Legends Of Tomorrow Season 1, Episode 10 Recap And Review: “Progeny”

By Steve Lam | Apr 8, 2016

“Progeny” — the tenth episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has the team visiting 2147 where they must decide whether or not to kill a future tyrant who is still a child. The episode could’ve delved deeper into philosophical issues, but chose to go purely with action. It ended being a slightly disappointing installment.

Legendary Recap: Rip speaks to Mick at his cell, trying to get through to him. Mick brushes off Rip and reaffirms that he still wants to kill the team. Gideon alerts Rip that they’ve arrived in 2147.

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In 2147, corporations have taken over and created the Kasnia Conglomerate — considered a “zenith” period right before the world falls into chaos via Vandal Savage. The team notices that the world is also policed by robots modeled after Ray’s ATOM suit.

At the Kasnian Corporate Headquarters, Rip infiltrates a shareholders meeting where he sees Tor Dageton being challenged by Vandal Savage. After the meeting, Rip follows Vandal and notices that he’s meeting up with a boy — Per Degaton, Tor’s son. Vandal is Per’s tutor. The significance of Per is that he will one day create a virus that kills billions which acts as a launchpad for Vandal’s rise to power.

Rip proposes killing Per and justifies his reasoning with the age-old question of “Would you kill a child Hitler?” The team is split on the controversial decision. They finally settle on abducting Per and taking him out of the timeline of events.

The team carries out the kidnapping by ambushing Per and his guards while they’re in public. A scientist, Rachel, gives Martin, Ray, and Jax a tour of the company that created the ATOM-powered robots. They soon discover that Rachel is actually the great, great, great, great, granddaughter of Ray, who thinks that he may have gotten Felicity pregnant (we all know that didn’t happen due to Arrow).

With Per sedated in the Waverider’s infirmatry, Rip asks Gideon about the timeline. Gideon informs him that nothing has changed. Jax suggests talking to Per and reasoning with the boy. Rip believes that Vandal’s influence on Per has made the boy too far gone for reasoning.

Sara visits Mick and tries to get through to him. She brings up the old friendship between him and Leonard, but Mick only shuts her down.

Vandal and Tor discover that the Legends don’t belong in Kasnia because their DNA was never registered.

Rip brings Per out of sedation and takes him to the outskirts of Kasnia. Rip recollects his son to Per. Though Per is held at gunpoint, Per knows that Rip won’t kill him. Rip implores to Per’s humanity and tells him that he should be the person that his father, Tor, wants him to be and not what Vandal expects.

The Waverider comes under attack by Tor and Vandal leading an army of Kasnian soldiers. The Legends assemble and mount a defense. Ray, in his ATOM suit, takes to the air to battle the robots. However, he’s shot down because the robots are much too advanced. Ray decides to take them out via the command center.

Ray and Kendra reach Kasnian Headquarters and attempts to hack the system. Rachel enters and holds Ray and Kendra at gunpoint. It’s soon revealed that Rachel’s ancestor is actually Sidney Palmer, Ray’s brother, who took over for Ray after he disappeared in 2016. Ray and Kendra appeal to Rachel’s conscience.

At the battle site, the robots fall out of the sky, and Vandal takes Sara hostage. The battle comes to a standstill when Rip walks out with Per as his hostage. Tor begs for his son’s life, but Per tells his father not to give in. Tor finally forces Vandal to release Sara, and in exchange, Rip releases Per.

Leonard enters Mick’s cell and tells him that instead of talking, they should fight it out. If Mick kills Leonard, he can take the jumpship and live out the rest of his life anyway and anywhere he wants.

Vandal gives Per a dagger and tells him about the tale of Oedipus Rex — how a son is destined to kill his father and take over the throne.

Gideon tells the team that their actions have done nothing to change history. In fact, the events have now been accelerated. Per is seen murdering his father with the dagger. Gideon states that the virus will be released in a few days and Vandal will be elected as Per’s proxy.

Mick and Leonard trade various blows. Mick finally gets the upper hand, but can’t finish the job. He says that he doesn’t know what he wants and that nothing matters because they’re all dead anyways.

On the bridge, Mick reveals to the team that his failure to kill the Legends has prompted the Time Masters to dispatch Hunters — nefarious individuals who won’t stop until all the Legends are erased from history.

Kendra’s Flashbacks: Kendra has various flashbacks to her time with Carter and their son Aldous. Initially she feels that she’s cheating on Carter with Ray. However, in the end, she comes to terms with her feelings and realizes that Carter is her past and Ray is her future.

Next: Catch up on Legends of Tomorrow with a recap of 'Left Behind'

Legendary Moment(s): The only standout scenes in this episode were the ones involving Leonard Snart. The man is not short on comedic comments that are rife with sarcasm and irony.

Thoughts for Tomorrow: This could’ve been a great episode, but the writers chose to only scratch the surface in terms of philosophical questions … if any. Since this was, in a way, a Hail Mary mission, what else could the team be planning? Are we going to get another scene with Rip revealing that he knows something the team doesn’t?