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"Take a look around. You think these people give a damn about consequences? Take the night off. A true pirate doesn't live for tomorrow, they only live for the moment."
Mick Rory to Amaya Jiwe

"The Curse of the Earth Totem" is the twelfth episode of the third season of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and the forty-fifth episode overall. It aired on February 26, 2018.

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Plot[]

Bahamas 1717: Blackbeard and his crew are burying treasure. Whilst his crew dig, Blackbeard shows his lover Anne the prize of his treasure – a necklace with a massive green emerald on it. He places it around her neck, and the gem starts to glow, then plant tendrils shoot out of the ground and surround her.

On the Waverider, Amaya, Ray, and Mick are discussing the Totems of Zambesi. The Legends have the air and spirit totems, Kuasa has the water totem, and the fire totem was last heard of in Detroit in 2018 with Adam Macalester, the boyfriend of Amaya's granddaughter Mari. The Legends decide to go to Detroit, whilst Sara decides to sit it out so she can go on a date with Ava Sharpe.

In Detroit Amaya is looking at a picture of Mari, wishing she could meet her, but knowing that to do so would screw up the timeline. Nate and Ray enter, each talking about a totem. Ray says that Damien Darhk has managed to get to the fire totem before them. Nate says that he knows where the earth totem is – on Blackbeard's ship in 1717. The team decide to head off to get it, without telling Sara

Yunnan province, China 2018: Rip Hunter is trying to convince Wally West to help him save the universe. Wally asks why he hasn't asked the Legends for help. Rip admits that his "days of Legending are over".

In the Bahamas the Legends are at a tavern where Blackbeard drinks. Amaya confides in Mick that she wants to change Kuasa's past so that she doesn't grow up bad, but worries that in doing so she might alter her other granddaughter's destiny. She also shares her concerns that she can't be with Nate, because one day she will have to return to 1948 and marry someone else so that her granddaughters get born. Mick tells her not to worry about the consequences and to live for the moment. Mick, Ray, and Nate start telling the assembled pirates about the fearsome "Dread Pirate Jiwe". Blackbeard overhears the tales, and goes to introduce himself. Amaya asks about the earth totem. Blackbeard says he'll tell her about it – for a price. As they're talking, Damien Darhk enters the bar (dressed as an admiral in the Royal Navy), and manages to take Amaya's spirit totem. Darhk asks Blackbeard where the earth totem is. Mick is sure that Blackbeard won't tell him – but he does straight away.

In China Rip and Wally have been drinking and the two bond over how they've never fit in with other teams (Wally with Team Flash, and Rip with the Legends and the Time Bureau). Rip asks Wally to do him a tiny favour – namely steal Gary Green's phone, time courier watch, and Rip's trenchcoat.

On the Waverider, Zari, Nate, and Ray are working to try and restore power after it was lost due to them being in the Bermuda Triangle. Zari says that they will have to time jump away. Nate is concerned that this means leaving Mick, and Amaya. Ray thinks they must be enjoying their time with Blackbeard, when in fact the three are about to be beheaded. Mick tells Amaya that she is formidable with or without her totem, and Amaya manages to grab one of her captors' swords, and the three are able to fight their way out. On the Waverider Gideon reports that there are cannonballs heading towards them, fired by Damien Darhk. They have no option but to time jump away to avoid being destroyed.

In Star City, Gary sneaks into the restaurant where Sara and Ava are having their date. Sharpe gets up to go to talk to him. Whilst she's away, Sara sees the Waverider in the sky crashing. Gary confesses he was robbed. When they return to the table they find that Sara is left. Ava is worried about what Rip could do now he has the ability to travel anywhere in time. In Tokyo a still drunk Rip and Wally are in a karaoke bar singing "Careless Whisper".

On the Waverider, Sara demands to know what happened and suggests that she will never have a normal life. She orders Zari to repair the ship so that they can rescue Amaya and Mick. In Bermuda Amaya and Mick recruit a pirate crew and they take over Blackbeard's ship the Queen Anne's Revenge and head to the island where Blackbeard buried his treasure. On the Waverider they've realised that Damian Darhk is also in 1717. On the island Darhk has reached the burial site of the treasure, but Mick, Amaya, and Blackbeard are not to far behind. Blackbeard tells them that when he put the necklace on Anne she turned into a monster, and that he shot her and buried her with his gold. The Darhks have unearthed Anne's body, but when Nora tries to take the earth totem, Anne awakes. She takes out the Royal Navy sailors, imprisons Nora, and knocks out Damien.

Ava portals on to the Waverider to confront Sara about standing her up at the restaurant. Sara in turn tells her that she saw Gary, and that Ava shouldn't have lied to her. They make up and kiss. Meanwhile Nate and Ray have taken Ava's time courier and portalled on to the island. They leave the portal open. Blackbeard and his crew find it, and travel on to the Waverider. They try and claim the ship for themselves, but Sara and Amaya fight and defeat them.

On the island Amaya is attempting to talk to Anne to try and get the earth totem. Damien uses it as a distraction to sneak up behind her and break her neck. Darhk is then able to overcome Amaya, but before he can kill her, Ray and Nate arrive. Nora starts to drain Amaya's life, but Ray is able to shoot her with his anti-magic gun. Amaya is able to get the earth totem and they retreat back to the Waverider. Amaya sends Blackbeard back where he came from, saying that he should tell everyone how the "Dread Pirate Jiwe" spared his life.

Nate commiserates with Amaya about her losing the spirit totem. Amaya says that it's freeing not to be bound by destiny for the first time, and they kiss. On the bridge Ava and Sara are drinking rum cocktails, and they notice that the label on the bottle changes to show "Captain Jiwe".

Rip wakes up in China with a hangover. Wally has realised what he was missing. Rip suggests that he might like to join the Legends.

Mick and Ray are talking in the laboratory. Ray admits that the anti-magic gun will eventually kill Nora. Although he designed it that way, Ray now feels guilty, thinking that perhaps there was a chance that Nora could have been given a better future if Ray hadn't taken it away. Ray makes a cure, and goes back to 1717, where he offers to trade it for Amaya's totem. Damien quickly agrees. Ray injects her with the cure, and she wakes. Nora says she remembers Ray from when they met when she was a child, but then starts to drain the life from him. Damien stops her, saying that he might be useful to them.

Trivia[]

  • This episode's original title, "Daddy Dearest",[1] shares a similar title to fellow season 3 episode "Daddy Darhkest".
  • "The Curse of the Earth Totem" makes many references to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise:
    • The episode's title is a reference to the 2003 Disney film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Like the films and the original Disneyland attraction, there is a curse involved in this episode.
    • Edward Teach/Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge references the main antagonist and his ship which appear in On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in the film series. However, Blackbeard's mannerisms in this episode are more similar to those of Captain Jack Sparrow. The Revenge was also portrayed by the Lady Washington, which portrayed the Interceptor in The Curse of the Black Pearl.
    • As Blackbeard and Anne Queen are walking ashore onto Grace Island in the Bahamas 1717, Anne softly sings, "15 men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum". That song comes from a real-world pirate shanty featured in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, which also appears in the second film, Dead Man's Chest.
    • In trying to hype up "Dread Pirate Jiwe", Ray claims that no one has heard of her as "dead men tell no tales", which is a phrase said throughout the franchise, originating from the ride and being the title of the fifth installment in the film series.
      • Amaya is also said to have lost her ship to a Kraken and was spat back out of hell by the devil himself, which were referenced in the earlier films.
    • When Gideon reports that the Waverider is parked in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, Nate Heywood points out that sailors called it the Devil's Triangle, with Ray then saying the stories of ships disappearing are grossly exaggerated. In Dead Men Tell No Tales, Captain Salazar's ghostly crew were cursed to haunt the Devil's Triangle.
    • Lieutenant Robert Maynard led Damien Darhk, disguised as an admiral, straight to Blackbeard and his associates. Maynard comments on being promoted to commodore after beheading Blackbeard, which could be a reference to James Norrington.
    • As Rip Hunter attempts to have another drink, his flask appears to be empty. This could be a reference to Jack Sparrow with an empty bottle of rum in Dead Man's Chest.
  • This is the first episode to feature Keiynan Lonsdale (Wally West) as a series regular.
  • Wally tells Rip that he's "living one quarter-mile at a time". When asked if he's quoting a Buddhist koan, Wally explains that he's quoting Dom Toretto in the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious.
  • Rip and Wally sing the 1984 song "Careless Whisper" by George Michael at a karaoke bar in Tokyo in 1992.
  • During their date, Ava and Sara refer to the well-known fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond.
  • The pirate nickname Mick gives to Amaya, the "Dread Pirate Jiwe", is an homage to Dread Pirate Roberts, the pirate identity adopted by Westley in The Princess Bride.
  • It is revealed in this episode that Mari McCabe is now in a relationship with Adam Macalester.
  • Nate yells, "Hey, you guys!" as he and Ray are coming to Jiwe's rescue. This is a reference to when Sloth and Chunk swung in to help in The Goonies and Sloth yelled the same line.
  • Sara and Ava are shown drinking Captain Godfree spiced rum (which, thanks to the Legends screwing with the timeline, becomes Captain Jiwe spiced rum); a parody of Captain Morgan spiced rum.

Goofs[]

  • As Blackbeard and Anne are walking ashore onto Grace Island in 1717, she softly sings, "15 men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum". That song comes from the novel Treasure Island, which wouldn't be published for another 166 years in 1883.
  • The Jolly Roger flag that the Queen Anne's Revenge flies is not associated with Blackbeard.

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