nate, who tells them that Ray is now possessed by Neron.

Mick, Mona and Charlie return and Sara informs them of what has happened to Ray. After being cleared by a doctor, Nora tells Ava that they need to search the timeline for Ray. Ava asks Nora for her help, as none of the Time Bureau agents have her powers. She offers Nora the chance to become a member of the Time Bureau which Nora accepts. Zari finds Nate in the med bay about to leave to search for Nate and tells him they can search for Ray once he is fully recovered. The two of them share their first kiss, and confide their feelings with one another. The egg that they recovered from the mission begins to rumble, which Gideon informs them to be a dragon egg.

Production

Preparation ran from November 14 until November 26, 2018. Shooting ran from November 27 until December 7, 2018.

Trivia

• The episode's title is a combination of the names to the McDonald's breakfast sandwich the Egg McMuffin, and the MacGuffin, a plot device made famous by Alfred Hitchcock.
• Sara breaks the fourth wall at the beginning of the episode when she tells Ava that she “thought it would take all week to capture this Mummy”, referencing the fact that DC's Legends of Tomorrow releases episodes every week, and in Season 5, they capture fugitives in every episode such as the Mummy
• There are several references to the Indiana Jones film series made in this episode:
  • When on the mission in 1933 Zari is given the name of Marion Ravenwood, the Indiana Jones franchise's leading female character. Nate is given the alias Dr. Henry Jones Junior, the true name of the character of Indiana Jones (also called "Indy" by his friends). In the episode, Zari hits someone in the back of the head with a frying pan, similar to something Ravenwood does in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • After Zari and Nate find the fake egg, the Nazis threaten to torture them to learn the location of the real egg, similar to how Arnold Ernst Toht threatened to torture Marion to make her give him the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • When the Waverider makes the time jump from 2019 to 1933, a map of the United States is shown, with a red line moving across it from 2019 Washington D.C. to 1933 New York to indicate that they're traveling from one location to another. This is commonly featured in the Indiana Jones films to show when someone (usually the titular character) is traveling.
  • Ava uses a whip while fighting the Nazis, a reference to Indy's signature weapon.
  • The ending scene where Zari asks Nate where it doesn't hurt is also a reference to a scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark between Indy and Marion.
• Ray's line of "Not groovy at all" is a reference to the "Groovy" catchphrase of The Evil Dead protagonist Ash Williams who is noted for having a possessed right hand similar to Ray.
• As of this episode, Zari is Nate's second love interest within the Legends, after Amaya Jiwe.
• When discovering that Gordon's assistant Vincent stole the gold dragon egg, and comparing it to the killer in the book club book, Sara comments that the extreme doormat always ends up snapping and going bad. This foreshadows what happens to Gary, the resident doormat, who turns evil and joins Neron.
• When Nate reveals Ray's fate to the girls, Mallus' theme from Season 3 plays in the background.
• By the end of this episode, Nate and Mick are the only male characters who are not deceased, captured, or working for Neron.
• The tagline for Heatwaves: An Erotic Space Odyssey is "In space, no one can hear you moan". This is a reference to the famous movie tagline "In space, no one can hear you scream" from the hit horror movie Alien.
• Nate slithering through the trip wires is similar to how Catherine Zeta-Jones memorably maneuvered through similar obstacles in the 1999 film, Entrapment.
• Gary picks up a book with a Flamel Cross on the cover. While the concept of the cross is part of alchemical tradition, the specific design is the one from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Goofs

• Nate quotes Ray by referring to the fugitive as a "myth-tery", but Nate was not present when Ray used the term in "Witch Hunt".
  • It is possible that Ray mentioned this to Nate later off-screen.
• Nate appears to have no blood on him after facing Ray/Neron, but his face is covered in cuts by the time he meets Zari on the bridge.
• During the flashbacks of all the times Gary had been treated badly by everyone, the scene where Mick pulls out Gary from the trash bin in "Here I Go Again" was included, despite this being a simulation created by Gideon to prevent Zari from leaving the Legends. Therefore, Gary should have no memory of this.
• RomantiCon 2019 is supposed to be happening in Seattle, but the establishing shot for it is very clearly not the Washington State Convention Center, where such an event would typically be held.