In Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 episode 1, “Out of Time,” the team is in some serious trouble. A new Legends trailer reveals Nate Heywood (soon to be Citizen Steel) is so worried about the timeline that he visits Oliver Queen for help. Though Oliver hasn’t confirmed his suspicions, it’s clear Nate knows he’s the Green Arrow.
Nate Heywood is a historian specializing in “deductive historical reconstruction,” or, in other words, he’s a time detective. “I really don't have to be to look at a calendar and see one week after you came to this city, robin hood show up,” Nate tells Ollie.
“For the past six months I've noticed subtle changes to history, subliminal alterations,” Nate continues. He explains there’s a drawing from the year 1216 that looks like Ray Palmer and a hieroglyphic from ancient Mesopotamia with the Waverider. However, Nate has also looked through newspapers and noticed there were reports of an underwater detonation in New York City in 1942 -- three years before the A-bomb was supposed to be invented, Oliver points out. He thinks the Legends could be involved, and in trouble. Oliver is under the impression that if the A-bomb went off, the Legends aren’t in trouble, they’re dead.
The big question ahead of the Legends of Tomorrow premiere is how will JSA -- Obsidian, Commander Steel, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Stargirl and hopefully Jay Garrick’s Flash -- fit into the big picture? They can’t just magically appear, well, they actually can...but someone must know about their existence?
Since Green Arrow started this whole thing we know as the Arrowverse, the most educated guess is that he’s clued in about JSA’s existence. And Nate, being a time detective, has got to know they exist. Considering his grandfather is Commander Steel, he probably just could have picked up the phone himself and gave him a call. So why did he call Oliver?
He’s got to know Oliver has never time-traveled and maybe Nate really doesn’t know about his grandfather’s involvement in JSA so he called Oliver to contact JSA for help. If Oliver believes the Legends could be in grave danger, he’s going to try and help them by any means necessary -- especially since Sara Lance is on that ship. Losing both the Black and White Canary would devastate him.
Another option would be that Rip Hunter calls JSA. After all, the Legends did meet Hourman in the Season 1 finale. JSA has a second Waverider, so they could certainly fly in and help out the Legends. I’m not quite sure how Oliver has the time to hop aboard the Waverider and go on some crazy time-traveling mission. I’d love to see it, but I highly doubt that’s going to happen.
A final option is that the JSA already knows the Legends are in trouble so they’re already on their way to 1942 for a rescue mission. This could be the reason why Rip Hunter is removed as team Leader, because he messed up the timeline so bad already that JSA demotes him.
What do you think? How will JSA fit into the picture? Let us know in the comments below!
Legends of Tomorrow season 2 premieres on The CW at 8 p.m.
