LEGION Chapter 19 Review

The Season 2 finale of LEGION starts off with some great visuals in the desert as the Shadow King and David prepare for their final fight. The style reminds me of how the battle between David’s father and the Shadow King was depicted in Season 1. It was a nice callback moment and was still able to stand out visually. The colorful explosions of cartoon visuals were a treat to watch as the two foes battle to the death with their minds. 

Lenny uses the weapon to take a shot at the mutant power dampener, and it gives David the upper hand he needed. David walks over to the Shadow King with a rock in his hand, and suddenly there is a 3-year time jump! I certainly wasn’t expecting a time jump, let alone one as many as three years, but leave it to LEGION to twist around my expectations. 

Melanie and Oliver are seen together and happy, but they are in a strange room and something doesn’t feel right. They begin to talk about how the two of them needed to take time away from the world, so they hid their bodies and are now in the Astral Plane. The two of them talk in an old-fashioned, documentary style video and they seem to be losing their touch on reality. The two then switch focus and talk about how David betrayed Sydney and turned evil. 

Suddenly we are back in the present, something I also wasn’t expecting, and David is getting his revenge on the Shadow King by beating him to death. Before David can kill the man that has tormented him his entire life, Sydney points a gun at David and tells him that she wants to talk. 

Syd confronts David about all the lies and secrets he keeps, but David doesn’t seem to understand why she is upset. In the midst of their fighting, she tells David it is him who ends the world. She says that her future self tricked David into helping the Shadow King so that David could be stopped when he turned evil. 

The tension in this scene between David and Sydney is fantastic. There is nothing visually interesting going on, but David and Sydney’s relationship has been all about trust and now neither of them can trust each other. Suddenly, Sydney pulls the trigger. 

David wakes up in his childhood bedroom, and the TV is playing the mini-narrations that have come in several chapters this season. Inside the room is another version of David. This version of David says that David is not a good person, who deserves love, but that is just an illusion David made up for himself. Another version of David appears, and this version thinks David is a god and should be treated like one. 

Back in the real world, it is revealed that Sydney really did shoot David, but Lenny luckily stopped the bullet from hitting David. Lenny is then chased and surrounded by Division 3 soldiers. Division 3 finds the Shadow King and Cary is able to dampen his powers for good, or so they think. Sydney and David wake up, and David tells her that she has been dreaming. 

Ever since their confrontation in the desert, Sydney and David’s interactions aren’t the same. Sydney doesn’t seem to trust David and he is acting differently to try and please Sydney in every way. Watching the two of them kiss was extremely awkward. 

David says his goodbyes to the Shadow King, and he torments David for suppressing Sydney’s memory so she would love him again. Farouk’s words get under David’s skin, especially when he compares what he did to him with what David is currently doing to Sydney. David leaves and Farouk gathers all his strength to do one last thing with his powers — reveal the truth to Sydney. 

While going into the trial for the Shadow King, David is trapped by his friends for crimes against the world he has not committed, yet. Syd tells David that although he has powers, he is still mentally ill. David’s world begins to fall apart as he is confronted for what he did to Sydney. 

This scene was truly heartbreaking. Throughout the entire series, David has been fighting for a normal life. He’s been clinging on to the hope that he is not insane, but has to defeat the Shadow King. Once he finally does, he is betrayed by his friends and told he is crazy. The dark and moody color of the set combined with the mystical blue of the orb David is trapped in makes for an incredible mood. 

David becomes upset and tries to break out of the mini-prison Cary has him contained in, and he is successful. He rises up like a god, and much like the Shadow King did when he got his body back. David then goes to retrieve Lenny and disappears. 

Luckily for fans, this cliffhanger will be resolved. LEGION was renewed for a third season, and although we don’t know when it will air, or how many episodes it will be, we will surely be in for an entirely different show. 

Written by James Philbrick, LEGION Beat Writer

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