Spoilers ahead for Episode 10 of Legends of Tomorrow Season 4, called "The Getaway."
Legends of Tomorrow finally returned for the second half of Season 4 last week, and it ended on the kind of villainous twist that could have sustained the series for several episodes. So, it undoubtedly came as a shock to many fans everywhere when "The Getaway" cut that potential arc short by killing off the main player that would have kept it going. Yes, rather than extend the plot of Hank Heywood continuing a conspiracy of experimentation at the Time Bureau, Legends of Tomorrow went ahead and killed off Hank.
A lot of "The Getaway" was actually fairly lighthearted, despite some of the heavy subject matter. Although Sara was dealing with heartbreak, Mona dealing with her secret (and concealing that she was the one who killed the Time Bureau agent last week), Nate was manipulating his dad, and Gary and Nora were trying to access Hank's secrets back at the Time Bureau, there were some shenanigans courtesy of an accidental kidnapping of Richard Nixon, an RV, and a bug that flies into the mouths of unfortunate people and forces them to tell the truth. Also, matching t-shirts!
Unfortunately, Hank caught on to the fact that Nate was giving him the runaround, and he and Time Bureau agents manage to catch the fugitive Legends. The truth bug actually came in handy, and not just because it got Ray to admit that he doesn't really believe that Han shot first.
When Nate was being forced to tell the truth, he confessed his love to his dad while also saying that the secrets his dad is keeping are hurting him. Hank decided that hurting his son was too much for him to handle, and he agreed to put an end to his shady dealings.
Nate was happy to hear this, and it meant the Legends no longer had to be fugitives. It also meant that Hank had to call a meeting with Neron and tell the demon that he no longer wanted to be partners, because he was going to partner his son. Neron didn't like this wrinkle, and he wasn't about to just let Hank out of their deal. So, he used his powers to slowly and horrifyingly kill Hank.
In her cell, Nora sensed Neron's presence and realized that something was very wrong. Pushing her powers to the limit, Nora was able to break out and rush to Hank's aid... or try to rush to his aid, anyway. By the time she reached his office, he was dead on the floor and Neron was gone.
This is actually bad for more than one reason. For one thing, Neron is in the wind and free to continue his villainy. For another thing, Nate and a bunch of agents rushed to the scene just in time to see Nora crouched over the dead Hank Heywood. They quickly jumped to the conclusion that Nora must have killed him. Unwilling to risk capture or worse at the hands of the unyielding agents, Nora whispered an apology to Nate and then used her magic to blast them all away and escape.
Now, Nate and the Time Bureau will presumably be chasing the wrong person responsible for Hank's death. Nora won't be able to do much good if she's on the run, Nate will be focusing his energies on capturing the wrong culprit, and Neron may find the path clear to continue his dark purpose faster than ever before.
Hank Heywood may have been a thorn in the Legends' side, but he was much better alive to them than dead, and his death is especially tragic due to his breakthrough with Nate. Of course, Nate wasn't altogether thrilled with his dad after learning about the experimentation from Zari. Still, his fear and devastation at finding his father dead on the floor was very real.
Next week's episode of Legends of Tomorrow will see some complications arise at Hank's funeral. Take a look at the trailer:
Tune in to The CW on Monday, April 15 at 8 p.m. ET for the next episode of Legends of Tomorrow. It will be followed by the Birds of Prey-esque episode of Arrow in that show's move to a new time slot in this midseason lineup.
