30 greatest Arrowverse episodes, ranked

Best Arrowverse episodes – No. 15

Star City 2046 (Legends of Tomorrow season 1 episode 6)

While Legends of Tomorrow‘s first season isn’t exactly considered its best, that didn’t stop it from producing some damn fine episodes – and this one is the greatest example of that.

“Star City 2046” saw the recently formed team land themselves in a possible future and, let’s just say that things didn’t look bright for all of Sara’s family and friends. Star City was a destroyed and abandoned shell of its former self, overrun with crime and desperately low on heroes as it languished under the rule of Grant Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke Jr. Despite the fact that this future may not come to pass, Sara was unable to leave things as they were and thus, aided the new Green Arrow (Connor Hawke). In doing so, she found the old one.

With a missing arm and a broken soul, an aged Oliver Queen refused to return to action and told Sara to return to the time-stream. But it didn’t take long for the hero within to surface as this Oliver once again donned his iconic hood, made use of a robotic arm and strung up his bow – eventually returning order to his city.

With shades of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, “Star City 2046” was undoubtedly an ambitious adventure for the young show to tackle, but the writers never shied away from the tall task – and this allowed Legends to continue pushing the boundaries, crossing over and making references to more iconic DC characters. While the cast was, as always, impeccable here, the standout was undoubtedly Stephen Amell, who rocked the white facial hair and delivered one of his best performances as the beaten Oliver Queen.

This single episode of Legends was more true to the essence of the original Arrow than some of that show’s own later episodes. It was the Arrow that we all desperately craved and the sequel that we never knew we needed. It was, quite simply, a work of art.