- "Ladies and gentlemen and recently deceased, it is time to begin the final phase of Genesis."
- —Damien Darhk to the leaders of H.I.V.E.[src]
Genesis was a partially successful project laid down by Damien Darhk and the other members of the organization known as H.I.V.E. to rid the Earth of humanity, allowing to the organization and its few chosen people, hidden in the "Ark" of Tevat Noah, to start life anew after the apocalypse. The plan was impeded by the Green Arrow and Team Arrow. The day Havenrock was struck by a Genesis nuclear missile has become known as "Genesis Day".[1]
History
For his plan's success, Damien Darhk was required to expand H.I.V.E.'s reach even further, clashing with the interests of Oliver Queen, defender of Star City. Among the things Darhk needed was control over Star City (where one of the magical nexus chambers was located), the creation of a viable underground bunker with breathable air (in form of Tevat Noah and its oxygen-providing fields of corn), and finally the instrument which would allow him to bring nuclear annihilation to the planet (A.R.G.U.S.'s Rubicon protocol).
Damien Darhk overlooking the fields of corn that would provide oxygen for Tevat Noah.
The project was divided into certain "phases", all of which were presumably connected to Star City and Oliver Queen, as well as the preparation of the "Ark" of Tevat Noah to be able to support human life. For example, the "fourth phase" of the project involved an attack on Oliver and his fiancée Felicity Smoak's limousine, which rendered Felicity permanently paraplegic. This led to a chain of events which caused Oliver to drop out of the mayoral race, allowing Ruvé Adams, Darhk's wife, to win the contemporary Star City elections, promising the citizens to "make Star City great again".[2][3]
Tevat Noah, H.I.V.E.'s Ark.
The final phase included the settlement of Tevat Noah, as well as the acquisition of the means to bring nuclear devastation upon the unsuspecting world. Using his dark powers, Darhk ripped the subdermal implant containing the Rubicon protocol from under A.R.G.U.S. director Lyla Michaels's skin and brought it back to his organization. H.I.V.E.'s own scientists managed to reprogram Rubicon, so that instead of deactivating nuclear weapons, it would launch them on different targets across the world, including the metropolis of Monument Point and its suburb, Havenrock, located in Virginia, United States.[4]
Although Felicity and her father, Noah Kuttler, managed to prevent most of the damage that Genesis was supposed to unleash upon the world, they were unsuccessful in deactivating a single Russian nuclear missile. Felicity was only able to redirect its path to Havenrock, which was completely destroyed. Although the world was saved from global nuclear destruction, the deaths of tens of thousands victims in Havenrock empowered Darhk, who, safe in the nexus cave located under Star City, absorbed the dark energy released by all those deaths, increasing his magic potential.[5]
Darhk subsequently enlisted the services of Cooper Seldon to regain control of Rubicon. However, with the aid of Curtis Holt, Felicity and Noah managed to thwart Cooper's cyber attack.
At the same time, Lonnie Machin, infiltrated the Genesis bunker to get revenge on Darhk, holding Ruvé and her daughter Nora hostage to force him out of hiding. In Team Arrow's subsequent battle with Machin, the dwarf-star alloy power source was ruptured, causing a chain reaction that would destroy the habitat. Team Arrow, Nora, Machin and presumably most of the inhabitants managed to vacate the shelter, but Ruvé was killed, driving Darhk to insanity.[6]
With his grand plan in tatters, Darhk stole back the laptop containing the Rubicon program to purposely bring about the nuclear apocalypse. He set up Cooper in an abandoned warehouse to monitor the nukes, having lodged a bullet in his spine with magic to ensure his cooperation. Felicity, Curtis, Thea Queen and Malcolm Merlyn managed to locate Cooper. Felicity was able to convince Cooper to rebel against Darhk, which resulted in his death. She and Curtis then redirected all the nukes into space. At the same time, Green Arrow's final showdown with Darhk ended with him killing H.I.V.E.'s leader.[7]
Though Genesis ended mostly in failure, its success in destroying Havenrock drove Rory Regan, the sole survivor of the town's destruction, to seek revenge on Amertek Industries C.E.O. Janet Carroll as her company built the missiles that hit the town and were used for Genesis. However, Rory was talked out of his revenge by Oliver and instead joined Team Arrow.[1] Felicity, overwhelmed with guilt for being indirectly responsible for what happened to Havenrock, eventually revealed the truth to Rory.[8] Upon learning thus, he was understandably discouraged to help the team but realized it was ultimately Darhk's fault that his family died, allowing him to make amends with Felicity.[9]
Genesis apparently had enough historical impact that by the late 22nd century, Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash would learn of Genesis Day, and used this information to extort a version of Damien Darhk from 1987 into aiding him in his time-traveling ventures.[10]
Appearances
Arrow
Season 4
Season 5
|
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Season 2
- "Compromised" (indirectly mentioned)
Season 3
- "No Country for Old Dads" (indirectly mentioned)
- "Guest Starring John Noble" (indirectly mentioned)
Supergirl
Season 5
- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" (vision)
Trivia
- The crates at H.I.V.E.'s base noticed by Oliver Queen were labelled "G6:5". This is a reference H.I.V.E. left to the eponymic Book of Genesis of the Bible, as the passage Genesis 6:5 reads: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually". The verse explains God's reasoning for the destruction of humanity with the flood, except for Noah's family, safe on the Ark; just like H.I.V.E.'s "flood" was a global nuclear annihilation, that would only leave their chosen people alive in the Ark (Tevat Noah).
Behind the scenes
- The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. One of the central themes of its narrative is this: God creates the world and appoints man as his regent, but man proves disobedient and God destroys his world through the flood. God spares Noah, his family, and a remnant of all the world's animals from the flood, allowing them to rebuild life after the end of the world. H.I.V.E.'s plan is similar, with nuclear annihilation playing the role of the "flood", and an underground facility the role of the "Ark".
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Recruits"
- ↑ "Dark Waters"
- ↑ "Taken"
- ↑ "Genesis"
- ↑ "Monument Point"
- ↑ "Lost in the Flood"
- ↑ "Schism"
- ↑ "A Matter of Trust"
- ↑ "Penance"
- ↑ "Compromised"