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"13th-century armor. Fu Manchu mustache. Guys? I think I know who the Encore is—it's Genghis freaking Khan."
Nate Heywood

"Mortal Khanbat" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the seventy-third episode overall. It aired on February 25, 2020.

Synopsis[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Special appearance by[]

Guest starring[]

Featuring[]

Co-starring[]

Plot[]

Constantine is brought into the med bay of the Waverider after collapsing. Gideon runs a scan on him and reveals that he is suffering from an aggressive form of lung cancer, one that is terminal. As the Legends are silent, Constantine attempts to light a cigarette and remarks "Well, there's no point in quitting now."

Ava knocks the cigarette away and tells him there is nothing funny about lung cancer. After Gary suggests that Constantine undergo chemo therapy, Constantine begins to try to leave before being sedated by Gideon so that he can rest. Charlie attempts to leave discreetly when she begins to hear voices calling her "Clotho" and that she cannot escape them. While attempting to head to the jumpship, she runs into Behrad and Zari and a team meeting by Ava is called on the bridge. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Charlie agrees to go with them to the bridge. Ava reveals that she has created a system with Gideon that will alert them to potential Encores, so that the Legends can act before history is altered, known as "The Prognosticator". With only Ray reacting positively to her reveal, Ava tells them the latest mission will be in 1997 Hong Kong to look into a mysterious gangster moving onto triad territory. Nate notes that the traffic in Hong Kong this Era is notoriously bad, and reveals his new electric scooter that he nicknamed "Scoots McGoots", which receives a more positive reaction than The Prognosticator to Ava's dismay. In 1997 Hong Kong, Charlie and Ava wait in a tea shop, where Ava plans to use a strong sedative to capture the Encore. Charlie asks why Ava expects the Encore to show up, as Behrad reveals that the tea shop is owned by the Triad. On the Waverider, Zari tells Ray that in this time period, Prince Charles will be visiting to return control of Hong Kong from the British. Gary tells Ray that Constantine is attempting to leave the ship. As Ray and Gary attempt to stop him, Constantine insists that it is impossible that he acquired stage 4 lung cancer this quickly, meaning that his condition is caused by magical means and plans to use the jumpship to return to his home to look for a solution. Ray says he cannot let Constantine leave the ship, resulting in a tense standoff between the two, before Ray relents and allows Constantine to leave if he can accompany him. Outside the tea shop, a mysterious gangster in ancient armor arrives on a motorbike while observed by Nate. As he enters the tea shop, Nate deduces the Encore to be Genghis Khan.

Ava wonders how Genghis Khan made it to 1997, let alone know how to ride a motorbike. Nate notes that Genghis Khan used horses to revolutionize warfare of his time, with a motorbike being a modern day horse. Genghis enters the triad meeting to reveal he has stolen a briefcase of triad drugs and cut off the ear of the triad leader's nephew. He demands control of the triad to remake the globe. Outside the meeting, Charlie asks Behrad to create a distraction so that she can sedate Khan. Behrad refuses, but inadvertently does so when the triad leaders see him talking into his comms. This starts a shootout between the triad and actual undercover police officers in the tea house. Khan emerges from the meeting with the triad leader subdued under his arm as Charlie decides to go after him, followed by Behrad. As Behrad enters the room, Khan points a gun at him before Charlie attacks him. Her attempt results in her being taken hostage while Behrad points a gun at Khan. In the teashop, Ava assists the undercover officer but they run out of bullets as more triad members arrive. Fortunately, Nate arrives on his scooter and uses his powers to defeat the remaining triad members, but his scooter is destroyed and left behind. In the standoff, Khan attempts to shoot Charlie and Behrad attempts to shoot him, but both of their guns are out of bullets. Khan tells Charlie she was lucky, but perhaps won't be the next time and leaves. In Constantine's house, Constantine asks Gary to gather him ingredients for a summoning spell, so that he can confront whoever afflicted him with his condition. As Gary hands him the potion, he collapses once again and awakens in his personal Purgatory. Constantine demands to know who his tormentor is and sees a smiling Astra who brandishes his soul token.

Constantine asks why Astra would do this, and she tells him that his efforts in defeating the Encores are bad for business, and using his soul token she sped up the lung cancer that was already in his lungs. Constantine warns him that the magic to manipulate his soul token is beyond her, and warns that whatever she gave in exchange is part of a trap. Astra dismisses his warning and asks about his Purgatory, which he reveals to be a place her mother had brought her to before. Constantine tells her that he found a way to change Natalie's fate, which would make it such that Astra never goes to hell. Astra rejects him, telling him that he hurts everyone he tries to help. Constantine tries to tell her about an object he learnt, but she refuses to listen, telling him "time is something you are running low on" when he claims to be able to find the object with time. Constantine awakens to Gary and Ray attending to him and tells them that Astra is behind his current condition. On the Waverider, Behrad berates Charlie for getting them into a shootout. He dismisses her idea that he could have used the Air Totem to stop the bullets mid air. Gideon is tracking Khan and Ava decides to send Charlie undercover. As Charlie flirts with Zari briefly, Behrad once again has a brief row with her before the two of them leave. Ava wonders why they seem unable to get along despite being good friends, and Nate deduces that the two of them had slept together. Behrad uses the Air Totem to knock one of Khan's men unconscious for Charlie to impersonate. While undercover, Charlie learns that the undercover police officer Ava fought beside previously is now a prisoner. Khan threatens to kill her child unless she gives him the information he asks for. Meanwhile, Nora arrives with her latest charge, so that the child can wish for John to be healthy. After Constantine manages to intimidate her, she wishes for him to regain his health, but Nora's magic is unable to reverse Astra's actions. Outside Khan's base, Nate talks to Behrad about Charlie and Behrad reveals that they had slept together after HeyWorld and that he was upset that Charlie left without saying goodbye. Nate suggests that Charlie didn't leave because of him, and to ask Charlie directly. They then realize too late that the goon that Charlie was impersonating has not only regain conscious, but escaped them. In Khan's base, the officer shows Khan the details of Prince Charles motorcade and Zari deduces that Khan plans to force Prince Charles to hand control of Hong Kong over to him. Khan brandishes his sword and tells the officer that when he was resurrected, he was buried in an impenetrable tomb which took him 700 years to dig out of, before using his hell sword to kill the officer. Ava tells Charlie to leave, but as she does so Khan asks her about the status of his fleet, not realizing she is not one of his men. She also meets the man she is impersonating outside Khan's base, but he thinks she is a ghost and runs away. Charlie once again hears the voice that warns her she cannot hide. She becomes disoriented and briefly loses control of her powers, almost running into a truck but is saved by Behrad.

In Constantine's house, the Puca he once rescued attempts to heal him as well, but to no avail. Out of desperation, he attempts to perform a spell that adds years to his life which would involve a medieval knight. Ray tells him he was once knighted "Sir Raymond of the Palms" and Constantine implies that the spell involves cutting off Ray's foreskin. Gary refuses to help him, and suggests that Constantine's condition may be irreversible and that he should instead use this time to make his affairs. Constantine refuses and attempts to make a deal with the archangel Gabriel but is ignored. He then angrily yells at Ray and Gary to leave him alone. On the Waverider, Charlie sneaks into the lab to obtain a time courier, but Behrad is holding the last one. Behrad asks why she is in such a hurry to leave. When she claims to be always in a hurry, Behrad tells her he knows she is lying based on her almost fatal encounter with a truck. He attempts to tell her how he felt, but she tells him they had mediocre sex and he should get over it. Behrad tells her that if she doesn't want to talk it is fine, but the Legends are going against Genghis Khan and they need all the help they can get. Charlie appears to be unmoved and leaves anyway. Ava reveals that the person Charlie impersonates is an engineer with a shipment coming in tonight, most likely Khan's secret fleet. Nate agrees to go to the docks to look into it as While Zari and Ava will monitor the airspace, Behrad is sent to keep an eye on Prince Charles from the streets, alone since Charlie has left. In Constantine's house, Constantine's cane berates him from trying to make a deal with Gabriel, since Gabriel would have turned him into his slave. It points out that instead of spending his last night on Earth in misery, he could be with two of the only friends he has left. In the kitchen, Gary tells Ray how he wishes Constantine's last moments would be peaceful but Ray tells him Constantine would most likely go out the way he lived. Constantine enters and apologizes to them for his behavior and joins them for a dinner Ray has prepared. In 1997, Behrad reports that the streets are completely gridlocked, leading Ava to assume the fleet must be airborne. At the docks, Nate discovers that the fleet Khan plans to use is in fact replicas of his electric scooter with guns attached.

Khan attacks the motorcade and forces the limo Prince Charles is in to go underground. Behrad manages to overpower one of Khan's men and use his scooter to follow Khan. He is discovered by Khan's men and taken hostage along with Prince Charles. Prince Charles however is actually Charlie in disguise and she attempts to trick Khan's men by shapeshifting into Khan, but Khan threatens to kill Behrad if she does not assume her true form. He demands to know where the real Prince Charles is but Charlie refuses to tell him. The real Prince Charles is in fact next to Mick, who was told to inform the Legends that he is with him, but refuses to do so until his beer break is over. Khan tells Charlie she will be his thirteenth wife, but she refuses, and uses the opportunity to tell Behrad that she has a complicated past and that a relationship is a bad idea for her. Khan realizes that she and Behrad had slept together, and decides against making her his next wife, ordering his men to kill her. Behrad manages to break free and use the Air Totem to stop the bullets midair. As Khan and his men are stunned at Behrad's ability, Charlie takes Khan's hell sword and uses it to kill him, while his men run away.

On the Waverider, Charlie tells the Legends that she is one of the fates: Clotho, the spinner. She tells them that she used to spin people's futures on the Loom of Fate, but she destroyed it since she believed people should decide their own destinies. Zari asks to see her original form, but she refuses as the true form and voice of a fate would cause their eyes to explode and ears to burst. She tells them her sisters are coming after her as they have been for thousands of years. While she has managed to stay ahead of her sisters as the Loom pieces being scattered across the multiverse took away her sisters powers, after the Paragons merged the multiverse into one single universe, the Loom pieces are now on one Earth. It is now only a matter of time before her sisters find her, and kill anyone she is with, which is why she was running and plans to leave. The Legends tell Charlie to stop running, as they are sure they can protect her. Sara returns, stumbling over the electric scooters that Khan had replicated, asking what she missed. At Constantine's house, Constantine attempts to comfort a sobbing Gary by revealing that he left the house to Gary in his will. He asks Ray what is on his bucket list, and Ray reveals that he wishes to one day ask Nora to marry him. Constantine asks why Ray has not done so, and Ray admits he is hesitant as he has been engaged twice before, with both times ending poorly. Constantine convinces Ray to marry Nora as long as he loves her and gives a toast, telling them of all the ways he thought he would die, he never imagined dying among friends and wishes that he had spent more time with them before his death. Ray points out he isn't dead yet, but Constantine reveals that the flask he drank from contained poison and collapses. In his purgatory, Astra laughs that it seems Constantine couldn't wait to see her, and reveals that he will die in 60 seconds. Constantine tells her that the poison he drank was the same one her mother used. She tells him that he won't change her mind, but he insists that he isn't trying to, just wanting her to know that even if she gave up on her mother, her mother has never given up on her. He begins to sing a song that Astra recognizes, and she angrily tells him that song belongs to her and her mother. Constantine laughs and says her mother first sang it to him. With only 15 seconds left, Astra asks if Constantine can really save her mother and he tells her that he could fix everything. Astra reverses the effects of the soul token, giving Constantine his life back but warns that she can kill him anytime. Constantine returns to his body healthy again to Ray and Gary's surprise. He tells them that Astra reconsidered and excitedly hugs Ray and kisses Gary. He then burns his will, commenting that he can't believe he considered leaving the house to Gary and tells Ray he changed Astra's mind by making a promise he intends to keep. He tells them to hail the Waverider, as he "needs to see a lady about a Loom."

Trivia[]

  • This episode marks Caity Lotz's directional debut.
  • The title is a play on the Mortal Kombat video game franchise, and Genghis Khan.
  • While not seen on-screen in the episode, Constantine's will does mention Papa Midnite, Chas Chandler, the black diamond and Nommo.[1]
  • The episode includes several references and homages to Chinese film director John Woo's action movies, including flying white doves, impossible gun fights and tense stalemates, some of which use the same camera shots of some of his movies.
  • The trio of policewomen appearing near Charlie are a reference to Charlie's Angels.
  • Constantine threatens to shove the Bulldog cane up his own butt, which the Bulldog says he'd probably enjoy. This is a nod to Constantine's bisexuality and may suggest that he is either a "bottom" or "verse" in his male relationships.
  • Constantine's cane is implied to contain the spirit of Winston Churchill. The cane's head is that of a bulldog, a nickname of Churchill. After conversing with the cane, Constantine also tells Ray and Gary the story of how he met the spirit of Winston Churchill. After Astra gives him his vitality back, he excitedly says "Bully!" repeatedly while addressing the cane, a British expression that was widespread during Churchill's era.
  • When John's wrist was showing a timer representing how long he had to live (consisting of remaining years, days, minutes, and seconds) this was apparently a reference to the science-fiction movie In Time, where the world's population each have a similar timer.
  • Nate shouting "Khan!" holding the scooter is a reference to the famous line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
  • Ray mentions he was once knighted by the court of Camelot when Constantine requires a knight for a cure, referencing "Camelot/3000".
  • Ray mentions being engaged twice before, with both times not ending as he had hoped. This refers to his first fiancé Anna Loring, who was killed during the Uprising, and Kendra Saunders, who left him for her soul mate Carter Hall.
  • As Genghis Khan's henchmen escape, they're shouting "Run awaaaay!" referencing the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • This episode re-aired as a rerun on March 31, 2020, replacing "The Great British Fake Off", whose airing was postponed due to the rest of the Arrowverse halting production due to COVID-19.[2]

Goofs[]

  • Although Hong Kong is a place with left-hand traffic, the car Nate and Behrad are in is a right-hand traffic vehicle which only special licensed cars will be. However, no special licensing was seen on the license plate.
  • The police barricades have a Chinese translation of "do not cross" ("不交叉") that incorrectly uses the literal meaning of "cross" as in writing or drawing the X symbol, instead of the intended meaning of "do not pass". A possible correct version would be "不准通過".
  • Prince Charles' bodyguard addresses him as "Your Majesty", which would be the style of address for his mother, Queen Elizabeth. Princes and princesses are typically referred to as "Your Highness".
  • On the counter on John's arm in his purgatory, it's seen that John would be able to live over 14/15 years instead of the 10 he would have had (mentioned in the previous episode) if Astra didn't kill him with his own soul token.

References[]

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