Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Nora Darhk (Courtney Ford) got married on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which sets up how the unlikely star-crossed lovers will leave the Arrowverse. Legends of Tomorrow season 5 kicked off by concluding Crisis On Infinite Earths, but the epic crossover's after-effects have only been a backdrop to the time-traveling superhero series. Instead, the Legends have been concerned with rounding up the Encores, who are history's greatest villains, who were resurrected from Hell and scattered throughout the timeline - including this week's baddie, Nora's father, Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough).
In this week's episode of Legends of Tomorrow, "Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac", Damien surprised his beloved "Nora Doll" at the home of John Constantine (Matt Ryan) just as Ray was planning a romantic evening where he was going to pop the question. In an absurdly hilarious series of mishaps, Nora convinced the Legends to let her handle her dad with a series of lies: With Ray banished to the Waverider out of fear that Damien would kill him, Nora pretended to be a dark sorceress dating Constantine. Meanwhile, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) promised not to kill Damien and agreed to pose as Nora's henchwoman along with Ava Sharpe (Jes Macallan). Naturally, this ruse could only last for so long before Damien realized the deception and Nora came clean about who she has become after her evil father was banished to Hell at the end of Legends of Tomorrow season 3: Besides being a Fairy Godmother who helps children, Nora is now a good person and she's in love with the earnest Ray Palmer.
The end result was a happy one: Ray and Nora got married that very night with Damien's blessing. Of course, before they could get there, Pippa, the young girl who Nora was currently Fairy Godmother to, sent Damien and the Legends into the children's TV show Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac, where Ray became the Fred Rogers-like host and got Nora and Damien to work out their family issues and help Daddy Darhk see the error of his ways. Hilarious, bizarre, and romantic, "Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac" turned out to be a watershed moment that paves the way for Ray and Nora to leave Legends of Tomorrow.
Ray And Nora's Wedding Sets Up Their Leaving Legends Of Tomorrow
The joyful wedding of Nora and Ray, which was attended by all of the Legends, unfortunately also sets up their exit from the Arrowverse. It was announced last year that both Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford (who are married in real life) are leaving the series - and Routh has been vocal about his and Courtney's disappointment, that they both wanted to stay on the show, and how the actor feels Ray and Nora being written out was "not well handled". For their part, Legends of Tomorrow's executive producers insisted that the couple's story had run its course and they wanted Ray and Nora to get a happy ending together.
"Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac" isn't Ray and Nora's final Legends of Tomorrow episode (which could be next week's "Romeo V Juliet: Dawn of Justness") but while their leaving is unfortunately sadly inevitable, their wedding itself was worth the wait. Ray and Nora's perfectly strange, opposites-attract love story began in Legends of Tomorrow season 3, when Ray was kidnapped by the then-evil father-daughter duo in "No Country For Old Dads". By the end of Legends season 3, Damien took Nora's place as the demon Mallus' vessel out of love for his daughter and Ray gave her Damien's time stone so she could escape from the Time Bureau. But Ray desperately pined for Nora, who returned in Legends of Tomorrow season 4 and turned herself into the Time Bureau seeking redemption. After proving she had changed her evil ways, Ava invited Nora to join the Time Bureau and she and Ray even got to consummate their mutual affection. But the demons Neron and Tabitha (Jane Carr) tricked Nora into becoming the Fairy Godmother. Still, Nora ventured to Hell to rescue Ray, who was trapped there by Neron, and they continued dating into Legends season 5, where she realized that helping children become better people as their Fairy God Nora was also making her a better person as well.
Ironically, it was Damien himself who planted the seed for Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk's exit: In a heart-to-heart talk with his new son-in-law, the evil sorcerer told Ray that Nora belongs in the world, not aboard the Waverider, and that Ray's responsibility now was to support his new bride as she continues her journey to become a better person. Ray got the hint (which Damien delivered with his trademark fearsome intimidation), setting the stage for the Atom and the Fairy Godmother to leave Legends of Tomorrow.
Damien Darhk Was Redeemed At Ray And Nora's Wedding
Legends of Tomorrow also redeemed Damien Darhk from his lifetime of horrible deeds throughout the Arrowverse. Damien debuted in Arrow season 4 and caused lasting damage when he murdered Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). After the Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) defeated him, Damien reappeared in Legends of Tomorrow season 2 as part of the Legion of Doom with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher). In fact, it was Damien's delightfully daffy villainy that helped spark Legends of Tomorrow's turnaround into becoming the Arrowverse's wackiest and best series.
When Damien returned in Legends season 3 with his daughter Nora as they attempted to help the demon Mallus destroy the world, Daddy Darhk was also amusingly exposed as a loving and emotionally stunted father who, in his own twisted and malevolent way, wanted "the best" for his little girl. In "Mr. Parker's Cul-De-Sac", Damien Dark's redemption was finally completed. Not only did he give Nora his blessing to marry Ray, one of his enemies, but he shockingly apologized to Sara for killing her sister Laurel, adding that he'll never forgive himself. Damien then used the Hell Sword to commit suicide, knowing that he'll be paying for his sins in Hell for eternity. If this is, indeed, the final farewell of Damien Darhk, then he exited the Arrowverse with a tremendously satisfying redemption arc and, ironically, Damien left Legends of Tomorrow - and Nora and Ray - better than how he found them.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays @ 9pm on The CW.