S03.E12: The Curse Of The Earth Totem

[nitrofishblue]

To be honest, I have had my full of Darhk. He was bad enough in Arrow so I am not fond of him in Legends. He gets his way and won't stay dead. That character has run its course.

[KirkB]

1 hour ago, nitrofishblue said:

To be honest, I have had my full of Darhk. He was bad enough in Arrow so I am not fond of him in Legends. He gets his way and won't stay dead. That character has run its course.

I largely agree with this. I've only been able to tolerate Dark this long because I love watching NM. He is clearly having fun and I always enjoy an actor more when they like what they are doing. But even so three seasons of Dark as a main villain is a bit much. It's not to dissimilar from Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow kept him around way longer than they should have because of JB. Honestly, I think they would have been better off having his daughter be the villain who messes with the Legends until Mallus himself shows up, that way they still get to have *A* Dark Magic User connected to the demon, who is basically a new character, and who can have a tie with the Legends, especially Ray, who tried to help her when she was younger.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

There were so many times that Dahrk had Legends completely helpless, yet didn't finish them off., not including when Nora almost killed Ray and he told her to hold off, because Ray might be useful.  IF Dahrk acted true to type, te whole crew would be dead by now because he and Nora are just too powerful (until Ray's gun.)

Also, for a father who supposedly loves his daughter so much, he is surprisingly finewith having her ravashed by a demon.

My biggest suspension of belief, however, was that Amaya can pilot a ship.  Doesn't she come from a land-locked nation?  Must she be able to do everything?  They had Blackbeard's crew.  Blackbeard himself likely doesn't turn the wheel!

[Solace247]

10 minutes ago, KirkB said:

I largely agree with this. I've only been able to tolerate Dark this long because I love watching NM. He is clearly having fun and I always enjoy an actor more when they like what they are doing. But even so three seasons of Dark as a main villain is a bit much. It's not to dissimilar from Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow kept him around way longer than they should have because of JB. Honestly, I think they would have been better off having his daughter be the villain who messes with the Legends until Mallus himself shows up, that way they still get to have *A* Dark Magic User connected to the demon, who is basically a new character, and who can have a tie with the Legends, especially Ray, who tried to help her when she was younger.

I was going to post the same point about Arrow and JB. Keeping him around wreaked havoc with Oliver and Thea's characters.

Someone made a post somewhere (probably Reddit) regarding Darhk's return being similar to Heroes and keeping Sylar around. I totally agree with this. That show had a lot of problems, but I personally haaaaaated the fact that Sylar became incredibly OP'd and hung around way too long. A good showrunner has to be able to make the hard calls. You may love an actor, but when a character has run its course, you cut them loose or else your story and its surrounding characters start looking ridiculous as a result. Darhk needs to be gone for good at the end of this season--no if, ands, or buts.

[ketose]

I remember in S1 being worried that the comically omnipotent villain Vandal Savage would come back the next season. Now I wish he'd come back and kill Darhk.

[Starfish35]

Oh no. I would take a whole lot more Darhk before I'd welcome Savage back.  (I actually can't think of anything that would make me welcome Savage back.)  

I don't think they've gone the Malcolm Merlyn route with DD yet.  The problem with Merlyn was not, IMO, keeping him around, but twisting the storyline around so that Oliver would willingly work with him, even after he found out about him drugging Thea and making her murder Sara.  It ended up pretty much ruining Oliver for me.  

So far I don't think they've twisted the Legends characters out of character to keep DD around.  I think they've actually been using him pretty well.  But I do agree this should probably be his last season.

Edited March 1, 2018 by Starfish35
Got cut off

[KirkB]

9 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

Oh no. I would take a whole lot more Darhk before I'd welcome Savage back.  (I actually can't think of anything that would make me welcome Savage back.)  

I definitely agree. Dark is overused. Savage was badly miscast. NM is amusing. CC...well, he did his best. As for the second part, how about Ra's al Ghul? Which you rather have to watch Crump or Nable?

11 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

I don't think they've gone the Malcolm Merlyn route with DD yet.  The problem with Merlyn was not, IMO, keeping him around, but twisting the storyline around so that Oliver would willingly work with him, even after he found out about him

You're right, but I think it was also both. They kept Merlyn around too long AND they had to twist the plot into a Gordian Knot to make excuses for why Oliver wouldn't even let Nyssa kill him and risked his own life to save him.

[Starfish35]

13 minutes ago, KirkB said:

As for the second part, how about Ra's al Ghul? Which you rather have to watch Crump or Nable?

Nable, definitely.  He wasn't the best casting, but Crump was just, well, the worst. :)

[johntfs]

11 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

Nable, definitely.  He wasn't the best casting, but Crump was just, well, the worst. :)

I though it was interesting that despite being the "Big Bad" on season 3 of Arrow, Matt Nable's best work as Ra's was on a single episode of Legends of Tomorrow where he really wasn't even the bad guy.

[KirkB]

Nable didn't look the part, at all, but at least I got a little bit of menace and malice from him. And yes, he was better (not great, just better) in his LoT appearance. Crump, to his credit, tried to be menacing but that smirk of his came off as creepy at best, not the maniacal look of a millennia old psychopath.

I don't expect them to cast someone to look exactly like the comic character (Marvel, IMO, proved it isn't even necessary with their Heimdall, for example) but Vandal Savage is generally supposed to be one of the few DC villains who gives off a scarier vibe than Ra's al Ghul and Crump, well, he didn't. I could buy him as a crazy stalker for Kendra but that's about it.

Edited March 1, 2018 by KirkB

[MarkHB]

2 hours ago, KirkB said:

CC...well, he did his best. As for the second part, how about Ra's al Ghul? Which you rather have to watch Crump or Nable?

Can I vote for Alexander Siddig?

[Solace247]

5 hours ago, KirkB said:

I definitely agree. Dark is overused. Savage was badly miscast. NM is amusing. CC...well, he did his best. As for the second part, how about Ra's al Ghul? Which you rather have to watch Crump or Nable?

You're right, but I think it was also both. They kept Merlyn around too long AND they had to twist the plot into a Gordian Knot to make excuses for why Oliver wouldn't even let Nyssa kill him and risked his own life to save him.

 

Definitely agree with your assessment of Merlyn. It's been a while since I've watched Arrow. I ducked out after season three I think, or was it four? I just remember a trip to Nanda Parbat, a Thea training montage, and a resurrection from the Lazarus pit that paled in comparison to the shots used in the promos. I had forgotten that Oliver nixed the killing of Malcom. Makes me dislike that story arc even more. Man, I loved Arrow season two. I think the shows I like have the habit of peaking in season two. Luckily, Legends has bucked that trend.

[benteen]

17 hours ago, Starfish35 said:

Oh no. I would take a whole lot more Darhk before I'd welcome Savage back.  (I actually can't think of anything that would make me welcome Savage back.)  

I don't think they've gone the Malcolm Merlyn route with DD yet.  The problem with Merlyn was not, IMO, keeping him around, but twisting the storyline around so that Oliver would willingly work with him, even after he found out about him drugging Thea and making her murder Sara.  It ended up pretty much ruining Oliver for me.  

So far I don't think they've twisted the Legends characters out of character to keep DD around.  I think they've actually been using him pretty well.  But I do agree this should probably be his last season.

 

Agreed.  As overused as Darhk is, he's still better than Savage.

The best season-long villain on Legends so far has been Matt Letscher as Eobard Thawne.  He had the advantage of having not made as many appearances on The Flash since it was TC who played Thawne most of the time.  Having him as the lead villain and bringing in DD, Merlyn and even a brainwashed Rip was a lot of fun and they all worked off of each other well.

With Darhk, you have a villain who is overused, uber-powerful yet inexplicably doesn't just kill the Legends when he has a chance.  I agree that Nora would be the better villain and she'd still have that old connection to Darhk too.

Edited March 1, 2018 by benteen

[Sakura12]

I think it could've worked with just Nora, they would just introduce us to her as Darkh's grown up daughter and LoT watchers would know who she is since Darkh was on last season. With Kuasa and Nora we'd have enough of connection to the characters to make it interesting. 

[lurker22]

I like Neal, and I like Darhk, but I also agree that this should be his last season. I just want someone new.

The Legends are leaving a mark on history! First Mick with a monument that looks like him in Washington DC, and now Amaya with rum named after her.

Gideon's voicemail was my favorite. Amazing what Amy Pemberton is able to do with just her voice.

I hate the fact that Sara never visits Quentin when she's in Star City. But I might be able to let it slide if they actually explain why. Like while she herself has made peace with letting Laurel go (or at least as much as she can until she gets tempted by a time loophole), she can't look her father in the eye and have him find out that she did not bring Laurel back even though she has the ability to time travel. But at the same time, she can't bear to stay too far away from him, so she stays in Star City to keep an eye on him from a distance, like when she first came back in Arrow S2. Quentin's amnesia when it comes to Sara though, that I can't explain away.

[DearEvette]

36 minutes ago, lurker22 said:

The Legends are leaving a mark on history! First Mick with a monument that looks like him in Washington DC, and now Amaya with rum named after her

Don' forget the lovely picture of Sir Ray the medieval knight!

I agree about Damien.  Yeah, Neil McDonough is having a blast and you can tell.  His brand of comic villainy fits the show's frenetic fun vibe it had since Season 2.  But I am all for a new adversary with a new set of priorities.

[Miss Dee]

4 hours ago, lurker22 said:

The Legends are leaving a mark on history! First Mick with a monument that looks like him in Washington DC, and now Amaya with rum named after her.

What I love about this is that based on their personalities you would expect it to be the other way around.

[KirkB]

20 minutes ago, Miss Dee said:

What I love about this is that based on their personalities you would expect it to be the other way around.

Oh yeah. I could easily see Mick being kind of huffy around Amaya for a couple of episodes, and when she finally asks him why he just grunts, points to the rum bottle with her picture on it, and stomps off.

[johntfs]

6 minutes ago, KirkB said:

Oh yeah. I could easily see Mick being kind of huffy around Amaya for a couple of episodes, and when she finally asks him why he just grunts, points to the rum bottle with her picture on it, and stomps off.

See, I think he'd make a point of drinking it around her because he's proud of her.

[KirkB]

It's Mick. I could see that too.   :)  He might also stomp off LIKE he's angry, then come back and make a point of grabbing it, taking a swig and smiling at her before stomping off again.

Edited March 1, 2018 by KirkB

[Miss Dee]

It's Mick, so both at the same time. He could pull that off.

[RoseofSharon]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 8:37 AM, KirkB said:

I thought it was a very pointed comment by Amaya when she said she eventually had to go back to 1942 and marry someone else, before going to play naughty sword games with Nate. The guy (Rex Tyler) she was dating in 1942 has been dead a while now. There's only been Nate. Are we seriously to believe that someone on this crew, or at least Gideon, hasn't taken a look at Amaya's history to see who Mari and Kuasa's grandfather was? I'll grant Mick doesn't know because there is no way he could keep his mouth shut if he did, but if it IS Nate it means he'll be leaving too.

 

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 12:01 PM, KirkB said:

That's a good point, since Kuasa pretty much came out and said the only reason she wasn't trying to kill Amaya is because she is her grandmother and she knew what that would do to her. The same ought to be true of Nate if he is her grandfather. Unless she doesn't know. Which would seem to imply Nate is either dead or at least not around by the time Kuasa and Mari are old enough to know the difference. Or, of course, I'm completely wrong.

 

Maybe Grampa just ages badly and she doesn't recognize him.  JK, but Nate not being there could be something they fix.

And then neither would have to rush back to 1942 or leave the show since they have a time machine. They could stick around as long as they want.

[Maelstrom]

As far as Nate being Mari & Kuasa's grandfather, I've been assuming Amaya will already be pregnant when she goes back to 1942. Timeline preserved, her twu wuv with Nate unbroken, and Nate could easily be none the wiser about it. Not that I care a whole hell of a lot (or at all really) about Nate and Amaya. I still think they bring down the show, but MMV.

 

23 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

My biggest suspension of belief, however, was that Amaya can pilot a ship.  Doesn't she come from a land-locked nation?  Must she be able to do everything?  They had Blackbeard's crew.  Blackbeard himself likely doesn't turn the wheel!

Now I'm picturing what happened after the scene ended, with one of the other pirates grabbing the wheel from her before she could crash the ship into some rocks! "Don't worry Captain, we'll take it from here!"

Touching back on earlier posts that talked about how different Mick is around Amaya - I got thinking that Amaya is about the only person for whom Mick will willingly, of his own volition, go out of his way to help. He asked her what was wrong when he saw her feeling down, she shut him down, and yet rather than saying whatever and going back to his beer (rum?) he made the effort to do something to make her feel better. And the same for his scene with Ray at the end. I love when the writers remember that Mick has more going on that smart-assed one liners. Not that DP doesn't nail them, but he really does bring so much more to the role.

[blackwing]

I loved everything about this episode except for Damien Darhk.  I'm just so very tired of him.  He's seemingly invincible, and his witty comments are no longer fun.  Just want him to die again and stay dead.

[Solace247]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I loved everything about this episode except for Damien Darhk.  I'm just so very tired of him.  He's seemingly invincible, and his witty comments are no longer fun.  Just want him to die again and stay dead.

Don't post that on Reddit, you'll get downvoted to hell and back. Trust me. I wholeheartedly agree with you, though. Someone here posted about bring tired of the big bad writing choice and I have to agree. Think of the stories you could write and the stakes you could create if you didn't have to constantly be thinking of ways for your heroes to escape the clutches of an OP'd big bad every-other week? Maybe I ask for too much.

[jhlipton]

I think the biggest problem with Dahrk this season (and this was hinted at by commenting that he was much better with the Legion) is that he doesn't have anyone to snark at, so he has to make pointless dialogue with the Legends.

On 2/26/2018 at 6:33 PM, scarynikki12 said:

Sara didn’t check on Q because he’s currently kidnapping Laurel’s terrorist doppelgänger in an effort to make her his replacement daughter. Setting all of that straight requires more than a few minutes of an episode. 

Plus, any mention of "sara's father" would require some exposition of who he is for those of us who only watch LoT.

On 2/26/2018 at 7:33 PM, Lantern7 said:

Ray is a dumbass. I get that he wanted to save Nora, and I was okay with it. He probably didn't want Amaya's totem

He might need it, but it would be good to get it back for Amaya, I mean Jiwe!

On 2/26/2018 at 8:28 PM, Maelstrom said:

Bonus points for the Princess Bride homage, too.

I was wondering if anyone was going to mention that.  Two pages and only one comment?  Inconceivable!

But when they called Jiwe a Pirate Queen, I was hoping the whole bar would burst out
"For she is a Pirate Queen!
She is, she is a Pirate Queen!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate Queen!"

On 2/27/2018 at 5:15 AM, kirinan said:

I told my husband last night he's starting to remind me of Sylar from Heroes; nothing will kill or defeat him, and a villain that's too powerful is as frustrating as an ineffective villain. And Nora's almost as bad (adult Nora; my heart went out to teen Nora).

Ditto

On 2/28/2018 at 5:18 PM, KirkB said:

As for the second part, how about Ra's al Ghul? Which you rather have to watch Crump or Nable?

On 2/28/2018 at 7:48 PM, MarkHB said:

Can I vote for Alexander Siddig?

I was going to mention Sidding as well -- he did a great job as al Ghul on Gotham.

[kirinan]

15 hours ago, Solace247 said:

...an OP'd big bad...

I saw OP'd used in another post. Could I ask what that means? Thanks!

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

I saw OP'd used in another post. Could I ask what that means? Thanks!

Given the context I'd say OverPowered.

[Solace247]

33 minutes ago, johntfs said:

Given the context I'd say OverPowered.

Yep. Overpowered indeed.

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, Solace247 said:

Yep. Overpowered indeed.

Sure, but I'd disagree with that overall.  Yes, Darkh is powerful, knowledgeable and has a potent patron in Mallus.  In a one on one (or even two on one) fight, he's more than a match for any Legend (or two).  But that's really as it should be.  If Darkh can be taken out by one or two Legends, he'd realistically get squashed when all six, seven or eight of them come together.  And most of the time when he (or he and Nora) face off against the majority of the assembled team, they're forced to retreat.  Which is also as it should be.  Quantity is also quality.

As for "Why doesn't Darkh just kill them?," part of it is probably overconfidence.  But another part of it is that he's been around for quite a while.  He was buddies with Ra's alGhul back in the day.  He's probably been around for well over a century of fairly intense life experience and he's delved pretty deeply into the arcane and the occult during that time, so he has some advantages dealing with magic (even if his own magic is mostly limited to a potent and fairly versatile Telekinesis).  Figure part of that life experience is "You just never know."  As in, you just never know when your blood enemy will become your vital ally.  One thing to think about is that Darkh died and probably didn't go to the happy shiny place when he did.  You can draw a pretty straight line from Darkh killing Laurel Lance to Oliver Queen killing him.  He knows that.  So, maybe he's a bit more hesitant to push things to a full fight to the death if he doesn't necessarily have to.  

[Solace247]

3 hours ago, johntfs said:

But that's really as it should be.  If Darkh can be taken out by one or two Legends, he'd realistically get squashed when all six, seven or eight of them come together.  And most of the time when he (or he and Nora) face off against the majority of the assembled team, they're forced to retreat.  Which is also as it should be.  Quantity is also quality.

As for "Why doesn't Darkh just kill them?," part of it is probably overconfidence.  But another part of it is that he's been around for quite a while.  He was buddies with Ra's alGhul back in the day.  He's probably been around for well over a century of fairly intense life experience and he's delved pretty deeply into the arcane and the occult during that time, so he has some advantages dealing with magic (even if his own magic is mostly limited to a potent and fairly versatile Telekinesis).  Figure part of that life experience is "You just never know."  As in, you just never know when your blood enemy will become your vital ally.  One thing to think about is that Darkh died and probably didn't go to the happy shiny place when he did.  You can draw a pretty straight line from Darkh killing Laurel Lance to Oliver Queen killing him.  He knows that.  So, maybe he's a bit more hesitant to push things to a full fight to the death if he doesn't necessarily have to.  

I can appreciate your reasoning regarding Darhk's motivations, however it's all based on your own assumptions and never alluded to even obliquely onscreen to my recollection. Having seen Arrow, I can recall that he died, but that's it.  A lot of LoT fans don't watch other Arrowverse shows, so any backstory prior to Legends would be lost on them. He and his daughter are more than capable of taking out the entire team via magic. Darhk can literally break necks with a flick of his wrist and Nora can drain one's life force by touching them among other things. Add to that the fact that they can appear out of nowhere at any time in any time and it's incredibly contrived that all of our Legends are still standing after all their run ins. Magic plus the ability to time travel is extremely overpowered. perhpas I wouldn't be as fatigued with it had we not had a similar 'see you next time' with the Legion of Doom last year. Also, I was over Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow before he ever landed on LoT. There has got to be a way to make it all a little less repetitive. I just find that every CW show I watch falls victim to repetition, whether via plot or characterization early on in their runs. I want more for LoT. They need to cut him loose come the finale.

[jhlipton]

3 hours ago, johntfs said:

So, maybe he's a bit more hesitant to push things to a full fight to the death if he doesn't necessarily have to.  

He didn't have any problem at all killing the Bureau agents.  So he's perfectly willing to"fight to the death" as long as it's just a red-shirt.

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, jhlipton said:

He didn't have any problem at all killing the Bureau agents.  So he's perfectly willing to"fight to the death" as long as it's just a red-shirt.

Yeah, but figure he's pretty sure he doesn't need Time Bureau Agents 1-10 since he can grab TBA 11 if need be.  It might be harder to replace Ray Palmer.

[KirkB]

I don't want any of the Legends to die, obviously. But Dark's seeming unwillingness to kill any of them is made worse if you just look at last season. Dark and Malcolm both repeatedly chided Thawne for NOT killing them when he had the chance. Now he's doing the same thing. On the other hand, since's working for Mallus if Mallus has explicitly told him not to kill them, for whatever reason...but we have seen no indication of that. Really it's TV drama 101. The villain could and should kill the heroes every time he gets the chance but that would end the show pretty quick.

Now in terms of their actual conflicts, Dark and Nora have powerful magic but it is not without restrictions. One on one, Dark can handle just about any of the Legends (I seem to recall his magic being somewhat less effective, for some reason, on Nate if he is steeled up) but when there are too many at once the best he can do is freeze them in place and his concentration isn't unbreakable. Nora can suck the life out of people but so far only seems to be able to do it one at a time and has to touch them for an extended period to do it, meaning she probably needs her father with her to really take advantage of it. The Dark's are good for one on one fights but aren't as well equipped for fighting a group like the Legends, hence Damien apparently recruiting Grodd.

Edited March 3, 2018 by KirkB

[Delphi]

I agree that he is overconfident,  but that's a huge problem.  At this point he should have stopped that, he has already been beaten twice and he's on his third chance just going along like he hasn't been. 

[HunterHunted]

Perhaps they can establish that Darhk can't access the magic of the totem because he's not the totem bearer. So he simply can't steal the Vixen totem, but he can't kill Amaya because he needs Kuasa. And he also needs Zari. So it explains why he can't simply kill the Legends, he needs to manipulate them into being where he needs them to unlock whatever magic he needs for Mallus. Sort of how Nora manipulated the Legends and Rip to bring Darhk back from the dead. It wluld explain that what we've seen from him and Nora is a very elaborate game of cat and mouse to manipulate the Legends into his final trap.

[johntfs]

5 hours ago, KirkB said:

(I seem to recall his magic being somewhat less effective, for some reason, on Nate if he is steeled up)

Darkh's magic is mostly limited to telekinesis.  He was trying to break Nate's neck, but it's kind of hard to break a neck made of steel.  Telekinetically shoving Nate into a wall worked okay, though.

[ketose]

I haven't been watching Arrow for a while, but one way to stop Dark is to have some kind of purity of mind that prevents his magic from having an effect. Ray also has that cool ass nanite gun that he's too weak willed to use.

[TV Anonymous]

Aargh... Just as posters upthread wrote, do we not have enough of Damien Darhk already? Arrow defeated him, Legends defeated him as Legion of Doom and now this? Enough Berlanti, enough. 

So Ray shot and cured Nora Darhk. Opening relationship between them? Insinuatiing that they are couple IRL?

Did Sara fight the pirates with a clarinet? I cringed watching it. It is a precision musical instrument, not a blunt weapon.

The liquid that had effect on speedster, Caitlin explained on Flash that it was like 500 proof, 5 times more potent than regular 100-proof spirits. And Rip just drank it. Unless he is a meta / alien / with magical power, should he not have dropped dead already? 

Edited March 4, 2018 by TV Anonymous

[yellowfred]

7 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

Did Sara fight the pirates with a clarinet? I cringed watching it. It is a precision musical instrument, not a blunt weapon.

I think it was a flute.  I have no explanation for why she would pick that, why it was there in the first place, or why anyone would hold a blunt weapon up against someone's throat to end a fight, but it was definitely either a flute or a flute shaped instrument of some kind.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/3/2018 at 2:54 PM, HunterHunted said:

Perhaps they can establish that Darhk can't access the magic of the totem because he's not the totem bearer. So he simply can't steal the Vixen totem, but he can't kill Amaya because he needs Kuasa. And he also needs Zari. So it explains why he can't simply kill the Legends, he needs to manipulate them into being where he needs them to unlock whatever magic he needs for Mallus. Sort of how Nora manipulated the Legends and Rip to bring Darhk back from the dead. It wluld explain that what we've seen from him and Nora is a very elaborate game of cat and mouse to manipulate the Legends into his final trap.

I agree about Amaya, but he should have simply snapped Mick's neck in the pirate bar.  He's likely of no further use, and he's a rogue gone hero.  Pathetic.

[Sakura12]

I don't know I've found in most forms of entertainment the villains rarely ever kill the hero and the hero rarely ever kills the villains. If they did we'd have 10 minute long movies and tv shows. Plus who wants to see the heroes die all the time, that's not entertainment. I don't see Darkh as a kill happy psycho, he doesn't just go around killing everyone for fun. And who knows maybe Mallus told him not to kill the Legends. We don't know Mallus' end game yet 

I feel the same with people saying Wally is over powered and could solve the problems in 5 minutes, when I still see the Flash and Supergirl take the full 45 minutes to defeat the villains on their shows. Why would they be able to solve the problems on other shows in 5 minutes but not on their own show? They are not always fighting equal powered bad guys.