My relationship with Legends of Tomorrow is a complicated one. I have gone from being indifferent towards the show during its first season to absolutely loving its second and third season, to hating it with a passion during its fourth season, to liking it as a time wasting kind of show during the fifth season to now being at the point of giving up on it. I think the primary reason that I have a complicated view on the show is because I miss the characters that left, or I simply cannot stand the new ones. Today I’m going to rank every exit from a main character in this show. I won’t be including Zari Tomaz since season 6 seems to imply that she might be coming back.
Wally West: While I love the character of Wally West/Kid Flash and think the actor did a great job, I found his exit from the series to just be a pathetic one. Don’t get me wrong. I thought Wally worked phenomenally as a member of the Legends during the last handful of episodes from season 3. However, the reason I put Wally at the bottom is because we never even saw him leave. They just say he left to find himself in between seasons. That’s it. They gave us nothing else on why he left and we’re just supposed to accept that. Wally was never used properly on The Flash. He was either taken out very easily when in the field, or just sidelined entirely. Legends of Tomorrow was a much better fit for the character. I understand that the actor wanted to move on from the Arrowverse and focus on his own career, but I wish he didn’t leave right when Wally was becoming an amazing character in the Arrowverse. He even appeared in The Flash a few more times before leaving the Arrowverse permanently. Just a massive shame overall and a waste of a character.
Nora Darhk and Ray Palmer: One of the dumbest decisions in this show from the writers was having Ray Palmer leave. He was one of the last remaining characters from the first season and Brandon Routh’s performance just made the character so likable. I never really cared for Nora but I enjoyed her as a villain in season 3 and didn’t hate her as a main character. These two characters often managed to be the highlight of the show even during its most annoying moments, which makes it all the more disappointing with how terrible their exit was. Ray decides to leave the team and focus on a quiet life with Nora after marrying her after being advised to do so by Damien Darhk. Already the problems with this exit start showing as the fact that Damien is the one who convinces Ray to leave is beyond ludicrous. It doesn’t matter if he’s Nora’s father. Damien is the closest thing that the Legends have to an archenemy and he has tried to kill them several times, with Ray being his most constant victim after Sara. He is honestly the last person Ray should take advice from. The departure episode itself was beyond stupid. Ray never once uses the Atom suit, the episode focuses more on Nate and Ray doesn’t even say goodbye to Mick. That is even more infuriating since those two arguably shared more scenes together than anyone else on the show at the time. Ray was also Mick’s first true friend after Snart. The fact that they never say goodbye to each other and that Mick is the one who tells Ray to leave during their mission is just such a let down. However, the most insulting thing about this exit is the behind the scenes context. It’s pretty much known to many at this point that Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford did not want to leave the series. Knowing that fact just makes the exit of these two characters all the more contrived, manipulative and honestly just awful.
Mona Wu: While I have nothing against the actress and fully believe that she does a well enough job, I cannot stand Mona. She is easily still the worst character in the Arrowverse for me. Her exit was honestly more of a relief than an emotional moment and I am so happy that she left. However, that does not mean it was a good scene. Mick just gives her the opportunity to take his place as the author “Rebecca Silver” and she just leaves. It’s telling that no one else even said goodbye to this character. I was baffled as to why they kept bringing her back throughout the season, but I hope they don’t have her show up again. They tried making this character work and she really didn’t. I hope the actress is able to be in much better things because her character did not work well in this show at all. The only reason that Mona is not at the bottom is because we actually saw her leave and her goodbye scene wasn’t a slap in the face.
Rip Hunter: This is the exit that probably hurt the most for me. Arthur Darvill was easily my favorite actor on the show at the time and Rip was definitely the most interesting part of the first season being its main character before they moved the spotlight to Sara. However, after the first season it seemed like Rip’s role in the show became smaller and smaller as time went on. Arthur Darvill needed to commit to another project during the first half of the show’s second season and I absolutely understand that. Unfortunately, Rip was then demoted to a recurring character during the third season. It was a decision that greatly confused me as it would have been very interesting to see Rip interact with the new Legends that would come in each season if he stayed. It’s not like Rip couldn’t have stayed as the leader of the team alongside Sara. That stupid “Co-Captain” position that she now shares with Ava is proof of that. The biggest slap in the face surrounding Rip’s exit happened in the season 3 finale when he sacrifices himself to buy the team time against Mallus. The death scene is rushed and no one besides Sara even shares a goodbye with him. To add insult to injury, absolutely no one is really torn up about his death. Everyone was practically broken when Carter was killed during their second mission but the team just treats Rip’s death like a minor headache. This was the main character of the first season and the man who brought the team together and gave them a purpose. If it wasn’t for Darvill’s performance, this would have been lower. However, Rip Hunter deserved a much better send-off.
Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall: Here is another exit that I could not care less about. However, unlike the other four exits on this list, I at least felt satisfied with how the character’s story ended. It’s no secret that one of the biggest weaknesses of the show’s first season was the immensely boring story surrounding the character of Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl. If her arc was just a side story then the character might have been easier to deal with but because it was practically the main story of the season, the show suffered as a result when it came to keeping things interesting. It is even more frustrating that they killed off Carter Hall/Hawkman by the second episode since he was clearly the more interesting and charismatic of the two. After a long season of Kendra fighting Vandal Savage and having a pointless romance with Ray, she and Carter’s reincarnation decided to leave the team to focus on their own life. While I wasn’t sad to see these two leave at all, I at least felt like their exit was a good stopping point for the characters. The writers apparently seem to share my opinion because they have tried as hard as they can to distance themselves from that first season.
Charlie: Here is an exit that is perfectly average. I never cared for the character of Charlie. I found her to be unbelievably annoying when she first showed up and she never truly won me over. I was never able to look past the fact that her entire character was an excuse to keep the actress who played Amaya. Why does she get to stay when actors like Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford are being forced to leave when they don’t want to? However, I didn’t hate her. She had her moments, particularly in her second and last season. Either way, when she decides to leave at the end of season 5, I wasn’t completely torn up, but I was glad that she was leaving on a high note. This exit is completely down the middle. Not bad. Not good. Just average.
Amaya Jiwe: While I greatly enjoyed Amaya during the second season of the show, I admit that I wasn’t too big of a fan of her in season 3. It just seemed that everything surrounding her character had to do with Nate. I get that they were a couple at the time, but Nate at least had a few side stories throughout the season that showed him grow as a character without focusing on his relationship with her. Amaya’s relationship with Nate was brought up in every episode that focused on her in the season. When it became time for her to leave at the end of the season, I wasn’t too upset, but I’ll admit that I enjoyed her final scene as there was a sense of closure with the character. When Rip left, it felt out of nowhere. When Mona left, it seemed like it took forever for her to leave. Amaya stayed on the show for the perfect amount of time.
Leonard Snart: Despite the many criticisms that surround the first season of Legends of Tomorrow, many people agree that Leonard Snart/Captain Cold was one of the main highlights. Snart went through a great deal of development during his first and only season as a main character on the show. His relationship with Mick and Sara was fascinating to watch and his journey to becoming a better person was definitely a struggle but it absolutely delivered. His death felt a bit rushed and kind of abrupt, but I wasn’t too annoyed. I will admit that I do blame this show for being the reason that we never got the Rogues in The Flash and probably never will, but it was still great to see Snart appear on this show regardless. It was also a treat to see Wentworth Miller return as a few different characters in the following seasons such as when a past version of him joined the Legion of Doom and when the more heroic Snart from Earth-X visited the team for a bit.
Jefferson Jackson: If there was one character that I miss almost just as much as Rip, it would definitely be Jax. As the original youngest member of the team, Jax was originally forced to join the Legends as Stein drugged him after he refused to go on the mission to stop Vandal Savage. However, despite being angry with the Professor and being a bit immature at several points during the first season, he eventually showed a massive amount of growth towards the end and proved his worth when he rescued the team from the corrupt Time Masters. When Stein is killed during the absolutely fantastic crossover Crisis on Earth-X and Jax loses his Firestorm powers as a result, he decides to leave the team to focus on himself. While his final goodbye with the team is a beautiful one, it was heartbreaking to see him leave as not only did Franz Drameh do a phenomenal job as the character, but it would have been very interesting to see Jax develop as a character without Stein. While I loved his exit, I still miss Drameh on the show as he was easily one of the best actors in it. In my opinion, Jax’s exit was when the show started to make its massive shift into a cringeworthy comedy.
Martin Stein: While I loved Jax’s exit and still miss him more than anyone else (aside from Rip), there really was no topping Professor Martin Stein’s exit from the show. Victor Garber was probably the most well established actor during the first three seasons of the show, so I always had a feeling that he would leave the series at some point. However, Stein was always such a joy to watch that I really didn’t want him to make his exit. His chemistry with Drameh’s character was outstanding and he always proved to be one of the best actors in the show as well as the Arrowverse. When it was announced prior to season 3 that he would be leaving the show midway during the season, I was upset but not surprised. However, I always assumed that he would just go to live with his family. I could not have guessed that he would be killed off during the crossover Crisis on Earth-X. When Stein is wounded by the Nazis and is forced to sacrifice himself to save Jax, it is still the most heartbreaking moment in the entire franchise for me. Nothing has ever topped it. While I still miss Stein on the show, I wouldn’t dare have him brought back to life as his exit was absolutely perfect and as the character would always say, astonishing.
